While out in the community I run across car people of all sorts. From people who take their trucks off-road, to classic collectors, to the shade-tree mechanics. Rarely do I meet people that not only love their car, but all cars in general as much as I do, and who take the extra step to actually test what they own on the track. One such person, who I have become good friends with, is SCCA Advanced Class racer and car enthusiast Eddy Villalobos. Eddy has driven a variety of high performance cars, modified almost every single one, a few to the limits of what can be done to them, and spent plenty of time destroying perfectly good tires on various racetracks. Here's what he has to say:
Alex: Alright Eddy, why don't you start by telling me what made you first fall in love with cars?
Eddy: My dad putting me on his lap and letting me steer the Lincoln when I was around 5 or 6. instantly I knew I loved driving and wanted to do it all the time.
Alex: So when you got older, what would you say was the first "driver's" car you purchased?
Eddy: *Laughing* My first car... Mazda Miata. Didn't get to my third payment before totaling it!
Alex: How'd you do that?
Eddy: Better to explain another time...
Alex: Fair enough, and understood. So you went from totaling Miatas to tearing up race tracks. What do you think best helped advance your skills as a driver?
Eddy: Skip Barber Racing school and multiple accidents on the street experimenting.
Alex: Favorite moment of Skip Barber?
Eddy: Passing 8 drivers on the last day, making fast laps with minimal mistakes. Perfect laps are a feeling like no other.
Alex: That's excellent! So with all this track experience, what do you drive on the street nowadays and what made you choose it?
Eddy: A Mercedes Benz C63 AMG. One test drive is all it took.
Alex: That sure is some car... stock?
Eddy: It has an ECU performance tune, higher flow air filters, better wheels and tires...
Alex: So not something people want to run into on the road.
Eddy: Some cars these days can absolutely hang with it, but with 500-plus horsepower it's up in the top 90th percentile of fast sedans.
Alex: What's one current car you're excited to see on the market, and why?
Eddy: I'm very excited about the Porsche GT4. It's a purist car through and through. Can be driven daily without issue and romped on the track and make quick work of laps.
Alex: That's one hell of a car too, absolutely agreed. On the pricier side for sure, though. What car would you recommend to someone looking to get started on the track? Their first race car?
Eddy: I say go with what you have. Learn how to drive. Driver mod is the most important mod of all. Spend money for the track time, instructors, and school if you can.
Alex: Great, now we'll all have 18 year olds bombing around Lime Rock with mom's Honda Odyssey and an instructor.
Eddy: That 18 year old will be the safest guy on the road though *laughing*. Better to bomb around on the track than on public roads.
Alex: Ha, fair point! Any last words of wisdom for the readers?
Eddy: Save the manuals.
Alex: Well said, friend, well said, and see you on the road.
So with that, Eddy went tearing off in a cloud of tire smoke to go blow the doors off some unsuspecting Mustang with the C63. If you're ever up at Yorktown Cars and Coffee on Sundays and see a gleaming white C63 AMG on dark graphite wheels, that's Eddy. He'll probably be smoking a cigar nearby, so feel free to pick his brain if you spot him. He'll also likely be wearing a t-shirt or hoodie with the "MN" logo for Momentum Nutrition, his fitness supplement company. Really excellent products, I recommend you check them out at Momentum Nutrition and be sure to follow them on Instagram at @officialmomentumnutrition.
See you on the road,
Alexander
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