By SportsCar Staff Writer Jason Isley
Like many Sports Car Club of America® members, Jennifer Isley has experienced a lot of what the SCCA® has to offer, from RoadRally to Solo to Club Racing, but the idea of racing across the famed yard of bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway renewed her interest.
"I started road racing in 1992, driving a Formula Vee that I built with my dad in Portland, Ore.," says Jennifer. "After damaging the engine at a race at Pacific Raceways, I found out how costly road racing was for a young person just starting out."
Jennifer soon discovered autocross scratched the competitive itch, and was content for years.
"Autocrossing was something I could do on my own and required no support or assistance from anyone else," says Jennifer, who eventually racked up five SCCA Solo National Championships.
Then a trip to Daytona International Speedway for the 2015 SCCA National Championship Runoffs® reignited the fire to road race. "We booked a family vacation around the Runoffs in Daytona, Fla., so we would watch my husband compete," says Jennifer, who is married to (RACER sister publication) SportsCar magazine's Associate Editor Jason Isley. "We watched the Spec Miata race under the lights – I was in awe of the awesomeness of the race and the caliber of driving. I knew then I wanted to get back on the racetrack."
Discussions quickly ensued about picking a class and a car for Jennifer to take to the 2017 Runoffs at Indianapolis. For Jennifer, Spec Miata was too much to resist, with its competitive racing and single-class race groups during the season. Also, she explains, "I have owned three Miata's over the years, and three of my Solo titles came in a Mazda RX-8."
The search for a Spec Miata was on, but rather than buying a finished racecar, Jennifer decided to build her own. "We started searching for a 1999 with a hardtop, so we wouldn't have the expense or hassle of sourcing one later," she says. "It didn't take long to find the right car. It wasn't a week later that I was out in the garage stripping out the interior."
The first, and arguably most important step in any build is the roll cage. The SCCA's General Competition Rules (GCR) does a good job of spelling out what's required, and you can go with anything from a bolt-in affair to a custom, one-off cage. There is, however, a third option: a pre-fab roll cage kit from MiataCage.com.
The roll cage is the part of a racecar you hope you never have to use, but it's also the part you don't want to compromise on. There is also no question that a car with a bolt-in cage is harder to get in and out of, and the proximity of some of the bars can make it uncomfortable on track. The MiataCage.com kit is a very popular choice for Miata racers, offering the interior room of a custom build without the custom cage price tag.
That said, installing a roll cage is not a DIY project, unless you happen to be a highly skilled welder. To minimize welding expenses, Jennifer did as much of the prep work as possible for the welder. Gutting the interior, removing wiring, and grinding away paint where welding will take place all deduct hours off the installation bill.
"I used dry ice and an air hammer to take out the undercoating, cut out the inner door panels, and removed the dash to finish prepping the car for the cage installation," says Jennifer.
Bret Norgaard of Yawsport (pictured below) handled the cage install. "The cage is designed pretty well, and when constructed correctly it fits nicely in the car," he says.
For the full experience, Jennifer even picked up the MIG welder and tried her hand at welding. "Once the cage was installed, I got a crash course in welding as I installed the Autopower window net tabs," Jennifer says. "Welding was a lot more difficult than I imagined. Once that was completed, I painted the cage and interior of the car."
In the second installment of this story we will wrap up the interior and related safety systems.
Photo: Jennifer Isley in her Spec Miata at Willow Springs Int’l Raceway
