When I heard that some dude named Ryan Finch handed everyone else in a rear wheel drive car their ass at the Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car in Detroit this weekend, I thought wow I’m going to have to meet this guy. When I found out he was driving a very underwhelming 1999 Z28 Camaro, I REALLY wanted to meet him. So you can imagine my excitement when he posted that record run on YouTube for us to share with all of you for ACED: AutoCross Every Day.
It turns out Ryan is the third guy to autocross the hell out of this car in its life and it has been incredibly dialed in by all of the owners. Ryan clearly knows how to wheel this thing, and wasn’t insulted at all when I told him that his car didn’t look trick enough to beat all these other big name guys like Popp, Thwaits, Johnson, etc. He was on cloud nine when we talked to him, and told me all about the car. The funny thing is, most of what he told me was stock, stock, stock. It’s got crazy 1300lb springs up front, custom valved shocks, Vette calipers, and the rest is mostly how the general delivered it. It’s awesome.
Watch this video as you’ll see that Ryan clearly knows what he’s doing. This car was FLYING on this run, his final and best of ANY rear wheel drive car at the event. Not to shabby my friend. Good job!
Thanks a lot for the post! Had a great time and hope to attend more in the future.