My head was stuck in low-grip driving mode. There was a lot of grip. I went (relatively) slow. It was still fun. 
Judging by the suspension compression and how much the tires are folding under, yeah there was tons of grip for your heat.
I showed those pics to the kid I work with, who wasn't quite grokking the concept of dirt being grippy.
Dirt can be VERY grippy.
Still looks like good driving from here.
If I may be so bold... why Mazdaspeed engine swap instead of turbo kit? Do you have to use an OE engine for modified rules?
The only reason is because I found the complete engine on CL for $1100. Much easier than trying to turbo the 1.6 or 1.8 swap plus turbo for that price.
I can use any engine for modified (mmm...v8).
As a rule of thumb, the more stock something is, the less likely it will become a car-shaped pile of parts sulking in the corner, ignored and alone.
Evan, have you done anything to close off this opening between the wheel well and the engine bay? My engine bay was covered in dirt after last weeks rallycross and it seems to me it would be a good idea to avoid as much of that as possible.
My engine bay is pretty much constantly covered in dirt/mud. I have done nothing to cover any holes.
The event over the weekend went pretty well. Chris and I put on snow tires and drove up since the trailer is somewhat scary to tow at the moment (bad wheel bearings). I beat Chris again (he seems to be slowing down).
New shocks are on the list for the winter.
Also a package incoming from Flyin Miata with framerail reinforcements and a clutch happy meal. Thanks to Keith for dealing with me calling in first thing this morning to add to my order.
Lof8 wrote: Evan, have you done anything to close off this opening between the wheel well and the engine bay? My engine bay was covered in dirt after last weeks rallycross and it seems to me it would be a good idea to avoid as much of that as possible.
I'll jump in with a suggestion since the e30 has a similar gap between the skidplate and the wheel well, and my engine bay last year ended up caked (BAKED!) in red clay that is impossible to "rinse" off.
I used some light galvanized sheetmetal (I think it was from an old piece of ductwork or something) and just riveted it to the skidplate and bent it up to fill the gap. Previously I had just used some cut-up Rubbermaid containers but they didn't work as well since they couldn't be bent to shape.
Maybe this will give you guys some ideas. It's done a great job keeping pretty much all dirt and mud out of the engine bay forward of the bellhousing (where the skid ends).
Granted with the double-wishbone in the front of the Miata it would be a little harder to totally close it off than it is for a strut-setup like the e30 with only an LCA.
sorry for the crappy pic....
I use that air gap as a place for the air to get out so the car runs cooler.
I just got a line on Mazdaspeed shocks and springs, plus a 23mm front swaybar. I know you are running the shocks/springs on your car, but is the swaybar worth it or is that just asking for understeer? They are asking $300 for everything with 50k miles on them.
Also, why do we need a factory hard top to do SCAA rallycross? Jeepers, I just found these:
http://treasurecoastmiata.com/i-11670564-new-light-weight-90-05-miata-hard-top.html
I don't run any sway bars. Next season I may experiment with putting the stock front bar on but I wouldn't go larger.
It says you need a factory hardtop but I have never seen anyone check to see if it was factory as long as there is a hard top on it.
Some actual work is being done on the Miata.
The rear shocks and what is left of the bump stops.
The top of the shock body on one looks to have more of a gap than the other, I don't know if that is bad or not.
The lighting in my garage is terrible.
Since the radiator ducting has proven to work I am going to attempt to make a more permanent solution.
I have some cleaning to do here, the engine is coming out for some seals and maintenance.
The wheel and tire stack is growing.
These will get some new rally tires for next season.
Awesome thread......updates?
Not much in the way of updates. The engine is nearly ready to pull, I'm waiting for the engine hoist I ordered to arrive so I should have it out next weekend.
More disassembly. I put together my harbor freight engine hoist but it is missing a caster so I haven't pulled the engine yet.
Goodbye interior.
Sorry for the terrible pictures, cell phone with bad lighting doesn't work so well.
I like where this is headed. Building it closer to the edge is inviting disaster. 
The engine is out...now I have a lot of cleaning to do.
Before cleaning:
This was also before the headlights were removed. The after pictures are in progress.
Wait, why do you have PB? There's a can of Kimball sitting there.
I was trying to use up the PB since it was almost empty but gave up and switched to the red pop.
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