I finally got my good friend and racer Darin Helbling to sit down for Car Club Union's first Racer Spotlight. If you would like to have your own interview, please contact me. I'm always looking for more racers to interview!

DH: PlayStation 2 Gran Turismo, that is when both I guess.

CCU: Ok, when was that? And how long was it before you actually got a car worthy of racing?

DH: Wow, umm, 1998. It took me untill I was 20 to buy my 1991 Honda Cr-x in cash. So 11 years old is when I gained interest in cars. Then 9 years later, I finally bought a car.

CCU: Cool, why did you choose to buy a Honda CRX?

DH: I was just looking for a car worth racing for AutoX. I found out about a car for sale and the guy took me out for a spin. I bought it 2 weeks later. He sold it cheap due to an oil leak. He thought is was due to a warped head or motor from where the oil was sitting so he sold it for only $2,500. The sweet thing is that it is fully built and his name was well known. O ya, the leak was a gasket that was from the valve spool and cost only $30 to fix, so my money is well worth spent.

Darins Honda CRX he bought for $2500.

CCU: Haha, so you got off lucky there. Since you first bought the car and fixed the minor issues, what else have you put into the car and what's next?

DH: I have had the car for 1 year and 5 months. I fixed the oil leak, his buddy curb checked the back tire so I had to have the rear sub frame welded back up $700, new OEM brake rotars and pads $220,  Tanabe front strut tower bar $100, Tenzo R racing seats $400, with 4 point harness $80, headlights, bumper, and corner lights $160, racing steering wheel $100, Konig rims with Falken Azenis tires $1000.

Next investment here this week or next week is suspension. Looking at Megan coilovers with Buddy Club camber kit, or Koni coilovers with Ground Assualt along with Skunk2 camber kit. Price is around $1000 to $1200 bucks.

CCU: You've already spent more on upgrades than you paid for the car originally. Do you think that there comes a point where investing in a new car altogether is a better alternative?

DH: This is still cheaper then a new car by far. $6000 bucks for a car that is near new with only 23,000 miles on the motor or $20000 plus on a new car that is all electronics and bone stock. Plus, if you love cars, it becomes a hobby for the person. I could still turn around and get my money back and not lose a dime. I had offers up to $5000 when first bought it, which is doubled for what I paid for it.

CCU: Good points. You mentioned it becomes a hobby. How has racing become a hobby for you? What all do you participate in to get involved with this hobby?

DH: I just AutoX for the rush you get and you can speed with out getting a ticket. I do it for fun but when you get out there and see all those Subaru's, it becomes a war zone. FF against AWD is a challenge but I have been doing well and beating them.

CCU: I know you're one of the leaders in Racers Evolution which is a car club primarily located in Bismarck, North Dakota. What does the club do to get involved with the hobby? What obstacles has the club run into?

DH: We have a lot of young members which is tough to get every member to gether as a club due to jobs and whatever there it. We set up car club cruises every so often, we all try to meet for AutoX events here in town, and have BBQ's for family, friends, members, or people of interest. We also started Tuesday Night Tuners here at our local Burger King to get people together and meet with similar interests as us and every person is welcome to come and check it out.

CCU: Is Racers Evolution looking for new members? If so, who should they contact?

DH: We are always looking for members. They can check it out at www.myspace.com/racersevolution or get my page www.myspace.com/mazdaaspec. From there, you can check out our members and contact any person through there.

About to make his run at AutoX.

CCU: Great! I've got one last question for you. Everyone has a dream car. If you could have any car, what would it be?

DH: It would be.....oooooooo........so pretty........a........19.........95.......he he he.....ok fine.

CCU: Any day now.

DH: 1995 Mazda RX-7, fell in love furing the first Gran Turismo.

CCU: Thanks Darin, and good luck racing in the future.

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