The next SpeedTrial USA event is coming real soon – the weekend of July 5 and 6 to be exact! Who's all going? I know I am!!! If you live in California, come out to the next Speedtrial USA event, which is on the weekend of July 5 and 6, 2008, at Streets of Willow in Rosamond, CA. It's gonna be fun!

Why am I so excited? I make my living by traveling to race tracks all over the world – but unfortunately, I'm usually only taking photos at these tracks, I don't always have the opportunity to drive! So I can't wait to make it out to Speedtrial to get my fix of on-track adrenaline.

So I thought I'd dig into my archives to post up some pics I shot at the last Speedtrial USA event I went to, in case some of you haven't been to one of these track days before. Here's a photo of me from last year, doing some on-track test driving with an all-new 2008 Honda Accord 6-speed V6 coupe at Buttonwillow Raceway. I'm in the driver seat, and my good friend Andy Hope, who is sitting shotgun in the photo, acted as my driving coach for the day.

During the morning track sessions, I already thought I was driving the car pretty fast and aggressively. However, after a few track sessions with Andy coaching me - observing my line, braking and shift points from the passenger seat of the Accord coupe, I was able to increase my top speed on the track much more, and able to really drive the car at its limit – which not surprisingly, was much faster than the laps I was doing in the morning practice.

If you guys don't know who Andy Hope is, he's the Senior Editor of Sport Compact Car Magazine, and an accomplished race car driver in his own right – he has raced for American Honda, HKS USA, Spoon Sports USA, 5Zigen USA, Endless USA. He has won several championships at NASA and Touring Car races, driving mostly Hondas and Acuras.

I think this photo was taken at about 8:00am! Way too early to be out at about! However, that's what we do on track days because we love racing! Look how long the line is already! That's Tommy Chen from SpeedTrial USA in the red Sparco jacket. He organized some of the first on-track drifting events in the USA! Wanna learn more about it? Go to the bookstore and buy a copy of my hardcover book, Drifting, and read about the early days of drifting in the USA.

I thought this S2000 with Enkei RPF1 wheels and hardtop looked pretty cool, even just sitting there!

Here's a lineup of some of the cars you might find at a typical Speedtrial USA track day. BMW M coupe, Mustang, E46 BMW 3 series, Acura RSX, Integra, Nissan 350Z, Subarus, Evos, you name it!

Beamers, Evos, RX7s, Subarus, and some pit garages.

In the morning driver's meeting, driving instructor Mike Peters goes over the rules of the track, and also holds instructional debriefing classroom sessions in-between track sessions. I think this is a great format, because it assists beginner drivers in learning the limits of their cars – how to drive the line on each racetrack, how to go 2×2 into a corner with another car, how to pass safely, things like that.

As the day goes on, the Speedtrial USA driving instructors also offer to do ride-alongs or sit with you in your car to give you individual coaching. You can learn as much as you want at these track day sessions – you just have to come with the right equipment, an open mind, and be prepared to ask lots of questions! All the instructors offer their time to help you get the most out of your experience! They teach drivers to be safe, fast, and how to learn the limits of their cars!

Don't think STUSA is just for beginners though – there are plenty of advanced drivers who attend these sessions to keep their skills on point!

Here's a photo of me and Andy Hope, next to the 6-speed Accord Coupe I was test driving. It may not be FR, but the new Accord is actually very fun to drive, especially when you're driving the 6-speed version in the VTEC range!

So come out to Speedtrial USA at Willow Springs International Raceway on July 5 and 6 weekend, and let's all drive together! I will be at the track, shooting photos and driving with some other friends from the Speedhunters team. Let's all meet up! We'd love to see (and shoot photos of) your modified cars! Let's do this!

Register your cars directly on the SpeedTrial USA Official Website. See you all at the track!

-Antonio Alvendia

SpeedTrial USA Official Website