Justin Kababik, PE,

Thirtysomething adolescent, Mechanical Engineer - HVAC/Project manager

I've been into cars foras long as I can remember. I drew cars as a child, and played with every toy that involved building or construction. I saved my allowance for months to buy RC cars. My first car was my parents 1987 Volvo 240 Wagon with a 5 speed manual transmission. It wasn't a fast car with its 116hp 2.4l SOHC engine, and in retrospect this was a good thing as I learned how drive it to the limit, keeping pace with much faster cars.

I studied mechanical engineering at Syracuse University and focused on automotive and manufacturing despite ending up in a different field altogether. While at SU, I joined the Mini-Baja team my sophmore year. This is a all-terrain buggy powered by a standard 8hp motor, and is a national design competition. The following two years I helped run the team, and by senior year I was in charge of the whole project. I got the school to its best finish in 20 years. Each year on the team consisted of building a new vehicle from the ground up, and I've now built 3 cars from scratch with the help of my teammates. This was the start of my racing bug.

Upon my graduation, the Volvo I gave my brother was lowered, swayed, detailed to the max, had turbo rims, and bore little resemblence to the Volvo that I originally received from my parents. So began my addiction to modifiying my cars, and after that I bought my 1989 BMW 535i. It was one hell of a car for a 22 year old, withtwice the power of my Volvo and lots of style and handling. The best part was that the next generation 5 series, the E39, had only been out a year at the time, so my 535i looked like a new car.

The modifiying started immediately. I began with an air filter, stereo, exhaust, wheels, and upgraded ECU. Then I started going to the track, and things snowballed. I held back on the modifications while the BMW was my daily driver, but once I bought a second car, the flood gates opened.

This is where the website begins. The One Lap of American 2000 edition.