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Car Club USA: Miatas at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

The Mazda MX-5 Miata is a very popular car for weekend warriors looking for the thrill of automotive racing in an affordable package. These iconic, rear-wheel-drive roadsters are lauded by enthusiasts for their driving dynamics, reasonable price, and plethora of available parts. That's why the annual Miatas at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca track event draws such a diverse cross section of drivers from allover the country. But, still, some types of drivers are more well-represented than others. "I usually am the only female signed up for the high-performance driving," said Carolyn Kulaja of Gila Monster Racing. "The car doesn't care the gender of the person driving." For Carolyn, racing Miatas is a passion that developed later in life, but she's not slowing down anytime soon. "My first racecar was car number 57, which was my age when I started racing," said Carolyn. "The 88 I decided was going to be my age when I quit racing." Young competitor Kyle Koh of Infotech Motorsports has his own reasons for racing. "Driving has changed my life in a major way," said Kyle. "It took me out of a depression." Kyle's first competitive fire was directed toward football, but after breaking his back during his sophomore year of high school, he had to find another outlet. "Kyle came to me one day and he decided that he wanted a project car," explained Kyle's father and racing partner Larry Koh. "Because the Miata community is so friendly to begin with, it becomes a big family." How will Carolyn and Kyle fare through Laguna Seca's infamous corkscrew? Find out on this episode of Car Club USA. Each Car Club USA episode features a different car club or event from across the US, where passionate owner communities gather to share automotive experiences and embark on incredible adventures. From Main Street cruises to off-road trails, catch all the latest car club activity on Autoblog.

Mazda Recalling Cars Due To Spider Webs In Engines

It seems that Yellow Sac spiders really, really love Mazda. Three years after Mazda recalled 52,000 Mazda6 sedans over spider webs obstructing the evaporative canister vent lines of 2009 and 2010 Mazda6 models, another recall has been issued for 42,000 more of the models built between 2010 and 2012 and equipped with the 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine. According to the automaker, there have been nine confirmed sightings of spiders in vent lines since the original recall. It seems that covers were applied at the factory to keep the arachnids from entering, but it hasn't quite exterminated the problem. A reflash of the ECU is required that "[changes] the logic behind how the car purges the charcoal canister during normal operation," says Jeremy Barnes, Director, Public Relations & Brand Experience at Mazda North American Operations. So far, Mazda has not recorded any fires, accidents or injuries due to this tangled mess of webs. Recall notices will be mailed out to owners later this month. This story original appeared on Autoblog. Related Gallery Utter Driving Delight: The 2014 Mazda MX-5 Miata Recalls Mazda Mazda6

Question of the Day: What's the most irritating car name?

You hear a lot about how the Chevrolet Nova was a sales flop in Mexico because "No va" means "it doesn't go" in Spanish; in fact, the Nova sold pretty well south of the border, and in any case most Spanish-speakers know that "Nova" means "new" in Latin and Portuguese. However, General Motors doesn't deserve to be let off the hook for bad car names, because the Oldsmobile Achieva— no doubt inspired by the excruciating "coffee achievers" ads of the 1980s— scrapes the biggest fingernails down the screechiest chalkboard in the US-market car-name world. That is, unless you think Daihatsu's incomprehensible choice of Charade was worse. Meanwhile, Japanese car buyers could get machines with cool names like Mazda Bongo Friendee or Honda Life Dunk. It's just not fair! So, what car name drives you the craziest? Related Video: Auto News Design/Style Chevrolet Honda Mazda Daihatsu Automotive History questions car names