CarDomain Member Shows Off The TDI Cup Garage!

By Jen

AKA SuzyBruisy

I guess it’s more of a barn than a garage—Volkswagen TDI Cup competitors have to work on their rides door-to-door in a big white pole-tent lit by nothing but oversized Ikea-style Japanese lanterns. In keeping with its low-rent image, the TDI cup promises some of the most exciting racing out of the many different series that are running at Road Atlanta this week. With lots of bumpin’ and bangin’, it’s not all that far from my other favorite motorsports series, but with all the stuff that NASCAR opponents are always whining for: namely, road-course tracks (Sprint Cup series has two), and "stock" cars that truly are basically stock—nearly all the mods these 2.0L turbo-diesel Jettas are running, I’m told, can be ordered by the average joe from the dealership. This Saturday’s TDI Cup race, to be run immediately before the Petit Le Mans, will be particularly cut-throat. Why? Because it’s the final race of the season, the one that will decide the champion and award the $100,000 purse.

You’ll probably remember CarDomain member and TDI Cup competitor Chris Castagna (crc930), who showed up in the blog last week as the series points leader following the race in Iowa. He showed me around the garage area today and we talked a bit about the series. It turns out our boy has been knocked down to fourth in the points, following a couple of nasty wrecks over the last two races, one of which he says was purposefully caused by a rival. He can still win the championship on Saturday—all he has to do is win the final race. He says that no matter what the outcome, it’s going to be a fireworks show, with a lot at stake and many drivers willing to do anything to win. Plus, Atlanta is a fast track with long straights where drafting is possible, which will skew the starting grid by pushing many slower cars to the front during qualifying. It’s going to be a wild ride—let’s wish Chris luck! Check out more TDI Cup garage pics.

Check out the Amoco Ultimate Your Car Is Worth It Photo Contest. They’re giving away gas money on a weekly basis, and one Grand Prize Winner will get to go to France for 24 Hours Of Le Mans!