February 2018 Member Spotlight – Ron Aasted

February 2018 Member Spotlight – Ron Aasted

Obligatory questions:

Name (yours not the car’s):
Ron Aasted

Car(s) presently owned (and their name?):
1967 Mustang Coupe, 1989 Saleen Mustang

Years Owned:
The 67 was my very first car. I bought it in 1975 and sold it twice. I had to repo it from the first sale. I sold it again to a close friend who garaged it for approximately 22 years. My wife tried to buy it back for my 50 th Birthday but had no success. Later on a turn of events in his life situation opened the opportunity for me to buy it back so now it sits in my garage waiting for the day I can restore it. The Saleen I’ve owned for 8 years.

Modifications (i.e.interior/exterior, engine, chassis):
The 67 got a 351 Cleveland dropped in after I toasted the 289 (don’t know how that happened), It was an automatic so I added a high stall speed torque converter. I got some suspension upgrades from a 69 Mach 1 and a Ford 9” rear to round it out. It was a fun car to have in high school. The Saleen went through an extensive rebuild/restoration to get the chassis back into shape. Added Sub frame connectors, Steeda five link rear suspension, GT40 upper and lower intake, 65mm throttle body, Underdrive pulleys, electric cooling fan and Tunable CAI.

How long have you been racing, and what types of racing do you do?
Started in 2009, I have only done Autocross racing but would like to branch out as time becomes available.

How did you get into autocross?
I signed up for some HPDE at PIR in 2009. That got the bug started so I had to find something to relieve that need for speed.

How do you get focused before/during an event?
Nothing special, I just learn the course during the course walk so I can work at getting faster with each run.

What future plans do you have for your racing career (new car, new mods, new types of racing, etc.)?
Would like to get involved in some Lucky Dog Racing and will try to get to some Hillclimb events. Would like to own a 2015 or newer Mustang in the not so distant future.

Outside of racing:

Where are you from, and how did you end up in Oregon/Washington?
Born and raised in Springfield, OR. Have served some time in some outlying areas but returned to a nice place on the Mohawk River, our retirement location.

Do you have a favorite hobby outside of racing?
I like the water. Have owned multiple boats and enjoyed skiing, tubing and just finding a nice place to park under the sun.

What is/are your favorite food(s)?
Probably get this from my dad but I’m a meat and potatoes guy. The Bourbon Tri-tip at the Roadhouse melts in your mouth… Yum

The favorite car that you have owned?
2006 Mustang GT. The color was Redfire, fully dressed out in the Roush Body Kit and lowered with some suspension upgrades. It sacrificed itself for an upgraded truck purchase when I had my contracting business. The truck is pretty nice as well so I was able to overcome the loss =)

Your dream car(s)?
I would like to own one of the new Shelby GT350R and a new mid-engined Corvette.

Fact(s) that you are dying to share about you?
Two new grandkids this last year. Abigail and Connor so Christmas time was extremely fun!! Abigail likes to ride her new toys extremely fast so we can see Autocross in her future.

Meaning of life:

If you could be any animal in the world, what animal would you be, and why?
It would be the Cheetah, It’s the fastest land animal and that is what I strive for when racing. Have a long way to go though.
Editors comment: Hard to be a cheetah when you’re stuck on a pony 😉

What was the best thing before sliced bread?
Ice cream!!

We hacked into your computer and downloaded your music list. I don’t want to be the one to spill your most embarrassing song, so why don’t you tell people what we found?
Nothing I would be embarrassed about. Growing up in the 70’s with some great Rock bands. Kansas, Boston, Styx, Rush, Cars, Aerosmith and on and on…