Matt Dennison's Time Attack Evo IX

It’s our goal to feature purpose built Mitsubishi’s once in a while. With that said, meet Matt and his Time Attack Lancer Evolution IX.

What’s your real name? (What’s your screen name?)
Matt Dennison (o-townFLA)

What do you do for a living and where do you live?
I’m a firefighter/EMT at Edwards AFB, CA and live in sunny Southern California.

What Mitsubishi(s) do you drive? How long have you had it/them?
2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9. I purchased it brand new in November of 2006.

What’s your build philosophy/goals for your Mitsubishi? How do you use it?
My build philosophy is to only purchase items that will benefit the speed, durability and power of my car. I could care less about aesthetic appeal. If it doesn’t do either of the mentioned, I won’t bother looking at it.

What originally attracted you to the Mitsubishi? What keeps you going today?
The first time I ever drove an Evo was at a drag strip. When I felt the power it produced along with the AWD platform at its stock level I was sold. Just as the name says, it’s an evolution!

What are your goals for your Mitsubishi and how close are you to achieving them?
My current goal is to achieve the fastest lap times on a 255 sized street tire. A few more modifications to include weight reduction, chassis refinement and more power, I’m there.

What was your favorite modification and why?
The driver mod. It is the most thrilling and challenging mod you can do.

Your mod list:
Bolt-on Modifications:
Road Race Engineering GT3076R Turbo Kit
RRE Custom Intake
RRE Clutch Line
ACT XTSS clutch
MIL.SPEC V3 intake manifold
100cell catalytic converter
Throttle Body
Nisei Upper/Lower Intercooler Piping
ETS Intercooler
Megan TBE
Odyssey Battery
Synapse Synchronic BOV

Engine Internals:
Cosworth M3 camshafts (280in/272ex)

Engine Management:
Road Race Engineering stock ECU tuned

Suspension Modifications:
RobiSpec Aligned and Corner Balanced
KW Clubsports, Swaybar, Endlinks
GT Spec Strut Tower Brace
4-py ladder brace, trunk cage
Whiteline Roll Center Kit, Trailing Arm Bushings, Bump Steer Correction Kit

Tell us about something really exciting you’ve done with other Mitsubishi owners.
The most prolific time must be hanging out during Mitsubishi Super Stores/SoCalEvo.net annual meets. It must bring out some of the best of the best Evo’s and is hands down the largest all Evo meet in California, let alone in the nation. From free track time to free raffles with the grand prize being an Evo, why wouldn’t this be pretty exciting?

Tell us about a time something broke and what it took to fix it.
I have two bazaar stories but I’ll tell the latest as it was only a few weeks ago. It’s long but I’ll only elaborate on the good stuff. I was at Willow Spring during a test and tune day. My throw out bearing decided to be literally thrown out of the pressure plate. Leaving me immobilized for the entire day, as this happened during the first session of the day I was in panic mode. Not because of the clutch but rather about how I was getting home because I drove my car to the track.

Several troubleshooting phone calls to Mike W. of RRE, he later said he would try to coordinate a joint effort to get me back to the shop and ready for completion on Sunday. Knowing that RRE is closed on weekends and nobody at the shop, I knew it was going to be a far cry. Well luck was on my side. Robert “Honda” Ramirez volunteered and would have to make a 2+ hour one-way trip in his personal truck and trailer to pick me up. We would then drive back to the shop to have it looked over and fixed by none other than Ruben “Master Clutch Installer”. Honda picked my car and I up at 6PM and we were off to the shop. We made it to the shop at 8PM to see Ruben there waiting for us. We begin work on the car at 9PM and have everything bolted back up and I’m back on the road by 11PM. Ruben magically performed a new clutch install in an impressive two hours! Back on the road I somehow managed to make it back to Willow Springs at 1:30AM after several rumble strip rude awakenings. Still needing to get up at 5:30 for Sundays main event, I didn’t know what to expect. Waking up from the one hour sleep I was ready for whatever Sunday would throw at me. All said and done I was able to place 2nd in the Speed Ventures Time Attack! There is a lot more detail to the story but the “above and beyond” approach from Road Race Engineering was absolutely overwhelming. To place on the podium was just icing on the cake.

What’s the best part about being a Mitsubishi owner? The most challenging?
Not just being a Mitsubishi owner but an Evo owner you become more involved with its racing heritage. Being profiled as a “street racer” is the most challenging outcome of owning an Evo.

What excites you about the coming year? (Your Mitsu and your community)
It’s 2011 and the new Time Attack season has begun meaning I get to see some old and meet some new faces at the track.

How often do you get together with other Mitsubishi owners in person?
Everyday.

How has your Mitsubishi build benefited from your involvement in the community?
Greatly. From track help to knowing what not buy and what to buy, I have benefited greatly.

What’s next for your Mitsubishi?
Money will tell.

Who has helped you the most along the way with the car? Any mentors?
A good friend Erik Islas has helped me greatly in figuring out all the local tracks and I wouldn’t be allowed to do what I do if it wasn’t for my wife Pamela giving me support and confidence. Last and not least my co-pilot/mentor Jesus Christ.

How have you paid this forward and mentored others?
I am a regular on several Mitsubishi/Evo forums and always provide helpful tech tips and such. I’m not a secretive guy and a helping hand is always available at the track as well.

Is there a particular shop you’d like to recommend?
Definitely the guys and gals at Road Race Engineering, Robi at RobiSpec and all of my fabulous sponsors. Federal Tires, GT Spec, ACT, Odyssey Batteries, Berk Technologies, SPY+Optics.

Do you spend time on any Mitsubishi sites? Which ones? Are you on Twitter? Facebook? Where can people find you online?
Yeah a lot! SoCalEvo.net, Evowned.com, Mitsu-Media.com, trackHQ.com, TimeAttackForums.com, evoM.net.