In the media dark ages of the 1990s, there was a lag time, often counted in months between events and feature coverage in the magazines. RJ’s big win at the second Silver State Classic Challenge happened in September 1989, and it sent a shockwave rippling through the motoring press, from both a technical standpoint, and something about a teenager tearing through the racing world just made a hell of a good story. The 1990 press year for Big  Red started with a great article and photo spread in Popular Hot Rodding magazine featuring the car hugging those twisting, canyon roads around Los Angeles. That same month, Road & Track’s Exotic Cars Quarterly also hit the newsstands. It featured an article detailing the epic SSCC race that also reminded readers of the dangerous game these drivers were playing, and questioning the lack of emergency crews available at the race. In February, Joe Pettitt’s now legendary and heart-stopping account of riding along in Big Red on its amazing run at the ’89 SSCC made the newsstands. Joe’s account was filled with stories of frustrated highway patrolmen, scary 180-mph turns, and
ferocious straightaways pressing past 220 mph — an instant hit with readers.
If you’re going to be a road-racing legend, you have to race. In September