I was encouraged by my supervisors at work to find something other than cellular phones to concentrate on. They felt that too much of my life revolved around work and that I needed something to take my thoughts away from work. So in 1993 I discovered USAC and IASCA. It took two years to acquire and install the first system. The second as designed for simplicity and to save money, that was unnecessary to be successful.

I joined USAC (United States Autosound Competition) and IASCA (International Auto Sound Challenge Association) in 1994 and began competing in the 1995 season.   IASCA taught me a lot about gamesmanship and loyalties. USAC taught me the fun of the sport. Most people associated with IASCA said I belonged to the "USUC" group. USAC "always" had shows going on every weekend in various locations and point categories. IASCA went for visibility.

I learned politics from IASCA and paid a price in competition because of where I worked and my association with USAC. I learned that there were cry babies in both and that there where people who could win just by showing up. I was an outsider with no formal audio training and I was competitive.

I always told myself it was like a beauty contest. If you were a brunette and the day you competed the judges liked blondes, it didn't matter how had you worked or how good you looked. You were NOT going to win that day.

USAC was always more laid back and fun. A LOT less politicking although I did learn that the more they saw you, the easier your chances are of winning. It did help that on my first USAC outing in Tyler, TX, I scored "perfect" in sound quality and won the first place trophy in my class. I did have a few altercations later because of the word that got out of the "sound" of the system.

I traveled as far away as Colorado to compete. I even got my picture in Lowrider Magazine while in Denver, as I won first place in my class that day. 

After the first year of completing, I was invited to both IASCA and USAC National Finals and finished in the middle of the pack in both bodies. Oh, by the way, I had to compete as a "Pro" because of my "affiliation" with the industry (I worked in the cellular phone department of a company that sold car audio). It did not matter that NONE of the equipment that I used came from the company that I worked for.

I took a year off to put together finances for the next system. While not competing, I became an IASCA judge. I did this for the season doing RTA's and such minor things due to my lack of audio education. I did understand the rule book but was too outspoken on some issues.

When I designed the second system, the I currently still have, I used products from my company and did a drop in system. I won against fellow competitors who had spent several thousand dollars more than I had. I won a "Best of Show - Pro" in Houston in 1997. The judges told me that of all the cars they had heard that day, that my system was the one that they would have liked to have listened to while cruising. Not a bad compliment, I thought. Not technically perfect, just great to listen to. 

This Web page was last updated on Saturday, 08-Sep-2018 08:42:49 MDT .