Restored Subaru S209 Hits The Track For Tribute Laps Six Years After Owner Killed By Drunk Driver

Ryan Stewart never made it to his first track day after tricking out his Subaru WRX STI S209. He was killed by a drunk driver while changing a flat tire on the side of the road. While Stewart isn’t any longer with us, his automotive will complete the journey to the track this weekend, after friends restored it in his honor, in line with Fox 10.

Ravi Tomerlin of We Don’t Lift Racing in Tempe, Arizona, headed up the trouble. Stewart was a daily on the shop, which helped outfit his rare S209 for the track. The automotive got sideswiped within the crash and was a complete loss, but Tomerlin and his crew have been restoring it anyway. A part of their motivation comes from the S209 being such a rare model, but mostly it is a labor of affection. Tomerlin has a GoFundMe arrange to assist fund the restoration, but there was never any query in his mind that he would complete it, whatever the fee.

After Stewart’s death in May 2020, the automotive sat in police impound while the court case against the drunk driver took place. The motive force was found guilty of negligent homicide and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Tomerlin took possession of the automotive afterward, no longer only damaged from the crash but in addition from sitting outside in the weather for years. He showed the condition of the automotive and the start of the restoration in a series of YouTube videos.

Restoring the S209 has been an enormous job, but it surely is all coming together. The rear quarter panel and C-pillar needed to be cut out and replaced with parts from a donor automotive. The carbon fiber roof, exclusive to the S209, was thankfully undamaged, as were the engine and drivetrain. The left doors were replaced, in addition to the suspension on the left side. The inside suffered only minor damage and cleaned up well, despite sitting outside within the Arizona heat for years. Even the wheel that Stewart had been within the strategy of swapping when he was killed was repaired (it looks like a legit Regamaster Evo to our eyes), and put back on the left rear corner where it got here from.

The automotive is drivable once more and set to make its debut on the Southwest Speed Festival this weekend. Tomerlin can be readily available to drive it, in addition to Stewart’s brother, who will eventually take the automotive home to Colorado. While putting a previously totaled automotive back on the road may be easy in some cases, this automotive’s history is more likely to make the method a bit more difficult.

I do know from experience how devastating a loss in a automotive community like this may be. I also understand how good it might probably feel to see their automotive on the market again, ripping it up of their memory. Not only will or not it’s great to see this S209 on the track as an alternative of sitting in a junkyard or gathering dust in a garage, but it would even be good to see his friends finish what Stewart began.