Filed under: 240z,510,Events,Racing
by Alvin G @ 2:40 pm on September 21, 2023
The second annual Laps for Laguna vintage racing event will be on October 13-15. This event is created by the Laguna Seca Raceway Foundation and Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) to raise money for charity. It is an open sound event with multiple races for each race group, charity rides and more. We had a blast at last year’s Laps for Laguna, see our race report HERE.
Filed under: 240z,510,Events,Racing
by Alvin G @ 2:40 pm on September 20, 2023
Z Car Garage is excited to participate in the Velocity Invitational at Sonoma Raceway November 10-12. This is a must attend historic racing event for Nissan/Datsun fans with IMSA GTU Z cars, exotics and more to enjoy. Tickets are still available, to purchase simply on click HERE, and read below for a preview.
Z Car Garage Racers
Z Car Garage is excited to be racing in Group 6 (1968 – 1978 IMSA GT Cars) and Group 10 (Mini vs Mustang Enduro). Here is a preview:
Race car driver, restorer and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou displayed his FAR Performance 240Z. This Z has a very rich racing history, driven in the 70’s by Loren St. Lawrence in VIPS Restaurant livery.
This is a wonderful event for the whole family, check out our report from last year’s 2022 Velocity Invitational. Z you at Sonoma Raceway November 10-12!
Join us for the 2023 Vintage Racing Season!
Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Here is list of events we will be attending in 2023, including CSRG and SVRA . Please join us!
March
March 3rd to the 5th SVRA Thunderhill
March 24 to 26th CRSG Sonoma
April
April 27th to 30th SVRA Sonoma
May
May 4th to 7th SVRA Laguna Seca
June
June 23rd to 25th CSRG Laguna Seca
August
August 12-13 Monterey Pre-Reunion
August 16-19 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
Filed under: 240z,510,Racing
by Alvin G @ 5:10 pm on September 5, 2023
WE LOVE RACING! Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is hosting the 20th Charity Challenge at Sonoma Raceway, this weekend September 8-10. Z Car Garage is participating and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group (John Morton Cup). This vintage racing event is totally FREE to spectators so please join us! Bring the family, enjoy cool cars and charity rides around the track.
See our 2023 Nissan Z as Pace Car!
Z Car Garage is happy to announce our 2023 Nissan Z will be on Pace Car duty at the Charity Challenge. Again, admission is FREE for this event and you will have access to all spectator areas on track, race cars and drivers. Parking is in Lot 2 overlooking the paddock. You can see our report from the 2022 Charity Challenge HERE
Z Car Garage Supports Five Datsun 510s!
It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our services do include full race support and car-preparation to help make client’s race days seamless and worry-free so they can focus on driving. One of our specialties is dyno tuning. Before a race weekend we confirm that your car is running well and make necessary adjustments while on the chassis dyno:
#88 Todd Rueppel
Todd enjoyed his Z Car Garage trackside support experience with us at the Laps For Laguna event!
#7 Kelvin Tse
Kelvin and his brother Kenny are regular ZCG trackside support clients…
Gabe’s B-Sedan and his Dad’s B-Sedan:
#7 Rob Fuller
ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car
WE LOVE RACING! On March 24-26, Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) hosted the David Love Vintage races at Sonoma Raceway. Z Car Garage had a blast racing and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in the B-Sedan Group. It was a great weekend filled with competition, camaraderie and plenty of Alfas, BMWs and Datsuns sharing the track. Enjoy our report with in-car footage and photos
Z Car Garage Supports Five Datsun 510s
It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our services do include full race support and car-preparation to help make client’s race days seamless and worry-free so they can focus on driving. One of our specialties is dyno tuning. Before a race weekend we confirm that your car is running well and make necessary adjustments while on the chassis dyno.
Video of two Datsun 510 B-Sedans (Rob and Tom), Enjoy the sweet L-series music!
ZCG clients running at the David Love Vintage races included:
#8 Gabe Rothman
Gabe has been an avid track day weekend warrior for five years and we will highlight our preparation of his B-Sedan 510 soon. Let’s hear his race report from Sonoma:
“This year’s David Love Memorial, as always was a first-class event attended by the usual fun and friendly rabble of vintage racing enthusiasts. The weather was perfect, with clear blue skies and comfortable temperatures, but cool track temps which made for ideal racing conditions.”
“While I had a few ups and downs over the weekend, I had far more ups highlighted by setting a new personal best of 1:53.9 en route to a 4th place finish in the Saturday feature race. This time represented a 2-second improvement from my previous best. It just goes to show that the best mod is the driver mod — track time rules all! I can’t take all the credit though. As always, I received phenomenal trackside support from Rob Fuller and Z Car Garage, who were there to help me fine-tune the car and provide valuable insights and advice. Rob, in particular, is an invaluable resource. His insights are always tailored to suit the driver and have helped me rapidly move to the front of the B-Sedan field despite this being just my second season in the car.”
Watch Gabe putting in work with his Personal Record session, volume up and enjoy!
#72 Tom Dockery
Tom Dockery drove his Ex-Norm Balzer 510. This car made its debut in May 2019 and we are excited to share its full story and profile Tom’s journey into racing soon.
Tom made a triumphant return to last year’s 2022 CSRG Season Finale after the car was down for repairs. He’s getting back into the rhythm of things and we are happy to see him behind the wheel again. Let’s hear his race report…
“The weekend didn’t start as planned, as work issues forced a late arrival to the Friday practice day. I managed to get on rack for the last practice of the day, but the combination of track conditions and my absence from Sonoma Raceway produced really slow and sloppy laps. Saturday, morning practice was an improvement and I was able to find a better Sonoma rhythm. Qualifying race in the afternoon was interesting mostly because the Mini’s were thrown into our group. There were a few of the Mini guys running similar lap times with me so the were certainly in the mix at the start. Sunday I put on new tires and I continued to find more speed and faster lap times. I look forward to picking up where I left off at the end of April when the SVRA event comes to the Sonoma.”
Here is in-car video from Tom’s 510 with a cool rear-facing camera angle, enjoy!
#7a Kelvin Tse
Kelvin’s 510 features our Z Car Garage CV Axles and dyno tuning. He and his brother Kenny both had a total blast with us at the David Love event.
#64 Kenny Tse
Photo by Josel Cobangbang
Kenny drove the Ex-Ted Gruner B-Sedan 510. He had pretty serious goals this year and he was picking up the pace really well.
#7 Rob Fuller
Photo by Josel Cobangbang
Rob Fuller piloted the Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute 510. Here is his report from the race weekend with in-car video:
“Once a year we get to attend the David Love. There was a good mix of 19 cars in Group 3 Sedans (2002s, Alfas, 510s and Minis). ZCG supported 5-cars total: myself, Tom, Gabe and Tse brothers Kelvin and Kenny. Cars in the field: Parker and his dad Bruce were fast in their Alfas. Parker’s car was acting up so I opted to start from the back rest of the weekend. We’ve been making changes to the suspension setup in BADD 510 and its working well…very slippery on Friday from recent rains, better over weekend.”
“Honorable mention goes to Kenny who picked up the pace towards his goals, Kelvin and Tom getting back into the swing of things. Gabe joined the ZCG team last year and his car had alot of issues we’ve been sorting them out with each event. It’s been a blast watching him excel…he makes great decisions, listens and he’s fast. He was up in the front of the field and we are super excited to see how he does at the SVRA events. Gabe’s car has a 2L in it so it’s a pretty heavy car but man he is wheeling it. Really proud of him and all the guys. We had a great spot and the vibe in this ZCG pit is filled with friends, family and fun. great time. Kudos to the CSRG people they put on such a great event. Excited to be a part of their organization.”
Enjoy this in-car video from Rob’s 510 as he starts from the very back of the race group:
You can see more of Rob’s race videos from the CSRG event (and other race) on his YouTube Channel. Give the guy a thumbs up and subscribe while you are there!
“CSRG has been gracious in letting ZCG provide pace cars for the race events… since it was raining and we did ‘t get our RZ34 in time we thought it appropriate to have Mrs. Butters do the duty…pretty cool to have Butters out there with pace car lights leading the track. Even the Pace Car driver really enjoyed her.
Photo by Josel Cobangbang (L) and Geoff Pitts (R)
A weekend of great racing and good times
It was so wonderful to share this experience with our friends and CSRG family. We look forward to another B-sedan event and special shoutout to ZCG crew including Nick F and Cooper. Running all of the cars above would not be possible without them.
Rob also test drove a few cars for clients to give feedback. Big thanks to Meghan for taking photos and video around the paddock. Here is a paddock highlight reel of what it’s like at a vintage race…you should join us next time!
There were cool cars everywhere in the paddock:
ZONC corral
Our friends from The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC) hosted a car corral on Saturday to support the David Love Vintage Races at Sonoma Raceway! Turnout was great and this CSRG event is free and family friendly, giving everyone the opportunity visit the pits and drivers up close. Super cool to see our client Linda Williams’ 1972 Datsun 240Z OMS Pace Car Duplicate with fellow Nissan/Datsun owners!
More photos in the gallery below! See you at Sonoma April 27 and Laguna Seca May 4 for SVRA’s double-header vintage racing events!
Join us for the 2023 Vintage Racing Season!
Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Here is list of events we will be attending in 2023, including CSRG and SVRA . Please join us!
March
March 3rd to the 5th SVRA Thunderhill
March 24 to 26th CRSG Sonoma
April
April 27th to 30th SVRA Sonoma
May
May 4th to 7th SVRA Laguna Seca
June
June 23rd to 25th CSRG Laguna Seca
August
August 12-13 Monterey Pre-Reunion
August 16-19 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion
WE LOVE RACING! On March 3-5, Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) hosted their SpeedTour season opener at Thunderhill Raceway. Z Car Garage had a great time racing and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group. Enjoy our report with in-car footage and photos.
Z Car Garage Race Support Services
Z Car Garage offers full trackside support and in-house race car preparation so you can focus on driving. Our client Todd R is a great example of ZCG trackside support in action. He’s been racing his Datsun 510 privateer-style for the last few years and hired us for the first time last year, check out his experience HERE. For the SVRA event at Thunderhill we supported our clients Tom and Gabe:
“The weekend was a little bit of mixed bag. Friday went well with some stellar setup tuning to adjust to the RA1 tire (first time with them on track). Saturday was a bit of disappointment with fuel pressure issues, but Rob, Nick and Copper stayed focused and the smoking gun (Fuel cell foam was long past its prime). Problem resolved and Sunday was a success. Starting from the back of the grid (after DNF’ing the Saturday qualifying race) provided some passing fun, finished the race chasing Mark Nettesheim in his newly rebuilt Maroon ands Silver #37. We stayed nose to tail until he spun on T3 on the last lap, providing me a window to slip by. Great fun.”
Gabe’s B-Sedan 510:
Rob was in his Bay Area Datsun Dealers 510:
Rob’s race report:
“It’s been a few months since we’ve been in our B-Sedan vintage race cars. We headed up to Thunderhill Raceway for new event, SVRA’s first time hosting a season opener. Weather was spotty with fear of rain all weekend but the Datsun Gods blessed each session with a nice, dry track. Usual suspects Meghan, Corwins, Nick and Cooper all helped support our clients Tom and Gabe. So we were the trifecta of B-Sedan awesomeness in group 8.”
“Tom’s car fought us a bit but with help from Nick and Cooper we were able to get it back on the track for Tom to enjoy the rest of the weekend. We need more Alfas and 2002s out there…we are the huge 510s fan and biggest advocate for rhem but it would be cool to see a wide of variety of cars racing. I was able to win one of the races and Gabe was in the front of the field. Really proud of him going from mid-pack to top 5 racers. He will only get faster.”
Watch this video from Rob’s 510 in the B-Sedan Group 8:
You can see more race videos from the SVRA event on Rob’s YouTube Channel. Give the guy a thumbs up and subscribe while you are there! (Below) Rob Fuller, Troy Ermish and Jim Froula, Gabe and David all on the podium:
A weekend of great racing and good times
Special thanks to ZCG crew Nick and Cooper for kicking ass all weekend to ensure our cars were safe and running in top form. We had a great time and it was nice to see new faces and old friends like David Carroll. He won OPTIMA’s Search for the Ultimate Street Car in his LS-powered Z!
Join The Vintage Racing Fun
Interested in joining the vintage racing fun? Z Car Garage can help you prepare and support your race car at the track. We can also help you find a vintage race car! Contact Rob at the shop at 408-452-0350 or e-mail rob@Zcargarage.com for more details. Catch all of our race reports on zcarblog HERE and stay tuned for our race report from the 3/25 CSRG race event! More photos in the gallery below:
