Z Car Garage prepared and supported many race cars for last year’s Rolex Reunion and this year we are excited to attend once again August 15-18! The crew has been working diligently to prepare and tune three vintage race cars: Alex McDowell’s 1967 Datsun Bluebird and 1979 Jim Fitzgerald 280zx, and Doug Steven’s 1975 DeKon Monza. The team will be at the Pre-Historics this weekend so stop by and say hello! Read on to see and hear the three racers being dyno-tuned…
1975 DeKon Monza
This is a formidable vintage race car that we will be spotlighting in its own blog post. It is the second of its kind (Chassis #1002) with a unique history that is perfect for the IMSA feature at the upcoming Historics. For more information on DeKon, go here.
Listen to the Chevy-powered Monza on the dyno in the video below. Also shown is the Bluebird making L-Series music and the 280zx:
1967 Datsun Bluebird
Alex McDowell will be racing his 1967 Datsun Bluebird Coupe and 1979 Jim Fitzgerald Datsun 280zx at the RMMR.
Re-cap of these two in action from the 2018 event below:
Alex raced with notable 510 drivers Troy Ermish (#9), Jim Froula(#52), Dave Stone(#93), Glenn Chiou(#21), Taz Harvey (#51) and Datsun Roadsters Mike Anderson (#38) and Steve Link (#23). Watch this extended in-car video below of Alex piloting the Bluebird. Alex finished the race 12th/50 cars with a best lap of 1:48.1. Lots of action in this one!
Alex’s Datsun 280zx
Alex ran the Jim Fitzgerald 280zx in Group 7B: IMSA GTO, GTU with some wild rotary and Trans Am cars. He was having too much fun in the Bluebird so did run the car in the final race. The Z ran well throughout the Pre-Reunion and qualifying where Alex was running 1:44s. Here is a short video of the Z in action:
Get your tickets and parking!
You can get discounted tickets AND preferred parking through The Z Owners of Northern California (ZONC). They are hosting a Nissan-only parking corral at Weathertech Laguna Seca Raceway and it’s the best way to park and enjoy the event. For more details please see the ZONC press release below.
Datsun and Nissan Revisit IMSA at 2019 RMMR
By Ann Devor
Following on the heels of last year’s fantastic Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, twelve Datsuns and Nissans have been chosen to compete in three races in 2019’s RMMR at WeatherTech Laguna Seca Raceway. The 2019 RMMR is celebrating IMSA and will feature three classes of IMSA racecars over the four-day weekend from August 15 through August 18. David Martin’s 240Z, Alex McDowell’s 280ZX and Rob Morgan’s 280ZX will be racing on Saturday August 17 in Race 5A (1973-1981 IMSA, GT, GTX class). Almost equally exciting will be the IMSA prototype Race 7A on Saturday where you will see advanced racing performance and styling not seen in the production-based cars.
On Sunday in Race 6B (1981-1991 IMSA GTO/GTU racecars), Craig Bennett will drive a 1991 300ZX competing against John Murray in a 1989 Nissan 240SX, Philip Mendelovitz in a 1989 240SX and Michael Parsons in his 1990 300ZX. We’ll also see Datsun roadsters on Sunday in non-IMSA Race 5B featuring 1961-1966 GT cars under 2500cc including Alex McDowell’s 1967 Bluebird, Phillip Mendelovitz’ 1967 311 Roadster, Ross Merrill in his 1966 Fairlady Roadster and Steve Smargiasso in a 1966 Datsun 311 Roadster.
Here’s what we have planned so far exclusively for Datsun and Nissan fans:
- We have a private corral with 20 reserved paved parking spaces. Datsun-Nissan race fans who wish to park in our Datsun-Nissan special parking area must purchase their corral passes and admission tickets only from ZONC. If we sell out our 20 corral spaces we will try to get more, but there is no guarantee. Corral passes ($45) are good for the entire 4-day weekend.
- ZONC is again offering a discount on admission tickets.
| Individual Ticket Pricing | Regular Price | ZONC Discounted Price |
| 4-Day (Thurs/Fri/Sat/Sun) | $170 | $145 |
| 3-Day (Fri/Sat/Sun) | $150 | $130 |
| 2-Day (Sat/Sun) | $120 | $105 |
| Thursday only | $ 40 | $ 35 |
| Friday only | $ 70 | $ 60 |
| Saturday only | $100 | $ 85 |
| Sunday only | $ 70 | $ 60 |
For more information or to be added to our special mailing list for updated information, please contact me at anndevor@gmail.com. Don’t hesitate, don’t be late, and get ready to have a great time at the 2019 RMMR!
