The 2026 Velocity Invitational was held at Sonoma Raceway May 29-31. Z Car Garage had a blast racing and supporting clients in Group 8 (ALMS) and Group 5 (B-Sedan). The event was just as fun for spectators with a friendly, immersive vibe. Enjoy our report from the weekend with photos and in-car video of the action.
Z Car Garage Racers
Photo by Chris Constantine
This year we missed racing in Group 7 IMSA, however the #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z was proudly displayed in the paddock for the weekend.
You can see photos and in-car video from Rob in the Joel Anderson IMSA GTU 240Z from the last VI race below. Volume up and enjoy!
The IMSA group this year was fun to watch and we enjoyed seeing the Leary 280Z car driven by Gabe Tesch’s son, Jake.
Historic B & C Sedan
Photo by Alex Trang
Historic B&C Sedan partnered with Velocity Invitational to gather a collection of 30+ real historic B and C sedan cars in a dedicated run group! Several cars among them had real Trans Am Under 2L and Two-Five Challenge history like the Datsun 510s of Corky Bell and Bob Finn.
The Corky Bell Trans Am 510 (Group 5)
Famed engineer and race car driver Corky Bell ran this Datsun 510 in the early 70’s Trans Am series. Z Car Garage restored it back to its former glory with Trans Am livery and Corky drove it for the first time in 53 years at the last Velocity. We will dedicate a separate blog post to the restoration and Corky’s story. Here are a few photos of the car during the revival:
Rob Fuller piloted the Bell Trans Am 510 at the Velocity Invitational. His race report is below:
ROB: This year we were going to see the return of the Joel Anderson IMSA 240Z and unfortunately it didn’t work out. Then our Mini Cooper that was supposed to be in the Mini Vs. Muscle race had some engine issues…so let’s talk about the fun stuff… Historic B&C Sedan!
After many years of dedication, Dave Stone and Glenn Chiou finally got an entire group of Historic B&C Sedans assembled for a run group at Velocity Invitational. This is really amazing because it has been discussed forever and every one of the cars inside the field has historic pedigree with stories. With about 33 cars total it was fun racing and we had a really good time. 510s were very strong in the field…Noah was there in his 68 car, Kenny in the 64 Ex-Ted Gruner car, Tom Dockery in the 72 Ex-Balzer/Koobation car and Rob Fuller and Corky Bell number 40 Datsun 510.
Chet Taylor raced his Alpha GTV which was piloted for almost 50 years by Jon Norman (Bay Area Alpha legend) and he was in the mix. It was just a blast with great racing and got to spend time with fans and tell them about the cars and their stories. That’s one of my favorite parts. Everybody was competitive, there were no car issues. It was an absolute wonderful weekend filled with peanut butter pretzels, snacks, good times and hugs. Also honorable mention to Greg Hoff in Larry Oka’s historic Michael Bell car that ran out of the Pacific Northwest in the late 70s.
The Corky Bell car finished 2nd in the Qualifying Race and third in the Feature Race.
Enjoy this video of Rob Fuller racing in Group 5 at the Velocity Invitational with in-car action:
You can also see the full-length, in-car footage on Saturday and Sunday and watch more of Rob’s racing adventures on his YouTube Channel.
#68 Noah’s Datsun 510
#72 Tom Dockery
We have helped Tom build and prepare his Ex-Norm Balzer/Koobation 510 for several years. One of his racing goals for 2026 is to attend both the Velocity Invitational and Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.
TOM: Velocity Invitational 2026 was another outstanding event for the B Sedan community. A large B-Sedan group, 30 plus cars with a broad representation of manufacturers. This was my first event after extensive work on the car performed by the Z Car Garage team. A special thanks to Rob, Josh and Cooper. The car worked well and I was able to stay in the top third of the run group. There is always room for improvement in my driving but I was very happy with my performance and more importantly the performance of the run group. The group put on a good show with racing throughout the field. Looking forward to August and the Rolex.
We have in-car video from Tom Dockery in the Ex-Norm Balzer B-Sedan Datsun 510, volume up and enjoy!
#64 Kenny Tse
Kenny is a steady ZCG trackside support client, running the Ex-Ted Gruner 510.
#37 Glenn Chiou
The Historic B and C Sedan founder and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou raced his his Ex-Bob Finn U2.5L Trans-Am Datsun 510 This car features our Z Car Garage CV Axles. We also provided dyno tuning services for the fresh Rebello L18 with Solex/Mikuni 44phh induction and BRE intake:
More on-track photos by Elton Hom can be seen HERE
Friday Night Meet with Sung Kang and Larry Chen
Lifelong car guys Sung Kang and Larry Chen brought the spirit of Daikoku PA to Sonoma Raceway for a one-of-a-kind Friday night meet. Z Car Garage displayed #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z. Rob recalls the evening:
ROB: Friday night…Larry Chen and Sung Kang go to Sonoma Raceway. They had a separate event where they sold tickets to allow fans to bring cars to the meet, see a drift car demo and trailer of the new movie, Drifter. Larry and Sung did a Q&A-style hang with fans and as the sun set Velocity had us bring down the IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z to the hot pit and display it with some really cool curated cars.
After the Q&A/trailer and everything in turn seven, they would choose which cars that would go down and be in the car show, was really cool. Lots of families and people I’ve never seen before. The IMSA 240Z was staged between some cars from the race like the Celica GTU car and a Mazda 767B.
At the very end of the hot pit was Larry Chen signing books and meeting people. That line didn’t stop until they kicked us out at 9:30 at night. It was absolutely incredible. People were excited and respectful. People talked to me about some of the YouTube channel episodes that I’ve been in with Larry, their own Z car projects and being at the VI for the first time. Just absolutely wonderful. Very very cool to bridge that world to our world and so it was just a mix of young and old and families. Spent time with Johnny Lieberman. Highlight for me was seeing Joey Bautista’s early (Prince) Skyline it was epic. Really good time had by all and just a great job for Velocity bringing folks together.
Z Car Garage Trackside Race Support Services
ZCG provided trackside support for 4 cars in the B-Sedan field at the Velocity Invitational. Interested in our services? Find out more HERE.
Porsche 997 GT3 Cup (Group 8)
This very special Porsche is the 2006 FIA European GT3 Championship winning car that was driven by Sean Edwards. It is a 997 GT3 Cup S Prototype and our client Kenny Tse raced it in the ALMS (group 8).
Paddock Gems
There was no shortage of rare and exotic cars from well-known supercar marques. Historic icons were everywhere. More photos in the gallery below!
Our client Lora with her Series 1 Datsun 240Z
A Fan-Friendly Race Event
One of the best experiences for spectators is the paddock and organizers made access to drivers and their machines seamless. Fans could get up close and personal with race cars without the typical ropes or 45-foot RVs in the way. Enjoy our video coverage of the paddock focused on the Historic B&C Sedan groups:
If you want to see action from the event in its entirety, check out live streaming coverage HERE. Huge thanks to Meghan Fuller for capturing photos/videos for ZCG. More photos in the gallery below from photographers Alex Trang, Chris Constantine and Elton Hom.
ZCG Race Crew
Huge shoutout to the Z Car Garage race crew including Josh, Meghan, and Cooper. We are grateful for your support, keeping us safe and on the track!
Join us for the 2026 Vintage Racing Season!
Z Car Garage is amped for more racing this year. Please check the CSRG website and zcarblog.com for upcoming race events. Do not miss the next event: CSRG’s Corkscrew Classic June 12-14.
