WE LOVE RACING! Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) hosted the 21st Charity Challenge at Sonoma Raceway on September 13-15. Z Car Garage raced and supported several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in the B-Sedan Group (John Morton Cup). Everyone had a blast, enjoy our race report with in-car video and photos below.

  

Z Car Garage Supports Six Cars!

 

It is our pleasure to bring more enthusiasts into the world of vintage racing. Our services 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:

Roll-call for the 6 ZCG-supported cars racing at the Charity Challenge…

#64 Kenny Tse

  

#98 Kelly M

#6 and #30 Noah’s Bluebird and BMW 2002

#7 Rob Fuller

The Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car was driven by Tom Dockery!

    

Group 3 B-Sedan Races

Rob recaps the Charity Challenge races from Group 3: B-Sedan and John Morton Cup…

“Over the last 21 years, CSRG has raised money for children’s charities and every Fall Z Car Garage tries to attend their main event, the Charity Challenge. In the B-Sedan group we were happy to support Ross Lindell in the historic Randy Pobst Miata, Kelly M in his 510, Noah debuting the Bluebird, Kenny in the #64 Dragonetti 510, Tom Dockery achieved a Personal Best lap time in the BADD 510 and Danny ran the BMW 2002. Everyone had a great time.”

   

“Noah went right to work and really felt comfortable with the Bluebird. We had made some changes like tightening up the front end and final drive to work with our NorCal tracks here. The 2002 was flawless with the issues we sorted prior. Kelly M’s logged some good laps but unfortunately had an oiling issue and didn’t finish the weekend. The Miatas were also able to be in the mix in Group 3.”

 

Enjoy this in-car videos from the Group 3 Race with Tom Dockery in the BADD 510…watch out for the close-call at the end of the first lap…

TOM: How can anyone turn down an offer to drive the Bay Area Datsun 510 at another CSRG event? You simply can’t. And it’s even harder to refuse when the deal includes coaching from Rob and track support from Josh, Cooper, and Keith. My Friday and Saturday practice and qualifying sessions were both fun and a bit frustrating. I found myself blaming slower traffic for not being able to fully unlock the car’s potential. Sunday morning, Rob and I reviewed my video footage, and he pointed out two key things: first, being too polite on the track doesn’t win races, and second, the car thrives at 8,000 rpm—so push it there. Between races, I also sat in on a video chat between Rob and Kenny that was packed with helpful insights. The result? Sunday’s two races saw me shaving 3-4 seconds off my lap times and finishing several spots higher than where I started. All in all, it was an amazing experience with the ZCG crew—Rob, Meghan, and the rest of the ZCG racing team.

 

Z Car Garage was happy to have our 2023 Nissan Z as Official Pace Car at the Charity Challenge.

 

Enjoy the sights and sounds from the paddock at the CSRG event:

Vintage Spec Miata

 

The Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is excited to welcome Vintage Spec Miata (1990-1997) to all of their events! This is a fun, affordable way to get into vintage racing. Rob Fuller raced Lora Baggott’s Spec Miata.

It was cool to see Randy Pobst’s first National Championship-winning Miata (1992), currently owned by Ross Lindell. If you have any questions regarding prep and presentation, reach out to Rob Fuller: rob@zcargarage.com.

  

 

Thank You!

The Charity Challenge was fun with the usual group of folks, Oliver, Meghan, lots of snacks and good times. The ZCG crew kept all of us safe and on the track to enjoy the weekend, shoutout to Cooper and Josh! Another highlight was the dinner/auction at the Turn 11 clubhouse. Excited for next year’s event! Huge shoutout and thank you to our star photographer Meghan Fuller for capturing all of the paddock and track photos in the gallery below.

 

The racing continues! We are racing at Sonoma again for the Velocity Invitational October 4-6.

Join us for the 2024 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 Charity Challenge at Sonoma September 13-15.

 

…[read more]

 

WE LOVE RACING! Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) is hosting the 21st Charity Challenge at Sonoma Raceway, September 13-15. Z Car Garage is participating and supporting several client’s Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group. 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. Attention DRIVERS: there is still time to register to race! Sign up HERE.

 

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 2023 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…

  

#64 Kenny Tse

  

#98 Kelly M

 

#68 and #30 Noah’s 510 and BMW 2002

 

We will also be supporting Lora’s Spec Miata!

 

#7 Rob Fuller

ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car

     

Join us for the 2024 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 Charity Challenge at Sonoma September 13-15.

 

 

 

 

The third annual Laps for Laguna vintage racing event was held on May 31-June 2. This event is created by the Laguna Seca Raceway Foundation and Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) to raise money for charity. Z Car Garage had a blast racing and supporting Datsun 510 race cars running in B-Sedan Group 3. It was a great weekend filled with competition, camaraderie and plenty of Alfas, BMWs and Datsuns sharing the track. Enjoy our report!

 

Z Car Garage Racers

We raced and provided trackside support for 9 cars including B-Sedan Datsun 510s and Kenny’s 997 GT3 Cup car:

#7 Kelvin Tse

 

#64 Kenny Tse

 

Kenny’s Ex-Ted Gruner B-Sedan Datsun 510 featuring our Z Car Garage CV Axles :

  

#25 Jeff Rothman

Gabe’s father Jeff is racing his B-Sedan Datsun 510:

 

#98 Kelly M

 

#68 and #30 Noah’s 510 and BMW 2002

 

#7 Rob Fuller

ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car (driven by Tom Dockery, see below)

 

Tom shares his experience racing in Rob’s Datsun 510:

“Rob’s generous offer to run his Bay Area Datsun 510 at Laps for Laguna was incredible. It gave me a chance to get back on track after over a year of downtime, with people I know and trust. It also allowed me to experience racing a highly developed B-Sedan. From the first lap in Rob’s car, I fell in love with how it handled the course. With each session, I reduced my lap times until I was consistently running laps in race traffic that were better than my previous personal record. Despite some missed shifts with the Dog Box, I managed to qualify and finish in the top half of the field. I’m looking forward to this fall and the Velocity Invitational, where I’ll be back in the Balzer 510, hopefully set up as well as Rob’s Bay Area Datsun 510.”

Enjoy this in-car video of Tom in Group 3 with paddock footage as well:

The Z Car Garage Nissan Z as Pace Car

Z Car Garage was happy to have our 2023 Nissan Z as Official Pace Car at Laps For Laguna. You might notice the new Z’s livery, it’s a nod to our #49 Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z, and we will dedicate a separate blog post to it:

 

Glenn’s FAR Performance Datsun 240Z

Race car driver, restorer and Datsun Historian Glenn Chiou raced 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. It was fun to watch him race this beautifully-restored 240Z, going as fast as he’s ever been too, earning a class win!

 

Enjoy this in-car video of Glenn in the BADD Z:

Paddock Highlights

Big thanks to Meghan and Ning for taking photos and video around the paddock. Enjoy this VIDEO highlighting paddock and race action

 

A weekend of great racing and good times

 

There was such a great vibe in our pit and it was an absolute pleasure seeing our clients all from different walks of life enjoying the company. Amazing weekend. Special shoutout to ZCG crew for keeping all of the cars running so we can race! More photos in the gallery below.

 

Join us for the 2024 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 Charity Challenge at Sonoma September 13-15. We had a blast at last year’s Laps for Laguna, see our race report HERE.

…[read more]

 

Z Car Garage is preparing several Datsun 510 B-Sedan race cars for this weekend’s Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) David Love Vintage races at Sonoma Raceway. Enjoy the dyno video of the Ex-Ted Gruner B-Sedan Datsun 510 and car-prep photos below!

 

All 510 race cars are getting their suspension and motors dialed-in for the race weekend:

 

 

Gabe Rothman’s B-Sedan featuring our Z Car Garage CV Axles:

 

Spectators are FREE, so come out and enjoy a weekend filled with competition, camaraderie and plenty of Alfas, BMWs and Datsuns sharing the track.

 

 

 

Last Saturday Z Car Garage gathered a group of vintage cars to attend Cars and Coffee at SIM Racers Group in San Jose. We had a great time and thank everyone for hanging out with us. Thanks to Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) for hosting! Enjoy the photos below.

 

We caravanned from Z Car Garage around 8:15am with close to 25 cars!

   

Arriving at Sim Racers Group with 40 cars and good times. We enjoyed chatting with everyone and testing our skills on the simulators.

 

Here are a few Z Car Garage clients in attendance:

Larry Chen’s SR20DET-powered 1970 Datsun 240Z is back at Z Car Garage. He dropped it off from SoCal for a few more wishlist items. Stay tuned for updates on this Series 1 S30 featuring Z Car Garage Big-Brakes (Stoptech), ZCG CV Axles, KW suspension and dyno-tuned SR20DET.

 

Matt’s KA24DE-T Datsun 510

Lora B’s R35 GT-R

 

Kurt’s iconic VG30ET-powered 510, “The Strutless Wonder”

 

Lou’s Series 1 1970 Datsun 240Z

 

Kurt’s 1973 Kenmeri Skyline

 

Linda’s 2023 Proto-Spec Z

 

Armon’s 1973 Datsun 240Z

Craig’s 2004 Nissan 350Z

 

Alex’s Sunny Truck

 

Geoff’s 1966 Cortina and Eric’s 1964 Mercury Comet

 

Nick’s Samurai and Josh’s VW Bug: