Filed under: 240z,510,Events,Racing
by Alvin G @ 5:25 pm on October 30, 2023
The CSRG Finale
On November 3-5, Classic Sport Racing Group (CSRG) is hosting the 56th Season Finale and Awards Dinner at Thunderhill Raceway Park. Z Car Garage will be racing Datsun 510s with the B-Sedan group and testing a Mini in preparation for the upcoming Velocity Invitational event. The John Morton Cup will be Group 3, see race schedule below:
Joining the ZCG crew are the Rothmans (Gabe and Jeff) and Todd R:
You can also view our report from last year’s CSRG Finale here: HERE. We are excited for the last CSRG vintage racing race of the year, see you at Thunderhill!
WE LOVE RACING! Classic Sports Racing Group (CSRG) hosted the 20th Charity Challenge at Sonoma Raceway on September 8-10. 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 Five Datsun 510s!
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:
#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 and his Dad Jeff’s B-Sedans:
#7 Rob Fuller
ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car
Rob recaps the Charity Challenge races from Group 3: B-Sedan and John Morton Cup…
“Over the last 20 years, CSRG has raised money for children’s charities and every Fall Z Car Garage tries to attend the Charity Challenge. We had a strange summer with Laguna Seca canceling our summer event, so it had been many months since CSRG was on the race track. In the B-Sedan group we were happy to support Kenny, Todd, and Gabe’s Datsun 510s. We also had newcomer Jeff Rothman, who is father of Gabe. Jeff’s no stranger to vintage racing with serious Alfas and a Formula Ford. One of Gabe’s fondest early memories is when his Dad took him to the historic races at Laguna Seca. And now they are racing together at Sonoma.”
“First session out Kenny had a transmission issue, so Nick and Cooper went to work making sure everyone could stay on the track. We got Kenny’s car back together and I lost 4th gear in my 510 so I decided to start from the back. I was proud to still click off a fast time despite losing 4th gear. Gabe and Kenny shared the front row and both got their personal lap records! It was Todd’s first time with an Elite box, he kicked ass with no issues while improving his times. We had just done a bunch of prep to Jeff’s car and he had a great time. Not as many cars in our run group but it was super fun.”
Enjoy these in-car videos from the Group 3 Race from Rob’s Datsun 510:
“No 4th gear but still trying to get to the front. At the start of the race a Mini hits me in the right rear but I am able to recover and keep racing till the end . Thanks for CSRG for another great weekend. Z Car Garage kept me safe and on track all weekend long. Do it in a Datsun! Note: My steering wheel is off since my car is toed in the rear and you can hear the right rear tire howling.. Good times!”
Race 2: Rob was missing 4th gear all weekend so he tried starting in the back to see if he could work his way to the front:
The 2023 Nissan Z as Pace Car!
Z Car Garage was happy to have our 2023 Nissan Z as Official Pace Car at the Charity Challenge. Rob was happy to wheel the New Z around the track:
“One of the coolest things about the Charity Challenge was driving the new Z as pace car and give charity rides. In its 20th year the Charity Challenge has raised millions for children’s charities and they allowed me to be a driver on Sat/Sun to give 4-5 rides which included a warm-up lap, race lap and cool-down lap. Yes, that’s actor/director Seth Rogen!
Paddock Action
Experience the sights and sounds from our paddock and the race track in this video below!
“My IMSA car has pretty good history at Sears Point (now Sonoma Raceway); it came from the Bondurant School and actually held a record there. I really enjoyed driving it, and had a good pace. Super fun race with Jim Froula of RacecraftNW in his GT3 240SX-bodied car. Stoked on the ZCG crew and thanks to Roger Kraus for the tires: first time running Goodyears and I love them. The Joel Anderson IMSA Z was on display all weekend and people remembered it from back in the day. A couple came over and showed me a photo of the Z from 1980. I let a young person sit in it. Made me happy to see folks appreciating Joel’s creation.”
Enjoy these in-car videos from Group 8 in The Joel Anderson IMSA GTU Datsun 240Z:
Sunday’s race:
“Thank you CSRG for another great event. It was so awesome to get the Joel Anderson GTU 240Z out on track. Great driving by Jim @racecraftnw in his GT3 car. Thank you Z Car Garage for keeping us safe and on track all weekend. Long live the Z.”
Saturday’s race:
“Starting from the back in Anderson 49 car… @ the 13 min mark Dr. Phil waves me by and I come up on a waving yellow caused by a spun out car in Turn 4. I clear it and give Phil back his position and we race to the checkered flag. So cool to be on track with some Nissan History. Thanks for CSRG for another great weekend. Z Car Garage kept me safe and on track all weekend long. Do it in a Datsun!”
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. We got to have dinner in the turn 11 clubhouse for the first time and the vibe was incredible. 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 Laguna Seca this weekend for the GRIDLIFE event. Race reports from the Laps For Laguna event and SVRA Double-header are coming soon. You can see our report from the 2022 Charity Challenge HERE
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
Z Car Garage is excited to race at GRIDLIFE Laguna October 20th – 22nd, 2023 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. This is the final festival of the season, with multiple races including the GRIDLIFE Touring Cup, final round of the NOS Energy TrackBattle Time Attack, and demonstrative drift on track. Off track, a music festival experience highlights the weekend with headlining artist T-Pain.
Rob Fuller will be racing his Bay Area Datsun Dealers 510 in the GRIDLIFE Touring Car Cup (GLTC). This is a wheel-to-wheel sprint racing series that focuses on single-class sprint racing. Typical entrants are modern cars like the S2000, Miata, Corvette, Cayman…so we are really excited to throw our hat in the ring and show everyone what a 50-year old Datsun 510 can do. It’s a great opportunity to introduce this crowd to vintage racing!
Rob will be running a treaded-tire on the 510 which should make this a really interesting race to watch. We practice and race on Friday with Races 2, 3 and 4 on Saturday. All races will be livestreamed:
Other highlights include professional drift drivers from all of the over the world. Our friend Larry Chen will be drifting and running chase car duty at GRIDLIFE, you can see the race schedule HERE. We can’t wait to be a part of the festival. See you in a week at Laguna Seca!
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
