On July 10-12, the Classic Sport Racing Group (CSRG) hosted the David Love Vintage Races. Our favorite feature race was the Group 8 class with 20 sedans battling at Sonoma Raceway. 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 from contributors Kurt Boden, Trent Barr, Nick Dockery and ZCG Crew Nick F and Josh C.

Z Car Garage Supports Three Datsun 510s!

 

2020 has been a strange year and we were fortunate to be racing again at Sears Point in the David Love event. Z Car Garage both participated and provided support for several Datsun 510 race cars.

Here is a video with sights and sounds from the paddock, samples of in-car footage of Rob Fuller, Tom Dockery, Glenn Chiou and Mike Anderson:

 

#7 Rob Fuller

ZCG owner Rob Fuller, Bay Area Datsun Dealers tribute car

    

Rob Fuller has not been in the Bay Area Datsun Dealers 510 since last year’s John Morton Cup. This car was purchased from Larry Oka as an IT car, slowly transforming into a B-Sedan. We sorted out the front suspension and this time the rear was attacked. From Rob:

“We installed the weight jacker set to adjust springs for ride height and a DP Racing sway bar that has the same design as the BRE car. Since the shop was slammed and customers come first, we enlisted our friend and fellow racer Troy Ermish to dial in the rear setup. Josh did final prep on the car and we were ready to go. The car did awesome with the back end of he car making all the difference in the world: instead of hopping around uncontrollably I was able to feed it throttle and negotiate the car in/out of corners. We went from middle to front of pack with Troy and the fast friends from RacecraftNW. Good times.”

 

You can see footage of Rob in the second race here:

Here is a great video with multiple angles showing Rob battling with Steve Walker (BMW 2002):

 

#7 Kelvin

 

Let’s talk about our clients. Three weeks before the CSRG event we got a call from Kelvin and he was testing his 510 that he just got from a local shop. It was sputtering and running poorly and by chance Larry Oka was also testing and referred Kelvin to us. We got him on the dyno and the engine failed. With a quick call to Rebello the engine was sorted, installed back in the the 510 and we handled all the prep work to be ready for the race weekend.

 

Kelvin had a successful race experience, finally:

“Kelvin has dealt with some issues on the car and this was the first time he had a good time with it. We were really happy for him. That’s why do this: we want more people at the race track driving, not fixing. It doesn’t allow to you to build confidence as a driver. You need to have a car that is reliable and works well so you can focus on you as a driver. Kelvin was super pumped. On test day I drove both Kelvin and Tom’s cars and they are fantastic examples of what a B-sedan can be. All they need to do is knock those numbers down”

 

Stay tuned for a full report on Kelvin’s 510. His friend Ed M was so impressed with our work that he wants ZCG to prep his sedan as well. Look for full report soon!

 

#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’s 510 has an FIA engine so it revs really high making it peaky and hard to drive. Per Tom’s suggestion, a shorter gearset would put him in the powerband and sure enough…always listen to your driver! Tom really got faster and it was great seeing him out there. Car has been flawless.

 

510 Friends!

Many notable Datsun 510 racers were in the group, all sharing the competitive spirit.

#33 Glenn Chiou

Glenn drove the Ex-Finn/Harris U2.5L Trans-Am ’68 510. This car made its debut in May at the SVRA event at Laguna Seca. Glenn did an admirable job (as always) getting this historically significant 510 back on the racetrack!

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Glenn was fast. He charged all the way to the front of the pack, only seconds within Jim Froula and Rob. In-car from Glenn:

 

It is also worth noting that Glenn is one of the few “privateer” racers in the field. He sets up his own race car in his garage and his crew are friends Erich and Lloyd. We want to congratulate Glenn on the birth of his son! Kudos for racing and being a father!

#38 Troy Ermish

Troy is a phenomenal driver. He helped set up our 510 rear suspension too:) Watching Troy wheel his blue 510 his a thing of madness, finesse, skill and beauty. He took 1st place!

 

#52 Jim Froula

Race car driver and restoration specialist Jim Froula of Racecraft in the Ex- Harry Stewart Datsun 510. Jim was kind to let us pit with his gang. He’s also a fierce competitor.

  

David Love race results can be seen below:

 

A Memorable Racing Event

 

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 Troy Ermish, ZCG crew including Nick F, the Corwins Josh and Keith. Running all of the cars above would not be possible without them. Rob is excited for future events:

“Of all the vintage racing I’ve done and been around, the B-Sedan group is where it’s at. It’s competitive, fun and you always have someone to race with. We will attempt to do this again August 8-9 at Laguna Seca. Glenn and I are gathering ~25 cars!. Look for B-sedan to become one of the featured groups with CSRG, SVRA and even HMSA/RMMR!”

 

More pictures in the gallery below!
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