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. If you have any questions regarding prep and presentation, reach out to Rob Fuller: rob@zcargarage.com. Please see below for more information and rules.

 

Why Vintage Spec Miata (VSM)?

Why VSM? It’s a great way to get into vintage racing at an affordable price point. The nice folks at the CSRG have a strict no-contact policy as part of their racing philosophy: this ensures the safest environment for you to race competitively while sharing the track with traditional cars.

 

Lastly, CSRG events are known for their camaraderie and undeniably cool eye-candy. If you want to mix it up with classic race cars of the 60s and 70s in your Spec Miata, this is the ticket.

 

Did we mention it is Fun! See what vintage racing with CSRG is all about in one of our race reports HERE!

 

Fellow Spec-Miata racer Ross L in front of Randy Pobst’s first National Championship-winning Miata (1992). Below, Rob Fuller’s Spec-Miata at the shop:

 

 

CSRG Rules for VSM

 

The first race event is March 15!

 

Register your Vintage Spec Miata for CSRG’s first event, the 2024 David Love Races at Sonoma Raceway March 15-17. Registration details HERE. It will be a blast on Sonoma’s NEWLY PAVED surface with plenty of vintage cars and good times. See you there!

 

Z Car Garage had a blast at GRIDLIFE Laguna at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. This was the final festival of the season held on October 20th, and Rob Fuller raced his B-Sedan Datsun 510 in the Touring Cup group. Enjoy our race report with commentary from Rob, photos and video below.

 

ROB: “I am fortunate to be friends with Larry Chen. We were chatting about Z cars, vintage racing, and our obsession with Datsuns when he mentioned that GRIDLIFE was coming to Laguna Seca for the first time. Thought it would be cool to bring a vintage car there as Seca is my home-track. I didn’t know anything about the run groups/classes, only what I’ve seen through Larry’s lens. Since Nick and Cooper did so much trackside support I called out the OG’s…Joshua and his father Keith Corwin. Josh went down on Thursday, loaded us in to the paddock and I arrived Friday in the New Z.”

 

“Tech inspection was quite stringent with check off items like do you have aero? dox bog? weight? We had to add about 150lbs of ballast to our Bay Area Datsun Dealers 510. Gridlife also specifies racing on a 200 treadwear tire. Since there are no 200TW tires in my size we went with a Toyo RA-1. Toyo has been very supportive of my club racing and vintage racing. They wanted to place the BADD 510 in their Toyo booth which I was really excited about.”

Photos by Larry Chen

Racing in GLTC

The GRIDLIFE Touring Car Cup (GLTC) 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 were really excited to throw our hat in the ring and show everyone what a 50-year old Datsun 510 can do. It was a great opportunity to introduce this crowd to vintage racing!

 

ROB: “In Race 1 I was pretty out-gunned. At ‘Seca when I am on the tire we run and weight, my car is usually running 1:40.2 or 1:40.4. With the added weight and tires I was running 1:44s while front runners were at 1:39 and 1:40…so the first time in a long time, my little BADD 510 was in the back. I gridded and started 29th and made it up to 25th. Starting position is determined by your fastest lap in previous race. They are really strict about the rules so they impounded me and weighed me…I was flattered that they picked me being the smallest, oldest car in the field!”

 

“Race 2 I started 25th and made it to 17th in the first couple of laps…but with with their wings, big tires and hp, aero etc. I couldn’t hang. We finished 23rd. Race 3 I had another good start and made it to 17th again. Two laps in unfortunately my transmission failed. I did a really good job of getting off the race surface, so no yellow flags or race stop. Had the best seat in the house watching the drivers cruise around. All in all really cool to be a part of something different. It’s funny it almost felt like the Sesame Street Song..one of these things is not like the other…the 510 looked out of place in the field but right at home as usual on the track.”

   

Video

Enjoy this video with in-car footage from Rob’s 510, paddock and drift and action:

Good People. Good Vibes.

“Absolutely adore Larry Chen’s staff and the Gridlife folks were super generous. So many people came to see the 510 in the paddock and it was endearing as always to hear “My dad had a 510”. I think we accomplished the goal of showing people that 50 years ago a Datsun 510 was competitive and even today, out-gunned, it is still competitive. 

 

We were stoked to see local ay Area gearheads like Ali and Lane from Driving While Awesome and Radwood fame. B-Sedan Racing also showed some love. Shawn’s Time-Attack S30 was also in the field and nearby in the Toyo Tires booth…

 

Drifting Up-close

 

“I missed the afternoon’s Race 4, kind of a bummer but Larry Chen asked me to be his assistant in the chase car for the drift exhibition…he didn’t have to ask me twice and it was F’ing rad! Watching Larry do what he does…to be inches from a drift car and capture that perfect action shot…in the Corkscrew with the car completely sideways on front of us and Larry is creeping up to it. Just brilliant. He’s an incredible driver, I wasn’t nervous…I was pumped.” 

 

Thanks Gridlife!

 

“If you haven’t been to a Gridlife event I highly suggest it. I’m already planning to attend the next event and bring a car that allow us to be competitive. Great job and welcome to West Coast, Gridife. Super shoutout to Larry Chen, Tyler and Spicy Luis you made me feel right at home.”

All races were livestreamed, you can watch them HERE. Don’t forge to check out Rob’s full in-car racing videos over on his YouTube channel and give him a follow!

Coming up next will be our race report from the 2023 Velocity Invitational at Sonoma Raceway!

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Just as I finished the last post the UPS truck pulled up with another round of goodies for the GT-R.  Four brand-new Toyo Proxes T1R tires in sizes 285/30/ZR20 and 315/25/ZR20 arrived to compliment the 20″ HRE one-off wheels.  Mounting and balancing is currently underway.  Also in the latest delivery was a set of bright red Status Racing seats and mounting hardware.  The seats are made of a tightly woven material and have large side bolsters with provisions for 6pt. harnesses.  Check out the pictures.