Laguna Seca 2025

When traditions produce fond memories, they tend to self-perpetuate.

For the eighth time since 2016, the "fabulous foursome" (Nan, Shirley, Don, an yours truly) made the traditional trip from Carlsbad to Laguna Seca to watch the Corvettes race in IMSA competition.

As we have done in the past, including last year, we took two C8 Corvettes on a road trip the 400 miles one-way to Monterey for three days of Corvette worship.  We arrived on Friday afternoon early enough for Happy Hour and some beautiful views of the Monterey Bay. 

Last year we took the Nan's Z06, but this year we took Nan's C8 convertible and, each year, Don's C8 coupe.  We arrived early at the Corvette Corral on Saturday morning.

We always love to see the drivers and to get autographed posters and other Corvette swag.

 

The GTDPRO drivers stopped by the corral first -- Tommy Milner, Alexander Sims, Nicky Catsburg, and Antonio Garcia -- all familiar faces to us.

 

Two of the four GTD drivers (below) stopped by for autographs in the late afternoon.  Alex Udell (right in the photo below) was joined by Robert Wickens (on the left).  

Robert's racing history is inspiring. Here is a quote from the DXDT website: "Robert joins DXDT for the team’s IMSA debut in 2025.  His racing career began in 2011 with great success in many racing formats. However, a tragic accident at Pocono in 2018 left him with a spinal injury, sidelining his IndyCar career and leaving him a paraplegic. Despite this, Wickens made an extraordinary return to racing in 2022.  Using adapted hand controls, he clinched a podium finish in his return and dominated the 2023 season, winning the TCR drivers’ championship. Over his return, Wickens has earned 14 podiums, 3 wins, and 4 poles, continuing to inspire others with his passion, perseverance, and dedication to the sport."  The Corvette fans gave Robert an enthusiastic welcome.

 

There was a fourth team At Laguna Seca -- No. 13 AWA Corvette team of Matt Bell and Orey Fidani.  We didn't see them in the Corral, though. 

As is customary, Josh Holder, Corvette Chief Engineer, gave a great presentation. This year he focused on the newly announced Corvette ZR1, describing what it was like to create a passenger car with 1,064 HP.  He shared some humorous and interesting insights about the reactions that drivers have to that much power. I think buyers should be required to attend the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School before getting their hands on one of these cars!

We always love visiting with Doug Fehan, Corvette brand ambassador, and recently retired Corvette Executive Chief Engineer, Tadge Juechter. 

The legacy and history of Corvette Racing is omnipresent.

Saturday's qualifying session proved promising -- Alexander Sims in the GTDPRO class qualified the #3 Corvette in third place, while the #4 Corvette, qualified in fifth place.  In the GTD Class, DTDX Racing qualified second in class with a huge effort by Alec Udell, missing the pole position by only 0.009 seconds!  We left for dinner hopeful for some good results on Sunday. 

We returned to the track early on Sunday morning, just in time for Don and Shirley to join about 75 Corvettes driving parade laps on the Laguna Seca track.

While waiting for the race to begin, Don and Cary drove the Go Karts . . . 

 . . . . and the four of us visited the pits to see the prep of the Corvettes.

 

Finally, the race began.  There were 10 cars competing in the GTDPRO class and 15 cars in the GTD class with two Corvettes in each class.  

It's always so scary watching all 25 cars as they come roaring away from the start/finish line, down the hill toward the first hairpin turn -- this year there weren't any crashes in the first 10 seconds of the race!

 

The two GTDPRO Corvettes ran at the front of the pack at the beginning of the 2 hour and 40 minute race. Then the jerks in the BMW, once again, as they have in other races, needed to run into a Corvettes as a "passing maneuver". I have decided that the BMW team needs to leave IMSA and join NASCAR -- where "bumping" is actually legal!

Here is a quote about NASCAR rules . . . .

    In NASCAR, bumping, also known as bump-and-run, is generally permitted as a passing maneuver. However, it's not a free-for-all, and intentional, aggressive bumping that risks significant damage or injury to other drivers is frowned upon and can result in penalties. 

In GTDPRO, the (ugly) pink AO Racing Porsche, and the "Dragon Speed" Ferrari were fierce competitors, trading first and second place throughout the race -- they ended up finishing P1 and P2.  The #3 Corvette, driven by Antonio and  Alexander finished P3 (where they had qualified), and Tommy and Nicky finished P6 behind a Lambo and the (evil) BMW.

In GTD, the DTDX team, with Alex at the wheel, suffered contact by another car as they entered the pits, and had to perform a "drive through", costing them a possible podium finish -- they ended up P10.  The AWA team finished P13. 

After the race, we went to watch the post-race celebrations and Shirley and Nan helped Antonio celebrate his podium finish!

We concluded a good race weekend on Sunday evening with a nice meal at Monterey's Fish House and a good bottle of wine. 

The drive home on Monday was great.  We made very good time, stopped only once for potty, food, and fuel, and were safely parked in our homes before dinner time.

 

Both Corvettes performed beautifully, making the 874 mile trip averaging about 28 MPG.

Thanks, Nan, Shirley, and Don, for another great road trip! 

Nan's Z06 - Road Trip #3

The first Road Trip for Nan's Z06 was to Monterey, California to watch the Corvettes race in May, 2024:

Nan's Z06 - Road Trip #1 

 The second Road Trip was to go to Pahrump, Nevada to attend the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School in also in May, 2024:

Nan's Z06 - Road Trip #2 

Road Trip 3 was in late September 2024 to the Grand Canyon -- our first road trip in the new Z06 with our Corvette Club (North Coast Corvette Club)!

Twelve Corvettes began this trip by meeting at the intersection of I-15 and California Highway 76 at 7:30 AM on Monday, September 23rd. 

Our first trip leg was to drive 206 miles across the Southern California Desert, across the Colorado River to Quartzsite, Arizona for lunch at the Mountain Quail Cafe.

 

Monday was two days after Nan's birthday, and one day after mine. Jan Weber kindly brought birthday cup cakes for everyone and wished us both Happy Birthday.  Such is the kindness and thoughtfulness of this amazing group of people!

After refueling, we were off to Williams, Arizona -- a distance of about 208 miles -- for our first night at the  Grand Canyon Railway Hotel. This historic hotel would be our base of operations for three days.

Once we were all settled in our rooms we gathered together for dinner at the hotel's large conference center.

Tuesday's agenda was accomplished without Corvettes -- we took the Grand Canyon Railway round trip to the South Rim.

Carm, our Club President, had made all the arrangements, including space in the "observation dome" scenic view rail cars.

 

 From this vantage point, the scenery was beautiful for the two hour and 15 minute trip.

We even experienced a train robbery!

Once we reached the Grand Canyon, Carm had arranged for a bus to take us to the various sites along the South Rim. There was plenty of time to experience the majesty of one of the seven natural wonders of the World.

 

 

The bus driver gave us plenty of time for sight-seeing and photos.

 

 

 

In the afternoon we had free time to hike the rim, or to shop for souvenirs before boarding the train for the return trip to the hotel.

Wednesday saw us on the road again, driving to Winslow, Arizona so the we could "stand on the corner"! We visited the public park in Winslow dedicated to the Jackson Browne / Glen Frey song, "Take it Easy", made popular by the Eagles. Each couple had their photo taken with the statue by John Pugh, and as luck would have it, the sculptor was there that morning!  

 Next we went to lunch at the Turquoise Room in the Historic La Posada Hotel and Rail Depot.

Next stop . . . Meteor Crater!  It is the best preserved meteor impact site on the planet.  We watched the video and took the brief tour of the site.

The day ended with a return trip to Williams for the night.  Everyone split up into small groups and went to local restaurants.  We took the advice of the train conductor and went to a small taco shop -- Nany's Tacos -- the food was fabulous.  On our way there we happened upon Pete's Gas Station Museum (I wonder if he has a copy of Beltsville Shell in the museum?).

 

On Thursday, most of our group headed to Sedona for a Corvette car show.  Nan and I decided to return to Carlsbad, and friends Mike and Patty Eddy decided to join us.  

We felt that we didn't want to take either I-40 or I-10 west to the LA area -- too much traffic.  Instead, we decided to use I-8 since it goes directly into San Diego. From Williams we headed East (I know, we were going the wrong direction, but we had a plan!), picking up I-17 at Flagstaff, then headed south toward  Phoenix, skirting their metropolis by taking 308 to the I-10 West for just a short distance.  We next turned south on Arizona Highway 85 toward Gila Bend.

Highway 85 goes about 35 miles from Buckeye to Gila Bend.  When we initially charted the route home, we chose Highway 85 simply because it was a nice connector to I-8.  We didn't realize what a great choice this turned out to be.  As you can see in the map below, once you cross the Gila River, there isn't much of anything until you get to I-8. The highway is divided so that the north-bound traffic is separated from us as we traveled south.  From time to time we would encounter an 18-wheeler going about 65 MPH.  Mike and Patty are great at formation driving, and they kept close pace with the Z06.

After about 20 miles, I couldn't see any traffic ahead, and the map showed no cross streets for miles. So, I decided to attempt a new personal speed record.  My current record, set while coming out of Pahrump, was 151.  It didn't take the Z06 long to pass that speed.  While still in 6th gear (with two more gears to go), and the engine turning at about 5,700 RPM (versus its red line of 8,600) the speedometer went past 163 to a top speed of 164.  There was still plenty of "go" available, and the car was handling beautifully. But I decided "enough is enough".

We announced into the hand-held radio our top speed to Mike and Patty.  Mike replied, "Well, we hit 158!" WOW!  

The remaining drive back to Carlsbad was great.  We stopped for fuel in Yuma -- our only stop for the about 500 mile trip home.

 

In total, we logged 1,187 miles at an average speed of 59.3 MPH and got almost 20 MPG.

 

Not many people would think of a C8 Z06 as a Road Trip car, but we do!

1 SASY 67 - Update #2

It's time for another update about 1 SASY 67.

Last December I gave a report on all the enhancements to the chrome, interior panels, carpets, console, radio, speakers, and molded rubber parts.

1 SASY 67 - Update #1 

While crawling around under the car reinstalling the seats, I noticed that the muffler had rusted through in a few places.  We certainly can't have Nan driving around in a car with a rusty exhaust system.  So I reached out to the Datsun Roadster Forum for commendations on where I could buy replacement parts. An overwhelming consensus of opinion quickly appeared.  

Jim and Lynn Tyler of Datsun Restoration Products offer a complete exhaust system that goes from the exhaust headers all the way to the rear bumper with high-quality, stainless steel components. Jim had been very helpful with other repairs on Nan's car, so I called him to discuss his offering.  Jim took the time to ask a few questions to be sure that all the components that I received were exactly what would be needed. He custom fabricated everything and shipped the parts quickly. Everything was carefully marked so even I could get it installed correctly!  Here is what we received:

My trusty side-kick, Don Kingery came to help.  We put the Roadster up on the lift in my garage and disassembled everything with ease and speed.  Then to be sure of our next steps, we set the old and new pipes side-by-side.  How much nicer is the new stuff?! Such was the attention to every small detail that everything fit nicely -- even the tail pipe hangers and rubber spacers.

 Question:  "What always happens when you go to repair one thing?"

Answer:  "Something else always needs to be fixed, right?!"

Don and I needed to remove the intake manifold in order to replace the exhaust header.  As soon as we started the disassembly it became evident that the cooling system needed to be rebuilt. There was corrosion on the metal parts and all the rubber needed to be replaced.  

So we removed the radiator, overflow tank, thermostat housing, cooling fan, hose nipples, fan pulley, and all the hoses and gaskets. We had suspicions about the longevity of the water pump, so it had to go too.

While cleaning all the metal parts, I discovered that there was surface rust under the paint on the fan shroud and other parts. 

Back to Jim Tyler we went for everything we needed to completely rebuild the cooling system, including a new water pump.  

We are constantly finding that Nan's Roadster is "weird"-- not all the parts that are supposed to fit are correct.  For this project the issue was that the stud in Nan's engine block was about 5/8" too short for the new cast aluminum water pump housing. The old housing had been chopped off (probably with a hacksaw) so that it would fit the shorter stud.  You can see the difference in the thicknesses in the photo below.

 

So we turned to Vince Hughes for help (It seems like Vince is always coming to my rescue on projects!).  Vince used his mill to shave down the housing boss so that existing stud would be long enough.  While Vince was running running the mill, he let me use his blasting cabinet to clean up all the metal parts.

 And when we reinstalled the water pump, it fit perfectly!

 We used POR15 block paint on the engine block, let it dry for three days, then reassembled everything.

 The car started easily, with no coolant or exhaust leaks!  

 Here are a few shots of the underneath of the car:

Sometimes miracles happen.

Thanks, Don, and Vince, for the help (again) with the Roadster. 

And Special thanks to Jim and Lynn Tyler of Datsun Restoration Products for great parts and solid advice!

Datsun Restoration Products