Go-karts and Formula Vee

Going through the racing ranks, Ira started in go-karts for a number of years and then made the transition to Formula Vee, another open wheeled format.  These two low powered open wheeled formats taught Ira much of what it takes to be a fast , consistent racer. With such low horsepower you must be extremely smooth in order to conserve momentum and maintain good speed. Ira says, “The kart taught me super reflexes, tight racing, and what it takes to make a pass stick. The Vee taught me that I was pretty good. If you can race in that class and win you are bound to be a decent driver because of the low power and strict rules.” In a hard fought season, he was able to win the 1999 Formula Vee SARRC (South Atlantic Road Racing Championship)

The Transition to Improved Touring

The natural progression was to move to “tin top” cars. IT racing is really fun and you can learn a lot about using traffic. Also, the strategy in endurance racing is very important; pit stop timing, keeping a good pace, and above all, keeping the car on the track and out of the pits.” Ira also talks about a downside, “Unfortunately this is a very popular class and at entry level, so you get lots of novices fulfilling their dreams to drive. This means lots of bent fenders.” He regularly drives an Acura Integra GS-R or a Datsun 240Z in ITS. The Datsun was the car he drove to a class win at the 2004 Kumho Tires Tropical Twelve Hour race at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

And then to EProduction

Moving up to SCCA’s Production classes was the next move.  Production car racing within the SCCA is some of the toughest racing in the country. SCCA Majors bring the best and brightest drivers from around the country to compete, all from their associated divisions. The winner take all “National Championship Runoffs” is the pinnacle of this sport and is held at different racing tracks across the US. Out of 11 years of making it to the Runoffs, the Revtec prepared Datsun managed 7 podiums and 2 National Championships. Revtec’s 240z still holds track records across the country.This 240Z is a tried and proven racecar. It is also one of the fastest EP cars in the country. It is the same car that carried Grayson Upchurch Jr. to many great races at the Runoffs. Ira acquired the car at the end of the 2004 race season from owner Kemp Heumann out of Atlanta, GA. Ira says, “For some weird reason, this car had miserable Runoffs luck, Grayson had the race in the bag at least three separate times when bad luck struck them in many forms. He ended up with three Runoffs podiums. We took this car and continued its development. Keeping up with the powerhouse backing from Mazda in motor racing is quite the challenge, so we had to try double hard to keep our older cars competitive.

Vintage Sports Car racing

We have built many cars to compete in vintage racing with most sanctioning bodies.  The Datsuns from the early seventies were such a great design and are proven to be quick and reliable.