| Car(s) History |
Bob Lesnett purchased the car in early 1976. We do not know it's prior history. It was Bob's first racecar and he raced it in 1976 and 1977. The next owner was Joe Gracie, who purchased it 9/1/78. During the first weekend of the March 1979 San Francisco SCCA driver's school, Joe took the car end over end resulting in extensive damage. However, Joe repaired the damage and ran the second weekend of the school. Joe ran 4 races in 1979 and quit racing. It sat in his garage for over 10 years.
We bought the RCA from Joe in 1990 for my son Derek, who was 17 at the time. Derek wanted to race. He rebuilt many of the components (not the engine or transmission) and ran the car at a few track days. As Derek grew, he became too tall to fit in the car.
At a race at Sears Point in early 1992, I made a mistake in Turn 10 and heavily damaged my Autodynamics Formula Vee. I then "took over" the RCA as my primary racecar. My first event with it was at Crow's Landing in May 1992.
Since then we have raced the car at Portland, Livermore Airport, Laguna Seca, Sears Point, Thunderhill, Las Vegas, Reno, Palm Springs, Tustin, Buttonwillow, Los Angles, Road America, Phoenix, and California Speedway.
SPECIFICATIONS:
– Engine size 1198 CC (72 Cubic inches)
– Horsepower 58 to 64 as modified to race
– Weight 850 pounds with out the driver
– Top Speed 114.5 MPH (given a long enough straight and the wind blowing in the right direction)
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| Why I vintage race |
I race because I like the challenge of going faster than I did at the last race. I like to scare the hell out of myself once in a while. I like the wheel-to-wheel competition. I like the satisfaction of doing most of my own mechanical work and finishing the weekend with a strong running car.
I race in vintage events for many reasons. The first reason is that most vintage racers respect their cars and do not want to run into one another. The second reason is that most vintage racers consider safety (of the cars, themselves and their competitors) a very important issue. They drive their racecars in a way to insure a safe event. We go fast, compete with one another and do it safely. The people in vintage racing are there for the same reason I'm there---FUN.
CSRG has the right combination of competition and common sense.
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