Recently, Jake and I sat down at his restaurant to talk about the upcoming race season, his preparations outside of the race car, and what we’d like to cover on the blog together. In he walked, and tucked under his arm was what seemed like 3,000 pages of paper covered in signatures, check boxes, and highlighted dates. It wasn’t until the hearty ‘thunk’ sound they made when they hit the table that I realized how much a new racing driver like Jake has to do get ready for race season - before even sitting in their own car.
In order to compete in the upcoming race season, drivers must first show they can physically handle racing by providing medical physicals. Luckily, racing in the 21st century is miles (pun intended) safer than in days of old, but there is still a very real element of risk. Drivers experience G-forces through braking and cornering, must have quick reflexes to avoid crashing, and must be mentally aware of what is happening around them; sometimes all within a fraction of a second.
Next is racing school. Jake has already completed a single-day license class, but now must complete a two-day competition license class in order to properly race his Corvette. He has quite the teacher - Don Kitch Jr., who has more than 200 pro and amateur race starts, including the 24 Hours of LeMans where he raced with Patrick Dempsey (for all of you Grey’s Anatomy fans). After competition school, Jake will officially be able to compete in the International Conference of Sports Car Clubs (ICSCC) championship races. He will also be eligible to race in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) sponsored races and be a member of the Seattle-based Society of Vintage Racing Enthusiasts (SOVREN).
Jake is planning on being a regular attendee at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Washington, and maybe a couple in Portland, Oregon. However, his dream is to take the car to Laguna Seca in Monterey, California for the Historics Reunion. There he will share the track with some of the most famous racing models ever to race; his Corvette will fit right in.
Jake’s Corvette is right behind the red #72 in Portland, 1960. It’ll be returning to the racetrack soon, although this time with different wheels!
Balancing work life, family time, and preparing for race season can be a tricky task, but Jake is up to the challenge. Jake’s Pickup just won Small Business of the Year for 2018 on Bainbridge Island, so even as race season nears, I have no doubt that he can handle the workload. After all, it is a rare opportunity to be able to race a fire-breathing, tire-screeching time capsule.
Corvettes hold a unique role in American sports car racing history. They hit the race track in California in the mid-1950’s and were one of the first American sports cars to be largely influenced by modifications made for the track. Basically, Corvettes were raced in series where only mass-produced parts were allowed. So, when GM wanted to make their race cars quicker, they also had to apply the same modifications to their showroom cars.
*NOTE: I will be taking a deeper dive into the history of Corvette racing in a later blog post. This is a brief overview. Stay tuned!
Zora Duntov was a Russian-born road racing driver and mechanical genius who started working for GM in 1953. When he got his hands on his first Corvette, he, shall we say, overstepped his professional bounds and was unhappy with the car. Perhaps ‘unhappy’ is not the right word. He felt that GM had the potential to make something truly incredibly in the Corvette, but were falling short with their current designs. After a lot of persuasion and a “squeaky-wheel-gets-the-grease” attitude, Duntov was able to prep a few Corvettes for road racing series.
Over his many years in the business, Duntov upgraded the Corvette’s capabilities. In doing so, he solidified his name as one of GM’s most influential engineers and trained others on the Corvette and how to properly squeeze every last drop of performance out of such a fine-tuned machine.
One of those trainees was Larry Webb. The same Larry Webb who is currently overseeing the preparations being made on Jake’s Corvette.
It’s easy to see why Jake chose to race in a ‘Vette. He, like many, has an appreciation for the history and cultural power of the car, and he is using this period of preparation to embody its influence. For example, Jake’s race suit will sport vintage patches, including one of the original Brown Bear Car Wash mascot. Furthermore, he is being trained by a racing legend in Don Kitch Jr., and his car is being prepped by a student of the ‘Father of Corvettes’ in Larry Webb.
Bringing a car from the early 1960’s back to the race track is like owning an incredible museum exhibit that you can actually use. His car is a crossroads where history meets modern appreciation. Using people like Don and Larry isn’t just a cool extra piece of this story; they are a crucial part of the identity of Jake’s Corvette and makes his racing career sit perfectly next to those who drove the car before him.