John Morton to race 240Z in 2013 Runoffs

[240zdave]

The SCCA has invited all past Runoffs winners to run at this years event. Bonk Brothers Racing and LNA Enterprises are building a 240Z for John Morton to drive in E Production. John's winning of the National Championship in C Production in 1970 driving the BRE 240Z basically catapulted Datsun and the 240Z into the American sports car world. One could argue that he is at least partially responsible for the popularity of the 240Z and the existence of the Z car hobby today.

It's expensive to build a new race car from scratch, especially from a 40-plus old car. Bonk Brothers needs everyone's help in financing the effort. Here's a link to their Facebook page, which has a link to the indiegogo fundraising site.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/143542862415120/permalink/373494089419995/

Greg Ira has been keeping the Z car viable and competitive in E Production for several years. This year there will be a chance for 2 Z cars on the podium. Here's a link to the test session for the car at Road America weekend before last. The driver is Dan Meller, and his fast lap was only 3 seconds off the E Prod lap record. Not bad for a guy driving a brand new car.

The John Morton Project 46 - YouTube

That's a sweet sounding engine.

[zKars]

Thanks for keeping the focus on this.

Its coming together, please help make it a success if you can.

[black gold man]

Looks like there will be some live video here. SpeedcastTV

Good luck JOHN MORTON and be safe. And thanks to everyone involved.

BGM

[zKars]

I'll try to keep some feed back coming and hopefully I'll get some pictures to post. We will be at the track all weekend. Going to be a blast.

[preith]

Greg Ira has been keeping the Z car viable and competitive in E Production for several years. This year there will be a chance for 2 Z cars on the podium. Here's a link to the test session for the car at Road America weekend before last. The driver is Dan Meller, and his fast lap was only 3 seconds off the E Prod lap record. Not bad for a guy driving a brand new car.

Final qualifying completed yesterday, Mr. Ira is 4th, about 1/2 second off pole (interestingly listed this year as a 260Z), and Mr. Morton is about 5 seconds of pole in 13th. No disrespect to John, but I don't find that too surprising - these guys are more competitive than most give 'em credit for. Anyway, it's always a battle against the Mazda freight train, Aaron Downey is on pole again in that surprisingly fast RX3, and Jesse Prather [Miata] is always quick.

Alot of history with Ira's car as it's Grayson Upchurch's old ride. Many 2nd place Runoff finishes dating back to the late 90's, but no wins.

Race time is Sunday, 1pm EDT on the aforementioned SpeedcastTV.

[black gold man]

[black gold man]

Crazy Spec Miata Race with Wreck

[Steve Parmley]

@Prieth. I saw Ira put on a larger fiberglass bumper for aero. Maybe why the 260Z listing?

I don't know about the motor.

[jmark]

[ATTACH=CONFIG]66072[/ATTACH]

@Prieth. I saw Ira put on a larger fiberglass bumper for aero. Maybe why the 260Z listing?

I don't know about the motor.

He ran a 2.6 motor. Not sure about the bumper. May have been for rules compliance.

[preith]

He ran a 2.6 motor. Not sure about the bumper. May have been for rules compliance.

My immediate thought was also the 2.6 motor, which I found a bit surprising as prevailing wisdom has always been the 2.4 was quicker with the lower minimum weight (100 lbs). With that said I'm curious now how many guys will switch to the 2.6 now that Greg has won.

The bumper was news to me, and I didn't catch that on the broadcast either:embarrass: I'm guessing aero was his goal as technically the early 260's cam with the 240 bumper too, albeit protruding a bit further. I have to wonder if he could get away with something like a 940z airdam, would probably help aero a bit more.

[gira]

As usual, you guys are right on target. We did run the 2.6, as we felt that exploiting the advantage of the car (Torque) was a good way to go. We had gone close the previous lap record at VIR earlier in the year with this combination. If you don't keep trying stuff like this each year, you're dead, especially competing against Mazda and their drivers on the SCCA competition board. It's a miracle that we won the SCCA national championship. This car deserves it more than any of us.

The Mazda forums were burning up with negative talk about "old guys" in "old cars" with "ungodly straight away" speed. Well, the fact of the matter is Reynolds was faster than me on the front straight by 1 mph, and I was faster than him on the back straight by 1 mph. OK, great now the cornering and braking speeds have to be considered. ( 2 seconds worth is his favor ) This is what I've been battling against for 3 or 4 years with John Brakke, essentially the same car. He was experienced enough to not show the potential of the car when it counted. Since the kid made a mistake in the oil on lap 2, he was not afforded the chance to sand bag. Plus, he had another freakin Miata that was just as fast chasing him around.

As for the big bumper. That cost us a lot of money to get that from MSA. The idea is to cover up the front grill as much as is allowed. The late 260Z had the 280Z bumber. Thanks Carl Beck for the research!

Anyway, I love to develop these cars.

If anyone wants my help at the track, email or call me.

Greg Ira