Hi gang. Thought some of you might be interested in a project my dealership has got going--building a GrandAm Cup Car using a 350Z. We just began last week and I will post pics over the next two months as it is being constructed.













Jeff Hess
Parts Manager
Performance Nissan

 

that site makes me want to cry!!

What kind of mods will u be placing on the Z??

good luck on the prodject!

 

Great news. Right now the Grand AM has only one 350Z versus a hoard of Porsches. The more 350Z's in the field, the greater the chance for a Z win.

Keep us updated.

 

This will be a full blown race car--the only original parts on the car will probably be the shell and some of the drive train. The engine is being completely balanced and blueprinted and the rollcage is currently being installed. My role in this is pretty much just a spectator. I'll keep you posted with mods as they develop. The car is set to be race-ready in two months.

Jeff Hess
Parts Manager, Performance Nissan

 

Jeff,

Glad to have you here. What team is this and who will the drivers be? Might want to post this in the Racing forum. We have one other driver/team (Dwnshift) already posting here.

 

The car is being built by Stewart Racing in Rosamond, CA. It is being sponsored by them and Performance Nissan (Duarte, CA). The driver is Mike Cronin, Jr., most recently running a Corvette in the Trans Am series.

 

Guess who's Front upper control arms, suspension bushings,sways bars,shocks, and steering wheel hub adaptor they will be using?????

BINGO.........
Welcome to the playground.......see you in PNX!

 

I heard a while back that Nissan had plans to sell bodys in white. So what's the current/real scoop on that?

Michael.

 

keep us posted as you go with pics...

 

Glad to see you guys working together. Hopefully the learning curve will be shorter that way. Dwnshift beside the body kit do you guys use any other NISMO stuff? How many Z's do you see in the GA Cup this year?

 

Really looking forward to following the progress of both 350Z. Thanks for keeping us posted.

 

Michael:
I did a lot of research into that before we took a car off the line and started taking it apart. At this time Nissan has no intention of offering any kind of "race car" for sale to the public. And if they did they said it would cost upward of $300K. The article in road and track that said these cars would be available was wrong, and the people I talked to at NMC couldn't even find out where that rumor started.

Jeff Hess
Parts Manager, Performance Nissan

 

Good to see Z racing taking off. Good luck jeff and dwnshift - great pics. The results from the Schuitemaker Z run at Daytona are posted on www.TheRaceSite.com. Good pic of the Z in action is also posted on the web site.

 

Best of luck!

 

I remember seeing a blurb somewhere that Nissan wants back into motorsports. The blurb seem to indicate that a body in white would strictly be just a bare-bones chassis (i.e. relatively inexpensive) where you guys can start ground up w/ the motor, possibly the suspension, and interior -- not really a fully-built racecar.

Anyway, I was curious. We definitely need more guys like you and downshift racing the 350z. Make us proud!

Michael.

 

Jeff how's the race car coming?

 

Haven't forgot about you guys. They are in the process of bending up the roll bars now. I have been pushing for pictures as I can't seem to get away from the dealer myself. I will make sure and post the latest with some pic's by the end of next week. Thank's for the interest!!!!

 

Jeff-

I live &work about 10 minutes from rosamond, ya think its possible for me to swing by and take a look and take picts for Zdriver.com?


can ya let me know?

--Cheston

 

I'll find out today and let you know. I don't think it should be a big deal.

 

jeffh355 The car is being built by Stewart Racing in Rosamond, CA. It is being sponsored by them and Performance Nissan (Duarte, CA). The driver is Mike Cronin, Jr., most recently running a Corvette in the Trans Am series.

Are yall happy with Cronin, b/c as a huge Trans AM fan he didnt do ver well last year. He had 4 starts and no top 10's. But i dont know how he has done in other series.

But im happy that someone is going to race the Z in the Grand Am series.