Yes, and more like this please!
Photograph courtesy Damen Hattori
The wildest old-school Chevy race car around? This ’66 Corvette makes a compelling case.
Wide-body? Check. Sequential gearbox? Check. A 516 cubic-inch, all-aluminum, carbureted V8 capable of revving all the way to 8000 rpm? Check.
Described as a “father/son project painfully forged through hundreds of hours of blood, sweat, and tears” by driver Damen Hattori, the Corvette has been stripped down and rebuilt into a union of old-school American muscle with modern engineering and technology.
Keeping that rev-happy big block in check? Beefy AP Racing brakes front and rear, 335-width Michelin slicks on all four corners, Wavetrac differential out back plus various handling improvements from Ridetech, including coil-overs and rear end.
Hattori’s Corvette is just one of several wild racers entered to compete in the 2026 Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge Presented by Grassroots Motorsports, our search for the fastest track machine on four wheels.
The rules are simple–both driver and car must pass a safety inspection–that’s it.
If your car can fit those regulations, enter your car today.
In addition to competing against professionally-built GT racers to home-brewed track rats–and virtually everything in between–there’ll also be numerous awards and prizes up for grabs, plus the chance to appear in a future issue of Grassroots Motorsports.
Set for October 22, the 2026 Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge takes place at Eagles Canyon Raceway and will again join the Tire Rack SCCA Time Trials Nationals Powered by Hagerty.
The Tire Rack Ultimate Track Car Challenge is presented by Grassroots Motorsports and fueled by Sunoco, in association with Wilwood, Vitour Tire, CRC Industries, Vbox Motorsport and Red Line Oil, with trophies from BimmerWorld, Nine Lives Racing and Falken Tire.
Yes, and more like this please!
In reply to Noddaz :
Agreed! We already have several really awesome cars signed up to compete–so stay tuned for more. 
Came here to hear this beast.... where can we hear an 8k rpm big block driven in anger???
Don't leave us hanging!
I would like to see more pictures and specifications on this wild Vette.
I want to hear it at 8k.
You're going to have to include a push-to-play speaker for this edition of the print magazine.
Maybe even a scratch-and-sniff sticker too.
Hey Everyone- This is Damen, the owner and builder of this car.
Here's a shakedown lap at Laguna Seca from GRIDLIFE Laguna this past September:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVVc7XbUT98
This was the first time I'd driven this car, so please excuse the poor driving :)
damen
Aw yea! That's mechanical Mozart!
Please put a build thread on here.
That thing is wild, well done. =)
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