Families are often the driving force in motorsports and are exemplified in this month’s Featured Vehicles. One World Figure 8 Championship car earned its titles with two different drivers—brothers, no less. Plus, a vintage Datsun 510 was refurbished by a father-and-son duo who proved their craftsmanship by driving the car two hours to its first event, raced two full days, and then drove home.

2014 NASA Racecars Outlaw Figure 8

Sam & Kim Breedlove | Indianapolis, Indiana
Drivers: Jesse and Austin Tunny
Race Series/Class: Outlaw Figure 8
Engine: 368-cubic-inch Chevrolet small block built by Spec Racing Engines
Car: Built by Audie Moose
Features: Advanced Racing Suspensions, Bert Transmission, Winters Performance quick-change rearend
Facts: This car has won two World Figure 8 Championships with two different
drivers. Jesse Tunny won in 2020, and his brother, Austin Tunny, won in 2023. Austin also won the 2022 West Coast Figure 8 Championship at Orange Show Speedway and 2023 Colorado National Speedway Figure 8 Championship in this car.

1972 Datsun 510

Larry Ritz | Wadsworth, Ohio
Race Series/Class: Used in a variety of events including autocross, track days, vintage races, car shows, etc.
Engine: 2.2-liter Datsun L-Series engine
Car: Built by Larry and Eric Ritz (father and son)
Features: The vehicle was a 100% rotisserie build in the Ritz’s pole-barn backyard garage. All
fabrication, paint and finishing were done in the Ritz’s shop with the exception of the roll cage, which was done by longtime friend Mark McMahon of McMahon Autosport in New Franklin, Ohio. Sponsors include Design Engineering, Inc., Painless Wiring, Hawk Performance, Centerforce Clutch, Braille Battery, Steel-It Paint, and KrydeRacing.
Facts: The car’s first event was the 2023 Put-In-Bay Vintage Sports Car Race, an event on an island airport in the middle of Lake Erie. “With a support vehicle (another 510 wagon), we drove the car two hours to the ferry and over to the island, swapped out the street tires for race tires, ran two full days of racing events in the exhibition class, and then drove back home. No trailer required! It was the only car competing in the racing portion of the event that wasn’t trailered to the event,” said Eric Ritz.