Dave Schotz brought two cars to the 2015 NASA Western States Championships: his tried and true yellow 2001 Pontiac Firebird for the PTB/TTB classes, and a freshly built gunmetal 1991 Chevrolet Corvette for the PTC/TTC classes. If everything went according to his plan, Dave could earn four Championship titles in one weekend. The NASA schedule complied with the plan as the PTB and PTC classes ran in different race groups, giving Dave an opportunity to accomplish his four-win weekend.
The challenge was the clock allowing enough time between qualifying sessions, race sessions and Time Trial sessions to keep both aging General Motors products running in race trim. The Corvette and the Firebird liked their genuine GM parts — and they liked them often. Dave, and his father Joel, towed the Firebird and Corvette all the way from Arizona, with two rented box trucks and trailers. Each of the box trucks was filled with Hoosier Tires and storage containers upon storage containers of spare parts. By the end of the weekend, the spare parts were running thin as Dave, his father, Joel, and fellow Arizona Region NASA racer, Jason Griepentrog, spent hours replacing hubs, swapping out tires between Time Trial and race sessions, and adding fresh Carbotech brake pads.
But all of the hard work paid off as Dave Schotz was able to accomplish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca what swimming great Michael Phelps was able to do at the Beijing Olympics: win every event he entered. Dave brought home gold in PTB, PTC, TTB, and TTC. Those four wins, added to his seven previous NASA national Championships make Dave Schotz an 11-time NASA National Champion and the winningest champion in NASA history.
