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Rod started his racing career at the age of fifteen on motorcycles. He competed successfully for 7 years, advancing to Open Expert/Open Pro by the age of 18. He competed in major events on the West Coast, with his career highlight being able to race in the first ever Supercross in the now long gone Seattle Kingdome.
Family and professional life came next, and Rod hung up his helmet in 1983. He attended a few Desert races and timed woods enduros, but had to reconcile age and hospital trips with a growing family and business.
After owning several small companies, Rod returned to racing in 2007 with the same intense passion as he had years before, only this time in cars. 2005 and 2006 were HPDE years, where he was able to reconcile his love of cars and desire for speed without having to compromise his financial freedom (Tickets and Insurance) or his actual freedom (Jail Time). With the support of his wife (Karen) of 26 years, Rod began to compete again (A note here, all successful racers should have the support of their spouse, after all, they are the ones in the Sani Can and not on the beach).
In his first year, Rod was named Novice of the Year along with his Brother in law Dave Haire in the Internationals Conference of Sports Car Clubs (ICSCC, the dominate sanctioning body in the Pacific Northwest) and went on that year to garner points in ITE and SPO in his Porsche 964 RS America. A bit of time that season was also spent in a GT3 Datsun 510 vintage racer. He competed on the 2007 25 hours of Thunderhill where his team finished third in class, and again in 2008 where his team finished first in class.
Rod started the 2008 Season in a new (to him) 2002 Monte Carlo stock car, and by the end of the year had won GT1 and taken third in SP. 2009 has started, and Rod is in a two way tie for first in GT1, and second in SP.
“The GTM-R, wow, what a familiar combo. It has the same ASA Lingenfelter LS powerplant I run in my stock car, and the same G50 tranny I ran in the Porsche. Mid engine like one of my “pleasure” cars, and an aero package that cannot be beat. It’s like all my performance cars wrapped into one package, such a pleasure to drive”
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