Local Man Lives His Dream to Race at Laguna Seca

Longtime Martinez resident Dick Duncan always wanted to race cars, ever since he won his first soapbox derby in 1950.

As a young man, he raced for 10 years, but the heavy pull of family and responsibilities tore his dream away for many subsequent decades.

Until, that is, a recent weekend in August, when he raced the car he put together himself at Monterey’s Laguna Seca Raceway at speeds of up to 180 mph.

Not bad for a guy of any age. Particularly one who is 73.

Duncan spent nine years and $40,000 rebuilding a car he found for sale on Craigslist for $9,500. The car, originally built from scratch in 1966, had not done well in its initial race outings, and it was fated to sit in pieces for years, until Duncan came across it in 2002.

In his previous racing years, Duncan said he raced small cars —specifically Morris Minors, which don’t exactly break world speed records.

When he found the race car, he wanted to see if he could handle the challenge of major horsepower.

“A real racer can race anything,” he said. “So my challenge to myself was, ‘Can you sit behind the wheel of something with that much power and make a race out of it?’”

The answer clearly was yes.

“You have to have great reflexes, you have to have your wits about you,” Duncan said. “The car is 1,469 pounds, with 575 horsepower. The first time I really got on it, the g-forces were tremendous. It was exhilarating. It felt so good to realize I could do this.”

“Laguna Seca is a very prestigious race,” he said. “800 people applied for entry, and 550 got accepted. When I got accepted, I realized I had to actually finish rebuilding the car.”

Martinez mechanic John Rankin rebuilt the engine, and Duncan even found the original owner of the car to help him with the restoration. After many frenzied 12 to 15-hour days, the car was completed and ready to race on the day of the trial.

“When you race,” he said, “ironically, everything slows down.”

He handled the track's many corners and turns, and managed to take the car near its top speed of 180 mph on the straighaways. By the time the race was over, Duncan had turned in a very acceptable showing, coming in 28th out of 46. His wife Carolyn, to whom he gives much of the credit for his success through her patience and support, and his son were on hand to see him cross the finish line.

“It’s very satisfying to realize I can do this,” he said, the light of enthusiasm still buring brightly in his eyes at the recollection of the event. "Even at my age."