Our Racing Bugeye Sprite

I became interested in racing at an early age when my father took me to races at Laguna Seca in the ’60s. He used to own and race a Bugeye Sprite when the cars were brand new. Naturally I gravitated to H Production as that’s been the SCCA class that Bugeyes have been assigned to since day one. The first car I ever owned was a 1961 Bugeye. It was a car that I restored from two cars over a period of a couple of years. My dad now has that particular street Sprite, and I have another project Bugeye in my garage that I am saving for my own two sons.

In addition to a number of people who help on occasion, my crew consists primarily of four people and one dog; Crew Chief, Stan Goldring, Chief timer, Candy Bourdet, ChiefWorrier, Lois Meeker, Chief Supporter, Gary Meeker, and Pit Puppy, Alexa.

My dad Gary, a past San Francisco Region Champion in our Sprite is also the SCCA, San Francisco Regional Executive. This region boasts the largest member ship in the SCCA, at over 5,000 members and has an annual budget of approximately $1 MM. Gary has been active in the SCCA for many years. He first raced a “Bugeye” Sprite in Cal Club when those cars were brand new in 1959. He raced on many now defunct circuits such as Santa Barbara Airport, Riverside International Raceway and Cotati. After a long hiatus he took our Sprite back through SCCADrivers School in 1977 to renew his license. He raced the Sprite successfully for many years after that. In fact, if I would let him, he would probably be racing the Sprite instead of me. In addition to being the Regional Executive of the largest SCCA region, Gary is a licensed National Steward and is extensively involved with the operation of West Coast SCCA races. He also drives the International Motorsports Association’s (IMSA) Emergency Response Vehicle, a land speed record holding Porsche 928.

Our team has been together for the last four years and competed in a number of SCCA events ranging from Holtville, California to Seattle, Washington to Atlanta, Georgia.Our racing record over the past four years includes more than 20 wins.

This year we competed for the first time at the National SCCA Championship race held at Road Atlanta. Georgia. Even though we were involved in a serious accident in qualifying the day before our race, resulting in serious handing deficiencies, we finished 6th in a field of 24 cars. As a result of our accident in qualifying at Road Atlanta, we decided to build a new car over the winter. We expect to have this car completed by the end of March, with our first racing event in May.

By Steve Hussey