If you’re at all familiar with the grassroots autocross and time attack scene, chances are, you’ve heard of Danny Popp. He’s the guy that seems to always be holding giant trophies on Sundays at premier events around the U.S. and drives nothing but blue Corvettes. Well, it was high time we chatted with Mr. Popp to get his thoughts on just why he likes those blue Corvettes so much, why he races and see if there was any wisdom he could impart upon us.
Danny grew up in an essentially Chevrolet-dedicated family. Both his mother and father were NCCC (National Council of Corvette Clubs) and SCCA members. Danny’s father was an engineer at General Electric and had a passion for all things mechanical, which he instilled upon little Danny at an early stage. Danny grew up around a couple Corvettes (‘65 327/350 coupe and ‘72 LT-1 coupe), 70 1/2 Z28 and even a Corvair. On weekends, Danny said he would attend autocrosses with his mother and father where they became a bit of local legends.
Years later, and now Danny is a seven-time SCCA Solo II national champion (amongst many other wins) and is also a full-time certified Corvette specialist/technician at McCluskey Chevrolet in Cincinnati, Ohio. Danny tells us he also night-shadows as the Owner, proprietor and sole employee of RAFT Motorsports, Inc., a consulting firm for several national racers.
I have a ’02 c5 zo6. I would like to increase the HP to 500 and was wondering what you would suggest to achieve that level. I use the car as a “week-end warrior”, usually run 4-5 open track events during the season. I drive the car to and from so keeping it civilized is important. Any information you could give me would be greatly appreciated.