It would be an understatement to say we were enthusiastic when Dan Pitarresi, former 24 Hours of Lemans Race Car Driver, appeared in our inbox singing praises of his new Fabspeed upgrade on his 996 Porsche Cabriolet (2002). Dane started racing in 1971 and has been the voice of experience in professional racing at his home track of Portland International Raceway for 26 years.

Dane took his Porsche 996 Cabriolet to the renown 900 Series Motorsports shop in Las Vegas, Nevada (formerly Carl’s Place). Fabspeed has been a long time partner of the 900 series and naturally they recommended a full Fabspeed performance package to take Dane’s 996 to the next level. This includes:

• Fabspeed Supercup Exhaust System with Deluxe Style Tips
• Porsche 996 Cabriolet Fabspeed Sport Headers
• 996 Porsache Fabspeed Sport Catalytic Converter X-Pipe
• Porsche 996 Carbon Fiber Competition Air Intake System
• Fabspeed Porsche 996 Xpertune ECU Tune
• 996 IPD Intake Plenum with 82mm Throttle Body

This is what Dane had to say about his newly Fabspeed equipped 996:

“Ok. Now I get it. The induction noise is like God shredding a

chain link fence. But the real chuckle is the 2nd and third gear throttle response. I am kind of a 4th 5th gear guy. But transitioning to the street those are such hyper legal speeds who wants to chance unless its a Sunday morning in the desert I really didn't get the fast thing you had told me. Low speed fast is different than really high speed. This would make an awesome autocross car. Its such a totally different piece then the Z06. Pretty frigging entertaining and happy.

You all did a great job.”(Aug, 2022)

Dane owns and runs Skidcar Systems in Las Vegas, Nevada. He owns Pro Drive School, founded in 1987 to provide advanced driver training using modern teaching methods and technology. How did Dane get here? It wasn’t easy.

In highschool, his passion for motorsports began with a motorcycle. But like most young men who get into bikes, his father did not approve and in an effort to get him into something safer, Dane's father returned home with a 1958 Land Rover one afternoon and it was all cars all the time after that.

Dane says, “I grew up sliding cars around and I was pretty good at it.” (2016) He grew up drifting, which wasn’t remotely as prevalent in the late 60s - early 70s as it is today! Along with that, Dane couldn’t keep himself out of trouble and got into street drag racing. Without proper education and with a passion for drifting, drag racing can be very dangerous. Unfortunately, Dane learned this the hard way with friends that shared the passion for drag racing in Oregon in the late 60’s. The sheer number of cars on the road today have made drag racing even more dangerous, but lucky for us, Dane has made a career of preventing losses through motor skill and product development at Skidcar Systems. Fabspeed thanks Dane for making our Friday extra special and for all the great work in skill development of automotive enthusiasts.

A mentor to Dane imbued him with a motto that stuck at a young age;: “Speed is just a byproduct of being technically correct with the contact patches and not being lazy.” (Cars Yeah, 2016) He knew he wanted to start a racing school and so did those around him. Dale Afolit, a friend and mentor, came to Dane and said, “Look - if you don’t start a school, one of the big guys is gonna come in because they’re knocking on my door.” (Cars Yeah, 2016) This pushed Dale to get the racing school started and make it a great success. “What we do with the skidcar…We can adjust the personality of the car, the grip of the car…” (2016) Sounds like what we do here at Fabspeed and we are delighted to do the same for Dane.

Citations:

Cars Yeah, Episode 601: Dane Pitarresi