Driver: Mark Hansen
Home Town: Mt. Vernon, Washington
Car: 1961 Austin Healey Sprite
Other Info: Mark Hansen joins the Sprite-Midget Challenge in 2026. A life-time gear head interested in all things mechanical, Mark is a semi-retired metal fabricating business owner.
Working full time kept a lifetime interest in racing on the ‘some day’ list, but now Mark has the time to pursue this dream. He completed his driver training in 2025, acquired a retired SCCA Sprite (now being prepped for vintage), and is excited and ready to racing in 2026!
Driver: Coley Tipton
Home Town: Maple Valley, Washington
Car: 1965 MG Midget, #44
Other Info: Coley has been around the PNW racing scene since 1974 when his parents started autocrossing. His parents soon switched over to road racing with IRDC in a Fiat spider. He remembers parking lot life being far more boring than paddock life as a 3 year old. Coley quickly learned that wheel to wheel racing had a lot more action and a lot more eye candy. Every one of his favorite cars from those days is a vintage car now, and weekends with SOVREN conjure up a lot of nostalgia for him. The track may have changed, and he doesn’t play under the grandstands anymore, but the cars are all just as amazing as he remembers. Some of them are still showing up! In his spare time, he loves driving his 59 MGA or his 72 Innocenti Mini around town.
In 1983, after a chance encounter and brief lunchtime chat with Paul Newman, Coley followed the famous driver’s advice and bought his first go-kart; effectively launching his 43 year love affair with road racing. After years of fighting an old worn out Margay chassis which fell apart more than it finished, he switched from go-karts to Formula Fords in 1989. Unfortunately, that first Zink Formula Ford was not much better than the worn out go-kart and he attributes much of his ability to persevere and adapt to changing conditions to those two deteriorating lumps of steel he learned to drive in. Coley spent the next 37 years running in both formula cars and sedans; Most recently in his Pro3 BMW as well as his Formula Mazda.
While all of Coley’s race cars are old enough to compete in SOVREN racing, something that’s been on his bucket list for a long time is a truly vintage open top roadster. So he decided to jump into the SMC with both feet, and just purchased the famous blue ’65 Midget known as “Major.” Coley spent his childhood watching his father battle it out on track with Stephen Newby, so it’s quite fitting that he has become the new steward for such a great car from Mr. Newby’s vast corral.
Ed Notes: When discussing this bio Coley noted that he decided to buy Major after watching some of Loren Campbell’s race videos in it; if Loren (your editor) can do well in it, anyone can! A little-known fact about Coley is that (as is hinted at in his photo) he has a long-standing side-hustle as the stunt double for Super Mario Brother Luigi.
Driver: Devon Newby
Home Town: Edgewood, Washington
Car: 1964 Austin Healey Sprite, “Spike”, #20
Other Info: While Devon Newby is new to the Sprite-Midget Challenge in 2026, he is no stranger in the paddock or on the track. Devon is a second-generation racer with twelve years of experience, son of Stephen (bio below) and Lori Newby, and father to future racer RJ (currently 1).
Devon, often described as having been ‘raised at the track’, has been a paddock staple since he was two weeks old, and has been racing since 2014 in cars including a Morris Minor and a VW Rabbit.
Passionate about motorsports and “anything with an engine”, Devon is involved with SOVREN on and off the track, and is a valued member of the SOVREN Youthful Driver Assistance Program.
Driver: Nolan Shinn
Home Town: Seattle, Washington
Car: 1963 Austin Healey Sprite (no number yet)
Other Info: Nolan was first bitten by the Motorsport bug as a lad, watching his uncle race historic Trans Ams and Lotuses at Laguna Seca. His passion was stoked by the likes of Gran Tourismo, a small fleet of homemade go karts (much to his mother’s annoyance), and hero worship at the altar of Top Gear. Countless car shows, sim races, classic street cars, eBay bidding wars, and years of wrenching later, Nolan is on the cusp of realizing his Motorsport dream: Wheel to wheel racing with his dad and uncle in a bonafide race car from the golden age of automotive design. 2026 marks his first season on track, driving the 1963 Austin Healey Sprite formerly owned and raced by Don Rhodes of Portland Oregon.
Nolan is among a rapidly growing group of younger drivers benefiting from SOVREN’s Youthful Driver Assistance Program.
Driver: Al Lorenz
Home Town: Chelan, Washington
Car: 1964 Austin Healey Sprite (no number yet)
Other Info: Al attended his first track day with IRDC back in 1984. He has tracked a 911, GTI, Super 7, Corvette and endurance raced an RX7 and then a Mustang starting in 2019 with a group of old friends as a way to get lots of track time and have some with their old group.
The best part of racing for Al is enjoying all the friends made and their stories. So, he is currently resurrecting a Sprite to have it on the grid for the 2026 season.
His Sprite was SCCA raced successfully in Arizona in the 90s and through 2000. It has already been entertaining seeing a time capsule of how things were done almost 30 years ago and making it back into a safe vintage racer.
Driver: Evan Eldridge
Home Town: Vancouver, Washington
Car: 1967 Austin Healey Sprite, #38
Other Info: 2026 is Evan’s second year wheel to wheel racing. He began working on British cars four years ago at a local shop just north of Portland called Foreign Parts Positively.
In the back field of the property he found a 1967 F Production Sprite that last raced in 2007, with Don Rhodes at the wheel in OR-SCCA, and was then left to sit. The car, however, has race history all the way back to the 1969 Daytona runoffs!
Evan worked many late nights to get the car back up to spec. The result was a great first weekend of wheel to wheel racing at the 2025 SOVREN Spring Sprints. Evan’s early driver’s training consisted of track days with CSCC In his “fast road” MGB GT, As well as numerous autocross events in his daily driven 1993 Mazda Miata.
Well below 40 years old, Evan is one of the first drivers to benefit from SOVREN’s new Youthful Driver Assistance program.
Driver: Brad Shinn
Home Town: Vashon Island, Washington
Car: 1966 Austin Healey Sprite, #62
Other Info: Brad’s “road to racing” is an odd one; it began with an eBay bid on a ’65 Sprite, thinking he could just bid it out of reach of his college son. That purchase was followed by the arrival of a classic Mini and a track day and the hook was set. Brad is in his fifth race season after completing race-craft school through SCCBC in Vancouver with the intent of racing with SOVREN. On a good day, he can keep race leaders in sight, on a bad day he can be seen retaking Stephen Newby’s popular lecture on the limits of 70-year-old British cast iron. Brad served two terms as SOVREN president, from 2023-2024.
Brad is the fifth owner of his Sprite, which since the mid 70’s has spent its life as a race car in Colorado and the Midwest, the last 20 years racing in RMVR with John Brousseau. In Brad’s rookie year, the Sprite was stolen from the hotel parking lot the night before the Columbia River Classic in Portland. The car, and its trailer and tow vehicle were recovered a week later after a little adventure—which earned the car its name: Lucky.
Brad’s son Nolan is often at the track as crew to make sure important pre-race checks are done, such as securing the hood pin and ensuring his dad remembers to breathe. Brad’s wife, Shannon, supports his racing addiction from a far; she can’t bear the dangers associated with racing and prefers the safety of her passion as a dressage rider where she has sustained only a few concussions and broken bones. Truly, it’s a wonder they can even get life insurance.
Driver: Greg Heacock
Home Town: Maple Valley, Washington
Car: 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite, #13
Other Info: Greg has been an active vintage racer since 1993, where his first experience with racing was with the British GTD/GT 40 club whilst he was completing an advanced degree in bioengineering at the University of London, UK. Upon returning to the USA in 2002 Greg joined the SOVREN racing organization and raced a car he brought back from the UK, a 1963 Reliant Sabre 6. Following that he raced a 1959 Bugeye Sprite that he restored, then the 1967 Team Renault Europa. The projects and racing continued with a 1960 Lotus MK19, then a 1967 Costin Nathan GT. Currently Greg races his recently restored 1959 Cooper Monaco.
Greg’s favorite car is his barn-find 1959 Bugeye Sprite. The car is truly historic, originally race-prepared for Don Healey himself. Greg has kept it in very original condition – still showing the Castrol Oil livery – and running with a 948cc engine.
Greg is a keen racer and strives to restore vintage race cars to their period competition level and then actively compete, striving for safe close competitive racing.
Driver name: Owen Duncan
Home town: Victoria, British Columbia
Car: 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite (no number yet)
Other info: Owen grew up in the race paddock, supporting his dad, Rod. Over the years he has contributed countless hours of expert work to not just Rod’s MG Midget, but to any driver in the paddock who needs a hand with anything. He is a tireless, selfless contributor who is always smiling and upbeat. Owen is working with Loren Campbell to return a Bugeye Sprite with over 50 years of racing history to the track in 2026, and starting his racing career.
Driver: Rod Duncan
Home Town: Victoria, British Columbia
Car: 1962 MG Midget, #154
Other Info: Rod “The Oracle” Duncan fell in love with racing in 1977 after going to Westwood with a co-worker. He had an opportunity to race a 970 Mini Cooper S and was hooked. Later that year he bought a ‘62 Midget for $50 Canadian and converted it for racing. His first ISCC novice race was at Western Speedway in 1980 and after completing the novice program ran H Improved Production for the next 20 years. When there was little completion left in H Improved Production Rod upgraded his car to compete in F Improved Production.
In 2015 Rod moved to Vintage Racing with his first SOVREN event. He found lots of Sprites and Midgets to compete with and felt he found his home. He has been attending a few races each year and plans on continuing until his son Owen is ready to take the helm and demote Dad to Pit Crew.
Although racing was Rod’s first love, he has been married for 35 years to his lovely wife Peggy. Together they have raised two wonderful men, both of whom love working on cars.
Rod raced to third place overall in SOVREN’s Group 1 in 2024.
Driver name: Stephen Newby
Home town: Lake Tapps, Washington
Cars: 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite
Other info: Stephen is the patriarch and senior racer in the Sprite-Midget paddock, beginning his race career in 1966, at age 15. He has raced autocross, gymkhana, grasskhana, and road course, in SCCA, Conference, CASC, and with SOVREN. His history of race cars includes Bugeye Sprites, MG Midgets, an MG TD, a VW Beetle, a hand-control Honda Civic, a Morris pickup, and even a Morris Minor Saloon! 2026 is Stephen’s 55th race season, and he is supported by his wife, Lori, his son, Devon, his daughter-in-law, Tessa, and his grandson, RJ.
Stephen in the initiator, organizer, and chief evangelist for the West Coast Sprite-Midget Challenge. He also serves as SOVREN Novice Chair.
Driver: Loren Campbell
Home Town: Issaquah, Washington
Car: 1959 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite, #12
Other Info: 2026 is Loren’s fifth year auto racing. His car was raced by his father in law, Sam Hamilton, throughout the Midwest from 1980-1985. For 33 years, from 1985 to 2018, it was stored in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The race conversion of the car was started by Marc Schulman in the early 1970s. Jason Len bought the car from his friend Marc, completed the race conversion in 1976, and raced in California through 1979.
Sam Hamilton racing the car to a second place finish at Lime Rock in 1981.
Loren has been married 34 years to his supportive wife, Brin. They have two children, ages 28 and 24. Loren’s other hobby is mountaineering. He has reached the summit of Mt. Rainier 33 times, including several winter ascents.
Loren raced his way to first place overall in SOVREN’s Group 1 in 2024 and has served as a SOVREN Vice President since 2026.
Driver: Brian Volkert
Home town: Normandy Park, Washington
Car: 1960 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite, #50
Other Info: Brian is a retired CPA/Financial Exec who began racing in 1975 in Conference and SCCA. His first race was at Seattle International Raceway (now called Pacific Raceways). Brian notes that he was 15 seconds slower per lap than any other Sprite in that field.
He acquired his current car in 1977 because it was then less expensive to buy a whole car than to rebuild the engine in his previous car. Brian entered the vintage racing scene in 2015 and notes that “The friendships and comradery built through racing and working on each other’s cars keeps me racing.”
Driver: Pete Smith
Home Town: Del Mar, California
Car: 1958 Austin Healey Bugeye Sprite, #8
Other Info: Pete is an avid British Car Nut. Unfortunately he was born south of the border, in England, and whisked away at a young age to grow up in the U.S.A. Fortunately his parents couldn’t handle him and his siblings, so they sent him to Scotland every other summer to be disciplined by his grandfather. This exposed him to the UK and that’s when his fascination with little British cars began. As a kid he loved all things mechanical and developed a real skill for destroying them, and not quite rebuilding them, including bicycles, and eventually a go-kart, which he drove all over town. After getting a degree in chemistry in college he took up bicycle racing, and competed on the road and the track. Pete is winding down a long career in pharma/biotech and looks forward to having more time for racing.
Pete is married to Malea, ‘my wonderful and tolerant partner for the last 25 years’. They have three teenage girls ages 16-21. Annabel, 19, has started racing the Sprite with VARA.
Pete’s first race was at Buttonwillow Raceway Park in California, at the 2011 VARA British Extravaganza, in his Bugeye. He credits Terry Cowan, a car restorer and the president of the San Diego Healey club for talking him into taking the racing school at VARA.
He looking forward to a year with more “competition” where he can run the Sprite against cars with similar displacement and capability. Pete loves being on the track, but particularly enjoys good clean competition.
Pete’s claim to fame is that he was once arrested for trying to out-run the police…in his go-kart!
Driver: Ted Herb
Home town: Redmond, Washington
Car: 1968 Austin Healey Sprite, #149
Other Info: Ted has been racing since 2015 with SOVREN. He recently retired from a busy 35 year plus career in commercial construction. Ted’s racing habit is supported by his wife Jodi of 38 years, his son Cole, and a small group of close friends that attend almost all of his races, rain or shine! He is also supported by a first class mechanic, Brett Leahy.
Ted loves the logistics, preparation, and planning that goes into racing, and the endless opportunity to learn and seek incremental improvement while meeting such nice people that share the same interest.
Ted grew up around British cars and so he both knows the inherent frustration that comes with them, and loves them.
Driver name: Bill Greenman
Home town: Grass Valley, California
Car: 1967 MG Midget, #21
Other Info: Bill has been around cars for about as long as he can remember. He worked as a mechanic at Volz Bros Automotive in Grass Valley until he took over as the owner of the shop, primarily working on foreign cars.
Upon retirement, he had several friends who raced vintage cars. As a longtime fan of NASCAR and other racing, he jumped on the opportunity to stay busy in retirement by giving pit crew support to those friends. However, Bill knew that wouldn’t last too long before he had to jump behind the wheel.
He started looking around at vintage cars, and with some familiarity and interest in foreign cars, the British cars really stood out. He bought his ’67 Midget in 2014 from a retiring racer who kept up with all the maintenance, giving him a great “in” to vintage racing.
Since then, Bill’s wife has lovingly named the Midget “Scarlet”. His first race was with CSRG in October of 2015 at Sonoma Raceway, or as he knows it, Sears Point. His first time on the track was met with a broken rocker arm, which was, of course, the start of many repairs over the years. One of the best aspects of racing over the years has been the community of people that come with it. Rarely did Bill get to spend time with other “car people”, let alone hundreds. He’s made many lifelong friends over the years through these vintage groups, and always looks forward to good racing, conversations, and of course, some mechanical work. Bill is truly excited about the Sprite-Midget Challenge this race season, along with continuing to hone his skills on and off the track
Driver: David Sweet
Home Town: Salem, Oregon
Car: 1962 Austin Healey Sprite, #56
Other Info: Most of David’s racing has been at Portland starting April 2005, though he has also been fortunate to race at Reno/Fernly, Laguna Seca, Sears Point (aka Sonoma), Thunderhill, The Ridge, Pacific, Mission BC, and Elkhart Lake Road America. The Mission race made me an International Race Car Driver!
David reports that Road America was the best experience he’s had. Growing up in Wisconsin and in high school and college he was an SCCA member and worked timing and scoring and tech inspection at Midwest tracks and considered RA his home track. “It was amazing to be able to go back and race there. It was even more special to have family come watch me race. Including my mom who was 91 years old then. Special thanks to Tony Garmey who transported my Sprite.”
David never intended to race a Sprite. He tried to find an MGB because his first car was a 1965 B but was unable to locate one. Al Zorich, a FF racer friend took him to a regional race at PIR (Portland International Raceway) and introduced him to a great group of Spridget racers, one of whom knew of a newly prepared Sprite that he soon bought. The rest is history.
For David, friendships are an important part of the racing community. Two early inspirations were Dave Franks and Bud Smola, both of whom are no longer with us. He also finds support and inspiration from virtually all the Spridget folks along with friends who race other cars. It’s a great community that evolves and I truly appreciate all of them.
He has enjoyed the Sprite Midget Challenge. Its close competition and the group that supports each other. David is especially appreciative of Stephen and Lori Newby for all the effort they put into making this work and to making it fun.
David also appreciates the support from his wife, kids, and non-racing friends, many of whom have attended races. He offers special thanks to Brian Waters and Evan Hale for great race car preparation. “I can usually count on going to the track and just race because of them.”
Driver: Geoff Tupholme
Home Town: Pritchard, British Columbia
Car: 1970 MG Midget, #81
Other Info: Geoff got a very early start in motorsports, as his Dad was involved in the UK. His dad brought a 62 Healey Sprite race car over to Canada in 1968 and raced a while at Westwood. Geoff vividly remembers riding in the car when he was small. Fast forward to 1988 and Geoff bought his first car. Low and behold, it was British!. Geoff has always had a flare for Minis and Sprites, and currently owns a number of Minis and a few Sprites/ Midgets, and his kids were raised in them.
Geoff got his race license in 2006 and started running a 1973 Austin Mini. Over the years he has won many road races and hill climbs. Some of you may have seen his white Mini #441 with a set of Weber carbs sticking out of the hood, in which he participated in a number of Can-Am Mini challenges in all corners of the USA. Geoff was really excited to have an opportunity to participate in a Sprite-Midget challenge series. Dennis Repel (a long-time BC racer) purchased a 1970 Midget race car, #81, a few years back, which has history back to the Westwood days.
Over the past few years Geoff and Dennis have been restoring her back to better-than former glory. They decided to build the 1275 engine as radical as they could, but instead of race gas, it is running less compression to run on premium pump gas. 2022 was her first outing since the 1970s. Despite overheating issues and a few other teething issues, they had a successful season. Now enhanced for better reliability, they are looking forward to running the car in the 2024 series. Geoff extends a special thanks to Dennis Repel for allowing him to race the car, and to Stephen Newby and friends for putting on this event.
Driver: Paul Quackenbush
Home Town: Grants Pass, Oregon
Car: 1960 Speedwell Bugeye Sprite, #83
Other Info: Paul has been “hooked on” British cars since he got a ride in a friend’s MGTC at the age of 14. Vintage racing didn’t really exist then, so he got his SCCA license in 1965 at the the brand new Mid-Ohio race track. He purchased the 1949 ex-Chuck Dietrich Lester MG and raced three or four races until his first child was born in 1966.
Paul’s racing took a break for 30 years to raise his family and concentrate on his jewelry manufacturing business. While restoring a street Mini Cooper in 1995, he went to a swap meet at Mini Mania and found a 1965 Austin Healey Sprite that was optimistically referred to as “race prepared”, purchasing it for the bargain price of $3500. He soon realized even if it had been free, it would not have been a financially good deal. Soon though the fun factor on track and the social aspect of vintage racing soon had Paul totally engaged in the vintage racing community.
Paul’s wife, Sue, also joined him at the track racing her own Bugeye Sprite. She raced for twelve years and then decided to become a full-time crew chief, and has supported Paul’s racing efforts ever since.
Paul feels fortunate to have raced several different British cars at many different tracks across the country over the past 28 years, and he got an itch to get back to his small bore British racing roots. This year will be his first year racing the Speedwell Sprite. The log books that came with the car go back to 1989 and list four previous owners. Paul was fortunate to connect with two of the previous owners, along with a fellow from the San Francisco Bay Area who maintained the car for several years for an owner who has since passed away. He kept thorough details on the car while maintaining it and Paul is grateful that passed along his notes on setup details and race results. One of Paul’s main reasons for getting back into a Sprite was watching all of the fun his friends are having with the Sprite-Midget Challenge series. The fact that the three race series will be held on three of his favorite West Coast tracks is a huge bonus!
Driver: Aaron Robins
Home Town: Surrey, British Columbia
Car: 1970 MG Midget, #66
Other Info: Aaron’s introduction to racing began in 2018 when a coworker, seeing Aaron working on and running around in his 1975 MG Midget street car, asked him if he had any interest in racing. That coworker, Alan Reid, was a longtime MGB racer and member of VRCBC. It didn’t take long for Al to convince Aaron to sign up for Driver Training in 2019 and join VRCBC.
After earning his race license, Aaron purchased and imported a 1970 MG Midget race car from Steven Best of Indiana that Steven had raced since 1971 in the Midwestern US. Although it had a great pedigree and came with enough spares to build four cars, in typical British car fashion it’s never run well on race day despite hundreds of hours of work since. Aaron mainly races Formula Vees now but still tries to get that old MG on track a couple times per year, and is now in his second term as Vice President of the Vintage Racing Club of BC.
Driver: Rich Newman
Home Town: Tacoma, Washington
Car: 1960 Austin Healey Sebring Sprite tribute, #4
Other Info: Rich’s journey into racing sounds like a classic car story tall-tale: While on vacation, his buddy left him alone in a bar for a few minutes. In those few minutes, Rich bid on and won his car in an online auction!
As is often the case, Rich’s first year of racing, 2022, was bumpy. His ‘track ready’ car wasn’t and he was learning how to race, learning how to work on it, and learning how to get help all at once. Sporting a new engine from Newby Racing, 2023 went more smoothly. It really came together in 2024, as Rich drove to second place overall in SOVREN Group 1. Rich has served as SOVREN’s treasurer since 2024. In 2025 Rich drove to 3rd place in Group 1, while earning his nickname: “Handbrake”.
Driver: Martin Maggio
Home Town: Bainbridge Island, Washington
Car: 1963 MG Midget, #35
Other Info: Martin Maggio is driving SCCA Hall of Fame member Ron Sharp’s 1963 MG Midget. Ron raced the car from 1964 until his retirement from racing in 2009. Purchased new for competition, Ron started competing in Autocross in 1964. He attended driver’s school in 1964 and began competing in SCCA Des Moines Valley Region in the GP class. In 1973, Ron also joined and started competing in the Midwestern Council.
The car first appeared in the Runoffs in 1977. Ron was the G Production champion in the Midwestern Council in 1980. The car evolved with the sport, starting with a stock body and retiring with a Huffaker widebody kit and cantilevered slicks. Today the car is presented as it was during the period of its first logbook in 1975. After a rollover accident, the car was one of the early examples of a full roll cage in SCCA production competition.
Driver: Bill O’Kell
Home Town: Victoria, British Columbia
Car: 1992 MG Midget, #7
Other Info: Way back in 1974 Bill purchased a second hand, rusted-out 1964 MGB street car, in which he promptly lost his driver’s license, racing around the streets of Victoria. That set the stage for a commitment to take his racing off the local streets and put it on the racetrack, where it belonged.
And so the path of sports car racing began for the 71 year old Vancouver Island resident. After fifty-plus years of racing throughout North America he still enjoys working on race cars, hanging out with friends, and chasing national championships. From a professional standpoint, Bill has been a commercial waterproofing contractor for over forty years. This provides the freedom and income to support his auto racing pursuits.
Bill still owns that 1964 MGB, but has been racing an MG Midget since 2014. In 2019 he purchased a race-built-in 1992 Huffaker MG Midget previously raced by John Saudio to two SCCA National Championships. Bill has won over a dozen SCCA Super Tour races and two Western Conference championships, but lists being selected for the Victoria Auto Racing Hall of Fame as the highlight of his long racing career.