Datsun 620 EV Conversion Racing at 24 hours of Lemons
Team Arc Blast: How a Parts Truck Became a Record Breaking EV Endurance Legend
The team talks lightheartedly about the surreal sensation of racing an electric truck: no noise, no vibration—just tires singing and motors whining. But the quiet cockpit demands sharp focus: race days are long and grueling, especially when you’re not just driving but also monitoring battery health, cooling, and charging logistics. When you talk to the racers though, only their enthusiasm comes through.
The Origin Story
Tyler Joy, Nick Chimento, and Jimmy Underhill make up Team Arc Blast in its current form, though it was Tyler and Nick that got things rolling.
In late 2019 - searching for a change of pace and itching for an adventure - Tyler flew to Oregon to buy a Datsun 620 pickup with plans to use it as a parts hauler. The idea was to drive it back to California but the reality wasn’t so smooth.
The Datsun 620 on it’s way from Oregon to California getting a little help from a tow truck.
This true story brought to you by the moment Tyler realized things weren’t going according to plans: imagine cruising down the freeway at speed, traffic flowing smoothly surrounded by fellow motorists when suddenly your engine seizes and the semi-truck behind you looks to become too friendly in the wrong ways. After a tow back home the project truck was kept alive through a long list of swaps and maintenance, but it wasn’t until hearing of the $50k EV bounty from 24 Hours of Lemons that Tyler decided to quit messing with gas, go electric, and go racing.
24 Hours of Lemons
The race truck is born in its first iteration.
A dump truck full of nickels delivered to your door, aka $50k, that’s the prize for the first EV to win the 24 Hours of Lemons outright. Tyler and Nick weren’t new to motorsports or Lemons (having previously driven a Camaro so hard the brakes caught fire which is a different Lemons story entirely) but to win with an EV offers a whole new and exciting challenge.
You might be thinking I have consistently misspelled Le Mans, the famous French track and 24 hour endurance race of the same name, but while I’m not above bad spelling the 24 Hours of Lemons is indeed what we are talking about here. The premise of the race series is that all entries bring a car procured and fitted to race with a budget no larger than $500, which naturally pushes teams towards beaters of various types, or “lemons” of the auto world. Armed with the rules and working closely with the series organizers, team Arc Blast proceeded to transform the truck into something almost entirely new - except for the body and frame rails.
What’s Under the Hood (and Floorboards)
Starting with the EV components, the truck uses 14 LG Chem modules from a Jaguar I-PACE in custom enclosure with cooling and Orion battery management system, for a 36 kwh pack. They use three packs and swap when a driver changes, which they do in about 2 minutes.
Those batteries send electrons to a water cooled Hyper 9 motor and controller, which then run direct via a short driveshaft into a Miata rear differential.
Hyper 9 motor direct drive into a Miata rear end.
A diff is not all the Miata goodies on tap: there have been several iterations on the build but the latest and most performant have utilized as much Miata suspension, steering, brakes, and odd parts as possible. When Jimmy joined the team his background racing Spec Miata came in handy: “the moment you get in you know it is a Miata” he’ll tell you with a chuckle. Still rocking the Datsun look, but with that Miata handling that makes it one of the all time best drivers cars.
Races so Far: Highs, Lows, and Milestones
Team Arc Blast are innovating fast in the development and racing of the truck. To date they have completed three races:
Battery swapping is the most important feature to stay competitive in the endurance race.
Race #1 - Sept 2023, High Plains Raceway CO
The truck was barely wired 7 days before the race. The team flipped the power on for the first time at 3 a.m. Friday, passed tech by a miracle, and earned the Heroic Fix Award for building a custom charger overnight. Mission accomplished: the EV was officially in the game.
Race #2 - June 2024, High Plains Raceway CO
Now equipped with more batteries, dual chargers, and a new charging scheme, the team tackled a full 24-hour run. Cooling was a major hurdle—they dumped 300 lbs of ice onto the packs to keep them in the sweet spot. Despite hiccups like seized bolts and minor track damage, they crushed their goal with 275 laps (701 miles), taking home the Index of Effluency (IOE) Award.
Race #3 - Sept 2024, High Plains Raceway CO
Data was the mission this time. Despite contactor tripping, reversed current sensors, and minor wiring headaches, the team kept adapting. They beat their record with 279 laps (711 miles), nailed down a 4th place finish in Class C, and gathered a ton of aero data (spoiler: it's terrible).
Challenges and Innovations
Overall, battery management is a make-or-break factor for an endurance EV racer. How and when they charge and shooting for time on track vs speed of lap is the approach which has helped them set EV lap records.
Making adjustments, each battery back has its own charger so that one will always be ready to go.
The team has adapted when needed, like when they had to manually drain and balance cells in a pack, or create an ice bath and garden hose cooling setup that worked so well in the moment it is now refined and in rotation for every race. They also have put many hours of effort into building innovative solutions to fit the need: their eight-onboard-chargers-in-parallel setup is a thing of beauty.
25 Hours of Thunderhill
What’s next for Tyler, Nick, Jimmy and Team Arc Blast? As if 24 hours isn’t enough they are fast approaching a 25 hours of Thunderhill race in California.
The goal: smash their 711 mile record and break 1000. For this race they are planning to live stream a feed from the cabin so fans can follow the action in real time.
Team Vision into the Future
If you joke to Tyler about not driving the truck to protect their chance of winning, he will quickly reply “racing is for everyone and anyone can race”. The team loves the sport and the challenge to innovate at the cutting edge of technology, but they place the greatest importance on building community and having fun.
Team Arc Blast celebrating after their first full 24 hour race - High Plains Raceway
The headlines seem to miss just how supportive car culture can be. For this team, they also moonlight as drivers for the other EV teams or help with hot fixes, and in the Lemons series people across the country are excited and happy to be out having fun. If you aren’t sure if I’m making this up or not, drop by a race day or autocross ride and drive event and try chatting with anyone and you’ll see what I mean.
After talking with the team their success so far feels like just the beginning. Who knows, in a few years we might see them in SCCA or NASA events, or perhaps even racing into the clouds at Pikes Peak International Hill Climb - after all, it’s only a short commute.