Daniel Kuehn

My Mom says I was born with a HotWheels Car in one hand and a wrench in the other.  It was clear from the start; cars were in my blood.  As soon as I was big enough to see out the windows of the family station wagon, I was car spotting. Able to identify the make and model of almost everything on the road.  Speaking of the family station wagon, Rotary engines have been in my life from the start as well. My parents bought a 1973 Mazda RX3 wagon the year before I was born, and we had that car for the first eight years of my life.  I remember spending time on the weekends with My dad doing basic maintenance.  My dad and I also spent weekends watching racing at Portland International Raceway.  Champcar, IMSA, Trans- AM.  We went every year through the 80’s and early 90’s.  My first real job at 16 was as a shop helper in and independent Mazda shop.  Doing tune ups and also some maintenance on a Spec 7 RX7 Racecar.  My first racing rotary experience. Fast forward to my mid 20’s and after I returned to Oregon from a stint in the U.S. Army I began work on My first real project car.  A 1971 Chevelle. I modified the suspension and brakes for handling and then, through a co-worker, got introduced to Autocross and track days.  The first time I drove on track at P.I.R. Was in that Chevelle and I was in awe that I was actually driving fast on the track I had so many races at.  The Chevelle got torn apart for much more in depth racecar modifications, and the autocross/track day car became a 2005 Subaru STi.  Around that time, I met fellow Gray Cloud Racing founder and teammate George Wilder.  Together, we campaigned his 1977 Mazda RX3 SP in the E Prepared SCCA Autocross class for years, got me back into Rotary Racecars.  In 2011 George and I formed Gray Cloud Racing to race with the Chumpcar Endurance series.  George procured a 1983 Mazda Rx7 and we promptly turned it into a budget racecar.  After a few years in Chumpcar we moved to the far more competitive Lucky Dog endurance racing series.  Making improvements for both speed and endurance along the way.  We have had a few team members come and go, but the current members are now solid and have become family.  The car has changed drastically over the last decade as we are now on the third chassis/iteration and very little left on the car is stock.  The team is not only about driving fast and having fun but also education and craftsmanship.  The skills we have learned engineering new components and fabricating things we need that don’t exist are priceless.  As team manager/owner (we really all own it) I do my best to keep things moving forward and make sure everyone’s ideas are heard. One of the other great things with motorsports is the family friendly environment.   My wife joined me with autocross and has now joined with road racing as well. We recently got her a former Spec Miata racecar for her to form a team (Gray Cloud Racing 2.0), and my daughter has autocrossed Karts and is looking forward to road racing once she is 16. Since starting with Lucky Dog Racing League, we’ve achieved multiple victories and podiums and look forward to more in the future.