Mike’s C6: No Hanging the Helmet
Before Mike Parrish bought this 2006 C6 Z06, he’d already spent a lifetime on two wheels. He inherited the drag racing gene from his dad, and that led into competing in motocross for nearly forty years. During that time, Mike secured a few national titles all while running as a privateer.
All the while, he had been building his own hot rods for fun. “I had a pair of Buick Grand Sports in high school, and when I was in my mid-twenties, I picked up a ‘76 C3 Corvette for real cheap,” he said. “After getting the thing running, I fell in love with it, and I’ve had 28 Corvettes since – three now including a ‘73 with a 502 Merlin block and my new C6 Z06.”
With that C6 he began the latest chapter of his racing life. After a friend tried SCCA autocross and came back raving about the experience, Mike decided to give four wheels a try on the track.
Then nearing his fiftieth birthday, Mike’s wife insisted he hang up his helmet for fear of getting hurt, and Mike was willing to make a concession, but not that one. He promised to get off two wheels as long as he could keep driving a full-bodied car. She accepted. Happy marriages are all about making healthy compromises.
Mike bought the Corvette mostly stock, and as strong as they are in stock trim, he knew he had to make a few changes to sort it out for track work. As he asserted, “It was already so strong out of the box, but I thought, ‘You’re just learning this. You’re not the best driver in the world, so you oughta have the best car you can afford.’ I figured this would help me get up to speed a lot faster,” he explained.
With the help of trailblazers and like-minded friends, turned it into a dedicated track car.
Thankfully, the car doesn’t need much to go work on the track. A set of LG coilovers, Apex SM10 wheels, Hoosier slicks, Brembo GT brakes, Carbotech pads, and Trackspec’s cooling vents were enough to get serious on the road course.
An LG Motorsports aero kit came once he was comfy with the car’s habits.
Track-prep finished, Mike had to adapt to the increased limits of the modified Z. “Racing the bikes helped ease the transition. All the skills I’ve learned from racing motocross and bein’ in heavy competition meant it was all familiar to me. That wasn’t the hard part.
Getting confidence in the car was something else. Braking was the most different thing to a bike; the car just stops so much better with the Hoosiers and the aero, and that takes time to learn. With only a few upgrades, it’s already braking as well as the Gridlife or the SCCA cars - that’s not something you experience on a bike.”
To help the transition from two to four wheels, Mike hired a respected coach with Corvette experience, Matt Paige.
“Mike and I worked on deconstructing some old driving habits while reinforcing his strengths. Over time, he had picked up a few patterns that were holding him back. I helped him make one subtle adjustment for each cornering phase; focusing on consistent visual markers and building confidence in how far the car could be pushed.
Once he started driving more intentionally, his confidence grew and the lap times dropped. We also developed his platform with suspension and aero to match his progress behind the wheel. Mike was already a safe driver, so it was more about trusting the car and setup to go faster. His racing IQ from years of motocross really showed in his approach. His car already had big power, so dialing in coilovers, big brakes, and aero made it predictable at the limit. The improved braking, corner grip, and chassis balance transformed it into a car that was both faster and more enjoyable to drive.” - Matt Paige
Now knocking on a 1:35 at Laguna Seca, it’s safe to say Mike’s gotten the hang of his 7.0-liter track toy. “Track days and road courses have been so fun - they make me wish I’d gotten out of motocross ten years earlier,” he said.
Still, there’s some on the table and he’s humble enough to admit it. “I’m trying to get a bit smoother as I’m progressing with myself. I’m finally at a place where I feel I’m gelling with the car.”