Purcell Race Engineering

The Early Years
Eric Purcell began his racing career like so many others – as a spectator. His father took him to SCCA races at Laguna Seca Raceway outside of Monterey, California in the early 1970’s. By the age of 14, he was hooked on the sport and volunteered first to crew on Walt Maas’s Datsun 260z team, then later on Walt’s GTU Porsche 914/6. Learning from the likes of Walt, Frank Leary, Will Moody and Bob Garretson proved a solid foundation, as the meticulous four let nothing fall between the cracks. This attention to detail led to the C-Production National Championship in 1974 and the IMSA GTU Championship in 1976.

During Eric’s senior year in high school he balanced a full time position at FAR Performance’s race team with his school studies, graduating on the honor roll and working 40+ hours a week. Following graduation, Eric was hired by Frank Leary’s new Peterson Caterpillar sponsored team, crewing on C-Production and GTU Datsun 280Z’s, including the 1978 C-Production Championship winning car.

After a little more than a year with Frank, Eric left to attend engineering school at MIT. Studying physics and engineering, Eric found that his heart was always in motor racing, and he left college after just over two years to try his hand racing in Europe. Eric attended the prestigious Elf/Winfield School, and gained entry into the season ending competition there. Eric’s performance was overlooked by the French panel of judges, but the school’s owner had been impressed enough to ask Eric to stay and compete in Formula Renault Turbo for the remainder of the season.

For the next two and a half years, Eric competed in Formula Renault Turbo and Formula 3, finishing 54 of 56 races, and testing more than 130 days. In an extremely competitive F3 field, the lone American was rarely out of the top 15, and occasionally in the top 5. A victory in a non-championship round in Nice was the highlight of Eric’s European experience, along with a brief stint in the Rondeau LeMans Prototype.

These years formed the foundation of Eric’s race engineering background, as he was constantly being asked to test new components and setups, due to his detailed and accurate feedback. This knowledge gained by working directly with a chassis manufacturer proved to be a priceless experience contributing to success of later projects.

Lack of budget and serious injuries sustained in a testing crash at Circuit Paul Ricard ended Eric’s professional driving career, and he returned to America to start anew. Eric moved to Las Vegas with his long time friend and driving mentor Terry Hermann, and worked for Terry as a driving instructor at his school at the old Stardust Raceway outside of Las Vegas. Several customers at the school were familiar with Eric’s story and his abilities, and paid for his entry into the Jim Russell Graduate Runoffs at Laguna Seca. Eric dominated much of the competition, with his only challenger a seven time national Karting champion, Vince Puleo. Eric and Vince finished side by side in the finale, with Eric winning the title and receiving the prize of a full season of racing in the Jim Russell racing series.