Vasek Polak owned a machine shop in the 1930s and started constructing race engines for motorcycles which he then raced in European enduros. Finding success in motorcycle racing, He won the Czechoslovakian 250cc National Championship. In 1947 he moved to automobile racing with a custom built, aluminum bodied Fiat GT race car. When he opened his Hermosa Beach shop in 1958, Polak focused less on driving and more on preparing racing cars and engines for his clientele.

Becoming well known in the sports car racing world, he prepared machines for Jack MacAfee, Ken Miles, Jerry Titus, Roger Penske and others.^] In 1966, Vasek took a Porsche 911 from his dealership inventory and prepared it for racing. With Polak as the entrant, Jerry Titus took the car to the SCCA D Production championship. This was the start of his role as a car owner. As well as this, Polak was asked by Porsche to work on their factory racing team during The 12 Hours of Sebring.

He campaigned a Porsche 917 for the 1971 through the 1974 Can-Am seasons and entered Porsche 934 and Porsche 935 models in the Trans Am Series. In 1976, George Follmer won the Category 2 Drivers' Championship of the Trans Am Series in a Porsche 934 under Vasek Polak Racing.