The concept which led to the AMSOIL Racer began in 1979 when race pilot Dan Mortensen approached Burt Rutan about designing an aircraft that would beat the Beck-Mahoney Sorceress, owned by Don Beck and which was dominating the competition at the time.

During the construction phase, Amsoil signed on as a sponsor, in order to promote its new synthetic aviation motor oils.

The first was the Class C.1.b (1,000-2,000 pound takeoff weight) 3 km closed course, which the AMSOIL Racer beat with a speed of 232 mph (373 km/h).

At the 1983 Reno Air Races, during one of the early heat races, Mortensen had to manoeuvre in order to avoid a mid-air collision with Sorceress, ending up entering that plane's wake turbulence only 35 feet (11 m) off the ground.

The plane was completely destroyed, but since Rutan had designed the cockpit to withstand a 22g impact, Mortensen survived with only minor injuries.