Vintage Racing At IMS
Over the June 6 - June 8 Weekend Corvette Indy had a few members head off to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Inaugural Vintage Car that was held there. More club members probably would have gone to the track had it not been our 25 Annual Main Event being held on the same weekend. The report below and pictures were submitted by Jim A, plus Bob Y was also at the track on Friday.
Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational
A good friend and I spent Friday and Saturday (June 6 and 7, 2014) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway taking in the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational activities – it was great. The event is run by the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (http://www.svra.com/), one of several such events across the country. About 600 vehicles were entered. This was the first time such an event has been held at IMS, and the first time ever the speedway allowed overnight camping in the infield. Watching and listening to so many of the sports cars I remember from the 70s and 80s brought a flood of memories. Not surprising, many of the drivers and owners are retirees. Some of these folks have huge haulers and motor homes – not many open trailers today.
The IMS Hall of Fame Museum has a lot of very significant race cars on display. I NEVER thought I would ever watch and listen to some of them run again, but I did. Mark Donohue's 1972 winning McLaren Offy, the turbine wedge car, Bobby Unser's 1981 Penske Cosworth winning car, and a 1967 Lola T-70 Mark Donohue drove in the Can-Am, to name a few. There were many more, but I can't remember all of them. In addition to all of the sports cars, there were sprint cars, midgets, and pre-war Indy cars making laps around the track. The crowd loved 'em.
This was my first SVRA event, and I loved it. Spectator access was wide open, except for the pits. We wandered through the garage and padock area at will, taking pictures and talking to some of the car owners/drivers. I have never seen spectator access like this at IMS before. One of the neat things was the ability for the track to switch from road course to oval during the lunch break. IMS created viewing mounds for the road course that were very popular. I have to give IMS a lot of credit for expanding the use of the facility. I hope there are more road course events in the future.
The weather was fantastic, and I would have say this event at IMS was a huge success. I hope this is an annual event. If so, I'll be there to soak it all in.
http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/about/52487/
Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational
A good friend and I spent Friday and Saturday (June 6 and 7, 2014) at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway taking in the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational activities – it was great. The event is run by the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (http://www.svra.com/), one of several such events across the country. About 600 vehicles were entered. This was the first time such an event has been held at IMS, and the first time ever the speedway allowed overnight camping in the infield. Watching and listening to so many of the sports cars I remember from the 70s and 80s brought a flood of memories. Not surprising, many of the drivers and owners are retirees. Some of these folks have huge haulers and motor homes – not many open trailers today.
The IMS Hall of Fame Museum has a lot of very significant race cars on display. I NEVER thought I would ever watch and listen to some of them run again, but I did. Mark Donohue's 1972 winning McLaren Offy, the turbine wedge car, Bobby Unser's 1981 Penske Cosworth winning car, and a 1967 Lola T-70 Mark Donohue drove in the Can-Am, to name a few. There were many more, but I can't remember all of them. In addition to all of the sports cars, there were sprint cars, midgets, and pre-war Indy cars making laps around the track. The crowd loved 'em.
This was my first SVRA event, and I loved it. Spectator access was wide open, except for the pits. We wandered through the garage and padock area at will, taking pictures and talking to some of the car owners/drivers. I have never seen spectator access like this at IMS before. One of the neat things was the ability for the track to switch from road course to oval during the lunch break. IMS created viewing mounds for the road course that were very popular. I have to give IMS a lot of credit for expanding the use of the facility. I hope there are more road course events in the future.
The weather was fantastic, and I would have say this event at IMS was a huge success. I hope this is an annual event. If so, I'll be there to soak it all in.
http://www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com/about/52487/
