Fellow FOTers:
Out here in Northern Californa I guess were riding the crest of a wave of good
fortune the past couple of years with regard to our racing events. I have no
experience vintage racing outside of California, so I'm not familiar with how
other groups/events operate. However, based on what I learn from the FOT and
what I have read in the vintage racing magazines, we're doing OK.
The local club, CSRG, has been kicking around for thirty eight years and seems
to have developed a good formula for fun events. Their events are for the most
part, non-spectator events and usually attract from 125 to 250 entrys. There
are generally three production car groups, one sports racer group and a Formula
Ford group. They "invite" guess groups such as Historic Formula One, Pre-War
(WWII) and Formula Juniors at least once a year which always spices up the
paddock with more interesting cars and adds a couple of races which are always
interesting to watch. There is usually a paddock party on Saturday nights and
gives everyone a chance to meet, chat and bench race with friends or make new
friends. Racers from surrounding states regularly make the trek to N.CA. to
join in the fun.
With all costs relating to operating a race weekend continually on the rise, it
becomes a real challenge to the club to breakeven or perhaps make a few bucks
to put aside in reserve for a "rainey day". The club rules with regard to what
constitutes a "vintage" racecar are pretty tight and cars submitted for
eligibility are closley scrutinized before being accepted. This hasn't seemed
to deter the number of submissions as there are "new" cars showing up at the
races all the time. There is also a continuing emphasis on racing with "the
vintage spirit": have fun, race hard but no foolishness or contact.
We are also fortunate to have three, excellent tracks within 2 1/2 hours
driving time from the San Francisco Bay Area - Infineon, Thunderhill
(owned/operated by the SCCA) and Laguna Seca. There is a newer track outside
Reno, NV which is about five hours tow away and one in central California near
Bakersfield called Buttonwillow, a three hour tow. Race weekends at any of
these tracks are usually easy on the racers, just arrive, find your paddock
spot, go through tech and have a good time. There are also a good number of
clubs to race with depending on the type of racing one enjoys. HSR-West, HMSA,
General Racing, SCCA-Vintage and VARA all hold events at one or more of these
tracks. In addition, there is a myriad of clubs that host track days where you
can really get your monies worth in terms of track time.
Not sure if there is one thing to point to that is the reason for our good
fortune so it must be a combination of good planning, good communications
between the club and the tracks, a long tradition of sensible racing, good
people that organize the events and a lot of great folks that participate on a
regular basis. With 35 million vying for the most expensive houses you can
find anywhere and more automobiles than I car to think about, we don't need any
more residents...but come on down for a visit and enjoy the racing!
Gary
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