Response from "The Current State of U.S. Vintage Racing" indicates the
suggestion of creating racing groups based on lap times (instead of car
class) is a bad idea. The main objections are the mixing of car sizes and
dilution of period-correct grids. I can only assume the people voicing these
objections do not participate in HSR events or Elkhart Lake's July "vintage"
race. They probably do not attend small events either, where the modest entry
is grouped regardless of size, type or period. With few exceptions, the
historical accuracy of today's vintage racing groups are only as faithful as
the cars themselves.
Another response: Given an acceptance of gridding groups by lap times, how
do you control sandbagging during qualifying? Answer: you don't. Taking a cue
from drag racing's bracket classes, control of sandbagging is done after the
race. If a person exceeds a certain percentage (e.g. 5%) of his qualifying
time, he is simply disqualified. What if it rains or mechanical gremlins
strike during qualifying? Good questions. While any adopted rule or policy
must be flexible enough to allow for such contingencies, it also must be
firmly and uniformly enforced under normal conditions. This is another
serious problem with current vintage racing, but I'll save it for a future
installment.
There's been some recent postings on this mailing list about automatically
being bumped up a group if you win your race. I'm sure a few of the
statements were made with tongue-in-cheek, but I find it revealing that all
the comments concerned winning. Enough said.
A fair warning to those who would prefer spending their time concocting new
"smart-ass emoticons" or devising a way to plumb a turbocharger into a Chevy
V8-powered, carbon fibered, MGA replica: What follows is one person's
apocalyptic view of the future of vintage racing. This was a reply to my
original posting and I thought it would be of interest to this list's
subscribers. I obtained permission to pass it along with the proviso its
author remain anonymous.
____
Caught your screed from the Internet the other day. Good to read a
little
Eastman again. And as much as I admired the point you
were making, it is
my unhappy duty to tell you that the world you envision isn't
going to
happen anymore.
I can tell you that vintage racing is no longer a sport; it is a
business,
pure and simple. It is a service business, providing guys with old (or
recently obsoleted) race cars a reasonably pleasant place to run them.
Two things have conspired to eliminate the world of vintage racing you
remember and long for: 1) Money. It costs more to rent the tracks, and
to
put on the parties, buy the gee-gaws (dash plaques, medallions, etc.),
insurance is more, everything is more. It's gotten to the point to whether
you're in the Big Leagues (name sponsor, good promotion) and making money,
or you are not. And if you are not, you'll still have some good little
events if you can hold fast to your policies on illegal cars and still
attract enough cars to have a race. Oh, by the way: don't expect to
make any
money at all. 2) Shifting Demographics: The guys I see coming to vintage
racing are too young to give a damn about ERAs and Bentleys and Amilcars
or
even C-Type Jaguars and Cunninghams. Their remembered history starts in the
mid-1960s, with Trans-Am and Can- Am. To them, a Datsun 240Z is a classic
car. Seriously! Everybody YOU know says, "Boy, I sure miss those pre-war
cars," but there's a lot of people you don't know now. The old guys go away
and the new guys replace them. Some of the new guys buy the old guys' old
cars, but most of them are looking for Shelby Mustangs; preferably one with
all the lightweight, cheater shit on it so they can win, win, win.
But I'm not BITTER.
Hell I'm not! I would like to see the same races you'd like to see. The
only
thing in this country that even has a remote chance of that is
Monterey, but
only because that is the ONLY place those cars will show up; remember,
that's the most commercial and mercenary of all vintage events, with the
least track time. You got spoiled in Europe. But how many vintage racing
groups are there in Europe? How many vintage-only events on the whole
continent, compared to the U.S.? They have how many great events, compared
to Monterey? Maybe 10, absolute tops. But mostly it's Silverstone,
Nurburgring, Goodwood, Monaco (this year) and a couple of others and a few
hillclimbs. But then again, it's their cars you long to see, and the
cars
are over there, as is the heritage and history.
Over here, the "sport" has changed. It's the American Way: if something
is
good, copy it to death, overuse it to death or just throw money at it
until
it's so disgusting that it either becomes trendy or goes away. And, like it
or not, HSR has seen the future and they are it. To hell with
authenticity
and tradition and values and responsibility. Win today, and worry about that
other shit some other time.
I'm ready to go back to "real" racing. At least it's a pig that smells
like
a pig. I've seen enough in the last few years to turn around and walk away
from vintage racing without a second thought. Too much bullshit, too much
politics, connivery, back-stabbing, chicanery, manipulation, cheating,
lying, and whining for people who are just supposed to be having fun "for
the love of the sport." All that drivel about how things used to be in
the
'50s is just so much rhetoric now.
Vintage racing in America was good until people started trying to make
money
off it. Now it's an industry, churning along as a bloated, sickening
caricature of its original self; kind of like Elvis. Will vintage racing go
like Elvis did, kacked in the can? Or will it regain its composure,
recommit
itself to its original values and morays and be like it once was? I don't
think I have to tell you which way I'd bet my paycheck.
But, in the big picture, it's just another twist in the road of racing.
All
forms of the sport have grown and changed, for better and for worse, but
there is still racing. And there is good racing. For instance, CART is
having a hell of a year, and the AndyCar series (World Sports Car) is
pretty
entertaining too. There's even an odd chance that someone new could win a
Formula 1 race every couple months or so. NASCAR is just as competitive as
ever in all its forms, and drag racing seems to be going well too. The
difference is that all of these series are a business, not a club. They are
professional sporting events, not amateur exhibitions. What is playfully
called "creative engineering" in NASCAR is called "blatant cheating" or
"disregarding the spirit of the rules" in vintage racing.
Vintage racing has caught the dreaded growth disease, and it's going to
take
some time for the blood to flow and the survivors to be found. At that
point, we'll see what the sport has transmogrified itself into, and whether
there's a market for it.
There will still be guys like us around, who remember 250F Maseratis in
four- wheel drifts, Fangio serenely shepherding it through a corner gently at
full speed as only he could. Or Stirling Moss in the rain at Monaco. Or Mark
Donohue anywhere. And guys who remember steam trains and P-51 Mustangs
and
crank- handle telephones and milk in glass bottles.
There is a name for these people. The name is Old Fart. The very name
applied to the very people we rebelled against as callow youths. It is
the
ulimate payback.
We have met the enemy, and he is us.
____
Well, there you have it. Don't say you were not warned. I don't agree with
everything, but I'm not entirely sure whether it's a matter of actual
disagreement or not "wanting" to agree. It certainly paints a bleak picture
for us (few?) still hoping to faithfully recapture the past.
The function of this mailing list is the dissemination of information to
people interested in vintage racing. This information covers many areas
including news, answers to questions about cars, tracks, events, etc., race
reports and humor. Does it also include intelligent discussion of the issues
I address?
Art Eastman
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