Easley Vintage Grand Prix wrap-up:
Well, the weather could not have been much better, the racing was safe and
spirited, the cars fascinating to see and hear, and, by all reports, a good
time was had by all.
We had everything from Phil Gumpert's F1 Shadow screaming nimbly around the
2.5 mile IRP circuit followed by a gaggle of other Formula cars, to a pack of
Winston Cup cars bulling their way through the twisty bits. A good field of
entrants and eight races on Sunday, preceded by almost continuous practice
and qualifying races on Saturday.
The noon tour of IRP for passenger cars and racecars carrying kids was very
popular and we could easily have done this for more than an hour each day.
Notable was a presentation by the Ford Taurus SHO Club to the Red Cross on
Sunday of a $10,000 donation. The SHO Club is to be commended and we hope
they had a good time.
There were a number of Indy area drivers who helped plan this race.
Scott Brown won his first Formula Ford race and was a happy man, especially
after burning a piston is his XKE during practice. Turner Woodard broke the
transmission in his Corvette Grand Sport but his Formula Atlantic car ran
well until late in his Sunday race.
Race Chairman Chuck Maranto's newly repaired Elva, the famed Elvis car,
worked well and Chuck put on a good show, as did Bill Shaw in his MGA, until
his tires went away.
Jim Donato's red, white and blue Sprite looked particularly strong and he was
turning good times until the car began to slow from some yet undiagnosed
ailment; Jim's brother, John, has a superb race in his NSU Prinz and it was
good to see this under-rated racecar going so well.
Poor Brett Johnson had various mechanical ailments in the Lotus XI, surely a
shame after he devoted so much time to helping promote the race. Brett works
very hard at getting the word out about vintage racing and the merits of
preserving historic racecars.
The Red Cross' own Dorsey Hart watched her son Jim, something of a newcomer
to vintage racing, take a sizable spin into the tullies on Saturday in his
honking Kellison Chevy. Sunday Jim's car was making good, loud noises down
IRP's main straight until his fanbelt came off and the car overheated. If
Jim gets this car straightened out, it will be interesting to watch.
We owe thanks to these racers who did such a great job giving their time and
energy, meeting weekly, hauling their cars to our racecar events at the
Easley Winery, Monument Circle and the City Market. They would rather have
focused on getting their cars ready to race, I am sure, but their
contributions helped build interest in the race.
We had a number of paddock displays and the electric race cars kept the kids
entertained. IUPUI's Formula Lightning electric racecar lent an eerie aspect
to the noon tour when it quietly whined around the road course, and
Treadway's IRL car supplied paddock interest.
Channels 8, 13 and 59 covered the event and they were very interested in
greater involvement next year.
The Easley Winery created a special commemorative vintage and label for the
race and gave bottles of wine to all the entrants. The Easley booth was
particularly popular with teams and spectators, and the winery was
tongue-in-cheek endorsed as the "Official Mead Supplier To Group One"
entrants.
Thanks to our program advertisers that made the publication possible and Ben
Tackitt, the editor.
Now we're going to get to work on next year's race, because we want to have
more than a couple months to promote it.
Thanks to everyone involved...and Happy Motoring!
Tom Butters
Race Promoter
Support The Easley Vintage Grand Prix
Benefiting the American Red Cross of Greater Indianapolis
October 21-22
Tom Butters
The Greens Fork Group
Creative Communications Services
765-886-5098
public relations and advertising services
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