12.24.2020 | Editors: Scott and Cyndi Paceley

View in Browser www.vintagemotorsport.com

Dearborn, MI -- After the Ford Motor Company hosted a media event last year related to the development of the GT40 Program and the ultimate victory at Le Mans, additional materials related to the program came to light and are now part of Ford’s Archives that include 16,000 cubic feet of paper material, more than 1 million photos, as well as countless films and videos.

More than 2,400 racers participated in SVRA's eight event weekends in 2020.

Southlake, TX -- Sportscar Vintage Racing Association announced its 2020 Sprint Series, Enduro Series and Miata Heritage Cup champions Tuesday (Dec. 21). SVRA would typically also announce the winners of the 2020 Driver of the Year, 2020 Mechanic of the Year, and the Spirit of SVRA awards at this time, but has decided to hold those announcements until vintage racing community gatherings are allowed again.

With an unprecedented year of travel restrictions and safety regulations, SVRA adapted its schedule to successfully host eight event weekends across the country, each offering two feature races for every race group. Hosting events at Auto Club Speedway, Roebling Road Raceway, Sebring International Raceway, Road America, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Virginia International Raceway, Circuit of The Americas and Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, SVRA offered competitors the opportunity to race their vintage race cars from coast to coast.

“I want to congratulate all of this season’s champions,” said Tony Parella, CEO of SVRA. “I’m thankful that we were able to have eight full events during such a challenging time, and that we had the support of our racers, staff and partners to make it such a successful year. Honestly, anyone who joined us to race during these uncertain times is a champion in my eyes. Despite the pandemic, we were able to put together a season of safe, socially distant, competitive racing. It’s an exciting time to be a part of vintage racing and I can’t wait to see what next year holds.”

With over 2,400 racers taking the green flag this season, it all came down to points for the winners of the Sprint Series Championships. To compete for the championship, drivers were required to race in a minimum of three events and complete at least 50% of the race’s total laps. Points were awarded to first through 10th place in every race that included at least three drivers per class.

Overall Sprint Series Champions

• Scott Fraser, Group 1

• Skott Burkland, Group 8

• Scott Borchetta, Group 6A

Sprint Series Group Champions

Group 1:  Scott Fraser, 1958 Austin Healey Sprite

Group 2:  Eric Inkrott, 1979 Crossle Formula Ford 35F

Group 3:  John Nash, 1962 Lotus Super Seven

Group 5:  Brent Knoll, 1983 Tiga SC83

Group 6A:  Scott Borchetta, 1972 Chevrolet Corvette

Group 6B:  Gary Moore, 1968 Mercury Cougar

Group 7:  James Farley, 1978 Lola 298

Group 8:  Skott Burkland, 1969 Porsche 911

Group 9:  James Johnston, 2004 Swift O14 Atlantic

Group 10:  Bruce Raymond, 1985 Pontiac Firebird

Group 11:  Travis Engen, 2005 Audi R8 LMP

Group 12A:  Jerry Robinson, 2010 Dodge Viper

Group 12B:  Ron Pawley, 2004 Lexus IS300

The SVRA Endurance Series also crowned its champions after hosting events at Sebring, Road America, Mid-Ohio, VIR, COTA and Road Atlanta. Championship contenders were required to compete in a minimum of three events, with points awarded to the first 10 competitors completing a minimum of 50% of the laps.

Overall Endurance Series Champions

• Skott Burkland, Group 8, 1969 Porsche 911

• Jerry Robinson/Bobby Archer, Group 12A, 2010 Dodge Viper

• Doug Radix, Group 1, 1955 Mercedes-Benz 190 SL

The other Endurance Series Group Champion was Scott Borchetta from Group 6B, driving his 1969 Chevrolet Corvette.

The Miata Heritage Cup joined SVRA for events at Roebling Road, Road America, Mid-Ohio, VIR and Road Atlanta. Champions are:

• Anthony Fornetti, NA Class, 1990 Mazda Miata

• Michael Bond, NB Class, 1999 Mazda Miata

Pebble Beach, CA -- Central to the mission of the Pebble Beach Concours is finding ways to celebrate great cars long into the future. To that end, the concours has established the John Lamm Scholarships to support students in the field of automotive communications.

Pittsburgh, PA – After the pandemic forced the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix to cancel its 10 days of car shows, races and other events, the organization encouraged its car club partners to get out on the road in the safety of individual cars to fundraise.

The group announced Sunday (Dec. 20) that 26 events raised a total of $60,000.

Watch PVGP’s video about how the Shifting Gears Campaign came together and get club-by-club totals of how the donations added up. Kudos to all!

Santa Monica, CA -- Gooding & Company has provided some details on the nine cars from a private United Kingdom-based collection that will cross the block in the company’s Jan. 28-Feb. 5 Geared Online European Sporting & Historic Collection auction.

“Our first U.K. auction -- the Passion of a Lifetime sale held at Hampton Court Palace -- presented new opportunities for Gooding & Company, and thanks to the record sales, we are able to once again deliver one of the most well-regarded private collections to the international market,” said David Gooding, the company’s President and Founder.

Docket highlights include:

Handsomely finished in a striking black over green color scheme with a rich history documented by Ferrari historian Marcel Massini, this car was featured as the 1967 Brussels show car before being sold new to its first owner via Garage Francorchamps. It’s Ferrari Classiche Red Book Certified.

Based on the DP199/1 prototype -- which won at its first race at Silverstone with Stirling Moss -- the DB4 GT debuted at the London Motor Show in 1959, the year of Aston Martin’s 1–2 victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and World Sportscar Championship title.

This particular car is one of only 75 DB4 GTs originally built, of which only 30 were specified in left-hand drive. It retains the matching-numbers engine and benefits from a no-expense-spared restoration by marque specialist RS Williams Ltd. in 2020. Presented in its striking original color scheme of Black Pearl over Dark Blue interior, this car comes with extensive service and restoration records as well as a detailed history.

Daytona Beach, FL -- For 70 years, Wood Brothers Racing has excelled in -- and transformed -- the world of motorsports. As the longest tenured team in NASCAR history, the Wood Brothers have compiled a Hall of Fame resume both on and off the track. Beyond countless trophies and accolades, their innovations -- including the modern pit stop -- continue to define the Wood legacy in racing series across the globe.

In honor of its accomplishments across seven decades, Wood Brothers Racing was named the 2020 recipient of the FIA Founding Members Club Heritage Cup, presented annually in recognition of exceptional or outstanding achievement within or contribution to the historic vehicle world.

Read the full story on VintageMotorsport.com.

Included in The Henry Ford's Expert Set on Racing, this photo of Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt popping the cork of the victory champagne at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. Photo: The Henry Ford

Dearborn, MI -- For nearly a decade, The Henry Ford has worked to digitize its unparalleled collection of artifacts that tell the story of America’s traditions of ingenuity, resourcefulness and innovation in order to make them more accessible, to educate and inspire those around the world.

The organization has now digitized its 100,000th artifact – fittingly, a photograph of the 100,000th Fordson Tractor. See the entire digital collection that includes an expert set on racing with 50 wonderful items across numerous decades.

“Digitization has opened our doors to guests far beyond what we could have ever imagined,” said Patricia Mooradian, president and CEO of The Henry Ford. “People can now view the Rosa Parks bus, the Wright Cycle Shop or Edison’s Menlo Park Laboratory from anywhere in the world at any time they choose.”

The expansion of digital channels over the past decade has enhanced access to the significant stories housed within its collection. According to the Pew Research Center, at the time when The Henry Ford started to digitize its collection, one-quarter of Americans did not use the Internet, only 4 of 10 Americans participated in social media, and the American smartphone was just starting to take off. In the last 18 months alone, however, online visitors have viewed The Henry Ford’s digitized artifact pages more than one million times.

With over 26 million artifacts in its collection, The Henry Ford still has many more milestones ahead. Its 16-week closure and reduced operations have presented the organization with unprecedented financial challenges, so donations are welcome.

Patriot! Yes, that's Dan Gurney’s 1967 Gurney-Weslake Eagle Mk1 on the cover and featured on 7 pages in our Salon feature. It’s the car (chassis #104) in which he famously won the ’67 Grand Prix at Spa -- the Eagle and Dan were only the second American car and driver to win a European GP -- and the first driven by its own American manufacturer. In gleaming American blue and white, Dan’s Mk1 is one of the most charismatic race cars ever, beautifully photographed here by Peter Harholdt.

And there was a time when NASCAR wasn’t the only show in town when it came to major league stock-car racing. Up North, it was USAC stock cars, and Part 1 of this 8-page feature covers the years from 1956 to 1963, when drivers like Paul Goldsmith, A.J. Foyt and Parnelli Jones thrilled crowds both on dirt and pavement in Fords, Mercurys, Pontiacs, Chevys, Dodges and Plymouths.

We’ve done more than 85 My Favorite Race stories with retired drivers over the years but this time we’ve interviewed one of the best-known NASCAR crew chiefs of all time, Ray Evernham. His favorite race was when his driver, Jeff Gordon, won the 1995 Darlington 500 and the Winston Million.

Think that the only Mazdas to win races years back (besides the Miata) were Rotary-powered? Think again. In our “Quite a Coup(e) feature, you’ll read about the Dave Jolly Mazda MX-6 GT that won the 1989 IMSA International Sedan Championship against all odds and was discovered languishing in storage years later. Restored to its original condition and livery, it recently hit the vintage racing scene with CSRG. Bravo!

“Behind the Lens with Dave Friedman” shows off this world-renowned motorsport photographer’s amazing work, a self-taught master at his profession, one who covered racing’s “golden era” when manual cameras and film were tools of the trade. He became one of Carroll Shelby’s legendary employees, recording that team’s remarkable racing history.

In VM’s ongoing series on private Great Garages, we visit Ross Bremer’s Garage, housed in a former Studebaker dealership, a fun collection of English Fords and others that makes full use of the former showroom and service department.

Vintage Motorsport features a great Vintage Shop in every issue, and this time we visit John Esposito Restoration in North Hollywood, California, specializing in vintage Porsches.

As the final months of 2020 wound down, several vintage racing events took place, and we cover the action at SVRA’s Heacock Classic Gold Cup at Virginia International Raceway in Alton, VA, CSRG’s Charity Challenge in Sonoma, CA that dodged local wildfires at Sonoma Raceway, and VSCCA’s Fall Finale at lovely Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT.

Columns by BS Levy, Le Mans 24-Hour winner Jochen Mass, Pete Lyons, Jeff Allison, Fritz Frommeyer and D. Randy Riggs are here too, along with all the recent virtual and live auction action from John L. Stein.

The Jan/Feb 2021 Vintage Motorsport issue is in the mail to subscribers and if you are a subscriber, thank you! It's also on newsstands at Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide. If you’re not a subscriber, you can go to RACER.com/VMsubs or call 877-425-4103.