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9/6/2002 - By Peter Krause What a remarkable weekend! What began as an event filled with trepidation by many ended up being a mutual love fest as the management and personnel from Lime Rock Park, the Northern New Jersey SCCA, the sponsors from BMW USA, the members and volunteers of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and all the invited participants gathered together to celebrate the rich history of sports car racing at Lime Rock Park on Labor Day this past weekend. Sam Posey as the honored guest along with the Historic Trans-Am Feature were only some of the tremendous ingredients that made up a truly exceptional event. It was not uncommon to view such luminaries as David E. Davis, Jr., publisher of Automobile Magazine, Brock Yates, noted automotive wag, drivers Nick Craw, David Hobbs, George Follmer, Warren Agor and Paul Newman, among others… The weather was a pleasant surprise as the rest of the East Coast was pummeled by precipitation. While travelers from Maine to Pennsylvania were deluged with liquid sunshine on Monday, the participants and spectators escaped with overcast skies and mild temperatures. Thursday began with steady rain and a cool breeze as participants and crew from all over the country began populating the paddock at Lime Rock Park. In an effort to enhance the show and integrate the West Coast Historic Motor Sport Association technical and eligibility requirements more gently into an event with nearly two decades of tradition, entry standards were relaxed and some alternate car specs were allowed in an effort to entice some East Coasters to see the light and enjoy the "Monterey” experience. On to the race reports! An very strong Pre-War turnout courtesy of VSCCA provided great racing as Peter Giddings in his 1935 Alfa Romeo 8C-35 Grand Prix car ran away from the field after securing pole position for Group 1, Pre 1941 Sports and Racing Cars. Remarkable were the spirited duels between Admiral Scott Ebert’s 1939 Dreyer “Big Car” and the 1932 Buick Indy of Ben Bragg, Frank Allocca’s stunning supercharged 1933 K Series MG and George Davidson’s 1927 Bugatti T-37 and the David versus Goliath struggle between Howie Gilmore’s gigantic Lagonda T-7 and Kim Eastman’s 1935 American Twist Drill Special sandwiching the miniscule 1938 Morgan SS 3-wheeler of Chris Towner. Crowd favorites included Sam Mann’s very loud, red 1937 Maserati 6CM Grand Prix car, Bill Vaccaro’s exceeding rare and fast ERA, Jeff Jacobson’s giant-killing performance in his 1931 Morgan SS 3-wheeler (finishing 5th overall) and the largest car of the field, George Holman’s beautiful 1928 Stutz Black Hawk. Perhaps best embodying the spirit of the event was John Kendall’s awe-inspiring 1932 Alfa Romeo 8C-2300 Monza, just having recently been restored to race-worthy status after discovered being used as a parts car many years ago! After qualifying on the pole for Group Two for Sports Racing and Production Cars under 2500cc, Mari Ryan’s 1954 Lotus Mk 6 might have been expected to run away with the race on Monday. The driver of arguably the quickest MG T-series in the country, William Hollingsworth, saw differently after encountering teething problems with a new engine on Friday practice and heading back to Long Island for a hurried repair. Ryan shot away at the start to lead the first two thirds of the race only for Hollingsworth’s 1949 MG-TC Special to take the lead and the win with four laps to go. Nils Westberg’s 1954 Porsche 356 showed well until slowed by a departed exhaust pipe. The best battle was the three-way contest between MG-TD drivers Lawrence Fisher, David Stern and Canadian TC driver, Frank Mount, often three-wide into Big Bend more than once throughout the race and the weekend! John Schieffelin’s MG-TC and Jeff Renshaw MG-TD had quite a tussle before Renshaw prevailed. Two of the more unusual cars in the race were multi-time SCCA National Champion and member of the prestigious Road Racing Drivers Club, John Igleheart, in his svelte 1957 O.S.C.A. S-187 along with Lynne Alexander’s immaculate Siata 300BC Spider, both cars together not displacing the winner’s total of 1466cc! While spectators may have looked forward to the Trans-Am feature, most participants in the paddock eagerly anticipated the titanic struggle set to unfold at the front of Group 3, 1947-1955 Sports Racing and Production Cars over 2500cc between Tivvy Shenton’s 1955 Jaguar XK-140 DHC and Bob Girvin’s 1958 Allard GT Coupe. Girvin is an institution among the Lime Rock faithful, being one of the few to celebrate his twentieth year of participation at the Vintage Festival. It was no surprise that the estimated 475 horsepower of Girvin’s Chrysler “Hemi” was able to plant him firmly at the top of the field in practice and qualifying, but during the race the lead was exchanged between the two many more times than the lap chart indicated. With fast lap times less than two and a half tenths apart, these two streamed away from their closest pursuers and asserted their mastery by lapping all the way up to the fourth place finisher. Duncan Emmons finished third in his beautiful black 1953 Kurtis 500-S. The Austin-Healey contingent was well represented with Jim Smith’s 1955 100-4 ahead of a five-car battle which included Fred Fischer, Bruce Earle, Andrew McCabe and Tim Earle, all in 100’s. Rare and historically significant cars included event organizer Steve Earle’s and Anthony Wang’s 1953 Jaguar C-Types and a personal favorite, Bruce Male’s 1956 Maserati A6G Zagato Coupe, a veteran of not only the original, but ten Historic Mille Miglia Retrospectives! 1955-1961 Sports Racing Cars, Group 4, probably saw the tightest field up front bar the Trans-Am show and was populated by cars with a range of displacement from 5-plus liters of Chevrolet power in the 1958 Lister of second place finisher John Harden to just over eight and a half tenths of a liter (albeit in an American clone of a Lotus 23) in the 1965 Beach Mark 4B owned by Nick England and driven by Peter Krause, racing his way up to ninth place much to the surprise of many. The story of the race was pole-sitter and early leader Dudley Cunningham spun off at the end of the Left Hander on the second lap, allowing third-place starter and Lime Rock ace Dick Fryberger through in another Lotus XI. The pace at the front was frenetic as second place starter Chris Tchorznicki’s 1956 Lotus XI had Harden, then Patrick Orosco’s 1960 Lola Mark 1, then former Indy Car and North American Touring Car driver Dominic Dobson’s 1958 Lister-Jaguar to deal with through the first few laps. Fryberger took the checker with a couple of exceptional cars further back including the 1959 Porsche RSK’s of Roy Walzer and Tom Beil, Hank Giffin’s 1959 Lotus 17, Lou Sellyei’s 1955 Jaguar D-Type and the Elvas of Skip Persson, Fred Burke and John Greller. A remarkable group with the first dozen cars separated by no more than two and a half seconds and the next half dozen by no more than nine-tenths between fast lap times! Group 5 included 1955-1962 Grand Touring and Production Cars and presented a full grid consisting of a pair of Aston Martin DB-4GT’s, Ferrari 250SWB’s and a pair of unobtanium 250GTO’s as well as a plethora of Alfas, Lotii, Turners, a Morgan and more Austin-Healey’s. The largest group of the weekend featured a classic qualifying battle between the two Aston Martin’s of long-time campaigners Jim Freeman and “Monterey Jack” Boxtrom, interspersed with the more pedestrian but exceptionally well driven MGB of Former Glory Racing’s Bob Kilpatrick. Lining up further back included birthday boy (79 candles!?!) Frank Righetti’s 1959 Lotus Seven Mk 1, local ace Bob Kullas’ 1957 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce and Bob Klingenberg’s 1957 Porsche 356 which, up until last year before he widened his travel range, used to be driven to the track, raced and driven home! Rounding out the top ten were former National Champion and Lime Rock Sedan Lap Record holder Chris Gross’ 1959 Austin-Healey Bugeye, Mike Muckle’s historic Turner Mk III and Sandra McNeil’s mouthwatering 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO (yes, the REAL thing… and if you have to ask, you CAN’T afford it!) Bob Russell’s delectable 1959 Alfa Romeo Sprint Zagato slotted in at eleventh with a notable performance from Jim Duffield in his historic ex-Walt Hansgen Sebring 1962 Fiat-Abarth 1000 Bialbero in sixteenth. It was a delight to watch Lulu Wang in her Ferrari 250SWB having a great time holding off Abarthista extraordinaire, Mahlon Craft in his 1963 Abarth 1000GT Monomille. The race was even more exciting, as oil down from several cars shuffled the complexion of the race and the order dramatically. The qualifying race on Saturday had seen Bob Bodin rocket off into the lead in his 250SWB, yielding to Jack Boxtrom’s Aston DB 4GT on the second lap only to see Freeman take over on the seventh lap with Kilpatrick taking the lead on the next only for Freeman to take over on the penultimate and final lap, the race was rather a staid affair for Freeman as he led the whole way for fifteen laps on Monday. Behind, however, was mayhem as competitors struggled for grip as numerous spins and pit visits shuffled the order. Ultimately, it was Freeman’s DB 4GT winning over a tight battle for second between Bodin’s 250SWB, Kullas’ Alfa Giulietta and a courageous Gross and Muckle. Boxtrom finished sixth after fighting back through the field after pitting to secure a loose hood. Olga Reindlova’s 1959 Porsche 356, Russell’s Sprint Zagato, a great drive from Norm Sippel in his MGB and “Wild Man” Scott Terry’s beautiful black Giulietta Spider rounded out the top ten. Many decided discretion was the better part of valor and chose to call it a day rather than risk the conditions, but kudos to Sandra McNeil, Lulu and Tony Wang for sharing their extraordinary cars with the attendant masses. Group 6 for 1962-1966 GT and Production Cars was a walk for arguably the quickest Jag around, Bob Hebert’s Donovan-prepared 1965 E-Type. Curt Vogt, in his 1965 Shelby GT-350, did a terrific job to finally prevail over Brian Donovan’s E-Type Lightweight Coupe for second. Giant killer Joey Colasacco, driving Lawrence Auriana’s incredible Alfa Romeo TZ-1, as well as Bob Aliberto’s Shelby GT-350 both had a lonely race to fourth and fifth place overall. The most compelling visual spectacle of the race was Michael Stott in his 1963 Cobra holding off the snarling pack of Lotii including John Delane and Roy Walzer’s Type 26R’s, Rob Burt’s very quick Elan driven by organizer Murray Smith, Ed Mettelman’s Type 47 and Herb Wetanson’s rapid Lotus 7 S2. It must have taken the patience of Job for Delane, Walzer and Smith not to “do a Dale Earnhardt” on the inappropriately wide Cobra. Stott blasted by at the start and proceeded to slam the door at every overtaking attempt by Walzer until Delane took over for naught. Smith demonstrated spectacular car control as he attempted to capitalize on any mistake by the lead trio, as Mettelman and Wetanson were never more than two car lengths behind. Perhaps acceptable for the final two or three laps, the Cobra bottleneck robbed the spectators of a truly spectacular show between some well-matched cars and drivers. Further back, Dean Meiling’s beautiful Porsche 904 GTS/6, Jim Jard’s 1963 Corvette Roadster and Harlan Halsey’s 1965 Ginetta G-4 were all exceptional examples of authentic, “period prepared” race cars in the finest tradition of the event. FIA World Championship of Makes Cars from 1963 to 1971 populated race Group 7. Where else can one see four remarkable Lola T-70 Coupes dicing with an immaculate (and well driven) Martini-liveried Porsche 908 and a marvelous sounding Ferrari 512? Truly in the best tradition of the sport, the race at the front was riveting, as Duncan Dayton’s yellow 1967 Lola T-70 stayed just ahead of Phil Daigrepont’s 1971 Porsche 908/03 with Tom Malloy’s 1969 Lola T-70 GT and another giant-killing performance by Roy Walzer in his ex-Brian Redman 1970 Chevron B-16 swapping around for third place overall. On lap 5, Dayton was caught out by a slippery area off-line in the braking zone at the entry to the Climbing Turn and spun out of contention. Daigrepont, never far behind, couldn’t believe his good fortune and reveled in his experience on track with Dayton, Walzer and Malloy afterwards! The first four scored fast laps within two and a half tenths, the next three, Keith Goring’s lovely ex-Surtees T-70 Mk III, John Giordano’s fantastic Ferrari 512S and another terrific performance from Gordon Medenica’s BMW-powered Chevron Coupe similarly well matched. It was a pleasure to see and hear John McCaw’s ex-Ecurie Francorchamps Ferrari 250LM howl around the course after suffering mechanical maladies earlier in the weekend. Series produced Grand Touring cars were well represented by “Analog Mike” Piera’s Porsche 911S, Bob Kullas’ Alfa Romeo GTV, Paul Resnick’s and Steven Segal’s Porsche 911’s, which finished in that order. Unfortunately, the only car-to-car contact of the entire weekend occurred beginning lap 8 when Marc Evans in his Mallock Mk IIB made an over-opportunistic lunge down the inside into Big Bend in an attempt to get around Walter Dethier’s DeTomaso Pantera, a mistake by the overtaking driver that ended in tears for both. Dethier soldiered on for another two laps before retiring while Evans returned to the pits right away. A remarkable testament to the focus on driver deportment emphasized successfully by event organizer Steve Earle had folks in wonder that there had been no incidents up until the last session of the weekend in what has habitually been a difficult event and venue to “keep clean,” given the entrants competitive nature and the tight track. The Feature grid of the weekend, Group 8, Historic Trans-Am Cars, was a terrific display of crowd-pleasing ground pounding pony cars and was a highlight for the numerous spectators who covered the infield hillside overlooking the first four turns a the scenic track. Thanks to David Tom and Ken Epsman of the Historic Trans-Am Registry, a quality field was presented with over two dozen authentic Trans Am cars, including team cars from Dodge, Chevrolet, Ford and Mercury as well as infamous one-offs such as Smokey Yunick’s Camaro and the “lightweight” Penske Camaros. Ken Epsman won the qualifying race and the Feature on Monday in his historic 1970 Dodge Challenger, a car honored guest of the weekend, Sam Posey, had driven at the very same venue over thirty years ago. Second on Saturday in the qualifying race was Ron Huber in the ex-Jerry Titus 1968 Pontiac Firebird followed by the 1971 Penske team Javelin and Jim Hague’s 1969 Camaro. Terry Bookheimer took a fine fifth in Ross Myers’ ex-Bud Moore 1969 Boss 302 Mustang while the Edelbrock father and daughter were a fine seventh and eighth overall. Rug Cunningham took U2 honors in his BMW over Tom Brown’s Datsun 510 and Kurt Bissell’s patriotically liveried Fiat 124 Coupe. In the Feature on Monday, moved up in the schedule due to the threat of rain, it appeared that event organizer Steve Earle, observing from the timing tower, collectively held his breath with the crowd as the running order was never the same for more than a third of a lap for the first ten spots! Five different marques in the first five places emulated perfectly the parity achieved during Trans Am’s heyday as the finishing order was Epsman, Hague, Gary Underwood’s well-driven ex-Follmer 1969 Ford Boss 302 Mustang, the ex-Penske Javelin and Huber’s Firebird. Former IMSA Champ and SCCA head honcho Nick Craw showed up and gave a driving exhibition to take U2 in another of BMW Historic Motorsports 2002’s followed by Cunningham, Brown and Bissell as they did Saturday. The lap chart tells it all as the Javelin led the first two; the Challenger led the next three whereupon the Javelin took over lap 6. Huber’s heroic drive netted him the lead only for one lap before the Javelin surged into the lead until the penultimate lap when Epsman set aside the show and went rightfully for the glory. All in all, the vision of Skip Barber and the practice of Steve Earle proved to be the ideal combination in establishing what will be a terrific event and a “must do” for all participants and enthusiasts alike. With such a strong tradition, it was a question mark for many whether the theory of the West and the practice of the East could harmoniously be coupled to yield the most desirable outcome for all. Without much dissent, almost everyone came away wanting to come back next year, a true sign of success and a great icon for the future. Peter L. Krause runs a vintage and historic race preparation business, Krause & England, Inc. in Raleigh, North Carolina and was recognized as the 1993 SVRA Professional Mechanic of the Year. Krause has been a participant at the BMW Lime Rock Vintage Festival for over a dozen years and received the 1991 BMW Cup at the event for outstanding spirit, performance and presentation. He is the event chairman and organizer for several VSCCA events, The VIR Gold Cup Historic Races and periodically serves as the Drivers Orientation Program Chief Instructor for the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association, receiving the “Vintage Motorsport Magazine Spirit of Vintage Racing” Award in 1997. He is Chief Instructor and Licensing Chairman for the North Carolina Region of the SCCA, an attendee of Vintage Motorsport Council meetings over the last decade and a half, an active member of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and is never shy of offering his opinions about vintage, historic and contemporary sports car racing...
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