CAN-AM REDUX: THUNDER ROAD AT LAGUNA SECA!

The guttural rumble of Can-Am cars from an “anything goes” era of motorsports delighted enormous crowds during its heyday. They’ll be back at the inaugural Spring Classic at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 19-21. Sports car racing’s booming popularity following WWII resulted in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the CASC (Canadian Automobile Sports Club) founding the Can-Am Series for Group 7 type sports racers in 1966. Armed with sponsorship from Johnson Wax, the Can-Am Series was ...
Read More

ROLEX REUNION: SHOWDOWN IN SALINAS!

Tireless Mike Matune wraps up his Monterey Car Week coverage with action from Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Every August brings the Granddaddy of U.S. historic racing events to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Salinas, CA, the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (RMMR). A celebration of the best in racing history captivates with four track days and a dazzling array of cars. The Penske/White Ferrari 512M, above, is certainly eye-catching. Finished to a very high standard, typical of Penske Racing, the...
Read More

LAGUNA SECA: MONTEREY MOTORSPORTS REUNION!

‘When it comes to historic racing, it doesn’t get much better than the premier Rolex event in Monterey,’ blogs Mike Matune.  As August arrives, summer begins to wind down, but not before the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion (RMMR) treats us to its annual celebration of the racing automobile. Among their celebrated groups this year was Formula 5000. You get a sense of the international character of RMMR when you consider Philip Lewis travelled from Denmark to compete in his ‘72 Matich...
Read More

BARN FIND: SHELBY GROUP 2 SCCA MUSTANG!

Stephen Cox blogs about the sixteenth ’66 Mustang A/Sedan racer built by Shelby,  but never raced. Originally painted in Ford's familiar Wimbledon White, the car was loaded with go-fast equipment during a lengthy process when it was converted from assembly line stock into a professional racing machine. Like the fifteen cars that preceded it, a K-Code 289/271 small-block powered this Shelby Mustang. In reality, it probably had far more power than that since Shelby's small block Fords ...
Read More

’15 SHELBY MUSTANG: ‘R’ IS FOR RACING!

Ford pays tribute to Carroll Shelby’s original GT350 Mustang and builds 37 track-ready competition GT350R models. The original ’65 Shelby GT350 and GT350R, above, established Mustang’s performance cred on racetracks around the world. The all-new Shelby GT350, featuring the most powerful naturally aspirated Ford production engine ever, re-establishes Mustang as a world-class sports car. Only 100 Shelby GT350s will feature a 2015 model year designation before production switches over to 2016...
Read More

HEACOCK CLASSIC GOLD CUP: VIR!

SVRA wraps up with 2014 vintage racing schedule with its premier event at Virginia International Raceway. Mike Matune brings us  highlights. As Summer fades and the racing season begins to wind down, SVRA draws us to Southern Virginia and Virginia International Raceway (VIR) for the annual Heacock Gold Cup. Here Mike Fisher, top, sweeps under the vehicle bridge in his ex-Derek Bell Speedvision Cup Audi S4.  Peter Dunn exits Turn 11 in his Morgan, above, chasing the other Group 3 ...
Read More

VIPER VICTORIOUS: STREETS OF TORONTO!

Kuno Wittmer & SRT Motorsports take gold at second SCCA Pirelli World Challenge race at Canada’s Exhibition Place. The No. 92 Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R, prepared by Riley Technologies, started from the second position on the grid and quickly took the lead when Wittmer passed the race leader on the first lap’s third turn on the 1.755-mile, 11-turn downtown street circuit. Wittmer’s victory in the event marked the first win for the Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R in the World Challenge’s GT class and th...
Read More

ENDURO RACING: CAN ROAD RACERS ONCE AGAIN DOMINATE AMERICAN MOTORSPORTS?

Auto racing in the United States is a mess, blogs Stephen Cox. NASCAR has peaked. Their response to dwindling attendance has been new cars and fuel injection. In Indycar, the barriers to entry eliminate all but the uber-wealthy from competition. Tony George was the only guy willing to take a risk and try to solve open wheel's problems. He had the right idea at the wrong time. Now it's road racing's turn to try and recapture lost glory. And I wonder if they're the ones who will get it right. ...
Read More

CARROLL SHELBY’S V8: THE GREAT STOLEN ENGINE CAPER!

Stephen Cox blogs about stolen Shelby engines and the one in Brad Brooker’s GT350 Mustang racer that almost led to an arrest! A good Shelby-built 289 engine was a coveted item in the mid-1960s. Many were stolen out of the legendary Hertz Shelby GT350-H “Rent-a-racers.” They left the rental lot on Friday with a High-Performance 271-horsepower 289-cubic-inch V8 and returned on Monday with a garden variety 289 that appeared nearly identical. Rumors also abound of Shelby engines that were ordere...
Read More

VINTAGE COMPETITION CORVETTES: CARLISLE REVISITED!

Mike Matune showcases some of the finest vintage racing Corvettes, off track  at Corvettes At Carlisle. It was like I couldn’t get enough of Corvettes. Scarcely a week after attending the Monterey Reunion where Corvette was the featured marque, I found myself in Carlisle, PA attending Corvettes at Carlisle. With dust from Laguna Seca literally still on my shoes, I wandered the grounds among the Corvette faithful, as fervent a crowd as you would ever hope to see. There’s little doubt ...
Read More