The End of an Adventureor
The Beginning of an New One
If you're into vintage racing you may have heard by now...the end of the "Monterey Historics", that is, as we have come to know them. The year 2009 was the last year the forger of the famous weekend, Steve Earle will be in charge. The name will stay the same for 2010, but will change in 2011, and no doubt the event will also evolve. SCRAMP will take over the operation of the event starting this year.
A little look back for us now. The "Monterey Historic" Races were conceived and brought to a reality by Steve Earle in 1974 and have continued to this date. The basic idea was to bring out old races cars(not updated) that were no longer competitive running with the current cars of that day. It was to reignite memories of those cars that we saw in days long gone and to create new ones for young people. Who would have ever guessed that in 1974 that idea would fashion an entire week of car events that it has become today. It is without argument, the most prestigious vintage race event in the States and possibly the world.
For us as a local Porsche club, our first adventure to the Historics began in 1977, and we would again return numerous years to the party. For Porsche during these past years, it would be honored three times, first in 1982, 1998 for the 50th Anniversary of Porsche and again in 2009. For those three years there have been more Porsche race cars gathered there at Laguna Seca than any place in history. That brings me to the name that was chosen for that event. It was the "Monterey Historic", not the Monterey Vintage Races. The name "Monterey Historic" denotes the use to promote "Historic" race cars and in some cases famous drivers of the past. It's not the type of racing where someone goes out and builds a race car out of a vintage sports car. They are two totally different things. One hopefully does not go out and trash a historic car to win, winning is not the point, that's not to say racing is not spirited, it is. At the last Historic's I focused two multi--million dollar Porsche 917's rub and push at each other trying to gain the lead. This brought back a time warp of memories how they were driven in the past.
But, lets look to the future. Steve Earle has now turned his full enthusiasm to an event called the "Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival". It is his intention to move a lot of the aspects of the Monterey Hisctorc's to this new home of Infineon Raceway in Sonoma this June 4, 5 and 6. This includes the vendors, car club corrals and more. Hopefully this event will grow just like the Historic's have... it may take some time, but Sonoma/Napa is a heck of a place for a vacation. Us involved in the stuff called Automobilia look forward to a new adventure, fun and another reason to get into our cars and drive them!
Here is the link to get tickets.
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