By: SVRA | November 1, 2018 9:38 AM The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) today announced it would present motorsports reunions to celebrate iconic marques throughout the 2019 season. The idea was tested with a Corvair reunion at the Virginia International Raceway (VIR) weekend in September with outstanding results. The VIR event saw the largest number of racing Corvairs ever appearing at a single venue, and attracted new car owners to SVRA. VIR drew a record number of ticket-purchasing fans and automobile enthusiasts for its SVRA event. While motorsports reunions have traditionally been annual gatherings at single venues, SVRA is breaking new ground by showcasing such celebrations from coast-to-coast through the national platform of its 2019 schedule.“Our vision since my first year with SVRA in 2012 was to move our sport from its dependency on entry fees as our primary revenue stream to focus on ticket sales and sponsorships,” said Tony Parella, SVRA president and CEO. “We have not raised the price of entry fees since 2012 while steadily growing our sponsors and the front gate. SVRA is moving into the realm of mainstream motorsports and this new program is more evidence of that.”Parella’s long-term vision is to reduce and in some cases even eliminate entry fees for car owners and teams. The reunion program is expected to be particularly helpful to the “shade-tree” mechanics of vintage racing. These are people who prepare their own equipment with a passion for the celebration of revered marques and the camaraderie of vintage racers. The new program will be an additional element to the established SVRA festival-style weekends fans have enjoyed over the last few years.Every car owner entering the featured marques reunion will not only receive free entry, but also a reunion group photo and Hero Cards to pass out to youngsters – or anyone desiring a photo and background on a car. The featured marques will be highlighted in the event posters and programs. Free entry will entitle car owners to run their racers in two sessions with their normal SVRA run group on Friday and Saturday, as well as a 30-minute feature reunion race on Sunday. SVRA plans to expand the list of motorsports reunion marques in the future, including multiple marques in future race weekends.The featured marques for the reunions are listed below.Sebring – MG Reunion
Road Atlanta – Early Porsche Reunion 356 / 911
Auto Club- Datsun reunion
Road America – Lola reunion
Laguna Seca – Historic Trans Am
Lime Rock – 55 years of Mustang Reunion
Mid-Ohio – Corvair Reunion
Portland – BMW Reunion
Brickyard – 50 years of American Formula Fords
Watkins Glen – Triumph Reunion
VIR – Alfa Romeo Reunion
COTA – Ginetta Reunion.SVRA’s nationwide platform is at the heart of the organization’s growth strategy. It is combined with the growing participation of legendary professional drivers and leveraging the high net worth demographic in the paddock for sponsorship attraction. This provides three pillars for business expansion. Top-brand companies that have joined the list of sponsors include Jaguar, Land Rover, Merrill Lynch, NetJets, Sunoco, and Mazda. Company officials report consistent annual triple-digit growth since 2012.

By: SVRA | October 23, 2018 6:05 AM The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) has revealed its 2019 racing schedule which includes the additions of two more of America’s most revered road courses — WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Lime Rock Park. America’s premier vintage racing series gets into full swing for its 41st year in February with the annual Sebring Vintage Classic weekend and closes with the seventh Golden Bell Helmet U.S. Vintage National Championships at Circuit of The Americas in October.“The addition of these two iconic courses to our schedule is the culmination of years of building and then strengthening our national racing platform,” said Tony Parella, SVRA president and CEO. “These are venues where racers and race fans feel the heart and soul of American road racing. Lime Rock Park lives the history of our sport every day. As for WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, all of us at SVRA see that as the crown jewel of California road courses.”The 2019 season begins at Roebling Road Raceway near Savannah where the focus is the annual SVRA “fast track” driver’s school in addition to the Bob Williams Heritage Cup races. The WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca date is simultaneous with the SVRA weekend at Road America, but officials do not see that as a serious conflict and predict that hundreds of vintage racers will converge on both venues.“With more 11,000 vintage drivers in our database, including 2,500 SVRA licensed members across the country, and the vast geographic distance between these two amazing road courses, we’ll have hundreds of race cars at both events,” Parella added. “We will look to adjust the dates in future years.”Another highlight of the season will be the return of the charity pro-am races at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Virginia International Raceway. Under consideration is the addition of a third charity pro-am to create a Vintage Race of Champions (VROC) series. Those races have featured such legendary drivers as Al Unser, Jr., Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, and Paul Tracy among many others. Additional details concerning VROC will be announced at a later date.SVRA’s nationwide platform is at the heart of the organization’s growth strategy. It is combined with the growing participation of legendary professional drivers and leveraging the high net worth demographic in the paddock for sponsorship attraction. This provides three pillars for business expansion. Top-brand companies that have joined the list of sponsors include Jaguar, Land Rover, Merrill Lynch, NetJets, Sunoco, and Mazda. Company officials report consistent annual triple-digit growth since 2012.2019 SVRA schedule

February 15-17, Roebling Road Raceway, Bob Williams Heritage Cup & Driver’s School

February 28-March 3, Sebring Vintage Classic

March 28-31, Road Atlanta Grand Prix

April 26-28, Auto Club Speedway, Southern California Historic Sports Car Festival

May 17-19, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Trans Am Festival

May 16-19, Road America Spring Vintage Festival

May 24-27, Lime Rock Park, Memorial Day Motorsports Festival

June 20-23, Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, Vintage Grand Prix

July 25-28, Portland International Raceway, Vintage Racing Festival

August 1-4, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Brickyard Invitational

September 5-8, Watkins Glen International, U.S. Vintage Grand Prix

September 19-22, Virginia International Raceway, Heacock Gold Cup

October 2-6, COTA, U.S. Vintage National Championships

By: SVRA November 29, 2018 6:15 AM Sportscar Vintage Racing Association announced today that it would present a championship points series it calls the Vintage Race of Champions in 2019. VROC builds on the success of the SVRA Charity Pro-Am races that began at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2014. Virginia International Raceway hosted a second pro-am this past September. A new pro-am will be presented at the March 28-31 Road Atlanta weekend, making for a three-race series. Plans call for two championship trophies to be awarded – one for both an amateur and a professional racer.All three races will benefit charity. The new Road Atlanta Charity Pro-Am will support Hope For The Warriors, a national nonprofit organization that provides assistance to combat-wounded service members, their families, and families of those killed in action. The organization focuses on those involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and their families. The SVRA race weekend will run during their Month of the Military Child.“Hope For The Warriors is proud to recognize the service and sacrifice of military children,” said Robin Kelleher, CEO. “Alongside SVRA and their VROC Charity Pro-Am Race, we will celebrate their warrior spirit and open our Drive for Hope program to benefit our youngest heroes during the Month of the Military Child.”The Indianapolis Motor Speedway Brickyard Invitational Charity Pro-Am will benefit the Morgan Adams Foundation. The Morgan Adams Foundation supports laboratory and clinical research in the area of pediatric cancer, with an emphasis on tumors on the brain, spine, and central nervous system. The Brickyard Invitational will be presented on a new date in 2019 – August 1-4.“We are new to the SVRA family and very appreciative of their support,” said Morgan Adams Foundation Founder and Executive Director Joan Slaughter. “For us to partner with Tony Parella and everyone at SVRA is a wonderful opportunity to benefit children and young adults fighting cancer.”The VIR event will benefit IGNITE – the Autism Society of North Carolina’s community center for young adults with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s syndrome. IGNITE was founded by The Evernham Family Racing for a Reason Foundation – a nonprofit established by legendary NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham and his family. Evernham, with professional co-driver Boris Said, won the VIR race in 2018.“All of us at the Evernham Family Racing for a Reason Foundation appreciate the hard work, generosity and professionalism of Tony and his team,” said Evernham. “The races are great fun for everyone involved and the fundraising has done much for the important work of IGNITE.”“The pro-am races have not only been a great benefit to charity, but they have proven to be a hit with fans,” said SVRA CEO Tony Parella. “They get unprecedented access to their heroes from IndyCar, NASCAR, Trans Am, IMSA, and short track racing, many of which have become frequent competitors in our races beyond the pro-am events.”SVRA officials have set a goal of expanding the VROC series to five races with a television package and entitlement sponsor by 2020. Many of the professionals who have competed are veterans of the old International Race of Champions series. All have been champions at some point in their careers. Al Unser Jr., Bill Elliott, Bobby Labonte, Ron Hornaday, Mike Skinner, Paul Tracy, Willy T. Ribbs, and Jimmy Vasser are among the legends who have participated in previous years. Once again, the cars they will race are 1963 to 1972 vintage Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs of SVRA “Group 6” A and B Production.

By: SVRA February 19, 2019 10:11 AM Legendary road racers Ron Fellows, Geoff Brabham, and Wally Dallenbach are the latest entries in Sportscar Vintage Racing Association’s (SVRA) first-ever Vintage Race of Champions (VROC) Charity Pro-Am at Road Atlanta on March 29 and 30. Other VROC Series races are planned for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in August, and Virginia International Raceway in September.“No matter how many Charity Pro-Am races we organize, I still pinch myself when I think of the heroes who come race with us. All of us at SVRA are honored,” said SVRA CEO Tony Parella. “Today we have joining us terrific drivers with amazing credentials. We’re talking overall wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Daytona 24 Hours, and the 12 Hours of Sebring. They have IROC experience, Trans Am championships, and dozens of major sports car victories. That doesn’t even do them justice because the list of their collective accomplishments is flat-out amazing.”Brabham was a master of sports car racing and the star driver of the dominant Nissan team that won four successive IMSA GTP championships from 1988 through 1991. During this time he scored an amazing 27 overall victories. He also won the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 1989 and 1991 12 Hours of Sebring and the 1981 Can-Am series championship. Geoff’s outstanding career earned him six invitations to compete in the elite IROC series where he won two races. He began racing Formula Fords in Australia in 1973 and won the 1975 Australian Formula 2 championship and the 1979 Formula Super Vee championship before reaching the top levels of the sport.Geoff was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Australian Hall of Fame in 2018. Brabham is a 10-time starter in the Indianapolis 500, with a best finish of fourth in 1983. He was active in the IndyCar series during the 1980’s recording eight podium finishes and 31 top tens.Dallenbach launched his professional racing career in the Trans Am series in 1984. He was immediately successful, winning the Rookie-of-the-Year title. The following year he won the championship for Jack Roush’s Mercury Capri to make him, at 22, the series’ youngest champion. He repeated as champion again in 1986 for the Protofab Camaro team. These championships earned him an invitation to the elite IROC invitational series in 1987. Other outstanding accomplishments include four class wins in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.Dallenbach began an eleven-year NASCAR Cup career in 1991; scoring 23 top tens – two coming in the Daytona 500 — in 226 races. In addition to NASCAR Cup and Trans Am, the versatile Dallenbach has competed in NASCAR Truck, Xfinity, IndyCar, IMSA Camel GT, and a win in the open wheel division at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. He extended his career by becoming a motorsports commentator for TNT and NBC. Dallenbach has also served as a chief steward with the Trans Am Series Presented by Pirelli.Fellows built an exceptional career in auto racing both at the wheel and on the business side with ventures such as the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park among others. He is one of Trans Am’s most prolific winners with 20 overall victories, including his latest coming in 2014 after an 18-year hiatus. During a driving career that dates back to the early 1980’s, he amassed an amazing record of championships and victories across a dazzling array of disciplines.His major accomplishments include 27 ALMS wins where he also won three consecutive GTS class driver’s championships. He was the overall winner in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2001 and brought home two first-place GTS class trophies at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2001 and 2002. Fellows competed in all three of NASCAR’s top series, Cup, Nationwide (now Xfinity), and Trucks. He was particularly successful in Nationwide where he picked off four victories to go along with eight other top-five finishes. In the truck series, he scored two wins and two thirds in just 15 races.The latest entries build on a stellar field that already includes Al Unser Jr., Willy T. Ribbs, Max Papis, Lyn St. James and Davey Hamilton that sets up a classic inter-disciplinary battle of titans much like the original IROC series. Plans call for two points championship trophies to be awarded – one for both an amateur and a professional racer.The new Road Atlanta Charity Pro-Am will support Hope For The Warriors, a national nonprofit organization that provides assistance to combat-wounded service members, their families, and families of those killed in action. The organization focuses on those involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and their families. The SVRA race weekend will run during their Month of the Military Child.SVRA officials have set a goal of expanding the VROC series to five races with a television package and entitlement sponsor by 2020. As with previous pro-am races, the cars are 1963 to 1972 vintage Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs of SVRA “Group 6” A and B Production. This year, two points championship trophies to be awarded – one for both an amateur and a professional racer.

By: Trans Am | March 2, 2019 12:09 PM The Trans Am Series presented by Pirelli opens its 2019 campaign this weekend at the same circuit where it debuted in 1966, returning to the Florida Highlands region and the legendary Sebring International Raceway.This will mark the 14th


Trans Am event at the historic 17-turn, 3.74-mile airport-based circuit, sharing the asphalt on this occasion with the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) and its Sebring Vintage Classic.The late Jochen Rindt, the 1965 Le Mans 24 Hour winner for Ferrari and future Formula 1


world champion, won the first Sebring Trans Am race, the Four-Hour Governor’s Cup, held on Friday, March 25, 1966, the day before the 12 Hours.Related

Retro: Trans-Am's 1969 season

Impressively, Rindt drove an Alfa Romeo 1600GTA that he had rolled in pre-event practice. There were 40 starters and the early laps of the race featured a side-by-side battle for the lead between A.J. Foyt in a Ford Mustang and Charley Rainville in a Plymouth Barracuda. But Bob


Tullius would survive the long race to finish second in a Dodge Dart, as Alfas claimed the next three positions.Trans Am returned the following year as the Four-Hour International, drawing a then-record 61 entries. Jerry Titus won in a Ford Mustang, lapping Mark Donohue’s second-


place Chevrolet Camaro Z-28. Peter Gregg and Sam Posey took honors in the Under-2 liter class, sharing a Porsche 911.In 1968, Trans Am ran concurrently with the 12 Hours of Sebring. While Porsche backed up its 1-2-3 finish in the Daytona 24 Hours by taking the top two


positions at Sebring with its potent 907s, Donohue and Craig Fisher took Trans Am honors with a third-place overall finish. Roger Penske-entered Camaros placed third and fourth overall, with Joe Welch and Bob Johnson finishing behind their winning teammates.The Under 2-liter


class ran separately on Friday, with Bert Everett winning the Three-Hour Governor’s Cup in a Porsche 911.With the series moving to shorter races, the next Trans Am race at Sebring was not until 1999, with a standalone weekend serving as the season finale. Paul Gentilozzi put the


icing on his championship title by winning in a Mustang.For 2000 and 2001, Trans Am ran in support of the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring. Brian Simo won the 2000 season opener in a Qvale Mangusta, while Boris Said won the following year in a Mustang. Trans Am next returned in 2011 during the 12 Hours weekend, with R.J. Lopez winning a 103.5-mile race in a Chevrolet Corvette.


Since 2013, Trans Am has been a major component of the SVRA Sebring Vintage Classic, held two weekends prior to the 12 Hours.Doug Peterson scored the 2013 and 2014 overall victories in a Corvette, while Cameron Lawrence captured both TA2 victories in a Camaro. The two


drivers went on to win their respective titles in both seasons.Amy Ruman won the 2015 season opener to begin her successful bid to become Trans Am’s first female champion, while Lawrence took his third consecutive Sebring TA2 triumph, this time at the wheel of a Dodge


Challenger.Kenny Bupp led the 2016 event by winning TA while Gar Robinson led TA2, both driving Camaros. The following year, Cliff Ebben led TA and Dillon Machvern paced TA2, both in Mustangs.Last year, Ernie Francis Jr. won the lead TA class in a Mustang. Dodge Challenger


driver Marc Miller took a dramatic victory in TA2, passing Rafa Matos for the lead with only two laps remaining. Mark Boden took his second consecutive Sebring TA3 (now SuperGT) triumph in a Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, while Andrew Aquilante paced TA4 (now GT) in a Camaro.At this


weekend’s event, each of the four Trans Am classes tested on Friday to open on-track activities. Today began with late-morning practice, qualifying for each of the classes beginning at 4:55pm.The TA2 race will take the green flag tomorrow at 11:10am, while the TA, SGT and GT


classes will race together beginning at 3:25pm. The Sebring Vintage Classic offers racing for all SVRA race groups, highlighted by an MG Marque Reunion. Click hereClick here for SVRA entry lists and event schedules.

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By: SVRA March 19, 2019 6:04 AM Former NASCAR champions Mike Skinner and Greg Biffle both have entered the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association’s first-ever Vintage Race of Champions Charity Pro-Am at Road Atlanta March 29-30. The two NASCAR veterans join an IROC-worthy field of racing legends that already includes Al Unser, Jr., Geoff Brabham, Davy Jones, and Willy T. Ribbs.The cars featured in the VROC Pro-Am are 1963 to 1972 vintage Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs per the SVRA’s Group 6 A and B Production. At stake in what will be a three-race 2019 series are two points trophies – one for both an amateur and a professional racer.“Atlanta is in the heart of NASCAR country, so it is extra special to have two champions of that sport like Greg and Mike racing with us,” said SVRA President and CEO Tony Parella. “Mike is becoming an SVRA regular, especially in Group 10 with his race-winning truck. Greg had a great race [driving a Group 6 Mustang] at our VIR Pro-Am last September (photo above), and I think that really opened his eyes to what tremendous racing we have at SVRA.”The VROC Charity Pro-Am will support Hope For The Warriors, a national nonprofit organization that provides assistance to combat-wounded service members, their families, and families of those killed in action. The SVRA race weekend at Road Atlanta will kick off HFTW’s Month of the Military Child.Skinner and his ATF & Gunslinger race team, which includes sons Jamie and Dustin plus Andrew Franzone, regularly participate in fund-raising events for HTFW and other charitable organizations. Skinner was the 1995 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion and ’97 Cup Series Rookie of the Year, and got his first taste of SVRA racing at last September’s Charity Pro-Am event at Virginia International Raceway.Inducted into the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame in 2013, Skinner has continued his career with occasional races as well as hosting the NASCAR Radio show, “Skinner Round-up” with his wife Angie on Sirius XM. Last year he drove his NASCAR truck up the world-famous hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.Greg Biffle similarly enjoyed much NASCAR success, winning a total of 55 races in Cup, Xfinity and Trucks. He was Truck series champion in 2000, Xfinity (then called the Busch series) champ in 2002, and a Cup series race winner (July Daytona) in 2003, earning an invitation to that season’s IROC.In addition to the new Pro-Am, the professional Trans Am Series Presented by Pirelli will join SVRA at Road Atlanta, sharing the stage at several top road courses across the country in the continuing “Speed Tour”. These Trans Am/SVRA weekends are festivals, featuring Hagerty Insurance Cars & Caffeine car corrals and vendor marketplaces with accessories, memorabilia, art, and apparel.Road Atlanta will be a full weekend, with not only the Trans Am and Vintage Race of Champions but also the SVRA’s hundreds of vintage cars competing in a wide variety of classes.SVRA officials have set a goal of expanding the VROC series to five races with a television package and title sponsor by 2020.