Inaugural American Speed Festival at M1 Concourse Opens on Thursday, Sept. 30

by VM Staff

As previewed earlier this month on VintageMotorsport.com, the inaugural American Speed Festival at M1 Concourse, a celebration of speed – past, present, and future — that honors some of the greatest drivers, designers, and cars in motorsports, opens on Thursday and will run through the weekend.

Unlike a static car show, the Sept. 30-Oct. 3 Festival will feature two days of live time trials on the Speed Ring, M1 Concourse’s 1.5-mile road course. There are RC cars for kids, a chance for a ride on the track, live music, food and spirits each day as well.

Friday and Saturday feature high-speed on-track activity utilizing the M1 Concourse “Speed Ring.” Speed Ring Single Car Time Trials feature six classes:

Class 1: Can Am Car
Class 2: Indy Car
Class 3: Endurance Car
Class 4: Stock Car
Class 5: Feature Car
Class 6: Super Car

Friday and Saturday activities on track will be livestreamed on M1 and American Speed Festival social channels produced by nationally known racing television at SPEEDSPORT TV and hosted by long-time network motorsport television host Ralph Sheheen.



The first “Master of Motorsports” award will go to Motorsports Hall of Fame racing innovator Jim Hall. It will be presented at The Checkered Flag Ball, Saturday Oct 2. The ball is a fundraiser for M1’s charitable arm, the Checkered Flag Challenge which is funding a new initiative called M1 Mobility in partnership with Pontiac Community Foundation to provide transportation to Pontiac residents so they can access services.

Sunday will feature the American Speed Festival Exposition, a judged competition of the best of the best car classes during the weekend, and a chance for enthusiasts to get up close to some of the greatest cars in North America and the world. Sunday, guests can ride in either a Dodge or Lexus M1 Concourse Performance fleet car with a professional driver on the M1 Concourse circuit. There is no fee.

Thursday, Sept. 30 is the exclusive “Dine and Drive” tour and behind the scenes looks at some of the great automotive history of the Motor City. Followed by Thursday evening’s Motor Grille. Friday evening is the ASF Garage Reveal Saturday evening’s Checkered Flag Ball which is a benefit.

Of note, four of Jim Hall’s historic Chaparrals from the Petroleum Museum in Midland, Texas, will be onsite, including the Chaparral 2, 2E, 2F, 2K. All but 2K will run and be driven by Hall family members.

The 1901 Henry Ford Sweepstakes race car exact replica will be on site doing demonstration runs Friday and Saturday through a collaboration with The Henry Ford to celebrate the 120-year anniversary of Henry Ford’s first “race car” that he raced and won with on Oct. 10, 1901 in nearby Grosse Pointe.

Also on hand will be a collection of vintage Indy Cars:

Bobby Rahal – 1966 Eagle-Ford Indy car (Rahal will be on site)
Pete Klain – 1974 Riley
Bruce Linsmeyer – 1968 Lotus Turbine
Rick Dresang – 1974 Eagle
Joe Freeman – 1960 Ewing
1952 Kurtis 500A
Ray Skillman – 1960 Ewing
Cory Hoonhout – 1986 Lola
Richard Morrison – 1964 Huffaker
Chuck Jones – 1972 Parnelli VPJ-1
Janet Guthrie’s 1978 ninth-place finishing Wildcat Mk III (Ms. Guthrie will be inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame at M1 earlier in the week).

Finally, the exhibit will feature two GT1 prototypes developed through the acquisition of Ford’s final 30 remaining chassis of the venerable first-generation Ford GT. This is the only (and last) first-generation GT to ever be offered in such a configuration, developed and tested by M1 Motorsports Club member Fred Calero.

 

M1 Concourse hosted the American Speed Festival press event on September 8th, 2021 giving media a preview of what is to come September 30th - October 3rd!

 

 

 

 

Field of more than 100 race cars makes American Speed Festival a success

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emailBy Industry | October 3, 2021 3:08 PM ET

The celebration of speed past, present and future at M1 Concourse’s inaugural American Speed Festival was a resounding success for competitors and fans this weekend.

More than 100 race cars representing seven classes and 120 years of racing were on site for the three-day event (Oct. 1-3). Highlighting the weekend were the appearance of four historic Chaparral race cars designed and built by Motorsports Hall of Famer Jim Hall, whose revolutionary designs changed the sport of auto racing forever.

“We’re very pleased with the success of our inaugural American Speed Festival weekend,” said Tim McGrane, CEO of M1 Concourse. “Although weather hampered us a bit Sunday for the Exposition, we had a tremendous three days for our Dine and Drive and two days of on-track time trials on the 1.5-mile Speed Ring of Champion Motor Speedway. Fans and competitors alike were extremely enthusiastic about seeing iconic vehicles from seven different classes doing runs on track.”

Saturday evening’s Checkered Flag Ball supporting M1 Mobility was sold out in the new M1 Event Center, bringing together community, industry and political leaders to raise funds to assist with the transportation needs of Pontiac residents.

Hall was honored as the first “Master of Motorsports” for his ground-breaking design innovations in the racing world. Hall was unable to attend the dinner, but joined live via video to accept the award and answer questions from fellow Motorsports Hall of Famer David Hobbs.

“We can’t thank Jim Hall and his family enough for bringing four of his Chaparrals to this first event as our featured cars. To see that kind of racing innovation and history on track was such a unique opportunity for the fans that won’t be soon forgotten,” said McGrane. “Jim was a very worthy recipient of our first Master of Motorsports award, and we were honored to have him and his family involved in our inaugural event.”

Television producer SPEEDSPORT TV live streamed the event globally on numerous digital platforms, including M1 Concourse, American Speed Festival, SPEEDSPORT TV and RACER. Host Ralph Sheheen described the action for thousands of race enthusiasts across the country.

In addition, at the ASF Exposition today, special awards were presented to 11 vehicles as voted upon by ASF patrons and officials:

Best Can Am Car – Jim Hall – Chaparral 2E

Best Indy Car – Chuck Jones – 1972 Parnelli VPJ-1

Best Endurance Car – Team Stradale – 1959 Maserati Tipo 61

Best Featured Car – RM Motorsports – 1992 Jordan 192 Formula 1

Best Stock Car – Michael Haislet – Kyle Petty #42 NASCAR Pontiac

Best Super Car – Bob Hertzberg – 2020 Ferrari 488 Challenge EVO

Best European Performance Car – Larry Smith – 1967 Maserati Ghibli

Best American Performance Car – Ken Lingenfelter – 1952 Corvette Duntov Mule

Best Import – Michael Aumick – 2008 Subaru WRX STI

Selection Committee Award – Al Shultz – 1952 Fabulous Hudson Hornet

M1 Concourse Award – The Henry Ford – 1901 Sweepstakes Race Car

The American Speed Festival will return to M1 Concourse on Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 2022. A part of the event will feature a celebration of the Shelby marque in honor of the 60th anniversary of Shelby American.

“We can’t thank enough both the competitors who brought and raced vehicles on track, as well as all the enthusiastic fans who came out this weekend,” said McGrane. “As with any first-time event, we will take valued input from our customers and competitors to provide a better event for all. We can’t wait to do it again the first weekend of October 2022, and we can promise it will be bigger and better than ever as we celebrate the sport of auto racing and the anniversary of Shelby American.”