GEOFF BRABHAM
IMSA GTP class champion in 1988, ’89, ’90 and ’91, and a two-time 12 Hours of Sebring winner.

The son of Aussie F1 champ Sir Jack took IMSA by storm in the late 1980s with the sublime Electramotive Nissan team, reeling off those four consecutive championships and setting a consecutive win streak that still stands.

The old GTP cars were incredibly fast, quite dangerous for some of the tracks we ran on, and very unforgiving. However, I would do it all over again as the thrill of driving such a high-powered, high-downforce car is something I’ll never forget. They were the last of the dinosaurs and I’m very grateful to have been given the chance to be successful in that era. The lap times don’t lie when you compare todays cars to those awesome beasts.

The race that gave me the most satisfaction was the 1990 Road America round. It started to drizzle around the back half of the track just before the last pit stop, and I didn’t know whether to stay on slicks or change to wets. I made the decision coming down pit road to stay on slicks, but not change them so they were still hot when I left the pits. Most of my rivals changed to wets; I was really slow in the wet parts, but very fast around the rest of the track that had stayed dry.

Luckily, a couple of people who were chasing me spun and I managed to keep it on the black stuff and win the race. The heavens opened up on the slow down lap. People said it was a gutsy call, but it was a decision based on total mental confusion on my part!

BUTCH LEITZINGER
A three-time Rolex 24 At Daytona race winner and the holder of IMSA titles in GTU (1993) and WSC (1997 and ’9.

The son of sports car legend Bob Leitzinger laughs at the notion of being received as “IMSA royalty.” His wins and titles in the hotly-contested GTU category and similar success in the post-GTP World Sports Car formula would suggest his crown is duly deserved.

Being there with my dad when he was racing, and then for 20 or 30 years when I was driving in IMSA, I suppose when I look back I’m reminded that we were probably having the most fun of anyone as a racing family through those times.

My favorite behind the wheel times would have been 1997 or so, with the Riley & Scott Mk III. That car was great. We had fantastic competition against the Ferraris, with Giampiero Moretti’s and Andy Evans’ teams, and Wayne Taylor had the other Riley & Scott.

We just kept making our car better and better; Pat Smith was our crew chief and he had a great feel for what the car needed. That was one of the great things about the Dyson Racing team, because they were always willing to fiddle with a car and just make changes with it. It wasn’t just something where they just bought parts off the shelf and that was what we had. You know, we were always trying different suspension geometry and things like that. Everyone was really working at the top level and a lot of success came to us as a result. Such a fantastic time for sports car racing.