Formerly known as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races, this is the annual event that coincides with the Pebble Beach Concours d' Elegance. It's basically a gathering of vintage racecars that tear around Mazda Raceway at Laguna Seca for two days for no other reason than it looks and sounds cool.
In years past, it's been a somewhat staid affair, mostly because the majority of the classes featured early prewar racecars that aren't nearly as impressive now as they were back in their prime. The really good stuff like the new Formula cars and Trans Am racers usually only ran every other year and in limited numbers.
Well, new management has taken over and along with the new name is a new emphasis on cooler participants. The featured races are now Formula 1, Trans Am and a new class -- stock cars from 1966-1975. Whether you like NASCAR or not, tell me you wouldn't want to see those big American lead sleds hauling around Laguna Seca at full throttle?
rick8365 says:
09:21 AM, 01/20/10
"Whether you like NASCAR or not, tell me you wouldn't want to see those big American lead sleds hauling around Laguna Seca at full throttle?"
I honestly was thinking how great that would be and instantly had the thought cross my mind of incorporating it into a vacation (from NJ)....don't know if the wife would be on board with it or not but I would love to see these cars on track.
I am a life long stock car racing fan and my love for it has it origins in the time period that is being featured. As NASCAR and the sport have changed (esp. the last 10 years) my interest has waned quite a bit - too vanilla and too managed. The only downside to the cars from this era is the lack of safety equipment for the drivers - otherwise, I wish they were still racing cars like this. It is when stock car racing was stock car racing. If I don't make the trip I will be scouring the web for pics and footage. Thanks for the heads up.