The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) announced the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational will return June 15-19, 2016. It will mark the third time SVRA will host hundreds of racers in a multi-day format that uses both the IMS 2.434-mile road course and the track’s 2.5-mile oval.
SVRA President and CEO Tony Parella said, “So many people have contacted me about plans for next year I thought it was important to confirm with race fans and our participants alike that we will be back in 2016. All I can say is stay tuned because more information will follow.”
The centerpiece of the three-day racing event is the “Indy Legends” Celebrity Pro-Am which in 2015 featured 33 veteran drivers of the Indianapolis 500. The timed 50-minute race of American muscle cars on the Speedway’s 2.434-mile road course used 1963 to 1972 vintage 355 cubic inch Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs of the Group 6 SVRA class. The professionals were paired with amateur drivers, splitting stints at the wheel at their discretion.
Bob Lazier, father of 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier and himself a starter in the 1981 Indianapolis 500, won this year’s Pro-Am with co-driver Jim Caudle in the latter’s 1969 Corvette.
For more information, visit SVRA.com.
[Source: SVRA; photo: Peter Falkner]
The SVRA events are great. I would also like to see a Vintage, classic car show at the SVRA events along with the racers. It would easily provide an additional draw to the event and benefiting the vendors, possibly the track operations and SVRA popularity. The net proceeds could be a donation to a popular cause further enhancing SVRA.
Some input:
I would guess 200 to 500 entries and they bring additional friends, have different clubs park together.
They are easy to manage having a local car club host the event, they know how to do everything, you specify the space/location reasonably close to the race cars. Maybe allow the entrants to drive the track, behind a pace car, at the end of the day.
Entry fee of $15 to 20, one or two day event.
You can control the entries to autos earlier than maybe 1964 the first year to manage the initial workload.
You can designate only 2 or 3 club members to have communication with SVRA, so you can continue focus on your known event.
They can have judged or not, most entries just want to participate in a get together. Non judged “Cars n Coffee” events all over the US are usually quite larger. Encourage previous race cars to attend, special area.
It can be fun and will enhance the SVRA event.