Entry List – By Name
\nEntry List – By Class<\/p>\n
OPTIMA Batteries Sprint Series<\/strong> Feature Races<\/strong> Words for the Glen<\/p>\n Plenty of corks were popped as over 400 racecars rolled into Watkins Glen International (WGI) for the Glenora Wine Cellars U.S. Vintage Grand Prix (USVGP) this past September 10-12. Presented by Welliver McGuire, Inc., SVRA once again hosted what has simply become one of the country\u2019s largest vintage auto racing gatherings.<\/p>\n Scheduled were the organization\u2019s normal program (including a Pre-war\/Allard group) of Optima Battery group sprint races, pair of Michael Stott-UBS endurance challenges, traditional, All-MG Collier Cup, and New York Governor\u2019s Cup. As noted by Competition Director, Carl Jensen, \u201cnearly 60 Alfas were also on hand this year\u201d for the special feature All-Alfa Romeo shootout.<\/p>\n Complimented by three days of premier vintage road racing, the hamlet of Watkins Glen hosted the 18th Annual Grand Prix Festival sponsored by Chemung Canal Trust Company. As in the past, Friday\u2019s main dilemma was choosing to enjoy either the blacktop action at WGI, or the GP festivities in Watkins Glen proper. I once again chose the latter. So leaving a full chorus of practice and qualifying sessions singing loudly at WGI, I traversed down the sandstone cliffs overlooking Watkins Glen village for a full day of celebrating the rebirth of post-World War II American road racing.<\/p>\n Starting with the reenactment of tech inspection at Smalley\u2019s Garage (original home of tech), residing on Franklin Street, the inaugural 1948 street race\u2019s straightaway, the all-day party would continue with a judged Concours d\u2019Elegance; the festival\u2019s time-honored historical dialogue entitled, \u201cThe Legends Speak;\u201d \u201cDrivers Walk of Fame inductions; and needless to say, plenty of vendors selling food, artwork and racing memorabilia.<\/p>\n USVGP Grand Marshall and special guest, EFR (Elliott Forbes- Robinson) was just one of the former Glen drivers selected into the class of 2010\u2019s \u201cWalk of Fame\u201d this weekend. This honor is represented by a granite marker embedded in one of the town\u2019s pedestrian walkways.<\/p>\n With the GP Festival and SVRA both honoring 100 years of the Alfa Romeo automobile, it was fitting that the Glen\u2019s initial street battle was won by Frank Griswold\u2019s 1938 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B, a static beauty that posed for an up-close assessment.<\/p>\n Additionally, approximately 28 variants of Sidney Allard\u2019s creations were also in full view throughout the day and weekend.<\/p>\n The day culminated with the roar of selected machinery entering Franklin Street for the crowd\u2019s inspection before the ageless mechanicals accelerated for a couple of controlled \u201chot laps\u201d around the original 6.6-mile street circuit. The entire road course was lined with cheering spectators circa 1948.<\/p>\n Beautiful late-summer weather welcomed everyone as Saturday began with more qualifying action on the blacktop, and the event\u2019s first formal battle, the enduro for faster cars. Forty-five speedy battlewagons took the green flag, and podium regular, Travis Engen\u2019s Audi R8 was first to see the checkered flag. Holding the lead for only several laps, the 1988 Argo JM19c of Baughman\/Domeck, took second.<\/p>\n There was no rest for the weary as a gaggle of always highly contested qualifying races took to the asphalt. Finishing late in the day, the track was free for the Morris Garage (MG) warriors to engage in their 26th Collier Cup battle. Grabbing an early lead, Charles Guest\u2019s MG Midget fell victim to Les Gonda\u2019s powerful V8 for only a couple of laps before Charles reclaimed the lead and victory.<\/p>\n Following the MG gang\u2019s yearly Collier protocol, the following trophies were handed out:<\/p>\n Jack Archibald T Cup: Mike Barstow (\u201853 MGTD) Furthermore, the Alfa Romeo contingency had its own special trophy presentation commemorating 100 years of automobiles built by the Italian marque. As mentioned by Alfa Romeo and vintage racing aficionado driver, Peter Krause, \u201cin addition to the racing varieties of the Alfa Romeo, there were also 115 street cars in attendance for various Alfa-related events, and 10 competition race cars that did not race.\u201d As part of the Alfa jamboree, Krause now turn M.C., also handed out the following awards, and I might add, a few treasured bottles of Glenora wine and champagne to the following:<\/p>\n Peter Greenfield – Tazio Nuvolari Spirit Award for the Pre-War Alfa Romeo, poster car at the previous weekend’s event at Lime Rock Park. He lost a differential early during this weekend. Next up, the on-track U.S. Grand Prix Cocktail Party presented by HealthLink closed the very thrilling and packed day of vintage auto racing.<\/p>\n Luck would run out as clouds and occasional showers replaced the picturesque blue skies as the prolonged battle for slower cars began Sunday\u2019s blacktop warfare. In the end, Arnie Black wheeled Bruce Parker\u2019s Crossle 9S Sports Racer to victory. Subsequently, several Optima Battery sprint races also took the green before lunch.<\/p>\n Noteworthy, the Group 6 winner, Jack Busch (XKE), was presented with the Dick Mooney Memorial Trophy by Pam Mooney. As an SVRA regular, Dick Mooney was a familiar force driving his 1966 Corvette, a.k.a. \u201cBlue.\u201d Sadly, Dick passed away in 2007.<\/p>\n Kicking off post lunch, opening ceremonies yielded to the start of the New York Governor\u2019s Cup slugfest. In what seemed on paper to be a big mismatch, Frank Beck\u2019s 914 blasted to an explosive lead and victory over a group of racecars that included a Z28, GT40 and McLaren M1B, among others. The balance of formal races followed, including the All-Alfa battle won by Jon Norman\u2019s GTV. Please check the SVRA website for the list of all winners and participants.<\/p>\n To be successful, you must be consistent and unique, and SVRA\u2019s Glenora Wine Cellars U.S. Vintage Grand Prix (and Grand Festival) presented by Welliver McGuire, Inc., is just that. Not only does the gathering race back in time each year with an array of wonderful vintage machinery and bathe you in road racing\u2019s history along the way, but does it all in the perfect arena, the hollowed grounds that reintroduced the sport back to America in 1948, Watkins Glen. Race Results Entry List – By Name Entry List – By Class OPTIMA Batteries Sprint Series Race Group 1 Race Group 2 Race Group 3 Race Group 4 Race Group 5 Race Group 6 Race Group 7 Race Group 8 Race Group 9 Race Group 10 Feature Races All Alfa Collier Cup NY Governor’s Cup […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-race-results"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/events.racingamerica.com\/svra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/events.racingamerica.com\/svra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/events.racingamerica.com\/svra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/events.racingamerica.com\/svra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/events.racingamerica.com\/svra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/events.racingamerica.com\/svra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1008\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/events.racingamerica.com\/svra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/events.racingamerica.com\/svra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/events.racingamerica.com\/svra\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nRace Group 1
\nRace Group 2
\nRace Group 3
\nRace Group 4
\nRace Group 5
\nRace Group 6
\nRace Group 7
\nRace Group 8
\nRace Group 9
\nRace Group 10<\/p>\n
\nAll Alfa
\nCollier Cup
\nNY Governor’s Cup
\nPre-War
\nClassic Enduro
\nVintage Enduro<\/p>\nRace Review<\/h3>\n
\n Bucher\/Decker Cup: Todd Treffert (\u2018 61 MGA)
\n Bill Glanville Cup: Charles Guest (\u201967 MG Midget)
\n Denver Cornett, Jr. Trophy: Charles Guest
\n Collier Cup(popular vote of his peers): Les Gonda (\u201972 MGB GT V8<\/p>\n
\n Jon Shirley \u2013 Bottle of Glenora Champagne in recognition for bringing three outstanding Pre-War Alfas, including Frank Griswold’s 8C2900B, the 1948 Watkins Glen GP inaugural winner.
\n Peter Giddings \u2013 Bottle of Chardonnay in recognition for his outstanding drive of the weekend in a Pre-War Alfa Grand Prix car, the Tipo B.
\n Sandy McNeil \u2013 The highly prestigious Bob Akin Spirit Award for 1950’s Alfa Romeos and recognizing her constant high level of performance, excellence in her Giulietta Sprint and driving such a rare Alfa Romeo Sprint Zagato.
\n Vince Vaccaro – Bottle of Champagne in recognition for presenting an outstanding Giulietta Spider Veloce race car, the first icon of Alfa’s competition success against Porsches, MGs and Triumphs.
\n Eliseo Carrillo – Bottle of Chardonnay in recognition for the outstanding drive of the weekend in a Fifties-era Alfa.
\n Jon Norman – Dick Davenport Spirit Award for GT Alfas from the Sixties and Seventies, in a car he has raced for 38 years and purchased from the drummer of the Grateful Dead! He won the Alfa Feature Race overall in front of Joey Colasacco in Laurence Aurianna’s TZ-1 and Eliseo Carrillo’s Giulietta.
\n Erik Wood \u2013 Bottle of Champagne in recognition for his outstanding drive in his GTV, winning the Group 8 Optima Batteries Sprint Race overall.
\n Peter Ragonetti \u2013 Bottle of Chardonnay in recognition for an excellent drive in his GTV and bringing his family (father Tom) and three Alfas with him from Colorado.
\n Jay Iliohan Tipo 33\/3 – Horst Kwech Spirit Award for Sports Racing and Specialty Alfas. Jay has been racing with SVRA for over 20 years.
\n Joe Colasacco \u2013 Bottle of Champagne in recognition for his outstanding drive in the TZ-1 to win the Group 3 Saturday race overall.
\n Roman Tucker \u2013 Bottle of Chardonnay in recognition for his incredible support of the event and his presentation of two cars (Giulia Super TI and Duetto race cars) that our honored guest, two-time National Champion Pete Van der Vate, had not seen in forty years!
\n Our own, Kim Hoxie \u2013 Bottle of Champagne\/event T-shirt in recognition for her unceasing efforts to help the Alfa group!
\n The Rita given to Bernardo Martinez, MD – The Alfa driver who most embodies the joy of victory in an Alfa. A true sportsman and gracious gentleman racer!
\n Sam Smith (member of the organizing committee and Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce pilot) \u2013 Presented with the Special SVRA Victory Lane Spirit Award.
\n Santo Spadaro (Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce) , Victory Lane Spirit Award for his outstanding drive in the Vintage Enduro, and his hounding of much more modern and bigger displacement cars..
\n Dave Durnan (Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider Veloce) – Victory Lane Spirit Award for his outstanding drive to finish third overall in the Group One Optima Batteries Sprint Race on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\nAtlanta or Bust! See you for our grand finale and SVRA\u2019s 30th anniversary celebration at Road Atlanta. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"