Gentle reader,
Yesterday, I began this series about the new racing facility in Virginia, USA called Dominion Raceway. Dominion Raceway & Entertainment
I met my buddy there to check out DR and enjoy the vintage sports and formula car racing. It is continuing AT THIS MOMENT (9:50 AM, October 23, 2016). It is a three day event that begins on Friday with practice and qualifying. Usually one can attend Friday's practices for free.
I was interested in which cars were going to be racing, being 60 years old and a lifetime "Car Guy", I will always be interested in vintage racers. So cars that one oohed and ah-ed over as a kid obviously will be the hot ticket. So far, DR has not attracted that expensive crowd.
As I wrote in PART ONE, there are some cars there that appear to be the genuine article, the Datsun 240Z possibly raced by Paul Newman and there is a Triumph #44 possibly raced by Bob Tullius. But we never spoke to either driver or crew. So they may be tribute cars.
There is vintage car racing in probably every type of racing. Only so many types interest me: Sports cars: starting with the top classes which are/were called Prototypes. Current and past open-wheel racing, Indy, F1, etc., hold no interest for me. The pinnacle race in all the world is in France and is called 24 Hours of Le Mans. The car makers with deep pockets spend huge amounts to create and race these cars: Audi, Porsche, Toyota, Nissan, Peugeot, Renault and others in the ultimate P1 class. Audi and Porsche have to most wins at Le Mans. These types of vintage racers will appear at the iconic venues, Le Mans (for the Classics, every other year) Laguna Seca, and other circuits that they raced on back in their day.
At Summit Point I have seen Ford GTs, including Mark 4s, Porsches (a 910) and Ferraris from the 1970s and earlier. But that is the closest venue after DR with Virginia International Raceway a lot further down the road. We hope to see more and faster cars in the future at DR.
So, let me continue with the cars that are/were there. Normally, open-wheel racing has no interest for me as I said. But the vintage Formula Fords and Formula Vee (Volkswagen) do. Below is another of the former. Note the Australian flag sticker.
Not a lot to them (above) is there? Lightness equals speed. Safety wasn't much of a concern.
We spoke with some FF drivers, there are two types: HF for Historic Ford, 1972 and earlier, and CF for Classic Ford; 1973 and newer. They told us VRG requires treaded (verses slick) tires which slows the cornering speeds. So lap times are slower but also the chances of losing control by "overcooking" it in a corner are lessened. Because the drivers know the tire's limits.
In previous years, I saw a lot of this type of racer. This car is painted in Gulf Racing colors.
The owner/driver said he was surprised there were no others there. His runs a Ford Pinto four cylinder engine putting out 140 horsepower. Not much, but the car weighs only 1100 pounds!
Here are more shots of the one-and-only Spitfire there.
When we saw this car a little later, they were bleeding the brakes. They had failed in the last race which explains why he was going so slow.
There were only two Formula Vee racers there so they raced with sports cars. If you know vintage VWs, you can see it has VW suspension and drum brakes. A tube frame chassis and the engine is BEFORE the transmission, thus mid, not rear, engined.
The car featured below had already raced twice when I made these shots. It is an MG-B GT V8.
GM produced an all-aluminum V8 engine in the early 1960s. WAY ahead of it's time. It was very light and small displacement. 3.5 liters. Used in smaller Oldsmobiles and Buicks, if I recall.
It had problems so they sold it and all the rights to build them to British Leyland.
BL fixed the problems and have been making and selling cars and SUVs with versions of them for decades. GM execs tried to buy back the rights from BL, but they declined.
Most MG B roadsters and GTs had the venerable cast iron four cylinder engine.
The MG-C GT had a cast iron inline six cylinder engine.
This V8 from the factory weighed a little less than the four cylinder with a lot more power.
The owner of this car went all out. That is a "cross-ram" intake manifold with four two-barrel Weber carbs. Makes serious power from such a tiny engine in a tiny car. And WHAT a sound!
That's my buddy taking a closer look at the engine.
I like the looks of this car, very much so.
Next are sports cars lining up on the "false grid" prior to a race. Called false because it is on the pit row, not the actual race course. Starting with one of the two very pretty Corvair Stinger racers. The engine of the one of these was featured in PART ONE. #73 is on it's way to the grid.
I am among many that really like the later model Corvair and it's looks.
Another look or two and some of the Datsun racers seen in PART ONE.
This is a good comparison of the Datsun 510 and BMW 2002.
I don't know why I shot so many Pinto pictures.
The BMW above is an early 3 series, not a 2002. I think.
This is the only Mustang racer there. It has a V8. Sounded great, but never finished very high.
Again that MG-B V8.
I made many shots of the cars in the false grid, as you will see.
Quite a mixture of cars and engines. No logic to it to us, but they competed well.
#202 and the other yellow BMW 2002 were always at the front......
The cars below were/are in the under 2 liter class along with the 2 Formula Vee racers.
The car above is an Elva.
I don't know why this fellow above and the woman below were "guarding" this Sprite and Midget.
Below, the Sprite's guard sprinting to get out of the way. #212 is a Fiat 850 with an Austin Healy "Bug-eye" Sprite behind it.
Below, a close up of the happy looking older Sprite.
Can you sense the butterflies in the bellies the as the drivers await the start?
Below are Formula racers all under 2.5 liters. All Fords? I don't know.
Number 20 is a Classic Ford like I explained in the text earlier.
That pointed nose is about one inch off the pavement, or "tarmac" as they call it.
The shot above shows just how LOW these race cars are!
I love these two shots. It happens when a very long lens is used. The objects seem to be much closer together than reality. Pretty cool, huh?
Next, are action shots. I did not take too many as I did not bring my Nikon DSLR.
The previously mentioned #44 Bob Tullius Triumph leading a pretty (and one of my favorite cars) Triumph GT6. I never saw it in the paddock or I would have made more images.
Above and below are two MG-B racers. The fellow below in #329 made the roll bar high enough for a basketball player to drive it.
These two yellow BMW 2002s were constantly swapping the lead.
This shot and the one below are from the first lap. I love the way the Datsun, Corvair and BMW, above, are stacked tight and on the "racing line".
Above shows the other Datsun 510 that may have been a BRE racer (left side) and the other Porsche 914-6 (green one) between the blue Alfa and red Pinto.
Above, two bellowing American V8 engines. Only one in an American car.
This tiny Mini surprised us by passing everyone and taking the lead for many laps, only to be passed on the last one. Small but mighty.
Two of the three pace cars. They also have a brand new Chevy Impala. The one below is on loan from Summit Point.
These last shots conclude my coverage, but not my thoughts, of the Vintage racing weekend at DR. Below are the two Corvair Stingers again.
I have these images in PART ONE, but am showing them again. Corvairs had three engine choices: Two carburetors that made 110 horsepower. The sticker on the left air cleaner is from a 110 engine. This one with four carbs which put out 140 horses and the Turbocharged models. The early ones put out 150 horses and later ones, 180.
The one and only Ferrari there, a 365 GT4 with a flat-12 engine. That's like two Porsche 911 (or Corvair) flat-6 engines end-to-end.
The one-and-only Shelby there. An early GT350 from 1966.
Back in the day, each country had it's national racing colors: Italy was red, England was green, Germany was silver and the USA was white and blue.
Above and below, my favorite Volvo wagon the V70R. Turbocharged 2.5 liter FIVE cylinder engine putting out 300 horsepower and 300 pound-feet of torque. Plus, all-wheel-drive.
This had towed a race car to the races. As low as a V70R sits, that surprised me.
And now, my final thoughts. I interviewed some of the drivers, this, of course was their first time at DR too. Most liked it very much. Some complaints about the racing surface, and the many walls DR put up, some VERY close to the course which made for some literal and mental tight spots while racing.
DR, like VIR and many other racing circuits that are popping up here in the USA and abroad offers memberships. For? To drive and/or race whatever lap-worthy car you might have. Eventually there will be garage spaces and sleeping places for those that can afford them to keep their rides at the circuit.
I LONG to take a lap, but the Porsche (924S), Audi (TT quattro), Camaro (Z28) and Subaru (WRX wagon) are all living with other owners. My Volvo, the V70R's little brother with a less powerful T5 engine, while quick, fast and a great braking car, is still a Volvo station wagon. So handling is not it's thing.
As to the racing, VRG members brought some great stuff. Once the word gets out about the DR facilities, more will come to race. The northern part of the circuit, starting with turn one offers great viewing and we hope for some small stands in the future. All those we talked with had fun racing there and look forward to coming again. My favorite parts aside from the sights was the sounds. The sound of racing engines is truly music to my ears.
Thanks once again for looking. I really appreciate your comments.
Scott
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