Vintage Motorsport / Historic – Syndication Server

Gurney’s Chevy Impala returns home after 63 years

Dan Gurney turned the British Touring Car Championship on its head in 1961 when he unleashed a high-powered Chevrolet Impala on the field. The Big Eagle, driving the big American sedan, wore out the Jaguars and other marques who previously dominated …

Acquiring the car from the U.K. has been a passion project many years in the making by his son Justin, who runs the family’s All American Racers business in Southern California, and it finally happened, as captured in the video below:

Click here to watch on YouTube.

RRDC celebrates 50-year legacy of racing at Long Beach with expanded Legends Dinner and Gala

Bobby Rahal, president of the Road Racing Drivers Club (RRDC), has announced an expanded 2025 RRDC Legends Dinner and Gala, which will celebrate the 50 years of racing on the streets of Long Beach, and will honor Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr. and …

The 15th annual dinner and gala is scheduled for April 10, 2025, and will be held at a new venue – the Westin Long Beach Hotel at 333 E. Ocean Blvd. – one day before the start of the 50th Anniversary Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third race of the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series. It will be open to the public. More details and links to register for the event will follow soon.

All proceeds of the dinner will benefit The Mark Donohue Foundation, which supports the RRDC’s SAFEisFAST initiative, and the Grand Prix Foundation of Long Beach, which supports charities in the Long Beach area. The Foundation’s proceeds from the gala will go to Long Beach City College’s Automotive Technology Program.

Andretti, Unser and Redman will be honored at the event and attendees will be treated to a ‘David Letterman-style’ interview of the honorees by Rahal.

Andretti won at Long Beach four times and is credited with establishing the race as a world-class event, winning the 1977 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix West and the 1984 race when the event switched to Indy cars. Unser Jr. is the winningest driver at Long Beach, with six victories (1988-91 and 1994-95) over a dominant eight-year span. Redman won the inaugural Long Beach race in 1975, an SCCA/USAC Formula 5000 event, which set the stage for Formula 1 to race on the city streets for the next eight years.

“We at the Road Racing Drivers Club are thrilled to join the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in celebrating 50 years of ‘racing through the streets’ of this beautiful California shore city,” said Rahal. “This event has become an icon of the sport, and not just with IndyCars. Its history includes Formula 1, Formula 5000, Trans-Am, and even the popular celebrity races.

“We are honored to recognize three of our favorite legends and RRDC members, Mario, Little Al and Brian. They are true champions and supporters of the sport, and particularly the RRDC’s initiatives.”

“Each year, the Road Racing Drivers Club event is a highlight of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach weekend,” said Grand Prix Association of Long Beach President & CEO Jim Michaelian.

“And this year is especially meaningful as we join with the RRDC in honoring three true legends of the sport—Mario Andretti, Al Unser Jr., and Brian Redman. Their contributions to Long Beach motorsports history have inspired generations of drivers and fans alike, and we are thrilled to celebrate their incredible legacies during this special evening.”

First-time Run Group winners crowned at HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour

A quartet of first-time Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props, Presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network, race winners emerged for the first time in six years Sunday at Sebring International Raceway. The four overall Run Group winners came out on top after nine hours of non-stop competition Saturday and three more Sunday afternoon for a symbolic 12 hours of racing paying tribute to the legendary 12 Hours of Sebring sports car race, which will be run for the 73rd time next March.

Competitors in Run Groups A, B, C and D took to the legendary Sebring airport circuit for four race segments over the course of the last two days. The teams covering the most combined distance in their four segments were crowned Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour champions, and this year’s race produced the typical mix of convincing victories, a record-stopping upset and a dramatic finish at the very end.

The strongest runs came in the combined Group A and Group B races that saw competitors share the track while competing for overall and Group honors. In both divisions, the eventual race winners took the Group leads at the start and never lost them over the course of the two days.

With the help of his countryman and multiple Mission Foods HSR Classic race winner Nigel Greensall, Englishman John Emberson brought his UK-based car and team to North America for the first time last month to compete in both the HSR Classic Daytona 24 and this weekend’s HSR Classic 12.

Emberson, Greensall and the Foxcraft Racing 1970 No. 15 Chevron B19 ran with the support of the Atlanta-based Vintage Racing Company team in Run Group A. The No. 15 squad overcame a broken half shaft on the Chevron early in the race weekend to take control of the Group A race from the start.

The solid performance included the No. 15 team and drivers taking the overall Group A/B win in segment two after scoring division honors and P2 overall in Saturday afternoon’s opening round. The Chevron team even won the fourth and final A/B segment on Sunday, but by then the focus was firmly on sealing the Group A victory. The Chevron ultimately took the checkered flag in first place a full lap clear of its nearest A division competitor.

In Run Group B, veteran HSR competitors Kenneth McKinnon and Predator Racing broke through for their first Mission Foods HSR Classic victory after a second-place finish last year at Sebring and a third-place showing in 2022. McKinnon co-drove the Predator Racing 1972 No. 01 Porsche 911 RSR to the victory with longtime teammate Mike Bruns and Predator coach and co-driver Charles Espenlaub.

The No. 01 took an overall and Group B win in Saturday’s opening race segment and backed it up with another overall win in the third round. McKinnon and company secured the Group B win by more than a lap and led the No. 15 Chevron to the line by over a minute to top the combined A/B standings as well.

The record-stopping upset was delivered by Bob Neapole and Guy Cosmo who broke through for their first Mission Foods HSR Classic victory with a controlled and perfectly executed performance in Run Group C. Co-driving the RBN Motorsports with Cosmo-Sport 2020 No. 60 Acura ARX-05 prepared by Hudson Historics, Neapole and Cosmo didn’t put a wheel wrong throughout Saturday and Sunday.

Taking the Group C lead after Saturday’s second segment, the No. 60 Acura squad went on to seal the victory Sunday over their friends and on-track rivals Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss in the 2017 No. 02 Matador Motorsports Cadillac DPi.

Marshall and his team were racing to be the first to score a Mission Foods HSR Classic in season triple win sweep after victories earlier this year in the HSR Classic 6 Hour at The Glen and last month’s HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour. The No. 02 Cadillac team pulled out the stops to shave a full 30 seconds off of the Acura’s lead in the final Group C segment but the Acura team took the checkered flag with a margin of victory just under a minute.

The late drama — and related heartbreak and elation — came in Run Group D that offered a GT car showdown that was the closest battle in the HSR Classic Sebring 12. The British duo of Mike Jordan and his son Andrew Jordan went into the fourth and final segment with a scant 10-second lead in their Jordan Racing Team 2011 No. 77 Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup.

The Jordans withstood the pressure from more than one close competitor, but maintained the overall lead the No. 77 held throughout the race for the majority of the fourth segment until a cut right rear tire less than 15 minutes to the finish took the team out of winning contention.

The 2015 No. 002 Fortress Stabilization Porsche 991 GT3 Cup team of Ed Wheatley and Jimmy Llibre beat the JRT team by less than a second in Saturday night’s third segment and were quick to pounce when the No. 77 had its tire trouble. Llibre took the lead and the fourth round win by more than a minute to join Wheatley for a deserving overall Group D victory more than two minutes clear of the second-place finisher.

The overall Run Group winners were presented with all-new and custom-made Wall Clocks from B.R.M. Chronographes. Displaying the same dial design as B.R.M.’s unique time pieces, the oversized clocks have been a big hit this year with the race winners at The Glen, Daytona and now Sebring.

Other Sunday highlights included the late morning departure of the featured vintage aircraft that once again were a cornerstone of the HSR Classic Sebring 12, Pistons and Props. On Saturday, the pilots presented their annual Pilots Choice Award for best car and team while HSR competitors in turn selected the Best Plane of this year’s event.

The pilots chose Olthoff Racing and the team’s Superformance GT40 that driver Dan Long and Team Principal Dennis Olthoff co-drove in Group A in the HSR Classic Sebring 12. The plane of choice by the HSR four-wheel contingent was the battle-scarred USAF 1968 Cessna 02A, owned and flown to Sebring by Sam Lauff. Nicknamed “Oscar Deuce,” the twin-tail and push-pull tandem-engine aircraft saw action in Vietnam and carries bullet hole patches still visible on wing components. A military version of the civilian Cessna 337, this feisty fighter included explosion-proof fuel tanks, bulletproof seats, a full complement of military radios, rockets, bombs and mini guns.

First-time winners loom midway through Sebring Classic 12 Hour

A four-pack of potential first-time winners stepped up to lead their respective Run Groups at the halfway point of the ninth running of the Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props, Presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network …

The mid-race leaders include a debuting Chevron B19 based in the UK, a former IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship winner and a pair of GT Porsches nearly 40 years apart in age.

Run Groups A and B share the track this weekend, and the respective leaders at halfway represent a longtime HSR team seeking its first Mission Foods HSR Classic victory and the debuting Chevron team looking for the win in its HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour debut.

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Emberson, Greensall and the Foxcraft Racing 1970 No. 15 Chevron B19 were quick from the very first test session at Sebring on Wednesday. They converted that early pace into a class-leading Group A performance after the first two of four HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour rounds on Saturday. The solid performance included the No. 15 team and drivers taking the overall Group A/B win in segment two after taking division honors and P2 overall in Saturday afternoon’s opening round.

Kenneth McKinnon and Larry Ligas are veteran HSR competitors with Predator Racing but both the team and drivers look for their first Mission Foods HSR Classic race win at Sebring. McKinnon and Ligas drove the Predator Racing 1972 No. 01 Porsche 911 RSR to an overall and Group B win in Saturday’s opening race segment and backed it up with a close second-place in class in Round 2.

The results put the No. 01 Porsche in the Group B lead by more than a lap at halfway, in addition to topping the combined Group A/B standings by nearly a minute at the mid-race mark.

An in-season win record is on the line in Run Group C but another team has stepped up in a competitive “spoiler” role this week at Sebring. In Thursday’s one-hour B.R.M. Endurance Challenge race, which was part of the season-ending HSR Sebring Historics schedule of events, Bob Neapole and Guy Cosmo broke through for their first Historic Prototype and overall race win in the series in the RBN Motorsports with Cosmo-Sport 2020 No. 60 Acura ARX-05 prepared by Hudson Historics. Neapole and Cosmo came out on top in a race-long battle with their friends and on-track rivals Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss in the 2017 No. 02 Matador Motorsports Cadillac DPi.

Proving it was no fluke, Neapole and Cosmo kept the pressure going on Saturday and lead the Run Group C standings at the halfway mark. The mid-race lead came after finishing just one second behind the No. 02 Cadillac in the first segment and a more than one-minute victory in Round 2. Marshall, Foss and the No. 02 team trail the No. 60 team by 90 seconds at halfway and will have to make up the gap and more if they hope to be the first team and drivers to sweep all three Mission Foods HSR Classic races — Watkins Glen, Daytona and Sebring — in a single season.

Run Group D offers the competitive GT and production car showcase that is part of every Mission Foods HSR Classic race and typically delivers some of the closest racing.

The British duo of Mike Jordan and his son Andrew Jordan narrowly lost the battle in the GT Run Group at last month’s HSR Classic Daytona 24 and are determined to not be denied this weekend. The Jordans swept the opening pair of Group D segments on Saturday in their Jordan Racing Team 2011 No. 77 Porsche 997.2 GT3 Cup but have built a class lead only 11 seconds ahead of the nearest competitor. The Group D race is still a wide-open battle with the top six cars split by 90 seconds or less.

With Round 3 races for all Run Groups slated to conclude Saturday’s schedule, Classic Sebring 12 Hour competitors return to the track Sunday, December 8, at 12pm with each Group getting one final segment to decide this year’s winners. Overall Run Group winners will be presented with all-new and custom-made Wall Clocks from B.R.M. Chronographes. Displaying the same dial design as B.R.M.’s unique time pieces, the oversized clocks have been a big hit this year with the race winners at The Glen and Daytona.

Still in part an active airport, the featured vintage aircraft that arrived Friday will depart the Sebring circuit and taxi back to Sebring Airport Sunday morning at 11:10am.

Mazda tabs MX-5 Cup champion Wagner for Heritage Collection at Sebring

The Mazda Heritage Collection will wrap up its 2024 competition season this weekend at the Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour in Florida. Mazda Motorsports is set to bring a trio of cars and drivers for the event, including newly crowned …

The cars of the Mazda Heritage Collection have not been driven in anger since the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion in August (pictured above), but the team at Flis Performance have been hard at work making sure they are race ready. The three cars remain the same as Monterey, but the drivers have changed.

In the GTP class are the 1989 Mazda 767B driven by Andrew Carbonell and the 1992 Mazda RX-792P driven by Tom Long. In the GTO class, behind the wheel of the 1991 Mazda RX-7 GTO, however, is Wagner, the latest Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup Champion. He’ll be taking part in his first-ever historic racing event.

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“It’s not often you get an opportunity to drive one of the cars you see in so many posters, movies, and video games while you were growing up, so I’m really excited to see what the RX-7 GTO is all about and put on a show for all of the Mazda and endurance racing fans that still connect with the history of the car,” Wagner said. “I’m really thankful to Mazda Motorsports and Flis Performance for putting on this program and giving me such a unique chance to be part of it.

“I’ve never done any vintage racing, but it’s a really neat opportunity to see a lot of the standout cars from the history of the sport we all love. The cars are our lasting ties to those eras and memories, and it’s pretty awesome to have a manufacturer like Mazda still actively supporting and showcasing some of the most successful cars from such an iconic time in sports car racing.”

A unique element of the HSR event at Sebring is the display of historic war planes, which is fitting, seeing as how the racetrack started life as a WWII airfield and a regional airport continues to operate nearby.

The GTP and GTO classes are grouped together, which means all three of the Mazda Heritage Collection cars will be on track at the same time and race together. The first of two eight-lap sprint races is Friday at 1:20pm ET, the second on Saturday at 9:20am ET. A full entry list, schedule and link to timing and scoring can be found here.

Neapole and Cosmo claim first HSR B.R.M. Endurance Challenge win at Sebring

The season-ending HSR Sebring Historics and Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props, Presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network, got competitive start Thursday at Sebring International Raceway. In the day’s featured one-hour …

In the day’s featured one-hour B.R.M. Endurance Challenge race, Bob Neapole and Guy Cosmo broke through for their first Historic Prototype and overall race win in the series in the RBN Motorsports with Cosmo-Sport 2020 No. 60 Acura ARX-05. Neapole and Cosmo narrowly came out on top in a race-long battle with their friends and on-track rivals Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss in the 2017 No. 02 Matador Motorsports Cadillac DPi.

The Acura squad’s victory came after a great opening and race-leading stint by Neapole and a perfectly timed pit stop at mid-race when Cosmo took over for the run to the finish. Cosmo and Foss ran in a close one-two formation in the race’s closing stages with the No. 60 taking the team’s maiden Historic Prototype class checkered flag for the win just 4.264s ahead of the No. 02.

The top two shared the overall and top three Historic Prototype podium with the ageless Travis Engen in his nearly 20-year-old 2005 No. 2 Audi R8 LMP prepared by GMT Racing.

The race win in the GT Modern (GTM) class went to Vincent Barletta in the always-quick 2016 No. 95 BMW M6 GTD Prepared by Turner Motorsport. In addition to taking GTM division honors, Barletta was the also the first non-Prototype in the 31-car field to take the checkered flag a solid fourth overall behind only the top three Prototypes.

Second in GTM went to Conor Flynn and his father Mike Flynn in the Irish Mike’s Racing 2020 No. 195 Porsche 991.2 GT3. The senior Flynn started the race but came to the pits during a yellow flag period in the opening laps to selflessly pass the Porsche over to his son who completed the balance of the race’s 60 minutes for the competitive runner-up result.

Third in GTM in the B.R.M. race was secured by frequent HSR podium finisher Colin Dougherty in his 2008 No. 92 Porsche 997 Grand-Am Cup prepared by DAS Sport.

A dual celebration of Sebring’s rich auto racing history and patriotic military aviation legacy, the Mission Foods HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour Sebring, Pistons and Props, is an on-track and on-the-runways celebration of the 12 Hours of Sebring and historic Hendricks Field, the World War II era military and civil aviation facility on which the famous sports car race has been held for more than 70 years.

In addition to a full slate of HSR WeatherTech Sprint races and three more HSR Feature Races on track, another Friday highlight is the arrival of the vintage and historic military aircraft that land throughout the afternoon before parading over to the Sebring paddock at 5:15pm. The planes will be on display at the track and available to fans and competitors alike for an up-close look through Sunday morning.

A returning favorite after a one-year absence is the blue B004 numbered 1942 Vultee BT-15 Valiant piloted by Tom Smith. The BT-15 is just one of four still flying today out of 1,200 produced, and Smith and his wife Kim Smith have flown it more than 1,000 hours over the last 15 years. The Vultee missed last year’s HSR Classic Sebring awaiting a new engine, but its return will be more than special this weekend.

Among the plane-enthusiast guests in attendance will be Jack Hill, a friend of the Smiths whose father – in addition to a stint as B-17 instructor at Hendrick’s Field in Sebring in 1943 — served in a similar capacity in Bainbridge, Georgia in 1942 teaching trainees how to fly BT-15 Vultees. The Smith’s Vultee was delivered to Bainbridge in August of 1942, one of just seven BT-15s stationed there, so it is very likely Hill’s father, 2nd Lieutenant Roland V. Hill, instructed in the very plane the Smiths will have at Sebring this weekend a full 82 years ago!

Back on track, this weekend’s featured HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour starts at 1pm Saturday, Dec. 7, with each of the four Run Groups taking to the three times in succession in a rotation that races into the night with the day’s final checkered flag just before 10pm.

Classic Sebring 12 Hour competitors return to the track Sunday at 12pm with each group getting one final segment to decide this year’s winners. Overall Run Group winners will be presented with all-new and custom-made wall clocks from B.R.M. Chronographes. Displaying the same dial design as B.R.M.’s unique time pieces, the oversized clocks have been a big hit this year with race winners at The Glen and Daytona.

HSR IMSA Classic to debut at the Rolex 24

Old and new will come together during the Rolex 24 At Daytona weekend as the IMSA Classic invitational race showcases cars from the first three decades of IMSA competition. Starting with the 2025 edition of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s …

Old and new will come together during the Rolex 24 At Daytona weekend as the IMSA Classic invitational race showcases cars from the first three decades of IMSA competition.

Starting with the 2025 edition of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s marquee race on Jan. 23-26, the earliest golden eras of IMSA’s success will share the spotlight at each year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona, officials from IMSA and Historic Sportscar Racing announced today. The IMSA Classic invitational race that will annually showcase the sanctioning body’s more than 50-year history, with the 2025 event highlighting 1973-93.

“For several years now, the rich history of the Rolex 24 has been celebrated with pre-race demonstration events, such as the 24 Minutes of Daytona and similar exhibitions, but this will be the first time an actual race featuring these great competition cars from IMSA’s past will be part of a Rolex 24 At Daytona weekend,” said IMSA President John Doonan. “We are proud of the pioneering and current era that we have all worked tirelessly on to bring IMSA to an unprecedented level of high-tech competition and entertainment, but what better time to take a moment to remember our past than just before our longest and season-opening race? The IMSA Classic will add to the grandeur of the Rolex 24, and we are grateful to both Daytona International Speedway (DIS) and HSR for the partnership and cooperation in making this vision a reality.”

It will be the first time that an HSR historic sports car race will take place on a WeatherTech Championship race weekend since IMSA acquired HSR in 2022. While HSR has regularly held races at IMSA’s historic circuits, including this weekend’s Pistons and Props even at Sebring International Raceway, they two bodies have not come together at an event until the IMSA Classic.

“We often refer to HSR as a rolling time machine and a high-speed motorsports museum, and that will be perfectly personified by the IMSA Classic,” declared HSR President Chris Ward. “To be able to join IMSA in annually featuring some of the greatest racing machines from their first half-century of competition is truly an honor. We look forward to welcoming a spectacular lineup of legendary IMSA race cars to the Rolex 24 At Daytona next month.”

A three-day race event on Rolex 24 weekend, the IMSA Classic starts with an opening practice session Thursday afternoon that will be followed by qualifying Friday morning and a qualifying race early that evening. The main event will be the 30-minute IMSA Classic feature race Saturday morning that will set the stage for the Rolex 24.

Competing IMSA Classic cars and competitors will be paddocked in a large tent open to the public in the DIS Rolex 24 Midway. Several non-competing IMSA cars of historical significance will also be under the tent in addition to an additional group on display in the DIS FanZone as they have been in the past. Plans for future editions of the IMSA Classic call for each annual running to feature a specific period of IMSA era cars.

Open only to a limited number of on-track competitors, invitations to apply for the inaugural HSR Classic are presently being distributed to HSR member competitors and other notable teams and entrants in the vintage and historic sports car racing arena. All received applications will then be reviewed by a selection committee to determine the participants in the inaugural IMSA Classic.

The introduction of the IMSA Classic is the latest in a series of new HSR racing series and major race event since IMSA purchased HSR. The HSR Prototype Challenge presented by IMSA, for modern-day LMP3 cars retired from contemporary competition, marked its debut this year along with the HSR NASCAR Classic Presented by Petty’s Garage racing series for historic stock cars.

HSR Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props headed for Sebring

A rare World War II warbird and an HSR Classic Endurance Championship Presented by Mission Foods in-season race-win record on the line are among the many highlights of next weekend’s Mission Foods HSR Sebring Classic 12 Hour, Pistons & Props, …

The annual dual celebration of Sebring International Raceway’s rich auto racing history and patriotic military aviation legacy returns to the legendary airport road course for the ninth time Dec. 4-8. The full weekend of competition also includes the season-ending HSR Sebring Historics that bring the curtain down on the full slate of HSR sprint, endurance and feature race series contested throughout the 2024 season.

Run for the first time in 2016, the Mission Foods HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour Sebring, Pistons and Props, is an on-track and on-the-runways celebration of the 12 Hours of Sebring and historic Hendricks Field, the World War II era military and civil aviation facility on which the famous sports car race has been held for more than 70 years.

The Mission Foods HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour is five full-days of historic and vintage sports car racing and a featured fly-in and display of equally spectacular military and civilian aircraft from the last century and older.

This year’s must-see airplane headed to Sebring next week is the Curtiss P-40N-1 Warhawk owned and flown by Tim Savage and his son Job “Jib” Savage, who have become award-winning HSR Sebring Classic regulars in recent years. The Savage family — as voted by HSR competitors — won last year’s HSR Classic Sebring Best-Plane Award with its event debuting 1945 Grumman TBM-3R Avenger (pictured below).

This year, the Savages are bringing a similar era plane two years older but equally awe-inspiring as the Warhawk is a prime example of the fast and fierce genre of World War II era fighter-bombers alongside the revered North American P-51 Mustang and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

Built by Curtiss in Buffalo, N.Y. in the middle of 1943, the Warhawk’s constructor number was 399 and the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) assigned serial number 42-104827 as a P-40N-1-CU. The plane was immediately shipped overseas to aid the Allied powers in the Pacific to start an incredible global saga that didn’t see the Warhawk return to the U.S. until earlier in this century. Landing at Tadji Airfield in New Guinea in April of 1944, the left undercarriage collapsed, causing the P-40 to stand on its nose, flip over and burst into flames. The pilot escaped uninjured, but the wreck relegated the plane to components and “off charge” status. The remains, which included nearly all of the major components, were ultimately abandoned after WWII.

Remarkably, the Warhawk’s wreckage remained at Tadji for 57 years. The first step in the plane’s rediscovery and journey back to the sky began in 2001 when it was recovered, exported back to Australia and sold to Pioneer Aero in New Zealand. While at Pioneer, a restoration began that continued with another owner who — after an emotional return to flight 65 years after its crash landing – shipped the Warhawk back to North America to Vintage Wings of Canada.

Tim Savage purchased the P-40 in 2021 and had the aircraft repainted in the colors of USAAF pilot John D. Landers, the livery the Warhawk carries today, along with the period correct “Skeeter” nickname. A true flying ace war hero, Landers had only 10 flying hours in a P-40 before piloting one in combat, but he still managed to take out a pair of enemy bombers in “Skeeter” in his early missions. He followed his Pacific tour in the European Theater of Operations and ended WWII with 14.5 aerial aircraft shootdowns to his credit.

On the four-wheel front at the HSR Classic 12 is a team that matched an HSR Mission Classic Endurance milestone earlier this month that can now set a record they would hold exclusively next weekend at Sebring.

Driving the Matador Motorsports No. 02 Cadillac DPi with co-driver Eric Foss, Pierce Marshall finally broke through for his first HSR Classic Daytona 24 Hour victory with one of the most dominating wins of the race in Run Group F. With HSR Classic Run Group awards from Sebring (2022) and Watkins Glen this year already on the shelf, Marshall and Foss convincingly captured a Classic 24 win after nearly a decade of trying.

With the Daytona win, Marshall and his Matador teammates are just the second HSR competitors to win all three of the current Mission Foods HSR Classic races at Daytona, Sebring and Watkins Glen with the same team, car and driver line-up. They join all-time HSR Classic race winners Gray Gregory, and his co-drivers Randy Buck and Ethan Shippert, who were the first to sweep the current trio of endurance races in Gregory’s 1974 No. 26 Chevron B26.

Now, Pierce, Foss and the No. 02 Matador squad are in line to become the first to win the current trifecta of HSR Classic races with the same team, car and driver lineup in a single season. With the recent win at Daytona and a P1 in June’s Classic Watkins Glen 6 Hour in the books, Matador needs to secure the overall Run Group C victory next weekend to seal the perfect in-season win record.

Even better, Pierce and company could equal another HSR Mission Classic record for consecutive wins in the endurance series. The No. 02 team won the Classic Sebring 12 last year, and a repeat next weekend would be a fourth-straight HSR Classic Endurance win for the same, team, driver and car. David Porter was the first to pocket the four-pack of consecutive HSR Classic wins when he swept the Daytona and Sebring races in both 2019 and 2020.

On-track historic race car action at the HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour, Pistons and Props, begins Wednesday, with an unofficial test session.

Official competition gets underway Thursday, Dec. 5, with the weekend’s featured HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour starting at 1 p.m. ET Saturday when each of the four Run Groups will take to the three times in succession in a rotation that races into the night with the day’s final checkered flag just before 10 p.m. ET.

Classic Sebring 12 Hour competitors return to the track Sunday at 12 p.m. ET with each Group getting one final segment to decide this year’s winners. Overall Run Group winners will be presented with all-new and custom-made Wall Clocks from B.R.M. Chronographes. Displaying the same dial design as B.R.M.’s unique time pieces, the oversized clocks have been a big hit this year with the race winners at The Glen and Daytona.

Still in part an active airport, the featured vintage aircraft will be landing on the Sebring runways throughout the day on Friday. At 5:15 p.m. ET that day, the parade of planes will taxi along parts of the actual Sebring race course to the paddock where they will be on display alongside the historic race cars through Sunday morning at 11:10 a.m. ET.

More information on both the HSR Classic 12 and HSR Sebring Historics events, including entry lists, ticket purchases and the event schedule, can be found on the official event page by clicking here.

Lunch with In-N-Out Burger President Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson latest MSHFA charity fundraiser

The latest online charity fundraiser for the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is live now and open for bidding on BringATrailer.com. This truly priceless charity auction offers its winner and one guest a unique behind-the scenes experience: sitting down for lunch with In-N-Out Burger President Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson. The one-on-one lunch will take place in her office at the California headquarters of In-N-Out Burger in Baldwin Park, Calif., around 20 miles east of Los Angeles, and will be followed by a tour of the facilities and participation in a training course at In-N-Out Burger University.

The winning bid for this no-reserve auction, including the BaT buyer’s fee, will be donated to the Motorsports Museum & Hall of Fame of America Foundation Inc, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

The Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson In-N-Out experience auction is available exclusively on automotive auction industry leader Bring a Trailer (BaT) from now through next Monday. Click on https://bringatrailer.com to register on BaT and bid directly on this rare and exclusive opportunity.

Snyder-Ellingson’s grandparents, Harry and Esther Snyder, founded In-N-Out Burger in 1948, and she began her career with the company at age 17 as a store associate before working in other departments. Snyder-Ellingson became president and owner of the company in 2010 and has since founded several philanthropic organizations, including the Slave 2 Nothing Foundation, as well as joined the company band and authored The Ins-N-Outs of In-N-Out Burger: The Inside Story of California’s First Drive-Through and How it Became a Beloved Cultural Icon. In this role, she has led the company through successful growth with the number of In-N-Out locations nearly doubling, from fewer than 250 stores to over 400 in eight states.

With strong ties to California’s car culture, having been the first drive-thru in the state, In-N-Out Burger invested in the development of Irwindale Drag Strip in the mid-1960s and sold burgers and fries in the concession stands during race events. Lynsi attended track events with her father and has been a longtime competitor in the NHRA, where she currently campaigns a 1969 Chevy-Hemi-powered Chevelle in the Top Sportsman class. She showcased her father’s 1941 Willys Hot Rod on an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage in 2015, and more recently, In-N-Out Burger was named the title sponsor of both the In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip and the In-N-Out NHRA Finals in 2023. Lynsi has been named a 2024 recipient of the Bob Russo Heritage Award from the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America for her efforts to preserve the future of drag racing in the United States.

The In-N-Out experience follows a one-on-one lunch and GM Global Tech Center tour with GM President Mark Reuss early this year, a Team Penske VIP Tour of its North Carolina headquarters auctioned this summer and most recently a dual Skip Barber Racing School and 2025 MSHFA induction ceremony experience as the first three major auction fundraising initiatives the MSHFA has introduced with the kind support of top leadership, organizations and corporations in the motorsports and automotive industries.

“Lynsi Snyder-Ellingson has already done more to preserve the heritage and history of American motorsports than most people and organizations do in a lifetime,” said MSHFA President George Levy. “She is equally as driven and dedicated to supporting charitable and philanthropic causes, and we are deeply moved and honored that her gracious support of our latest online fundraising initiative embraces two of her primary passions. She and In-N-Out join a growing and influential list of fellow MSHFA supporters such as Mark Reuss, Team Penske and the Skip Barber Racing School, and we also are delighted to extend once again our gratitude to Bring a Trailer for their constant support of our critical fundraising efforts. All of these great people and organizations share our mission and dedication of preserving the great legacy of American motorsports for generations to come, and we truly couldn’t do it without all of their selfless support.”

The auction winner and a guest will sit down for a one-on-one lunch with Snyder-Ellingson at the In-N-Out headquarters. Following lunch, the winning bidder and their guest will also tour the headquarters and participate in a training course at the In-N-Out University led by the resident historian.

Upon completion of the auction, the winning bidder will directly pay the Motorsports Museum & Hall of Fame of America Foundation Inc, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

The package does not include lodging or transportation to or from Baldwin Park, California. The winning bidder is responsible for selecting a date in 2025 for the experience, which is subject to the host’s availability.

New issue of Vintage Motorsport showcases forgotten gems – and celebrates a lost star

It was always our intention to feature the Ford Mustang GTP in the new issue of Vintage Motorsport (December-January 2024-’25) and put it on the front cover, but it now feels particularly poignant and appropriate following the passing of its genius …

During our photoshoot, I snapped a pic on my phone and sent it to Bobby Rahal, one of the aces who’d had the opportunity to race it in period. His response: “Great car, just in need of a great engine.” You’ll probably reach the same conclusion on reading the story.

Now that 3 Dog Garage has restored this magnificent beast, it’s probably running better – and more reliably! – than in period, meaning it can be savored by all those who missed seeing its brief (1983-’84) racing campaign.

If you get the chance to see – and hear – the Mustang GTP in the years ahead, grab the opportunity. Also, crouch down to cockpit height and see the vast acreage of hood and ponder how the likes of Rahal, Klaus Ludwig, Geoff Brabham, Tim Coconis and others, were able to place the car at an apex with a degree of accuracy.

In the context of some of Riley’s more prolific winners, it feels right to include the Mustang GTP in a “Forgotten Gems” issue. Whether Davy Jones would appreciate having that tag hung on him is debatable, but we feel that considering his huge potential, Davy was strangely overlooked in his prime and isn’t remembered enough now.

On reading or hearing Jones’s name, you may automatically think back to him wringing out a Castrol- or Bud Light-liveried Jaguar XJR while battling Brabham in the mighty Electramotive Nissan. But his rise to prominence – a consistent thorn in the side of Ayrton Senna and Martin Brundle in British Formula 3 back in 1983 – should have garnered more attention, especially when it became clear that Senna was a generational talent. And let’s remember, too, that in the eight months before the vicious accident that effectively ended his career, Jones had just finished second in the Indianapolis 500 and won the 24 Hours of Le Mans!

Greg Moore is of course the outlier in this issue of Vintage Motorsport, because he’s anything but forgotten. Friends such as Dario Franchitti and Tony Kanaan jumped at the chance to reflect on the Canadian’s short, but spectacular career, 25 years after he died at a dreadfully young age.

The man who won the race on that grim day at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., was Adrian Fernandez. We spoke with him about his favorite race, and he delved deeper into his past than we expected.

As Formula 1 approaches its 75th anniversary season, we also felt it was time to highlight a forgotten period in grand prix racing history – those years immediately before the advent of the Formula 1 World Championship in 1950.

World War II cost some great racing careers their prime years, but that contributed to the 1946-’49 period providing much intrigue in the grand prix ranks. Pre-War aces such as Tazio Nuvolari and Achille Varzi had their last rolls of the dice, Giuseppe Farina became a top-rank star, there was the exciting rise to prominence of future F1 legends Juan Manuel Fangio and Alberto Ascari, and there was one already fully-rounded ace in Jean-Pierre Wimille. It must be said, too, that the dominance of Alfa Romeo’s 158 and Maserati’s 4CL/4CLT made the job of sifting through images an absolute pleasure.

Less than 40 years later, Formula 1 enjoyed another significant year. The 1985 season saw Alain Prost score his first World Championship title, and Ayrton Senna and Nigel Mansell score their first GP victories. Meanwhile, Keke Rosberg, Niki Lauda, Michele Alboreto and Elio de Angelis scored their final wins at this level, and so, too, did the Brabham marque.

The full tale of that pivotal 1985 season can be found in the new issue of Vintage Motorsport, along with reports from Velocity Invitational, Goodwood Revival, Luftgekühlt 10 at Universal Studios, and much more.

The December/January 2024-25 issue of Vintage Motorsport is now mailing to subscribers and is already available to read in digital format. We hope you enjoy it. Single copies can be purchased at our online store HERE. Vintage Motorsport magazine is also available at Barnes & Noble bookstores nationwide.