Pueblo Trans-Am Invitational - Rocky Mountain …rmvr.com/assets/documents/ta2007-program.pdf250...

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Thanks to the following major sponsors: John Obialero, Inc. • Industrial Chemicals Corporation Nostalgia Racing Inc. • Coors Brewing Company ROCKY MOUNTAIN VINTAGE RACING Pueblo Trans-Am Invitational Pueblo Motorsports Park, CO June 1-3, 2007

Transcript of Pueblo Trans-Am Invitational - Rocky Mountain …rmvr.com/assets/documents/ta2007-program.pdf250...

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Thanks to the following major sponsors:John Obialero, Inc. • Industrial Chemicals CorporationNostalgia Racing Inc. • Coors Brewing Company

ROCKY MOUNTAINVINTAGE RACING

Pueblo Trans-AmInvitationalPueblo Motorsports Park, COJune 1-3, 2007

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The 2006 Black Rat Award went to Chip Hane who finished 1st in O2 in a 1965 K-code Mustang. From left to right: Jim Jones, Pat Hogan, Chip, Keith Davidson, Gary Savage, and Mike Cox. Mike Cox photo.

Cover: Shelby’s Terlingua’s Racing Team getting fuel during the 250 mile race at CDR in August 1967. Jerry Titus is in the car waiting for the signal to go. Carroll is in the background under the cowboy hat. Walt Hane photo.

Joe Pizzi and Gary Savage in front of Joe’s 1968 Datsun 510 sedan. The paint job and set up on this car is remi-niscent of the championship BRE sedans driven by John Morton, Bob Sharp, Bobby Allison, and Peter Gregg. Mike Rodgers photo.

Lew Spencer and his crew, Ted Sutton (left) and Jim O'Leary (right), pose for the camera just before going to Willow Springs in May 1964. Dave Friedman photo.

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2007 RMVR Pueblo Trans-Am Invitiational �

Welcome to Pueblo Motorsports Park and the Trans-Am Invitational presented by Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing, Ltd. (RMVR). This event is a special celebration of the Trans-American sedan racing series that was held at numerous tracks in the US and Canada, including a former 2.6-mile road course in Castle Rock, Colorado called Continental Divide Raceways (CDR). The Trans-Am was organized by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and became a manufacturer’s competi-tion that pitted two liter Alfas against Porsches, BMWs, Datsuns, and Cortinas and the larger O2 (over two liter) Chevrolet Camaros against American Motors Javelins, Ford Mustangs, and Plymouth Barracudas. It was (and is) one of the most exciting motor racing series to watch because everyday sedans that many people owned were raced by professional drivers on American and Canadian road racing circuits.

This year’s event will be featuring the championship racing sedans of Shelby American Racing out of Los Angeles who won the series for Ford in 1966 and 1967. The team manager was Lew Spencer who is our special guest this year. Lew owned a Morgan and Bristol Dealership in west Los Angeles in the 1950s and was a SCCA Pacific Coast EP and CP Champion driver. Carroll Shelby contacted Lew about building the AC Cobra and when the first one was built, Lew became one of the first Cobra drivers. He drove Cobras for team Shelby through 1965 and then worked for Shelby as the Competition Sales Manager. After the Trans-Am series began, he became the Team Manager for the Shelby/Ford Trans-Am team. Lew managed Shelby’s Trans-Am effort though the disastrous 1968 and 1969 seasons. He went on to work for Bill Stroupe-Holman Moody, SCCA, and then Titus-Godsall Racing helping with their Can-Am and Indy programs. Lew will be speaking at our track-side dinner Saturday evening.

In this program you will find historical photographs from Colorado’s former Continental Divide Raceways (CDR) and other memorabilia associated with Colorado’s racing past. Included is information on how to drive the Pueblo racing circuit, pictures from previous year’s events, RMVR club information, and safety flag definitions.

We wish to thank the many sponsors of this event including John Obialero, Inc., Industrial Chemicals Corporation, Nostalgia Racing Inc., and Coors Brewing Company for their support of vintage Trans-Am racing in Colorado. We ask that you support all of the advertisers in this race program who share our enthusiasm for the Trans-Am, Colorado’s racing history, and vintage motor racing and hope that you enjoy the weekend.

Keith Davidson Chairman, RMVR Trans-Am Invitational

Pueblo Motorsports Park and the Trans-Am Invitational presented by Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing, Ltd (RMVR)

Gary Savage and the original '70 Plymouth AAR 'Cuda at Mosport, May 1999. The vintage team was labeled as “The Keepers of the Flame" as Gary does his part to continue the family tradition keeping Swede's memory alive. You can see in-car videos in the 'Cuda and other cars Gary has driven at: http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=garysavage Savage photo.

Marlboro Maryland Trans-American 12-hour race, August 14, 1966. The under 2 liter class was won by Theodorocopulos and Posey in an Alfa Romeo GTA. The over 2 liter class was won by Tullius and Adamowicz in a Dodge Dart. Pete Luongo photo.

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ROCKY MOUNTAIN VINTAGE RACING LTD.RMVR is a non-profit club of more than 400 members who are vintage rac-ing enthusiasts. Our club’s primary focus is the organization, production, and sanctioning of vintage car races in the Rocky Mountain region. We have over 350 eligible cars that are a minimum of 20 years old. Names such as Lotus, Corvette, McLaren, and Lola, along with lesser-known marques such as Abath, Morgan, Siata, and Zink participate in our events. The range of engines includes less than 1000 cc to more than six liters of “ground-pounding” force. As Charter Members of the national group, Vintage Motorsports Council, we are pledged to promote the preservation of these cars in a racing format which emphasizes driver safety and “etiquette”. To achieve this goal, we have devel-oped our own team of race officials including Event Chairs, Race Stewards, Registrars, Pit and Grid, Corner Marshalls, Starters, Tech Inspectors, and Timing and Scoring.

The Benefits Of RMVR Membership: •The Apex •Free Admission To All Track Events •Invitation to All Speed

Events

and More •Free Classified Ads in the Monthly Newsletter

You need not own a vintage car to become a member and participant in Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing.

RMVR • 6745 West Third Place • Lakewood CO 80226 • 303-319-3062

2007 Schedule of Events

DATE EVENT LOCATIONJanuary 6 Banquet Arvada Center, Arvada, CO

March 3-4 Fire and Rescue School N Washington Training Center, CO

March 31 Annual Tech Day 240 Bryant St, Denver, CO or 3520 N Prospect St, CO Springs, CO

April 20-22 Drivers School La Junta Raceway, La Junta, CO

April 21-22 La Junta Spring Race La Junta Raceway, La Junta, CO

June 2-3 Pueblo Trans-Am Invitational Pueblo Motorsports Park, Pueblo, CO

July 21-22 La Junta Summer Race La Junta Raceway, La Junta, CO

Sep 7-9 Motorsport Park Hastings Hastings, Nebraska

Sep 16 Colorado English Motoring Oak Park, Arvada, CO Conclave

Sep 29 – 30 Pueblo Enduro Pueblo Motorsports Park, Pueblo, CO

Lew Spencer, the very capable team manager for Shelby American in the pits. Dave Friedman photo.

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2007 RMVR Pueblo Trans-Am Invitiational �

Below: John Cowler, Walt Hane, Lew Spencer, and Homer Perry on the Boss Mustang assembly line in Dearborn 1969. This meeting was to confirm the homologation of the new Boss 302. Lew represented Shelby American, Walt SCCA, John Ford’s Performance and Economy Division, and Homer was Fords’s Trans-Am liason. Walt Hane photo.

Bob Bondurant (99), Dan Gurney (97), and Lew Spencer (98) crest Riverside's Turn 7 during the One Hour Enduro that preceded the 1963 Times Grand Prix. Bondurant won the race while Spencer finished third and Gurney finished fourth. Dave Friedman photo.

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� 2007 RMVR Pueblo Trans-Am Invitiational

From The Continental “250” Trans-American Championship Series race program, CDR August 25, 1968.

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2007 RMVR Pueblo Trans-Am Invitiational �

From the 1968 Continental 250 Program.

2.66 Mile Road Course Castle Rock, Colorado 1968

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� 2007 RMVR Pueblo Trans-Am Invitiational

C o l o r a d o T r a n s - A M A c t i o n . . .T h e n a n d N o w

2005 RMVR Trans-Am with Dan Allen (Camaro), Steve Gesse (BMW), Mike Jones (Mustang), Bob Hill (Cuda), Vic Yarberry (Cougar), Robert Toscano (BMW), Andrew Jordan (BMW), York Kielnecker (Alfa), and a gaggle of minis. Avary Images photo.

Under 2-liter BMWs driven by Robert Toscano and Wayne Seibrecht running wheel to wheel. RMVR has several club members running the 2002 sedan. Mike Rodgers photo.

The interior of the 1967 Shelby Team car with R-model seat, door pad, SW gauges, roll cage, modified pedal pads, aftermarket steering wheel. Note factory door panels, shifter, and glass dash pad and wipers. Friedman photo.

Jeff Winter of Arvada Colorado receiving SCCA`s Kimberly Cup from David Donahue in 2001. Jeff was a national champion in 2001 driving a Datsun 510 in SCCA’s GP class. Other names on the cup include Roger Penske, Augie Papst and Peter Revson. Winter photo.

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C o l o r a d o T r a n s - A M A c t i o n . . .T h e n a n d N o w

Jerry Titus started his racing career while being a full-time editor of Sports Car Graphic magazine and played a saxophone in the evenings at LA clubs. His driving wowed the Shelby American organization and soon he had little time for other pursuits. JDC collection.

Keith Davidson (Falcon) and Cash Johns (Camaro) battling for the line at corner 10 at RMVR’s 2004 Trans-Am Invitational. Bill Miller photo.

Ken Petrie in his late model #95 Trans-Am Camaro at last year’s Trans-Am Invitational. The 350 Chevrolet engine was misfiring and the car was retired early. Look for some good wheel to wheel competition among late model Trans-Am cars at this year’s race. Mike Rodgers photo.

If you are interested in purchasing photos from this event please email or call. Provide your name, race group, car type and car number, and your contact information.

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� 2007 RMVR Pueblo Trans-Am Invitiational

IF YOU NEED CONCRETE,

RACE TO JOHN & RICK OBIALERO’S

J O H N O B I A L E R O , I N C .

11130 West 44th Avenue • Wheat Ridge, Colorado 80033 303-423-8960

And cement your ideas!

Residential & Commercial FoResidential & Commercial Fouundationsndations

AUTO WIZARDS

Fred Hodgson

5890 Washington St. Unit 8 Denver, Colorado 80216 (303) 296-0979

IMPORT & DOMESTIC SERVICE & REPAIRRACE CAR PREPARATION & SERVICE

RMVR's Trans-Am Invitational made the August 2006 cover of Victory Lane Magazine. Mike Rodgers photo.

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2007 RMVR Pueblo Trans-Am Invitiational �

Shelby American RacingIn 1966 when the Trans-Am series opened, Shelby American was committed to the Ford GT program in Europe and had no interest in the Trans-Am series. As the season pro-gressed, Ford prevailed upon Shelby to pre-pare a number of customer cars. The Mustang was by far the easiest to prepare to Trans-Am rules because in race trim, it was literally the sedan version of the B-Production winning Shelby GT350R. Shelby American built 16

ready to race Group 2 sedans and sold them to the public. Drivers including Dick Thompson, Bob Johnson, Tom Yeager, Fred Van Beuren, John McComb, and Walt Hane mostly had home built Mustangs with Shelby parts. When the series reached Riverside for the last race, Ford and Chrysler were tied for the points lead and it became Shelby’s assignment to win the championship. Jerry Titus flooded his engine during the Lemans start but drove through the field over several hours to win the race and the championship for Ford. In the early days of the series, the championship points were awarded to the manufacturer, not the driver which kept the manufacturer participation at a very high level.

In 1967 Shelby fielded a team with two mustangs and three drivers – Jerry Titus, Dick Thompson, and Ronnie Bucknum. Under the direction of Lew Spencer and Chuck Cantwell they were the backdoor team. Not the official team because Bud Moore’s Cougar team was the official 1967 Trans-Am team. Ford found some money and got Shelby enough to build and maintain the cars for the full sea-son. Shelby American built 26 Mustang Group 2 sedans. Four

were used for the factory team effort, the remainder were sold to independent racers to use for Trans-Am and/or A-sedan SCCA racing. This gave Ford a two pronged attack. If the first rank factory team cars didn’t do the job, a veri-table herd of private owner Mustangs would be there to trample the competition.

According to Chuck Cantwell “Jerry Titus wrecked a lot of cars but he didn’t give way for anyone, including Parnelli, Gurney, and Donahue. He put on a show and he won a lot of races.” The Titus car wore the Terlingua Racing Team logo which was really a Shelby spoof based on ideas “developed” during a hunting trip in rural Texas near the town of Terlingua. The racing team was nothing more than a collection of drinking buddies who loved Texas chili. The logo looked like a European coat-of-arms with a jackrabbit with his right foot held high saying, "No more pep-pers in my chili!" The logo was used on the 1967 Titus car that

got a special “Gawdawful Yellow” paint job to make it stand out on the Trans-Am grid. The Mustang hoods and tops of the front fenders were painted flat black after the drivers complained of poor visibility due to glare from the bright yellow paint. Shelby’s Mustangs and Moore’s Cougars dominated the first half of the 1967 season. But as Jerry Titus explained at the end of the year, “At Daytona, Chevy had the horsepower, but not the stop-ping power or handling. At Mid-Ohio they were stopping and by Bryar they were handling". Titus won four races during the sea-son; Mark Donohue won three races, all in the latter half of the season. In the end, Ronnie Bucknum got the second place points at Kent to just barely edge-out Cougar to win the championship, but it was the Penske Camaro that was on a roll.

In 1968, the Shelby Mustangs were driven by Titus and Horst Kwech. Since the Trans-Am cars were now allowed to run in the 24 hours of Daytona, Ronnie Bucknum and Allan Moffat were brought in to co-drive. Ford thought that it’s new 302-inch engine with high performance tunnel port heads was the hot set-up, but was terribly wrong. What started off as a great year turned into a disaster and chaos. The team was only able to win three of 13 races. Frustration over the engine problems and Ford’s attitude caused a season of dissension among the team members and Titus’ departure before the season’s end.

In 1969, Ford introduced the new Boss 302 Mustang into Trans-Am competition, and the regular Shelby team drivers looked forward to a better season. Unfortunately for the Shelby team, Ford brought the Bud Moore team back after a year’s absence and the majority of the money went to Moore. The only win during the 1969 season came at Lime Rock with Sam Posey winning as he filled in for Peter Revson, who was qualifying at Indy. Several third place finishes filled out a very disappointing year. After Riverside, Ford cut the funding and the Shelby racing effort was terminated. For Shelby American, it was a good time to quit because there was nothing else to win. Shelby American had made a name for itself and the company had achieved far more than anyone could have imagined.

Sources: Dave Friedman’s Shelby American Racing History, Rich Taylor’s Trans-Am published in Vintage Motorsport Magazine and Bill Neale’s Terilingua Racing Story.

Jerry Titus and Chuck Cantwell walking back to the pits after losing the motor,Continental Divide Raceways, august 25, 1968. Pete

Ronnie Bucknam and Lew Spencer discussing preparation of the car at Sebring in 1967. A mechanic is under the car and the engineer (Chuck Cantwell) is in the background. Friedman photo.

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Dan Gurney in the Lola T70 at Bridgehampton Long Island, 1966. This car won the Can-Am race powered by a Ford 5-liter Gurney-Weslake engine. The car was later converted to a coupe with hardtop and hatch doors. The current owner RMVR’s Bob Rowley of Vail, Colorado is currently restoring the car to its original race configuration. Friedman photo.

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2007 RMVR Pueblo Trans-Am Invitiational ��

303-526-2807

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�2 2007 RMVR Pueblo Trans-Am Invitiational

To join RMVR go to http://rmvr.com/forms/membership.pdf to down-load an application for membership. For additional information call us at

303-319-3062 and lets go racing!

Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing, LtD.Application for Membership:

Hank Candler of Castlerock, Colorado at CDR’s 1968 SCCA Fall National setting the lap record in his Lola T140 Formula A. The car ran a Bartz Chevrolet 305 V8 with webers and generated about 425 hp. Was it quick? No question. Candler photo. Mario Andretti, Glen Gold, and Bob Raub at the Trans-Am race at Road

America 1980. Bob and Glen were racing. Mario had finished his racing the day before and stopped by to visit with friends. Raub photo.

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Pat Hogan of Littleton, Colorado in his 1968 Camaro and Gary Grillo of Evergreen, Colorado in his 1971 Pontiac Trans-Am running hard on the PMI road circuit. Mike Rodgers photo.

The Lotus Cortinas of the Alan Mann Racing Team at Riverside, September 1966. The team was sponsored by Ford of Britain, and the cars were driven by Ray Parsons and Sir John Whitmore. Unfortunately they pulled out of the series in 1967. Julian Veovich photo.

For race gas in bulk quantity, call Trans-Am driver Robert Wilson

Kyle Popejoy in his 1967 Mustang, Dan Rose in his 1966 Porsche 911, and Brian Nelson in his 1972 BMW 2002 entering compression corner 5 during the 2006 Trans-Am feature race. Mike Rodgers photo

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