By the time this is published, I hope the weather has improved from the unseasonable April cold spell we are experiencing at this writing. Otherwise, at the Memorial Day weekend race, we may have to borrow a phrase from the local circle tracks: "Antifreeze permitted for this event!" Having recently run in one of those "antifreeze permitted" events, I can testify that the cars adjust to the cold far better than the humans do. Don’t know what you ice racers do to winterize the humans.

Vintage Sports Car Racing did not attract the traditional fair weather for our annual swap meet and barbecue, but the rain and cold resulted in better attendance than usual, including a number of guests. Thanks to all who attended, to the "swappers," and especially to Mark Brandow and Quality Coaches for letting everyone swarm all over the shop. Additional thanks to Liz and Rich Stadther, beverage stewards, to Mark Langren, who brought samples of his home brew, and to Jeff Edington, who prepared gallons of his legendary chili, but did not get to take any home. This club may have its shortcomings, but we sure know how to eat!

As we look forward to this year’s competition season, I want to address a sentiment about Vintage racing that I believe is a misperception. It must be a somewhat common belief, as I heard several comments about it at the Auto Show and the Open House. I believe all the comments came from the uninitiated, not from seasoned LOL members. Nevertheless, any misperception must be addressed.

The statements that troubled me were variants of "They don’t pass each other in Vintage," or "Vintage isn’t real racing." I don’t think anyone who has experienced VSCR’s brand of Vintage racing firsthand, either as a participant or as a spectator, would agree. This ain’t no parade. To mangle the rallyists’ phrase, "It’s real racing, real fast, in real racecars, on real racetracks, with real color and real excitement." We even get the "real roads" part at the Grand Prix of Minnesota in July.

True, we don’t race for points, money or trophies. We race for fun and excitement, but mostly to honor and exercise those terrific, beautiful old cars. I submit that if you are motivated to race by money, points and "giant trophies" (I have seen them touted in entry solicitations), there are plenty of opportunities for you. But in most cases you won’t be taking your vintage racecar to those events. You’d probably be prohibited, as the promoters want cars that are similar to each other, to keep things more "competitive." We’ve all seen those "competitive" events where no passing actually occurs. The cars are so similar that they look more like a parade or a train snaking around the track than a race.

One of the unusual features of VSCR is the wide variety of cars on the track together. Our race group includes open-wheeled cars from Formula Vees to Formula Fords, and fendered cars from 4-cylinder Sprites to ground-pounding V-8s (and sometimes you’d be surprised at who gets around the track faster!). With all the variation in cars, we can’t help but have passing, and lots of it. And with the camaraderie, trust and confidence our members have developed with each other, if we ever get big enough to divide into two race groups, I suspect the division will be based more on who consistently passes whom than on whether or not the cars have fenders.

The philosophy of Vintage Sports Car Racing is to have fun, be a good sport, exercise good judgment, and try your best to pass the car in front of you. But to do all of the above safely, or at least as safely as is possible at racing speeds. I’m pretty sure our membership shares that philosophy. We have one other goal, however, which is not always shared by those who race more contemporary machines. We want to preserve the cars.

When you race Vintage, you want to be among fellow drivers who share your respect and concern for the cars. It’s not that our drivers have any less courage than other drivers. After all, they’re out there at speed in equipment that’s at least 25 years old. But as those cars get older, replacement parts become rarer and more expensive, as does the expertise necessary to fix them properly. That may be an incentive to back down rather than insist on passing where there really isn’t room for two. There will be passing, though. Because it’s real racing.

Copyright 1997, Land O'Lakes Region.
Last revised: May 5, 1997