October 31, 2001

Magnaflow Vintage 2.5 Challenge

 

The last Magnaflow Vintage 2.5 Challenge race for 2001 is just a few days away at PIR (Nov 17-18). With the tight course at PIR and the close points race, this final event should be a real showdown. As with most of our events, this one is open to spectators so if you plan to be in the Phoenix area we invite you to spend time at this event.

We have heard of a few members that want to race this event but cannot because of problems with their car. One of our members, Terry Tinney, has an fully prepped Alfa available for rent for the PIR race. If you are interested, call Terry at 925-447-1820.

If you have not entered this event and would like to, contact Ed Swart at 310-530-9731.

The track will be available on Friday for practice (extra cost). 

We will have a VSRG hosted "happy hour" in the paddock on Saturday and Sunday and all members, family and friends are welcome as always.  There is also a dinner on Saturday night that will be hosted by HSR-West that will be open to all that would like to attend.  Drivers will have dinner tickets in their entry packet and additional tickets may be purchased at the track (as early as possible on Saturday as seating will be limited).

If you have been watching our 2002 schedule you will note that we have a number of new events planned for next year. Many dates are still not firm but this will change in the next few weeks as the organizations we race with will begin to confirm the 2002 dates.

There are two events that have not been confirmed as of yet that bear watching. One is the spectator event in September at Sears Point. This might turn into to a really big event as it will be the first true Trans-AM reunion that features both classes of cars.  We feel it will turn into the biggest Trans-Am race ever with a full group of over 2.5 cars as well as a VSRG group of under 2.5 cars. This looks like it will happen and it should be a great weekend.

Another possibility is the "Vintage Festival" weekend at Fontana. As most of you will recall, the "Tustin Thunder" weekend was a huge success but a lack of a suitable replacement for the Tustin helicopter base put an end to that event. If this new event can be put together using the larger 2.5 mile road course at Fontana, it should be a great weekend of racing. Because this would be such a big event it is unlikely that we would have our own run-group so we would most likely participate in a non-points mode.  We will keep you updated on this as it develops. 

But....the really big event will be the Pacific Northwest Historics in Seattle. This will be a great weekend that will rival some of the more publicized events such as the Monterey Historics and Zippo Historics. It is only a matter of time before this great vintage event receives the world-wide recognition that is deserves. We at VSRG are honored to be invited to this event and have pledged to support the race in a big way. In addition to a large turn-out of cars, we plan to raise a large donation the Seattle Childern's Hospital, the beneficiary of the event's net proceeds and plan to seek the help of our members in the near future to begin this fundraising campaign. 

Watch the web site for schedule updates. And with just a little bit of luck...we should have a Buttonwillow date in 2002.

Magnaflow has announced that Mario Andretti has signed a 4-year exclusive product endorsement agreement. "We are very proud that we will have Mario Andretti on our team", stated Jerry Paolone, President of MagnaFlow Performance Exhaust. "Mario is one of the most recognized names in the world. He is certainly the most recognized name in Motorsports. I am very pleased that Mario Andretti believes in our company and finds our products worthy of his endorsement. This is a personal honor for me, my family and the fine people who work for MagnaFlow." For full details, check out the Magnaflow web site at www.magnaflow.com Now we just need to find a car for Mario to drive…..

As we bring our race season to a close , we want to take this time to thank everyone that has participated in our inaugural year to include drivers, sponsors and those whose interest and enthusiasm have help make VSRG and the Magnaflow Vintage 2.5 Challenge a true success. We have found an amazing worldwide following for the little sedans that we all love and the response to the return to organized racing of these cars has been nothing short of overwhelming. Our pledge at VSRG is to everything possible to keep the Vintage 2.5 Challenge one of the best, if not the best, vintage racing series to be found.

FOR SALE/WANTED

If you have items for sale, please send us an e-mail. You should include your e-mail address along with the description. We also suggest that you provide phone numbers and best time to contact. We will put you Ad on the BSedan.Com website as well as any VSRG broadcast or e-News mailings.

Contacting the Rules Committee:

If you have a question regarding the rules or the proper interpretation you should submit your question via e-mail to rules@bsedan.com  .  Questions will be forwarded to the committee members and we will provide a response a quickly as possible.  We strongly suggest that your question provide the specific rule(s) you are concerned about as well as any details regarding parts/components that are to be considered.   As questions are answered, the answers will be compiled for an on-line reference so that all members will have access to the answers.  The committee will not consider questions on or just before race weekends so you should send your questions in at least 30 days prior to a race.