Hello All …. The following is an update on several topics that move the DMTRG program forward and updates on both 2019 events! Lots of “new” this year regarding Laguna Seca and our new / next DMTRG event at the “new” Sonoma Speed Festival.
With the transition of Laguna Seca from SCRAMP to the County of Monterey AND new leadership there are subtle and not so subtle changes for us … at minimum things for us to recognize if not adapt to. The best thing is DMTRG is recognized and counted on to be there!
As usual contact me or Rob with any issues or inputs.
All the best, Rob / Doug
In This Bulletin:
• Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion
• Sonoma Speed Festival
• Survey – Thank You
• New Logo
• The “Del Monte Trophy”
RMMR Pre and ReUnion: 10 – 18 August
We’ve met with WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca face to face once so far this year. Our focus this minute is recruiting cars. Rob got his entries in before the cut off. I was late by a day and had to ask … hat in hand … would you accept my late entry. Whoops. With that said … There is still time to get an entry in. The process is that Rob and I get involved by bringing our list of cars / drivers to the table and we are given the list of applicants received by the event organizers for our 1947 – 1955 Group. Then the lists go to the selection committee.
There is still time to get an entry in … if you’re now good to go tell Rob or me ASAP. We can make room.
*** This year we are back to being Race Group 1B … meaning Sunday main … NOT Saturday as the last two years. With this year’s event being a celebration of IMSA the Saturday / Sunday schedule has naturally been “crafted” to present IMSA cars.
Of course more to come regarding this year’s the event!!
Sonoma Speed Festival … 31 May – 2 June
Based upon your response we were able to offer some 20 cars to the organizer of the event. We were able to meet with the organizer and pooled their applicants with our list and … to quote Rob: “what’s not to love”. They like our program and want us. They’ll go over the applicants list in the next few weeks and tell us all who’s been accepted. Deadline to apply is 28 February…. I’ve clipped the statement from Cris’s recent email that includes a link to their site for applicants. This is to be a world class event …. very, very special celebration of our cars and their stories. Every aspect is quality! Great shades of Mr Earle’s Historics.
If you’ve not applied now is the time. This recent release from Cris Vandergrif has a link to the Sonoma Speed Festival site.
Sonoma, Calif. (February 19, 2019) – The Sonoma Speed Festival has announced its first-ever event from May 30th to June 2nd, 2019 at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. The event will feature ten invited race groups spanning the history of motorsports from the Brass Era to the modern age competing on track, along with world-class food and wine options and interactive displays for both casual and hardcore enthusiasts.
For drivers interested in participating in this year’s event, the deadline to apply for entry is February 28th. To request an application, click here. Vehicle highlights include the Porsche 917K, Ferrari 250 GTO and even the Lotus 77 Formula 1 car (John Player Special Mk.II). Over 220 vehicles will be in attendance and more significant attendees will be announced in the coming months.
The event will take place among the scenic rolling hills and dramatic corners of the Sonoma Raceway. Outside of racing action on the track, guests can enjoy a variety of activities and displays along with a craft beer garden and a Wine Pavilion featuring wine tastings and gourmet food pairings.
“The team organizing this event have attended the best motoring events in the world and want to bring that world-class level of execution and experience to one of the best race tracks in North America,” said Ryan R. Turri, General Manager of the Sonoma Speed Festival. “We’ve brought in teams that have worked on the most highly regarded automotive events and museums across the globe. This is an opportunity to see the most significant motorsports icons in action while enjoying the luxuries and comfort of a European-style motoring event.”
2019 marks the 50th anniversary of Sonoma Raceway and to celebrate this milestone the Historic Trans-Am class will highlight the legendary Trans-American Championship race hosted at the track in 1969 with on-track competition between Trans-Am racing vehicles including Ford Mustangs, Chevrolet Camaros and AMC Javelins. Nine other premier race groups will be competing as well during the event, for a full list of participating race groups please click here.
Ticketing information will be available soon online at sonomaspeedfestival.com, along with additional information on special attractions. Learn more on the event website and follow the action on Facebook and Instagram.
Recent Survey
Thanks for taking time to respond to the survey in the last Bulletin. We’ll continue to include such short surveys to test the water on how we’re doing and to make the on track, in paddock and around town experience gets better……
Del Monte Trophy Race Group – NEW LOGO
We’ve had a list of things to do since inception of DMTRG and one “thing” has been a logo suitable for use as decals and flags / signs. The designs are done. A specific design specification was how would it look on the side of our cars on the grid. Additionally, about 1/3 of the cars in our 1947 – 1955 race group don’t paddock in our row. Our view is that if we offer a flag with the logo to DMTRG participants we can increase our group identity throughout the paddock. A simple flag that is affixed to an EZ UP pole lets us pull the community together AND stretch our arms around the paddock.
The “Del Monte Trophy” … A Trophy For DMTRG …
The Del Monte Trophy has been reintroduced in the spirit of the awards offered during the 1950 – 1955 Pebble Beach Road Races. We relaunched The Del Monte Trophy in August at the 2018 RMMR after a 62 year hiatus. Selection of the winners is based on “entirely subjective” interpretation of four criteria: period correctness, presentation, participation and performance during the Sunday feature event. Our jury of six selectors, three from the Over 2000cc Class and three from the Under 2000cc Class, chose Terry Buffum & John Buddenbaum with the 1949 Parkinson Jaguar Special and Gregor Magnusson with the 1954 Porsche 356.
Caption, left: Rob Manson and John Buddenbaum with two of the Del Monte Trophy Race Group trophies in late 2018. Rob is holding the perpetual trophy engraved with the names of the winners of the Del Monte Trophy at the Pebble Beach Road Races from 1950 thru 1956 as well as the winners from 2018 forward. John Buddenbaum is holding the take-home replica awarded to him for his exploits in the over 2000cc class with the 1949 Parkinson Jaguar Special.
Caption, right: Gregor Magnusson holding the 2018 Del Monte Trophy Race Group take-home replica awarded to him and his 1954 Porsche 356 Coupe in the Class up to 2000cc.
The Del Monte Trophy is a perpetual recognition award and the names of recipients for 2018 have been added to the plaques recognizing the winners since 1950. They have also been presented with individual trophies for their mantels. The trophy will again be presented this year to big bore and under 2L participants whose cars performance and presentation and participation quality marks a distinction during the DMTRG 2019 RMMR.
The true original is on the left of each photo, and the take-home replica on the right. Over 2L and up to 2L. Go for it guys.