Brumos Racing

Teams

Peter Gregg was a 4 time winner of the 24 Hours at Daytona. In each of these races he piloted a Porsche. He purchased the Jacksonville, FL Brumos Porsche dealership in the mid 1960s from its original owner and won the 1973 and '74 Trans-Am Series in his Brumos Porsches. Peter carried the Brumos Porsche racing programs through the 1970s with Hurley Haywood winning the 1975 Camel GT Series in new Carrera RSR. Sadly in 1980 Gregg committed suicide in Florida. His lasting legacy though is the winning years of Brumos Porsche in the world of professional and GT racing.[...]

Ernie Smith Alfa Romeo Alfetta

Cars

First, some background on the car. In the mid-70's, one of the ships bringing a load of Alfa's to the United States caught fire while on the water. Many of the cars received damage that was mostly cosmetic, but were deemed unfit for retail sale. Most of the vehicles were Alfettas, both coupe and sedan. Thinking creatively, Alfa decided to pull the DOT plates off the cars and sell them solely for the purpose of racing them. To support their sale, Alfa USA created the Alfetta Cup. But that is another story...[...]

First race at Talladega

Races

IMSA had just been launched and set a modest program for Formula Ford and Formula Vees. While things threatened to fail from the outset, John Bishop managed to run his First race at Pocono, which attracted 349 spectators. The second race took place on the high banks of Talladega, Alabama. Another Formula Vee race was held, as well as a Formula Ford. The very First sedan race sanctioned by IMSA would be held, and it attracted some 22 cars.[...]

Herb Adams

Drivers

In his career, Herb Adams has pretty much done it all, and made mistakes along the way. Those stumbles, he claims, not only helped him grow, they are essential to the proper development of individuals, teams, and organizations. He placed in charge of an engineering special projects group at Pontiac. Your group worked on the development of the PFST (Pontiac Firebird Sprint Turismo) that led to the first Trans Am that was released in 1969. He did a lot of work and product planning on what became the first Trans Am in 69 and the second Trans Am in 70 1/2.[...]

Interscope Racing

Teams

It was a team owned by a wealthy privateer, son of Marshall Field, who owned a chain of department stores. Later, he would become involved in film production. So, Ted Field ran into auto Racing for fun, hiring Danny Ongais, nicknamed 'Danny on the gas', who was a former dragster star. He would bring his talent to the team while Ted Field would pay him for his driving chores. Danny Ongais was an exceptionally talented driver, who always gave 100%. The team was very recognizable, sporting a black livery with a three stripes of pink. The famous 0 or 00 was awarded to the team when Danny Ongais, who was testing a Porsche 934, described the car as a big zero.[...]

Kent Racing Mercury Merkur

Cars

The Merkur XR4Ti IMSA GTU race car was constructed for Ford by Dave Kent of Kent Racing in Hawthorne, CA in 1984 to coincide with the Merkur introduction into the U.S. market. Its first race was at the Camel GTU in Miami on 24 February 1985 with driver Lee Mueller. Kent Racing had previously built cars and run the IMSA GTU (Grand Touring Under 2 liter) program for Mazda with RX7's winning the GTU Makes Championships for several years running. Lee Mueller won the GTU Driver Championship with a Kent Racing Mazda in 1981. Mueller was also a 4 time SCCA National Champion, 3 time winner of the 24 hours of Daytona, and 12 hours of Sebring winner. [...]

Lumbermen's 500

Races

Three, maybe four events per summer. Mid Ohio was growing into a World renowned track, and races became more and more exciting. Les Griebling was the fellow who owned the track in the seventies, and he had made major improvements to it (it was opened in '62). The "Golden Age of Mid-Ohio" had come, and it would last well after Jim Trueman purchased it in 1982. The latter would pour millions into it, making some great improvements to the track and adding some great features. Les Griebling, along with some businessmen, had done the best he could do, and he did it very well.[...]

Ron Fournier

People

Ron Fournier is one of those rare people who knew exactly what they wanted to do with their lives when they were 12 years old. Wandering into a family friend's garage in suburban Detroit, he saw a Sprint Car under construction. At that instant, he saw his life mapped out before him. "Seeing that process, I decided then and there that this is what I wanted to do. By the time I was 14, I was totally on track with it. I was already learning how to weld. "It just hit me over the head that you could take raw materials and build something from nothing. It fascinated me. Seeing them bending tubes and creating bodies from flat sheetmetal hooked me.[...]

Bill Scott Volkswagen Scirocco

Cars

Years ago, VW ran a pair of Sciroccos in the Trans Am series and, on occasion, in IMSA. They were driven by Bill Scott (42) and Milt Minter (43) and were a really something else, even running in the 12 hours of Sebring in the late 70s. I wonder where they are now? I did a little poking around, and it would seem that one of the cars (42) was written off, perhaps at Sebring as they are listed as not finishing, but the #43 car may still be floating around. Some say it made it's way to a VW museum, but one would assume that there would be at least one picture of it from the recent past, rather than the ancient past.[...]

Tony de Lorenzo

Drivers

Whatever you do, if you meet Tony DeLorenzo, don't get him going on the GM bankruptcy filing. Tony ain't happy. If they ever make a TV drama called GM: Generations, he's going to be in it, along with the whole DeLorenzo brood. Tony is the son of a wire-service news guy who became a vice president of communications at Buick, hired under the Harlow Curtice regime at GM. He lived the years of hegemony when GM commanded the industry. And he stands firmly today in the pantheon of great Corvette road racers. Tony D's game goes back to the playground. "Being the son of a GM VP, I got to drive a lot of cars, like Ed Cole's personal Chevy 409 when it was one of only two.[...]