Vintage Racer GroupThomad Leavy hopes those checkers underhis grille bring good luck for his '62 MGB.

Live Freeor RaceThe Vintage Racer Groupreturns to New Hampshirefor the annual VintageRacing Celebration.STORY ANDPHOTOGRAPHY BYSTEVE ROSSINI.

What a nice way to spend a summerweekend, in the middle of the WhiteMountain state of New Hampshire. We weregranted great weather all weekend for the23rd annual Vintage Racing Celebration atNew Hampshire Motor Speedway inLouden where they say "live free and race!"For the weekend of August 2-4, the VintageRacer Group gathered 63 vintage race carsto fill its four race groups. VRG did not packin the general public to the speedway, but itwas their loss this weekend and for those ofus who did come, we had a great time inVRG's relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.

First-day track action flowed into Fridaynight's VRG Garage Special BBQ whileSaturday night the VRG club dinner atMakris Steak and Lobster in Concord, NHprovided a nice opportunity to catch upwith racing pals and wear lobster bibs.

VRG shared the weekend with the U.S.Classic Racing Association motorcycle groupas well as the Legends Car series, which gavethe weekend quite a variety of vehicles ontrack. For many vintage racers the addition

Group 4 action sees'66 Jaguar E-Type charging har

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of the bikes provided some hair-raising trackaction not normally seen at their usualevents. It was great to see the bikes dive forthe corners with little or no air gap betweenthe track and their knees. A lot of respect hasto be given to these talented riders.

It was motorcycles that started the area'sgreat motor racing traditions back in 1938wi th the fi rs t 100-mi le Nat iona lChampionship road race held at the nearbyBelknap Recreation Area in Laconia. BryarMotorsports Park opened in 1965 and theold Bryar racetrack was replaced by the New

Hampshire International Speedway in 1990.In 2007 the track was purchased bySpeedway Motorsports Inc. and renamedthe New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

Sharing track time provided fewersessions for the VRG participants to enjoythis challenging course. NHMS is a 1.058-mile NASCAR oval that can be reconfiguredto a 12-turn, 1.6-mile circuit. The driverstake the main front straight, followed by aleft into a slalom to avoid the standard Turn1. This returns back onto Turn 2, continuingthrough the back straight. At this point the

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racers exit to a road course that includessome elevation changes, and a long downhillrun to the carousel. The circuit returns to theoval section of the track but avoiding Turns 3and 4 with an infield sweeper beforereturning to the main straightaway.

Of the four groups there were cars rangingfrom Group Is 1922 Gumta G15 of Vince DiCesare, from Brossard, Quebec to Group 2's'80 Van Diemen of Don Denomme, fromLowell, MA. And there was plenty of action,as this group of racers likes to dice it up andenjoy the competitive but friendlyatmosphere on this challenging track.

For most of the weekend Group 4 wasdominated by Rob Folia in his 73 MazdaRX3, Frank Grimaldi in a '68 Camaro andChris Homer in his '64 Corvette. During

, Not a car we see much of in/intage racing-'55 T-Birds—but■■'■■Hark Riley is enjoying'

Sunday's last race, the three provided a goodshow with Folia completing a late-race passon Grimaldi through the carousel to take thewin. Homer spun his Corvette on the firstlap trying to catch the other two. Homercommented, "after the entire field went by, Ispent the rest of the race driving in anger toget back to 3rd."

Invited to this year's event was theMcLaren M1B of local racer RaymondBoissoneau, to delight the spectators andcorner workers to see and hear this pristinewhite McLaren. He was also here to helppromote the creation of the North EastMotor Sports Museum, a proposed 20,000sq.-ft. facility that will be located on the

grounds of the New Hampshire MotorSpeedway. The museum will be home to anextensive collection of race cars, trophies,helmets, engines, motorcycles, books,photographs, newspapers, videos,magazines and memorabilia that representsa cross-section of the rich Northeast racinghistory (nemsmuseum.com).

We asked a few VRG members about thebest car on track during the weekend, andother than the honorary McLaren, the toppick was the '67 Toyota/Shelby 2000GTowned by Bob Tkacik of Maine. Of the 3512000GTs built only 62 were imported intothe U.S. and this one is S/N 001. Accordingto Tkacik, "Toyota gave Carroll Shelby three

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cars to develop for C-Production racing toget some publicity for Toyota. The car ranonly one season in 1968 collecting severalpodium finishes, driven by Dave Jordan. Theoriginal engine for the 2000GT is in storagebut the car is as delivered except for anelectronic ignition. The 2000GT has a 2.0-liter Toyota Corona Mkll, inline 6-cylinderengine that was subcontracted to Yamaha tobuild and develop. Yamaha also engineeredthe twin-cam cylinder head for this block."

Tkacik related his on-track experiencehere with the Toyota: "The transitions onthis track are tough, very similar to the GT6I have driven here, but with a lot morepower and grunt."

Sunday's activities were concluded bynoontime but not before the All ComersGroup had their last dash. This diverse groupallowed for all of the VRG groups one lastchance to show their stuff or just enjoy thetrack one more time. The concluding battlewas between two Porsche 911s. Damon Joszin his '69 took the win with a five-secondlead over Doug Hagopian's '68 model.

With apologies to the other drivers,Damon Josz said, "All the big dogs wenthome and there is no order to the gridposition. I feel that it was not that big of avictory. Did I race it as a race? You bet, butreally it was not a hard-fought win. But awin is a win, and when the green flat

dropped, I was on it, although the start hadme on the inside wall bearing down intoTurn 1, I charged through the field to stareinto the large, flat black side of a Volvo as heturned in. Yikes! The Porsche brakes workgreat, and I slipped in without incident.

After that it was a few more passes and aclear track."

Race weekends always seem to go byquickly and when you share the track timewith others, it seems even shorter. Withperfect weather and a great location, VRGbrought out some special cars and a greatgroup of vintage racers. This event is wellworth the travel through the mountains towitness some great racing.

For the Vintage Racer Group's fullschedule and membership information visitvrgonline.org. -*V

PICK OF THE LITER 1966 McLaren M1BA delight for those attending thisweekend's vintage VRG event wasseeing the white 1966 McLaren M1Bowned by Raymond Boissoneau ofBedford, NH. This M1B was made in theUK but was raced primarily in the U.S.The history is unfolding on this car andthe current information that Boissoneauhas is that the car was originally racedby Jacky Ickx. The rest of its provenanceis still "a lost piece of history and amystery, a gap is there that we areworking feverishly to fill."

Equipped with a small-block ChevyV8 with four downdraft Webers, 530hpmotivates this M1B. Boissoneaupurchased the car in 2001 and hasraced the car at such notable tracks asMonza, Hockenheim, Spa, Silverstoneand Brands Hatch.

The McLaren is configured to meett h e r e q u i r e m e n t s o f d i f f e r e n tsanctioning bodies. Some vintageorganizations, such as Goodwood,where Boissoneau raced the car prior tohis purchase, require that the car is tobe in its original as-raced configuration.

The McLaren has two tails, one withand one without a rear wing. Boissoneaurelates, "the wing that we used at NHMSwas added in 1966 for U.S. racing whenthey were upgrading the technology toget more speed. Can-Am was one ofthose rare series that you could doalmost anything you wanted to the car,provided it was a two-seater.

"We have kept the car as original as itcan be. The strategy we have always keptwith all of our vintage cars is to keepthem period correct. In the case of thisMcLaren, it can be correct with treadedtires and no wing or slicks with a wing. Itis important to me to keep it original."

"The car is a thrill to drive, it gives meeverything I want, the feeling to get intothe turns and onto the straights, and ithas enough horsepower to give me thatthrust. It's got handlingto get me into theturns safely, and thatis the kind of carI enjoy." lV