New Member-USA

[Nial McCabe]

Hello all.

Just checking in for my first time to post what some of us do in historic racing on the west side of the Atlantic Ocean.

I won't pretend to fully understand all the nuances of European historic racing. It looks similar to what we call "vintage sports car racing" in the eastern USA......but not exactly the same.

Anyway, I'm a long time racer over here, initially in SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) and NASA (National Auto Sports Association). These clubs and similar ones race "modern" cars (ie-MX5, Corvette, Civic, Viper, Golf, Mustang, etc.). About 15 years ago I switched to vintage racing which better suited my vintage persona (in other words, I'm old).

I still work (I teach engineering in a college), so cannot get to all the excellent vintage events all around the USA, but I run in many around the north-east area. Such as the Pitttsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, the Lime Rock Vintage, the Watkins Glen Festival, the Jefferson 500, etc. I typically limit my towing distance to a max of 8 hours (from my New Jersey home). So not going to Daytona or Road Atlanta until after I retire.

I just ran my racer in the Jefferson 500 last week. My long-suffering but good natured-wife is my "crew" and my vintage racer is somewhat tatty #909 MG Midget (parts of which I have been racing since 1973). It's built from a 1500 "rubber bumper" car (purchased for $200) and then backdated with a 1275 engine and gearbox. I'm definitely a low-budget racer but I have some great battles for 14th place etc.

Had a great time meeting up with old friends and new at this years Jeff 500. It was great chat once again with Brian Redman and a real treat to meet Kas Kastner. At previous Jefferson events I've met John Morton, Vic Elford and others. We also have our own irreverent crew (of mostly MGs) called "The Joisey Boyz" comprised of me, Butch, Storm, Tom, Don, Steve, Mark and various other, random hangers-on.
Anyway, it's been fun to look through this forum and see how folks racing historic cars in Europe.

I should mention here that I was actually born in Yorkshire to Irish parents. As a kid, my Dad worked on "the tubes" in London. Eventually, we immigrated to Canada and later, to the USA. So most of my closest relatives are still in Ireland and the UK....and many of them follow European motorsports.

OK, so here's a link to photos and two videos for the Jefferson 500 - 2015

http://vintageracer.tripod.com/jeff-500-2015.html

In case you'd like to view photos from any previous events, here is my main link below (with about 50 previous events I've run). This is a Tripod-Lycos "freeware" link with limited bandwidth. If it doesn't work, just try back later.

http://vintageracer.tripod.com/events.html

Some sample photos from the Jeff....

Nial McCabe
Spridget #909

[Dave Brand]

That #4 Spitfire's a pretty little thing!

Triumph Italia - one of my all-time favourites!

[bauble]

Good to have you here Nial, I'm sure you will make many friends as time goes by, however, there are a few reprobates lurking in the undergrowth, so be prepared, they not all as nice as me.



PS; I won't mention any names for fear of the Mods.

[gt917]

Great first post Nial.

Very informative and great set of pictures.

That red Spitfire(no 7) that you are dicing with ......... can he see much ?
I don,t think I,ve ever seen so much padding round a roll cage !!!!!

[midgetman]

Hi Nial, nice to meet a fellow Spridgeteer. Off the top of my head on this forum there's me, MGDavid and FISCRacer who are all/have been club Spridget racers plus PieterBakker who even organises European competitions for them. Then there's Burfs, who runs the "Lumbertubs" Sebring Sprite and probably loads more I don't remember. (I've had a hard day - lousy excuse I know but true!)

One day I'll get back into it, your posts are inspiring and reminding me how much fun the little cars are.

Max

[DaveGT6]

Hi Nial,

Welcome! Some nice pictures there and from what I have experienced of the US club racing scene they certainly capture the spirit. Good to see a Macau Spitfire - real shame it wouldn't be eligible in UK FIA regs. I raced at Mid Ohio with the SVRA in 2002 in my mate's Triumph Spitfire and it was a ball. A group of us took over a TR3a, a TR5, two TR6s, 3 TR7V8s and the Spit. Kas Kastner was the Chief Marshall or whatever the title is with you guys and we were made very welcome. It was a very relaxed and fun weekend with a very eclectic mix of cars and I think a more relaxed attitude to the whole thing than we have over here.

I've also done Daytona and I recommend that you take early retirement and get down there to race!

Cheers

[John Turner]

Warm welcome, Nial. Look forward to regular posts from you.

[Nial McCabe]

Originally Posted by Dave Brand

That #4 Spitfire's a pretty little thing!
Triumph Italia - one of my all-time favourites!

Mine too. They are too, too rare these days, but it would be neat to build a tribute/replica out of a tatty TR4. So many good ideas.....so little time!

Originally Posted by bauble

Good to have you here Nial, I'm sure you will make many friends as time goes by, however, there are a few reprobates lurking in the undergrowth, so be prepared, they not all as nice as me......

"Reprobates? "Haha. I had to look that one up! America and Britain......two countries seperated by a common language!

Anyway, no worries. I've been a moderator (on British Car Forum) for over 10 years. And I live in New Jersey, where only the strong survive!

Originally Posted by gt917

Great first post Nial.
Very informative and great set of pictures.
That red Spitfire(no 7) that you are dicing with ......... can he see much ?
I don,t think I,ve ever seen so much padding round a roll cage !!!!!

This is what happens when you let an electrical engineer build something mechanical.

That's my old pal, Mike H. His padding looks a bit silly but he's a great driver and has excellent situational awareness. And I'm sure he can still see better than the guys in the 356 Coupes.
Actually, many of our guys only run roll bars and they abuse me for having a full roll cage.
But as I said, I'm from New Jersey so I thrive on abuse.

Originally Posted by midgetman

Hi Nial, nice to meet a fellow Spridgeteer. Off the top of my head on this forum there's me, MGDavid and FISCRacer who are all/have been club Spridget racers plus PieterBakker who even organises European competitions for them. Then there's Burfs, who runs the "Lumbertubs" Sebring Sprite and probably loads more I don't remember. (I've had a hard day - lousy excuse I know but true!)
One day I'll get back into it, your posts are inspiring and reminding me how much fun the little cars are.
Max

Max: I'll encourage you to get back in the game. If not now, when? I took a number of years "off" to race off-road enduro motorcycles and then fly ultralights and tailwheel aircraft. But in the end, I'm a car guy and I'm glad I came back to Spridgets (about 15 years ago). I actually got back in a modest way by running hillclimbs and autocrossing in a bone-stock Midget (I'm not sure you have autocrossing in the UK....it's racing around pylons one car at a time in a parking lot).
I love reading about the FISC cars.
By the way, most of our Spridgets are fairly ordinary but we do have a few special ones. Including ~Graham Hill's old Speedwell Sprite~ (the real thing.....not a replica). It's running a 1275 but otherwise all original. I've raced with it many times.

Originally Posted by DaveGT6

Hi Nial,
Welcome! Some nice pictures there and from what I have experienced of the US club racing scene they certainly capture the spirit. Good to see a Macau Spitfire - real shame it wouldn't be eligible in UK FIA regs. I raced at Mid Ohio with the SVRA in 2002 in my mate's Triumph Spitfire and it was a ball. A group of us took over a TR3a, a TR5, two TR6s, 3 TR7V8s and the Spit. Kas Kastner was the Chief Marshall or whatever the title is with you guys and we were made very welcome. It was a very relaxed and fun weekend with a very eclectic mix of cars and I think a more relaxed attitude to the whole thing than we have over here.
I've also done Daytona and I recommend that you take early retirement and get down there to race!
Cheers

I recall hearing about a bunch of Brit Triumph guys running some US events. Sounds like you were part of that. Kastner is a very nice fellow but at 6'3" it's hard to see how he squeezed himself into a racing GT6 back in the day.

One of the things I like about our vintage racing is that it is low key and relaxed (but we still maintain decent safety standards and driver training).
I race with ~"VRG"~ . One of the other vintage clubs allows people to race in their cars "all original", in other words, no roll bar or seat belts!
SVRA is a good group too but they do not have that many east coast USA events, plus they are starting to really emphasize super-fast cars rather than cars like mine.

The Macua Spitfire is just a replica "tribute car" and not intended for racing. It has no real rollover protection, fuel cell, proper harnesses, etc. The owner drives it on the street to car shows, etc. Actually, he had just finished it a few days before and towed it from Georgia (approx 1000 miles) to our event just to show it off.

Daytona, Mid-Ohio (and VIR) are on my bucket list when the paychecks stop!

Originally Posted by John Turner

Warm welcome, Nial. Look forward to regular posts from you.

Thanks, John!

[Nial McCabe]

By the way, Triumph was the featured marque at our Jefferson 500 event so we had a good turnout of these cars.
These photos are only the racing Triumphs. The first shot is just Kas with the cars.
We also had about 3 times as many street-legal Triumphs in attendance.

[Cliff Ryan]

Hi Nial,

I too race occasionally in the US, although I'm based in the UK, as I really enjoy the laid back atmosphere you guys have. I'm also of Irish parentage.

Most people are surprised that I don't race a Jaguar / MG or Triumph when they hear my British accent, as you love a British sportscar.

I will be at Lime Rock Park this weekend with the HRG / VSCCA in my black 65 Mustang and at the Vintage Fall Festival, so come and say hi if you're around.

Best,

Cliff

[Nial McCabe]

Cliff:

I think Mike Harmuth (Spitfire with big yellow padding as seen above) and Butch O'Conner (white MGA with orange and green stripes) will be at the HRG/VSCCA event. Probably some others I know too.

I won't be at this event but I may be at the Fall Festival (spectating). A good number of my VRG pals will be running. I'll be sure to stop by and say hello if I attend.

[Gary Critcher]

hey Nial, I've been to the Jefferson 500 at few times, here's a piece on my old website from my second visit back in 2001:
http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~ga..._500/index.htm

and 2006:

http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~ga...2006/index.htm

[Lancsbreaker]

Your attitude to racing over there is certainly more relaxed than here......good on ya!

We do have autocrossing here, but its more like off-road racing over rough ground....what you describe sounds like what we call autotests - with a prescribed course around pylons / cones, with reversing into "garages" / stopping across marked lines, spin turns etc, with penalties for hitting cones, not stopping across a line, taking a wrong route, etc......great for car control, but hard on the memory!

[Dave Brand]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

We do have autocrossing here, but its more like off-road racing over rough ground....what you describe sounds like what we call autotests -

Probably more like Autosolo?

[DAVID PATERSON]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

what you describe sounds like what we call autotests - with a prescribed course around pylons / cones, with reversing into "garages" / stopping across marked lines, spin turns etc, with penalties for hitting cones, not stopping across a line, taking a wrong route, etc......great for car control, but hard on the memory!

We have them here and they are called motorkhana.

[Nial McCabe]

When I was a kid in the '60s, we used to call them "gymkhanas" or "field trials.

But these days, we generally refer to them as an "autocross" or "Solo II" (which is the SCCA term here).

Here's me in a gymkhana in 1969. They didn't even require us to wear helmets back then. Simpler times I guess....