Las Vegas has been dropped as a tentative date from the schedule.  We had found a level of interest when everyone was under the impression (as we were) that we would be using the large “pro” layout.  However we were all informed not long ago that the actual course would be a smaller layout within the Speedway that did not use the banking.  With this change in the course we have found that the level of interest has dropped too low for us to place this event on our schedule. 

We had been working on an alternate event that was scheduled at about the same time but we have not been able to work out all the details.  With this change this gives everyone plenty of time to make repairs for our next race at Thunderhill.

Another big weekend later this summer at the Portland Historics is shaping up to be one of our best Vintage 2.5 Challenge weekends since the series began.  We have a tentative agreement from John Morton to race with us in the Portland Historics (July 11-13).  VSRG member Don Halliday has made his winning Datsun 510 available for John to drive as our guest at Portland. 

Don’s 510 is pretty new on the circuit but it started the season with a bang when Tom Neely drove it for the fastest lap of the weekend at the 2003 opener and a big win in the flag race.  Tom is a great driver and he showed the potential of this car and it will should be quite a show to see John Morton racing this immaculate machine with us.

 

This deal is not cast in stone as of yet but it looks good that this will happen.  We have also been in touch with Horst Kwech and there is a good possibility that he might join us again that weekend as well.

We want to welcome two new sponsors to our series.  iRPM (www.irpm.net)  has been of invaluable assistance to the 2.5 over the winter and we look forward to their participation this year.  G2 Graphic Service (www.pg2online.com) has also pitched in and is providing the great new windshield graphics as well as producing the new Vintage 2.5 posters & flyers that we will be handing out at each race this season.

We have added a new video link to the website in the past few days you should check our Vintage 2.5 “Commercial”.  This great video was produced by Stephen Johnstone of  www.CobraUniversity.com who sent us a copy to share with our members.  The link to this is on the home page of the site just below the photo gallery. 

If you have a dial-up connection you will find the video plays better if you download it to your PC first (right click on the link rather than double-click and then use the “save” option).  The video will play on most viewers to include most versions that come with Windows as well as the RealOne Player.  The file is large, about 2 MB, but it can be downloaded in a reasonable amount of time even using a dial-up connection.

 

We will keep this clip on for a few months but as we begin to add more video we will drop older clips from the site.  If you find one you like be sure the download a copy to your PC.

We are going to be adding a new section on the website in the next few weeks that will focus on historical documents from the 2.5 era.  Les Cannaday of Classic Datsun Motorsports was recently given the “engineering notebook” of Mac Tilton from his days at BRE.  This is a treasure trove of handwritten notes and drawings of the preparation of the BRE cars as well as interesting insights into the workings of the BRE team. 

We will be scanning selected pages and loading them as time allows.  In addition Les is going to make available a great deal of the collection of Peter Brock from the BRE era.  We have had a chance to review this treasure trove and there everything from business letters to the original invoice of the BRE #46 510 of John Morton.

Congratulations are in order for Kevin McKee for his recent participation in the Speed Touring Car race at Sebring.  Kevin started in 24^th (out of 40 plus) and steadily worked his way up to 16^th at the checkered.  We could not help but notice that Kevin’s fast race lap was a tick faster than the Realtime team hotshoe Peter Cunningham. 

Kevin told us after the race that his impression of his first “pro” experience gave him greater appreciation for the 2.5, especially the quality of the drivers in VSRG.  “The majority of the 2.5 drivers are much better racecar drivers that what I found in this race”.  He went on “the 2.5 drivers tend to be smother, more predictable, faster and more aware of who is around them that the drivers in the STC series”. 

 

Kevin must have had thoughts of our season opener where the top 6 cars ran neck and neck from start to finish all weekend and never swapped a fleck of paint.  We are still getting comments from drivers and spectators alike about the great racing of that weekend.  If it is any indication of the quality of racing this year it is going to be an awesome season.