Vintage racing in general is looking forward to a bright 2004. Our host here on the west coast for lots of great sedan racing for the past three years, HSR-West, has it's best schedule in years starting with what looks to be a great new 3-day spectator event at PIR at the end of January. Billed as the "Phoenix Historic Grand Prix" the PIR event with feature an "Indy Car" reunion that celebrates 40 years of Indy Car racing at PIR. There will be a large display of historic Indy Cars (and a few 2004 IRL cars) on display. Special invited guest include Al Unser Sr, Johnny Rutherford and Arie Luyendijk.

In addition Kruse International will conduct a Collector Car Auction and Show in a giant 1,000 foot tent! And...a concours d'elegance, car corals, car shows...and hey...don't forget the racing, three full days. For those that want to start in Vintage Racing there will be a full day Competition Drivers School on Thursday (1/29) and for those that want a little extra seat time there will open testing sessions on Thursday afternoon (1/2 day only).

Make your plans now to kick off the 2004 season with us at PIR.

Our last newsletter did not make it to everyone on the mailing list due to some problems with a new e-mail service we had switched to. As a reminder, we always post copies of prior newsletters on the website (under the Notices link). In that newsletter we had an extensive discussion of the often referenced "Recoginition Form" and wanted to make in clear that that discussion was focused on how the form is interperted within the VSRG rules and by most vintage organizations. Since VSRG rules follow what was in effect in 1972 they are not the best guideline to use if your host orgaization has an eariler eligibility cutoff. There are any number of organizations that use a 1969 cutoff and the rules that applied during that year can (and are) quite different from 1972. Our advice to anyone new to vintage racing is find out who will make the final determination on what is legal on a car and talk with them directly.

Speaking of the website, we amazed when we recently found a "knock-off" site that almost entirely made from material taken directly off the VSRG/BSedan.com site and then someone else's name put on the information as the "copyright" holder. While we have seen bit's and pieces from the site on other sites, these most often noted where the information originated and did not attempt to claim ownership. In the most recent case the website is made up of exact copies of copyrighted and trademarked material and images. To be clear, VSRG and much of the material on the website is clearly copyrighted and there exist legally registered trademarks as well. In most cases we are happy to let someone use material from the site if they simply ask, however we take a dim view of those that simply take material and place their name on our work.

We had planned to publish this month a interesing article on a recent "find" of 2.5 History howver the holidays and a few extensive domestic projects have caused a delay in completing the article. Hopefully next month will allow more time to finish this and share a really interesing story.

As we have been reporting on the news scroll on the website, a legal action has been undertaken against the organizers of the Vintage 2.5 Challenge. While we have definite opinion on this turn of events we will first provide you with what we know now and reserve our opinion for later paragraphs.

1. The action contends that the organizers of the final two races of the season ignored the bore and stroke
    rules and to allow a competitor to "pass" tech with a motor that did not meet the rules.
2. It has been reported, and confirmed that the motor in question clearly did not meet the clear specifications
    provided in the rules when torn down at Laguna Seca.
3. The organizers stated that the car was a little "heavy" so it was ok that the motor was oversized.
4. Such a selective interpretation is clearly not allowed by the rules that were in effect at the time these races were held.
5. The person that is behind the action had given the organizers the option to settle by simply reversing their decision and
    disqualifying the car in question.
6. The organizers have indicated that the decisions made by them at the track are "nobody's business except those directly concerned".
7. The organizers have said that they feel one cause of the current problem lies at a rule change in 2001 that allowed the overbore
    to be .080 rather than .047.
8. The organizers have threatened to "shut down" the series if the action is not dropped.
9. VSRG, Bsedan.Com nor it's owners are not a party in the legal action.

As of this writing there is no other news related to this story that we are aware of however we will keep the news scroll current.

With no announced schedule as 2004 approaches the future of the Vintage 2.5 Challenge is not clear. In addition to the current legal action there are three other factors that play a significant role in leading us to that conclusion.

1. The recent trackside "rule making" seems to indicate that the published rules are not very solid. Without a solid and evenly
    enforced rule base any series will quickly degenerate into a "run what you brung" approach to racing which rarely succeeds.
2. The "firing" of VSRG as a supporting organization in mid-season leaves the remaining principals without any organizational basis.
    A successful series requires a solid organization with a sense of purpose and a dedication to the same.
3. The declining support from the participants for the series raises questions as to how much longer the series will be afforded it's
    own run group. Portland was the only race in 2003 with an excellent field and Laguna Seca was a bust with only 8 cars
    entered and the remaining races had smaller than anticipated fields, most notably the So. Cal. Historics in June.

It's hard to say what 2004 will bring for this series but it is my opinion that there needs to be a serious change in the administration and structure of the series. The very thought that how rules are applied at the track is "nobody's business except those directly concerned" does not hold up. This is the "business" of everyone that has built a car or plans to build a car and compete in the series. As participants we spend a great deal of time, effort and money to prepare our cars to the letter and spirit of the rules. We then take more time and money to enter races and often have to make long road trips to compete in this series. We should expect, and demand, in return for our participation that the series be administered in a stable and fair manner. This is my opinion but in the final analysis the only opinion that really matters is yours.

We were recently accused by one of the organizers of spreading "BS" and not having the facts straight however all that we present here is backed by written communications (we have obtained copies), eyewitnesses at the event in question and reasonable opinon. These same peopls also accused us of "slipping" rule changes in for self serving reasons". This is a lie. To make our position clear, VSRG exist to promote small-bore vintage sedan racing for the "club" racer no matter where it takes place regardless of what oragnization hosts such events. We will always focus more on "sedan only" groups, especially those directly linked to VSRG.

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