The 5th annual Velocity Invitational, powered by Catalyst, hosted an all-star lineup of cars and stars at Sonoma Raceway, Oct. 4-6. The three-day motorsports and lifestyle event featured a collection of some of the rarest cars in the world, including modern hypercars, iconic open-wheel cars, a celebration of 70 years of the Jaguar D-Type, historic NASCAR stock cars, and eight additional popular historic racing groups. While our feature article will appear soon, here’s a primer covering last weekend’s highlights.
New Hill Climb
Attendees enjoyed several new elements during this year’s event, including Saturday’s Velocity Invitational Hill Climb. Scott Speed claimed victory in the inaugural event behind the wheel of Subaru Motorsports USA’s “WRX: Project Midnight.” Eleven competitors tackled more than ten stories of elevation change on the challenging counter-course circuit from Sonoma Raceway’s start/finish line to Turn 4. The field featured stars including Romain Grosjean, Race Service driver James Kirkham, JR Hildebrand, and Tony Kanaan piloting a diverse field of cars ranging from a McLaren Senna to a classic NASCAR stock car and a 1963 Ford Falcon GT1.
Racing heavies at the wheel
Formula 1 champion Jenson Button piloted three different cars throughout the weekend, including his 1952 Jaguar C-Type, a Ferrari 250 Testarossa, and an Alfa Romeo GTA. Arrow McLaren INDYCAR Series Deputy Team Principal Kanaan joined the weekend alongside team drivers Christian Lundgaard (who joins the team for 2025) and Nolan Siegel. Kanaan, Lundgaard, Siegel, and Grosjean hit the track in a variety of historic race cars, including the “Red Roof” 1978 M24, a 1969 Ford Mustang Boss 302 originally driven by Parnelli Jones, and the 1976 John Player Special Lotus 77 Formula 1 car driven by Mario Andretti.
Speed also joined the high-horsepower Global Time Attack class throughout the weekend, as did Formula Drift driver Ryan Tuerck in his Judd 4GV V10-powered Mobil 1 Toyota Supra and Kirkham in the Mercedes AMG GTS ‘Raw Spec.’
Smoke in your eyes
Professional drift drivers, including Travis Pastrana and Tuerck, delighted fans with smoky and sideways demonstrations throughout the weekend. Pastrana slid the 1983 Subaru GL Family Huckster and Tuerck showed off his skills in his 650-horsepower 1966 Toyota Stout.
A little dirty
DirtFish joined the weekend with Group B rally cars rocketing around the road course, including a 1985 Audi Sport Quattro S1 E2, a 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Corsa, and the no. C206 1986 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, while rally-tuned Subaru BRZs hosted “ridealongs” and demonstration laps on a complete gravel rally stage built on the grounds at Sonoma Raceway.
Paddock fun
The off-track activity lineup included cooking demonstrations and autograph sessions with celebrated chef and Food Network TV star Tyler Florence, a lowrider parade and display, and a series of Women in Motorsport events presented by Mobil. Trailblazing women in motorsports, including INDYCAR Series and sports car driver Pippa Mann, Trans-Am driver Michelle Abbate, professional driver and mechanical engineer Sabré Cook, Porsche Sprint Challenge North America racer Ashley Freiberg and Josie Rimmer, head of strategy and women in motorsport coordinator at DirtFish, took part in panel discussions, autograph sessions, on-camera interviews and special meet and greets.
“We wanted to break out all the stops for our fifth annual Velocity Invitational and I’m delighted with the exceptional caliber of cars, drivers and sponsors that came together this weekend,” said Jeff O’Neill, founder of Velocity Invitational. “This event is unlike anything else in North America and I hope our guests enjoyed the exceptional variety of cars, drivers, entertainment, food and wine. We’re excited to return to Sonoma Raceway next summer to celebrate with our friends in wine country.”
Looking ahead
The 6th annual Velocity Invitational returns to Sonoma Raceway on a new date in 2025. Next year’s event moves to June 6-8. Click here to purchase tickets for next year’s event.
Above content © 2024 Velocity Invitational, reviewed and edited by Rex McAfee
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