A packed paddock of race cars comprised of nearly 300 entries representing an endless variety of road racing and sports cars from the last 65 years is in store next week at the 44th Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Mitty at Michelin Raceway, April 28 – May 1.
A high-speed rite of spring that is HSR’s oldest event, the 44th HSR Mitty truly offers something for everyone with an incredible variety of vintage and historic sports cars, stock cars and open-wheel racing machines.
One of the many weekend highlights is the 44th HSR Mitty’s Featured Marque Sports 2000. A popular road racing category that has provided an affordable yet competitive entry into sports car racing for thousands of racers around the world, HSR announced late in 2021 that Sports 2000 would be in this year’s HSR Mitty spotlight. More than 50 competitors have entered in what the racers themselves are now calling the 45th Sports 2000 Reunion.
Introduced in the United Kingdom in 1976, Sports 2000 first ran as a series with a 20 round championship in 1977 to begin a successful run of both amateur and professional competition around the world that remains strong today in vintage and historic events. This year marks the 45th year of series competition for Sports 2000 – also know as S2000 or simply S2 – and the milestone will be celebrated in Saturday’s Sports 2000 Feature Race that kicks off Saturday’s competition schedule at 12:45 p.m. EDT.
A standout entry even in a stacked Sports 2000 field is the 1988 No. 34 Lola T88/90 of M Bart Wolf from Wolf Motorsports. The “Team 34” Lola was raced in its prime by National Football League (NFL) legend Walter Payton and carries the signature No. 34 “Sweetness” wore in his Hall of Fame career.
Another weekend “must-see” is the Inaugural “Gene Felton Memorial Challenge” for HSR Group 8 Historic Stock Cars.
Honoring the late driving star Gene Felton, the Memorial Challenge features a pair of races for HSR Group 8 Historic Stock Cars with the winner determined by total points from the two events. In addition to receiving a special race winner’s trophy, a plaque bearing the winning driver’s name will be placed on The Lanier Technical College Gene Felton Trophy. Based on victory lane hardware from Felton’s vast collection, the permanent trophy commemorates the driver’s long association with the Lanier Technical College, where he helped interns in the Motorsports Vehicle Training program get hands-on racing experience. Donations in Felton’s honor can be made at https://www.laniertechfoundation.org.
Sports cars of all types and from all generations anchor the 44th HSR Mitty’s growing entry list but few will bring as much thunder and excitement to the race as the pair of 1991 Chevrolet Intrepid GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) cars of brothers Patrick Bean and Theo Bean.
Carrying on a family tradition of racing started by their late father Toby Bean, Patrick Bean drives Intrepid No. 64 while his brother Theo – a veteran of European Le Mans Series competition – wheels the No. 65 Intrepid (pictured at top).
On-site ticket sales for the 44th HSR Mitty begin Friday morning, April 29, and will be available exclusively at the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta main gate. Please visit www.HSRTickets.com to see the variety of admission and camping options available. Competitor information, including entry information, event schedule, eligible Run Groups and more, is available at the official HSR 44th Mitty Event Page at https://hsrrace.com/themitty2022/.
