Report and photos by David Ferguson
Road Atlanta hosted the HSR-sanctioned Atlanta Historic Races on September 20-22, 2013. Over 110 cars came to race on the scenic 12-turn, 2.54-mile track nestled in the hills of north Georgia.
There were 15 sprint and two enduros scheduled for the weekend. The feature race was the USRRC race honoring the 50th anniversary of the United States Road Racing Championship, the precursor to the great Can-Am series.It also turned out to be one of the weekend’s best events, with Johan Woerheide in his 1966 Lola T70 Mk II beating Farrell Preston’s 1966 McLaren M1B by 0.248 seconds.
Jack Lewis Enterprises sponsored the International/American Challenge race which drew 45 participants and saw the very quick Cody Ellsworth in his 1973 Porsche 911 edge out Byron DeFoor in a similar car by less than two tenths of a second.
Saturday’s schedule was affected by weather. After running two sprint events in the rain, the organizers canceled the four remaining sprints and re-scheduled the GT/Vintage enduro for Sunday. The two races run in the rain brought some new faces to the victory podium (moved indoors, thankfully), with Jim Perry winning Group Two after a fine drive in his 1962 Volvo P1800. Juan Lopez-Santini, the Group Three winner, is no stranger to the podium, but he drove his 1969 Porsche 911S to victory despite broken wipers and a fogged-up windshield. Also noteworthy was the second place finish of Jim Williams in a 1992 Mazda MX5.
Among the more interesting cars were several Lola T70s, a McLaren M1B, a 1965 Huffaker Genie Mk 10B, a 1975 Toj, a 1962 Sabra Sport, an aluminum-bodied Aston Martin DB2 and a 1981 Porsche 935 in the John Paul Racing blue and yellow livery. Perhaps the most noteworthy car at the event was Jay Stephenson’s 1965 Cheetah coupe. Stephenson says he bought the car 19 years ago. The “forty something” year old car has never been raced, Stephenson continued. This weekend was its first outing. Stephenson says that much of the work done was to fix some of the problems with the original design, such as keeping the doors from blowing open at speed and installing insulation to manage the heat in the foot-well area. He said that as a teenager he thought the Cheetah was the coolest car around (he wasn’t the only teenager to think that), and he never dreamed he’d end up owning and driving one.
James Redman, the General Manager of HSR, said the organization is trying to emphasize the diversity of the people involved as well as the cars that they are involved with. That concept was well reflected by the cars and drivers on the winner’s podium for the second Group Two race. Race winner Ray Morgan drove a 1964 Merlyn Mk VI that actually participated in the original USRRC series back in the sixties. Patrick Bean, who finished second in the lovely 1959 Aston Martin DB4, is 18 years old and is a second generation racer. Stacey Schepens, third in a 1964 Morgan 4/4 twin cam, is a school principal. She recently earned her doctorate, and is driving a car that her father raced.
There are many reasons why people participate in these events, and there are just as many goals that they set for themselves. A driver walked into the press room to look at the results of the International/American challenge. With 45 cars entered, the results list was two pages long. His goal had been to finish in page one. This weekend, he did not. Maybe next time.
HSR Atlanta Historic Races 2013 – Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)
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HSR Atlanta Historic Races 2013 – Race Results
Group 2
Race 1
1- Jim Perry 62 Volvo P1800
2- Jim Matthews 59 Porsche 356
3- Richard Taylor 64 Triumph TR4
Race 2
1- Ray Morgan 64 Merlyn Mk VI
2- Patrick Bean 59 Aston Martin DB4
3- Stacey Schepens 64 Morgan 4/4 twin cam
Group 3
Race 1
1- Juan Lopez-Santini 69 Porsche 911S
2- Jim Williams 92 Mazda MX5
2- Jonathan Ziegelman 70 Porsche 914/6
Race 2
1- Cliff Berry 72 Royal RP-4
2- Jonathan Ziegelman 70 Porsche 914/6
3- Juan Lopez-Santini 69 Porsche 911S
Group 4 and 6
Race 2
1- Travis Engen 05 Audi R8
2- Ted Wenz 87 March 87 Indy
3- Lawrence Huang 12 Lola Caterham SP300R
Group 5
Race 2
1- Cody Ellsworth 73 Porsche 911
2- A.C. D’Augustine 65 Genie Mk10b
3- Jack Lewis 74 Porsche 911RSR
Group 7
Race 2
1-Elliot Forbes-Robinson 90 Shelby Can-Am
2-John Kramer 86 Swift DB2
3-Mark Coombs 90 Lola T90/90
Group 8 and 9
Race 2
1- Brian Norman 06 Dodge Charger
2- Gene Felton 76 Chevy Nova
3- Juan Gonzales 10 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
KlubSport Porsche Challenge
1- Jonathan Ziegelman 70 Porsche 914/6
2- Juan Lopez-Santini 69 Porsche 911S
3- Danny Burnstein 70 Porsche 914/6
USRRC
1- Johan Woerheide 66 Lola T70 Mkll
2- Farrell Preston 66 McLaren M1b
3- A.C. Augustine 65 Genie Mk 10b
JACK LEWIS ENTERPRISES INTERNATIONAL/AMERICAN CHALLENGE
1- Cody Ellsworth 73 Porsche 911
2- Byron DeFoor 73 Porsche 911
3- Jack Lewis 74 Porsche 911RSR
LOUIS CHEVROLET HISTORIC/GTP/WSC Enduro
1- Justin Ehrlich 05 R&S DP
2- Lawrence Huang 12 Lola Caterham SP300R
3- Paul & John Reisman 02 Lola B2K40
LOUIS CHEVROLET CLASSIC GT/VINTAGE Enduro
1- Cody & Bruce Ellsworth 73 Porsche 911
2- Jack Lewis 74 Porsche 911RSR
3- Angus Rogers 73 Porsche 911RSR
[Source: HSR; David Ferguson]
