MiscRacecar ArticlesSpecial Feature

My First F1 Race…Sort of

Casey Annis

When the FIA announced the 1984 Formula 1 calendar, I saw that Dallas Texas had been given the 9th race date of July 8th. The Dallas United States Formula 1 event would follow the Canada Grand Prix event on June 3, and the Detroit Grand Prix event on June 24.

I started to read about the Dallas event in “Auto Week” a periodical focused on racing with a section devoted to vintage racing. One of the articles in “Auto Week” noted a list of support races for the Dallas event which included the Dallas Grand Prix Vintage Auto Race for vintage racers from years 1962 to 1968.These were a similar class to Steve Earles’ class at the Monterey Histroics. “Hey – that’s me” I thought. Later at a spring Vintage Racing event at Laguna Seca I noticed a Don Walker from Dallas was listed as running a Ferrari. I went over to his transporter and introduced myself. He was the same Don Walker who was the Co-founder of the Dallas Grand Prix event.

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Casey Annis
Casey M. Annis is the Founder and Editor of Vintage Road & Racecar magazine, as well as Editor of Alfa Owner, The Oily Rag and BMW Ultimate Classic magazines. He founded Parabolica Publishing in 1997 after a career in neurobiology. Along with his passion for automobiles, Casey is a long distance open-ocean paddleboard racer who’s competed over 10 times in the 32-mile Catalina to Manhattan Beach race and the 32-mile Molokai to Oahu race. Casey still contributes and writes about the world of vintage road and racecars and edits and curates the content for this website.
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