The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2014 was held August 14-17 at the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Salinas, California. A field of 550 vintage race cars ranged from a 1911 National 40 that raced at the inaugural Indianapolis 500 to the ground-shaking Can-Am machines from the 1960s and 1970s. The historic racers were divided into 15 groups according to age and engine capacity and chosen for their period-correct presentation.
Formerly known as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races or Monterey Historics, the 2014 running of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion celebrated the 100th anniversary of Maserati in style. The remarkable Maseratis of the past thrilled fans on the raceway, while the Maserati Heritage Display in the paddock featured a collection of the most important cars in marque’s evolution.
Racing great Derek Bell drove a 1957 Maserati 300S owned by Jon Shirley, the same gentleman that won Best of Show at this year’s Pebble Beach Concours. It bears repeating that Bell made his mark in motorsports by winning Le Mans an amazing five times, the World Sportscar Championship twice and the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona three times. It was a treat for all to see these two greats get together for a dance at Laguna Seca.
Rolex Awards of Excellence were awarded in each race category to individual drivers who were determined by an independent panel to be “most deserving,” and the event’s highest “Spirit of Monterey” honor, which is coupled with the awarding of a specially engraved 18k stainless steel and gold Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona, went to the driver who “excelled in the spirit of the weekend.”
Mike Eddy, who drove a 1964 Ford Falcon in Group 7A for 1966-1972 Trans Am, won the Spirit of Monterey award for 2014. “My dad worked for Carroll Shelby, and the Ford Falcon belonged to our next door neighbor,” said an emotional Eddy. “After work, my dad would go and work on it, and we have pictures of me sitting in it when I was seven years old. As you can imagine, that’s a soft spot for me.”
Eddy, who has worked for Vic Edelbrock for the last 28 years, has been coming to this event since 1977, the same year he acquired the car next door. “Because I was always working on other people’s cars, this car took a back seat, but the original owner of the car passed away two years ago and my dad’s health is not good, so I knew that I had to do this for him.”
“I wish this car could talk,” continued Eddy, explaining that it was the first SCCA A Sedan race car in Southern California, and the A Sedan group evolved into the Trans Am race series in 1966. “The car did well that year in Trans Am, and for the last race of the year, Ford was somewhat behind in points to Chrysler Plymouth, so Carroll Shelby called and arranged to pay for the race entry, knowing that this car would help load the deck. The car scored points for Ford, and Ford ended up winning the Championship. The car qualified for the SCCA runoffs every year from 1966 to 1973 and also had many races all over Europe.”
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Similar to the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 races, Senior Photographer Dennis Gray also documented the 2014 Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, offering the following photos that highlight the diverse line-up of historic racing cars battling the straights, curves and drops of Laguna Seca. We split up Dennis’ 210 pictures into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite images, all displayed in the full-width view of Sports Car Digest, while the second gallery and race results can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all the photographs.
Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2014 – Featured Photo Gallery
Tom Price in his 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO
Jim Click’s 1964 Shelby Cobra.
Jeff Abramson’s 1964 Chevrolet Corvette.
Sandra McNeil’s 1963 Shelby Cobra.
Under heavy fog Group 3B Can-Am comes out to play including Craig Bennett in his 1974 Shadow DN4.
Rick Knoop’s 1972 McLaren M8F in turn elven.
Scott Drnek’s one-off 1974 Sting Can-Am car.
Richard Griot’s ex-Bruce McLaren 1967 McLaren M6A.
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Not sure how you guys do it time and time again, but you have nothing less than the best pictures online and in the quickest time to boot. Major thanks for your hard work!
Great set of images from the Monterey Motorsports Reunion, Dennis!
Lots of great photographs Dennis, one which stood out to me personally, was the blue +4 Morgan sandwiched between the Maserati and a white sports racer, it must be a well driven Morgan. Thank you Dennis for sharing these photographs…
The 2nd photo on p. 2 is certainly not a ’69… Wrong caption…
Dave.
One of the hurdles of doing a report is that I need to work off an entry list, usually late Sunday night. The only 01 or 1 on my list is Click’s 1969 Mustang. I do not personally know him or the car so I went to the web to attempt to double check, no luck. So rather then leave the image out I included it with the hope that if I was wrong someone may let me know. Now who knows anything on the 01 Mustang? Thanks for comments. Dennis
Been there…done that, Dennis. You are certainly at the mercy of the information on the entry list that is provided by the organizers. Internet resources are certainly a great tool in trying to identify a certain car and driver when the information is limited or none at all. I’ve reviewed several of your articles/galleries from past years when trying to identify a car/driver, which is an excellent resource BTW… 🙂
Great pictures but once again – no 1B Photos ???
Tom.
Follow up gallery with 1B shortly.
356 Porsche No.60- no such arch extensions were ever allowed in period, they are not period correct and they look ugly, sorry.
Not to mention the widened wheels, how can obviously modified cars get a start in a field of otherwise standard looking cars? Best not to give them any coverage in the way of photographs here…I find that photographs of these modified cars repugnant and an eyesore… I own my own historic T 39 Cooper Climax Ex Sir Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren, and other well known drivers, which I have owned for over 45 years. I would not hesitate to pull my entry if I was found myself to be in the same race as these non original cars. Why?, well for one thing, anyone modifiying their car from standard, is not showing respect for the designer, the constructor, and those that have previously cared for the car .Which in turn could mean, that out on the circuit they very possibly wouldn´t show any respect for the other cars around them that are being raced as originally built…I must add that I am certainally not alone in my thoughts…
You’re the best! Who else would shoot Bill’s toolbox??? Cheers, Bill’s Mom