Warm and sunny weather greeted the 375 entries that took part in General Racing’s Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival at Infineon Raceway on first weekend in June. The vintage of those entries ranged from before World War I all the way up to the 1990s, and their number represented nearly a third more cars than had ever contested the event before.
“We have hosted a historic event in the wine country for 24 years,” said Steve Earle of General Racing, organizer of the event, “but this is a new event. It’s bigger and better.”
For the price of admission, fans were treated not only to full immersion into the glorious past of auto racing, but were also able to sample the best food and wine from both Sonoma and Napa Valleys in the track’s Wine Country Pavilion.
The cars on hand gave even those who thought they’d seen it all something new to ponder. Waiting to be discovered in the paddock were cars like Peter Mullin’s 1927 Delage ERA, the 1939 Lagonda V-12 of Richard Morrison, a car nearly lost forever after falling victim to a bombing run during WWII, and Dick DeLuna’s remarkable 1917 Hall-Scott racer that was originally intended for the 1917 Vanderbilt Cup race, but was never built until the end of the 20th Century.
Taking top honors for best overall performance and presentation was Chris MacAllister of Indianapolis, who was presented the Sonoma Historic Cup, The Phil Hill Trophy, for his efforts with his brutally quick 1971 McLaren M8F Can-Am car.
“Having my name on the trophy means the world to me,” offered MacAllister. “It has been 26 or 27 years that I have been racing all over the world, and the best events I have ever been to are those organized by General Racing. To participate is really cool, to do well is great, but to be recognized by all my peers with the great cars, the great drivers at the best event in the country is really the best…it’s as good as it gets.”
During the event, General Racing announced that its Featured Marque for next year’s event will be McLaren, the company founded by New Zealander Bruce McLaren in 1963.
“McLaren, like Ferrari and Porsche and other great names in motorsports, created the bloodlines that we worship today in historic automobile racing,” said Steve Earle. “Choosing McLaren as our marque means we will pay special tribute to the name, the teams, and the cars that McLaren has produced in the past and will produce in the future, adding another dimension of enjoyment for both competitors and spectators.”
