Press Release
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~ 03/14/2003 ~

Go Watch Those MG's Race

There are many ways to appreciate your MG. And for a certain enthusiastic group it's through vintage racing. This is where "vintage" race car drivers (leaning toward the senior tour themselves), gather at vintage race events to enjoy their MG's at speed on the track, and there's plenty of socializing later as the engines are cooling off.

This is NOT racing as you see on TV. It's more a "gentlemen's/women's" racing. Not racing to win - but racing MG's for the sheer fun of it. MG's at SPEED! The thrill of a pass, drifting through a corner, giving another driver a thumbs-up! Tall tales after the races! MG camaraderie! Cars are generally restricted to "Period Original" of their year of manufacturer, and not modernized.

The size and type of vintage racing events vary significantly, from smaller local club events with 20 to 30 cars, to national events with 300 or more cars, and from race track venues to street races. As of now, there are over 110 vintage race events scheduled across the US and Canada for 2003, with some 50 different vintage race sanctioning groups. But you don't have to be a vintage racer to attend and enjoy them!

Most welcome spectators (except for a few closed club events), and for the most part they are very low-key, where you can walk around and see the cars up close, chat with the drivers, and maybe go raise an elbow with them after the checkered flag has dropped. And besides the wonderful MG's, you'll also find lots of other really neat vintage race cars at these events.

As of now, three race events are scheduled with "All MG" races in them ( * see below ). And the "MG Vintage Racers" have designated the VIR Gold Cup race in June as their yearly "Focus Event" all MG race for 2003. Over 46 MG entrants have already registered for it, and by race day 60 or more MG's are expected to be racing there! Pre-War MG's, T's, A's, B's Midgets & Specials.

In cooperation with MGA! Magazine, we have chosen what we consider the best vintage races for MG enthusiasts to consider attending in 2003, and would like to share that information with the MG and racing community. In our selection, we reflected on the quality of the event, the location, and the MG's expected to be there. Here's our choices:


Date: Organizer: Track/Location: Event Name:
April 24-27 HSR Road Atlanta Ga Walter Mitty Challenge
May 3-4 VARA Buttonwillow Ca Moss Motors British Extravaganza
May 30-June 1 General Racing Infineon Sears Point Raceway Ca Wine Country Classic
June 6-8 VIR Danville, Va. VIR Gold Cup Vintage Race (All MG race)
June 19-22 SVRA Mid-Ohio Oh. Sprint Vintage Grand Prix
June 27-29 VARAC Mosport Ont. Vintage Festival. (All MG race for "Simms Cup")
July 11-13 NWVR Portland International Raceway. Or. Baker Portland Historics: (They're followed immediately by the NAMGAR meet in Welches, Oregon, about an hour west of Portland)
July 19-20 PVGP Shenley Park, Pittsburgh, Pa. Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. (Street Racing. Town Festival)
July 19-20 RMVR Second Creek Raceway, Co. Charity: Kids in Need of Dentistry)
Aug. 1-3 VSCCA NHIS Loudon, NH Vintage Celebration Races
Aug 15-17 General Racing Laguna Seca, Ca. Monterey Historics (Large West Coast Event)
Aug 29-Sept 1 Lime Rock Park Lime Rock Ct. Lime Rock Vintage Festival (Large East Coast Festival)
Sep. 4-7 SVRA Watkins Glen, NY Zippo US Vintage Grand Prix (Collier Cup all MG race)
Sep 19-21 VSCDA Road America, Wi. Vintage Festival
Oct 3-5 CVAR Hallet Motor Raceway, Ok Thunder at Cimarron II
Oct 4-5 VSCCA Camden, NJ Street Race, Camden Harbor (Tentative)
Oct 9-12 SVRA VIR Danville, Va. Season Finale Races
Oct 17-19 VSCDA Mid-Ohio, Oh. Vintage Races
Oct 31-Nov 2 CVAR Texas World Speedway, Tx. Vintage Fall Festival


List of Track Web Sites for More Information:


Race Sanctioning Organization Contact Information:

  • CVAR Corinthiam Vintage Auto Racing, 972-258-1987 - corinthianvintagerace.com
  • General Racing General Racing Ltd. 805-686-9292 - laguna-seca.com
  • HSR Historic Sports Racing 888-477-5999 - hsrrace.com
  • Lime Rock Lime Rock Park 800-722-3577 - limerock.com
  • NWVR Northwest Vintage Racing Group 503-274-0019 - no web found
  • PVGP Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Assocation 412-471-7847 - pvgpa.org
  • RMVR Rocky Mountain Vintage Racing 970-586-6366 - rmvr.com
  • SVRA Sportscar Vintage Racing Association 404-298-3323 - svra.com
  • VARA Vintage Automobile Racing Assocation 800-280-8272 - vararacing.com
  • VARAC Vintage Automobile Racing Association of Canada 705-878-5422 - varac.ca
  • VIR Virginia International Raceway 434-822-7700 - virclub.com
  • VSCCA Vintage Sports Car Club of America 973-334-7342 - vscca.org
  • VSCDA Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association 616-949-8281 - vscda.org

We hope that one of these races might get your rev's up, and you go to it. Possibly make it a club outing and enjoy it with others. For more information on the above events, contact the race track or the race sanctioning body of the event. And if you want to see a more complete schedule of all vintage race events, for something which might be closer to where you live, here are a few web sites which can provide additional information:

Safety Fast - on the street or on the track


Press Release, March 2003
MG Vintage Racers' Newsletter (MGVR)
Greg Prehodka, Publicity Coordinator
973-473-3888 d/e
pr@mgvr.org
35 Laurel Avenue
Clifton, NJ 07012


MGVR Editor: Dave Nicholas
Online Editor: Christopher Kintner
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