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Concours of America - Vintage Races at MIS
Inaugural Event - July 29, 2011
by Dean V. Ricci

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I love the smell of MIS in the morning, it smells like ... aviation fuel (?) Needless to say, we had just a tad bit of rain leading up to the inaugural Concours of America Vintage Races, held Friday July 29, 2011 at Michigan International Speedway. The jet powered track dryer employed at MIS was in full song and the track seemed to be dry enough for cars to be taking to the track in short order. I believe the track dryer got the cars out there maybe two hours behind schedule at the most.

This event was not a highly publicized event by any stretch of the imagination. The only reason I knew about it was from an email sent out by Rich Tweedle talking about the races. Like many others, I thought the newly restarted Vintage Races at Waterford Hills was to be the on track event associated with the Concours of America. In that respect, I was wrong. We did attend the Waterford event the next day, but more about that later.

Upon arrival at MIS, finding the access tunnels to be under water (literally), we were directed to another entrance where my wife Judy and I picked up our credentials and proceeded to the paddock, driving across the back straightaway en route. We grabbed our bottles of water, camera and set out on this new  adventure.

Three garages were packed full of oldsters, looking to eat up some asphalt. A newbie immediately caught our eye, a Factory Five Cobra, decked out in a full roll cage, Black paint, Gold Stripes and gobs of Late Model Ford Mustang fuel injected power. This car would prove to be high on the awesome meter once track sessions began.

The array of vehicles in attendance were mostly open wheel Indy racers which were simply beautiful to look at. There was also a contingent of Corvettes there, later finding out that the Corvette Set (an owner's club) were providing support staff for the event, in exchange for some on track time with their rides. There may be an opportunity for SAAC-MCR in this regard in the years to come.

While walking through the garages, my wife and I ran across fellow SAAC-MCR members Ben Schiewe and Phil Jacobs. Ben and Phil were providing support to fellow SAAC-MCR club member Richard Schans, who was in attendance with his Ford GT40 replica. A simply beautiful car in its own right, being amongst all these vintage vehicles gave the Ford GT40 a special petina, only a true "Ford Blue blood in the veins" person could see and appreciate.

As the driver's meetings concluded and sounds of gas filled cylinders began to explode, my wife and I walked over to the track and parked our butts in our favorite spot at MIS, on the pit wall at paddock exit.
Here we get to sit and admire the machines as they pull onto pit lane and then see them traverse the track at speed along the straightaway. There simply is no better way to spend an afternoon than this particular spot on the planet.

As we sat there admiring all things motorsport, not far from us was a poor lad with an Indy Car that just couldn’t get its supply of fuel in a regulated fashion. When they first did get it up and running, the Gurney
Eagle leaked quite a bit of oil on the ground. The support crew worked frantically to get the kitty litter down to quell the leakage. After tightening things up in oil delivery, they were back to getting their Gurney
Eagle power plant enough fuel. While all this was trashing about, an older gent made his way over to us commenting that it was sad to see people working on a car when they don't know what they are doing.
A pretty bold statement I'd say when you looked at the car and the folks working on it - this was no low budget operation. The crew was trying to push the car forward and my wife was quick to point out to them that a pair of Gun Mufflers was in front of the wheel. They offered their thanks for pointing that out, but the senior gent just muttered "Real racing people don't wear hearing protection" and gave out a laugh. At this point I was beginning to wonder who this guy was and how he could make such brash statements.

I struck up a conversation with the guy, and he proved to be very knowledgeable of racing and cars in general. I went over to my wife and said, "I don't know who this guy is, but he has to be famous because
he knows way too much". I got my question answered later on. As the team thrashed on the fuel starved Gurney Eagle, a fast group of cars were taking laps around the track. Various open wheel cars were making all kinds of sweet sounds as they sped by. Soon enough a group of "our" kind of cars took to the track. A couple of big block 'Vettes, the Ford GT40 and the Factory Five Cobra were traversing the track. I remember telling my wife to watch the GT40 as it was going to pass all these cars after the first lap. Unfortunately that never happened, as I would later find out from Phil Jacobs that Richard was not going to show his hand today at all. The car was simply on a shake down run, and its true potential would be unleashed another
day. Given that, the speed star of the day was the little Cobra that could. It easily passed all comers it encountered on course, eventually lapping the field.

Towards the end of the day, I just had to find out who was the guy that Judy and I had been talking with all afternoon on pit lane. It turns out that this man was Maury Rose II, a name you might recognize. His
father won the Indy 500 three times and is a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame. Maury Rose II, now 70 years old, is currently leading a drag racing effort out of his garage in Warren, Michigan. He certainly is a knowledgeable and entertaining man to talk to and made our track experience that much more enjoyable.

Look for this track event to get the publicity it deserves for future Concours of America events in the years to come. I envision many more race groups in addition to those that were featured on this day. A venue like MIS would certainly be a great fit for cars of this pedigree.

While it was impossible to top the day we spent at MIS, Judy and I did drive out to Waterford Hills for the revival of the vintage races, staged by the Oakland Country Sportsmen’s Club. The cover of the program for the event featured a beautiful 1970 Boss 302, but unfortunately not one vintage Pony Car of any make took to the track this Saturday. The vintage races at Waterford were always a highlight of the summer racing activities here in Southeastern Michigan and we can only hope that the most challenging road course in North America can once again attract the event sponsors and entry lists of days gone by.