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While much of the Group 9 field could have been present at any race weekend today, the two classic “Trans Am” racers were my favorites (technically the Nova was IMSA and not the actual “Trans Am” series).
Do you have a model of your car?!? Not a plastic model that is the same. But an actual model of YOUR CAR and its livery? Didn’t think so.
Background: 1977 Chevy Nova, formerly belonging to Gene Felton [1] [2]
Sometimes, it really didn’t go well. Almost every racing session involved at least a full course yellow, many with a standing black flag. Brace yourselves.
Although it happened during morning qualifying, this 1965 Ford Mustang has seen better days. Fortunately, parts for these cars are not particularly hard to come by and the driver was completely fine.
Where do you find parts for your 1975 March 751 Formula One car? That’s not so easy. But at least this damage looks “minor”.
While the Can-Am race itself was relatively uneventful, the morning’s qualifying session did not go so well. Here we see only one of the 1974 Shadow DN4s. Unfortunately, the other car, #101, had a serious crash in turn 12.
Not something you ever want to see at the track, the driver had to be life flighted out. He is recovering well, and you can learn more about his recovery on the UOP Shadow Tribute Facebook page.
While I hate to end an article on such a somber note, this picture captures a very special moment and tells a lot of story. Jim Matthews and his wife have been married 40+ years. Supposedly this was his 32nd Mitty, and his first in this 1996 Toyota World Sports Racer. Racing is serious business, and can be dangerous. Despite all of the incredibly rare and often extremely expensive machinery present at the Mitty weekend, ultimately these are all people who drive these cars. Real human beings with families and people they care for, and people who care about them. With many high-profile celebrity deaths in 2016, sometimes we forget the kind of lives “normal” people live. As far as I know, nothing happened to Jim. He came, he drove his car, and then he went home. That’s how we all want it to be. So make sure you take time to care for those around you and tell them you love them. You don’t know when things might go really wrong.Sources
