Jim Kimberly and his racing Ferrari commemorated in this 1989 Meadowbrook Concours poster. Thanks to nephew Kim Smith for sending this along!

Peking to Paris: car #111, Thomas Hayes(IRL) / Thomas Vann(USA), Studebaker Starlite Coupe, 3785cc, 1951

Lamborghini Gallardo vs Ford Falcon GT.

Oswego 1974: Tom Bowley preps the Flyin 5 for driver Bentley Warren.

1974 Oswego pit pass.

Rally Chihuahua Express 2010.

Bloodhound SSC is exactly what it says - a SuperSonic car designed to go faster than the speed of sound.
Bloodhound SSC is a jet and rocket powered car designed to go at 1,000 mph (just over 1,600 kph). It has a slender body of approximately 14m length with two front wheels within the body and two rear wheels mounted externally within wheel fairings. It weighs over 7 tonnes and the engines produce more than 135,000 horsepower - more than 6 times the power of all the Formula 1 cars on a starting grid put together!
The Car is a mix of car and aircraft technology, with the front half being a carbon fibre monocoque like a racing car and the back half being a metallic framework and panels like an aircraft.
In these pages, the significant parts of the car are explained in detail.

Reedville, PA speedway mid twenties.

Wild VW racing at Top Gear.

Witness for yourself the infamous clash between John Cleland and Steve Soper at the final round of the 1992 BTC Championship - including the exciting few laps preceding the incident!

Check out footage of the new Formula E car - the Spark-Renault SRT_01E - completing its successful test debut at the La Ferté Gaucher circuit near Choisy-le-Roi, France. Official test driver Lucas di Grassi is at the wheel running with a battery with just 25% of the full power. www.fiaformulae.com

Action Express DP In-Car Sebring Winter Test.

Juha Kankkunen is slideways.

Screaming around corners on a crisp early November afternoon at Pennsylvania's Susquehanna Speedway is racing champion Donny Groff's idea of a good time.

But his experience racing is a bit different from that of drivers on major racing circuits. The crowd was far smaller, his sponsors more obscure and his vehicle's top speed and horsepower a fraction of those at Daytona or Indianapolis. But at least he had plenty of room for groceries—he was racing a minivan.

"The problem with racing is it's very expensive to get into, so we're always looking for entry-level categories," says Todd Fisher, who owns the track.

All sorts of so-called junk cars are repurposed for weekend races at smaller venues such as his, but some cars have become harder to get. The federal "Cash for Clunkers" program culled the supply of old, heavy eight-cylinder vehicles that were a mainstay at Susquehanna. For racers on a budget, minivans are often the cheapest vehicles still running.

"Nobody wants to buy a used minivan—they're not cool," says Mr. Fisher.

The owner of an automotive scrap business, Mr. Groff sees no shortage of suitable vehicles.

"There are kazillions of 'em out there. Back in the 1990s, they just sold so many."

After a chance visit to Susquehanna Speedway, where he watched a minivan race, Mr. Groff decided to get in on the act with a 1992 Chevrolet Lumina APV. He then graduated to an 1989 Plymouth Grand Voyager in his second racing season and finally the 1994 Plymouth Voyager with 199,000 miles on the odometer that he used this season to become co-champion of the circuit.

Minivans are quirky to handle, and that is a part of their appeal. At the November race, they wobbled and skidded sideways while cornering. Top speed on straightaways was about 73 miles an hour.

"It kind of looks out of control, but they're fairly safe," says Daryl Sipe, a 39-year-old recycler from Manchester, Pa., who pioneered the category years ago.

They are safe enough, he thinks, that he lets his 19-year-old son Zakari Kitner, this year's minivan co-champion, race them. But the young man's career hasn't been incident-free. He has had two major accidents, he says, and "four or five" minor ones. During the first lap of Mr. Kitner's very first practice run, a car flipped over in front of him.

Mr. Fisher doesn't permit racers to install any special equipment besides harnesses for safety. "If I allowed them to put on racing tires, they'd probably go 100 miles an hour and someone would get hurt," he says.

But others have pushed vans' technical boundaries. Paul Smith, who owns a trailer business in Seneca, Ill., loves tinkering with cars and decided to turn a 1989 Dodge Caravan into a drag racer several years ago. He managed to do a quarter mile in 12 seconds, hitting a scorching 106 mph.

"We'd take the van, go to the track, outrun a [Nissan] 280Z in a drag race and then carry home a washing machine from Best Buy on the way back," he says.

Unlike vans that race on an oval track, his vehicle was meant only to go in a straight line. It cost about $4,000 in parts on top of the $800 he paid for the minivan itself.

Even manufacturers, who take pains to stress vans' safety, occasionally get in on the act. Employees at Honda's U.S. subsidiary turned an Odyssey into a "Honda Monster Family Van" sporting about 500 horsepower. A version driven by French professional driver Simon Pagenaud scored second place in the exhibition category at this past summer's Pikes Peak International Hill Climb.

For Mr. Pagenaud, who has won millions on the IndyCar circuit, that race was a sideshow. By contrast, the prize money earned by racers in rural Pennsylvania only defrays part of their hobby's cost. Most couldn't afford more mainstream categories.

"It's about the cheapest thing you can do in racing," says John Kitner, a 31-year-old school custodian who came in second in November's race, winning $50.

The races push the four-cylinder vans to their limits, as could be seen in November when Tom Hartman set a new track record for a 15-lap, 6-mile minivan race. As he accepted first prize, a $100 check, steam billowed out from under his hood.

Living in an area where auto racing is hugely popular, minivan champions sometimes leave their friends underwhelmed with their exploits.

"When you tell 'em, their basic reaction is: 'You race what?' " says Mr. Sipe.

He has since moved on to other divisions. Asked to describe how racing a minivan differs from sportier vehicles, most current drivers are at a loss for words—they haven't driven anything else on a track. A few have a basis for comparison though. Racetrack announcer Pete Haines, now 63 years old, did some professional racing of his own 40 years ago. "I ran out of money, talent and technical ability real quick," he says.

But he decided to give minivans a shot last year, saying it was "on his bucket list."

The race started well and he was impressed with how briskly the van moved. "I thought I was flying until [co-champions] Donny and Zak flew by me! I decided I was a better announcer than racer," he says.

His minivan, a 1995 Dodge Caravan, is still at it, though. Denise Alexander of Lititz, Pa., the only woman on the circuit, was persuaded to give it a try. Speaking after her second race ever—she finished last—the 28-year-old rookie was ready for another adrenaline rush. Her next stop after the track was to participate in a roller derby. She says people underestimate the speeds that can be achieved in a minivan. "They're not just for soccer moms," she says.

Patrick Dempsey and his Dempsey Racing team will continue their partnership in 2014-15 with Porsche. The U.S. actor and race car driver, best known for his role as “McDreamy” in the medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” will continue his team’s race program with Porsche during the next two seasons. Read more.

2012 LeMans in slow motion... incredible.

Indy 1929 and 122-in. Miller.

On his recent visit to Bruce Canepa’s California dream shop, correspondent Rick Voegelin witnessed this scene: Bruce driving a Porsche 917/10 Turbo Can-Am Spyder racer through the neighborhood! Full story here




Out for a Saturday morning drive, vintage racer Bruce Canepa road tests a customer’s championship-winning Porsche 917/10 on the streets and highways near his shop in Scotts Valley, California in this video. You just don’t see many 1,000-horsepower, twin-turbocharged Can-Am Porsches on the street these days. Skip ahead to 5:23 to see Canepa break in a fresh pair of KKK turbos on Highway 17 as he does a fly-by on an unsuspecting U-Haul truck.

A few random thoughts on this video, which was taped during July’s Canepa Cars & Coffee: First, Bruce evidently has friends in high places at the California Highway Patrol—or a really good lawyer. Second, all traffic laws were strictly obeyed, and no minivans or SUVs were harmed in the making of this video. And finally, a Porsche 917/10 turns out to be a tractable commuter car for everyday driving, and way more interesting than most.

-Rick Voegelin

Like so many of Smokey Yunick’s projects, the Reverse Torque Special is surrounded in myth and legend. Let’s see what we can sort out. Full story at http://www.macsmotorcitygarage.com/2013/07/28/another-look-at-smokey-yunicks-reverse-torque-special/

Steve McQueen standing beside SL70/14 at
Riverside in July 1966.

Indy's first pagoda circa 1913.

Stretched VW wagon transporting Porsche RSK Spyder. Guess the significance of #55?

I'm loving Peter Bourassa's blog at Motorsport Marketing Resources. His coverage is top notch and current, not an easy combination. Check it out... http://www.motorsportsmarketingresources.com/

Video: Absurd high speed hillclimb – Norma M20. The car in this video may be modern, but the bravery required to pilot it up this hillclimb is from a different era.

The car is a Norma M20 campaigned by French Team Castellana Racing. Unsurprisingly the team has won the French hillclimb championship with this 600kg, 400hp, BMW engined beast.

Just watch as this thing slices its way across the mountain road, accelerating like lightning and braking at the very last moment.

Courtesy http://www.motorsportretro.com/2012/08/norma-m20/

2012 Race of Gentlemen from Jon Syke October 19th, Allenhurst Beach, New Jersey, USA. Racing pre-war and tank shift bikes, and pre war cars, on the beach from Jetty to Jetty.
www.theraceofgentlemen.com
www.facebook.com/OilersCCRaceOfGentlemen

Modified Duesenberg engine installed in Cy Marshall's 1930 Indy car.

New Nürburgring Lap Record: Revolution Project STi Impreza.

The series 'Le Mans Classic', the Frenchman Laurent Nivalle, is absolutely brilliant. It is an artistic look of speed.

Attended the last meeting of classic cars racing 450 models. And Laurent immortalized in the Nivalle your clicks.

The composition and the colors are wonderful. It is a mixture of cinematic angles with the intimate details of the competition.

1916-Dario Resta-Sheepshead Bay. Sheepshead had a Brick pit lane,as some may be fooled into thinking this is at Indy. This would be practice or testing. Note the concrete pit boxes,unlike Indy,where they were wood.

2012 Indy 500 race program.

Autodelta, a name synonymous with Alfa Romeo racing, became the official racing division of Alfa Romeo 50 years ago this March. To celebrate the anniversary this great video of archive film footage has been compiled and shared on You Tube. Enjoy it!

Not going to end well.

F1 Outdoors 1.3 Mile Road Course Track.
Karting is the fastest growing motorsport in the US, the most popular motorsport in the world — and F1 Outdoors is absolutely the most exciting venue on the planet for a group event!

Karts have no suspension, are about 72" long, 50" wide, and weigh 150-300 pounds. Engines vary from 5 to over 30 horspower. Racing techniques apply and most importantly everyone can go karting— virtually every licensed driver whether young, old, male, female, brawny and/or brainy. This is serious racing and has been a stepping stone into a professional racing career for many Nascar and Formula 1 drivers.

F1 Outdoors Offers Five Different Racing Configurations. The Daytona Circuit is the entire track, 1.3 miles and 17 turns.

There is also the Banked Track (outlined above in pink), Fountain track (yellow), The Grand Prix Circuit (red) and the Arrive and Drive Track (purple).

We'll be pleased to assist you in choosing the course that's right for you and your event. Call our Event Sales Team at 781-228-2010 or email sales@f1outdoors.com

Boston area businessman and racer Richard Valentine at the Daytona paddock 2009. Richard and four teammates went on to win the 24-hour endurance race in the No. 67 Porsche GT3.

Racing legends Denise McCluggage and Phil HIll.

A difficult end to an amazing race at Daytona International Speedway. During Saturday's Nationwide race, Kyle Larson gets airborne with several cars piling up behind him. Tony Stewart managed to slide through, finding his way to victory lane.

David Kimble, best known for his incredible automotive cutaway art, has written an outstanding book on the racing history of America’s Sports Car.
Just when you thought every book that could be written about the Corvette had already been written, along comes CORVETTE RACING, The Complete Competition History from Sebring to Le Mans. And, it’s been written by David Kimble, one of the last remaining masters in the art of precision, detailed airbrush automotive illustration. If you’ve been a reader of the top sports car magazines, chances are you’re familiar with his work.

Going on seven decades, Corvettes have bested and embarrassed some of the world’s greatest marques at top events at major racing circuits: Le Mans, Daytona, Nurburgring, Sebring and Laguna Seca to name a few. It all started with Corvette godfather Zora Arkus-Duntov and the Corvette, dubbed “The Real McCoy,” he raced in 1956 at Sebring.

No one-trick pony, Corvettes have excelled and thrilled fans for decades at hill climbs, drag strips, on the Trans-Am circuit and in GT competition worldwide. Kimble captures the essence of Corvettes at speed in words, rare photos and cutaway illustrations. He’s had access to GM’s historical photo archives and has unearthed images that even I, as the Founding Editor of VETTE magazine, had no knowledge of. Corvette Grand Sport (1963) and '60 Corvette at Le Mans, above. Many are from consummate racing photographer Richard Prince, who has covered Corvette racing for Chevrolet.

Packed with 256 pages and 155 color and 95 black & white images, Kimble takes us from 1956 at Sebring to 2012 at Le Mans, above, and the ALMS circuit; from fledgling solid-axle Corvettes to the latest, highly-sophisticated endurance racers. He has an engineering background, studying physics at Pasadena College, starting as a draftsman/artist on laser projects for the Navy in the early-1960s and did work on an Indy 500 Chaparral in 1966. Road & Track in the mid-1960s was the first magazine to publish his automotive cutaway art. Cutaways of Z06 Corvette and C7 Corvette engine cutaways, below, were done by Kimble for Chevrolet.

Published by Motorbooks, CORVETTE RACING is a must-read for Corvette owners; enthusiasts and car guys who want to celebrate America’s (race-winning) Sports Car.

Limited edition BAC Mono single-seater race cars for sale at $130,000 in the U.S. This baby is street legal!

2010 Le Mans 24 hour winner Romain Dumas fights through the spray during the 2012 Le Mans Classic.

Porsche fired the starting shot for Project 917 in June 1968, after the international motor sports authority or FIA had announced a class of "homologated sports cars" with up to five liters cubic capacity and a minimum weight of 800 kilograms. Under the supervision of Ferdinand Piëch, the stipulated 25 units of the new racing car model were completed by April 1969 so that the 917 could begin its racing career in the same year. After it initially dropped out of its first three races due to technical problems, the 917 success story began in August 1969 at a 1,000-kilometer race at the Österreichring with a victory by Jo Siffert and Kurt Ahrens.

The Porsche 917/20 was a mix between the short-tail and the long-tail models and was notable for its broad proportions. Although the pink colored racecar, nicknamed "the Pig", dropped out halfway through the race, its unusual paint color made it one of the most famous Porsche models ever.

BMW 2002 tii or BMW 2002 turbo. ALPINA 2002 racing car (A3) 1969 -1974
Typ A3 - faster and more expensive racing version based upon BMW 2002. The number 28 was driven in 1974 and only one was constructed.

Mercedes Benz W25 made race ready in primitive trackside shack.

Circa 1929, Wall of Death, Revere Beach, MA. With the quickly improving build quality, speed, and more oil-tight engines, motorcycle racing was able to move from dirt tracks onto the motordromes of the 1910s– large wooden board tracks used for streamlined competition with banked turns of 70-80 degrees. Riders soon learned a neat trick– that with a little speed, centripetal force made it possible for them to stick their bike sideways in turns on a completely vertical wall.

Lime Rock 2006 captured with a Vietnam era Bell & Howell 70 KRM (Rimmasch) and late 1930's Cine Kodak (Ciesielski).

Jaguar E-type during the Spa Six Hours weekend. Video By Max VDB.

A preview of filmmaker Stephen Mitchell's documentary about the famous Mexican road races in collaboration with Ron Kellogg (whose extensive archive of original footage was the catalyst for the documentary) and Jeanetta Dumouchel.

DC and Ken Block present Gymkhana FIVE: Ultimate Urban Playground; San Francisco.
Shot on the actual streets of San Francisco, California, GYM5 features a focus on fast, raw and precise driving action. Filmed over four days, director Ben Conrad and his team are back to work on their second Gymkhana production and delivered the entire city of San Francisco as Ken Block's personal gymkhana playground. DC Shoes also provided fellow DC athlete and longtime Ken Block friend, Travis Pastrana, to make a cameo appearance on his dirtbike, and S.F. resident Jake Phelps of Thrasher Magazine fame also makes a cameo as Block hoons S.F. in his most incredible Gymkhana yet.

Scary onboard footage of James Owen’s Lotus 18 Formula Junior flying over the top of Shane Hughes’ Elfin Formula Ford at last weekends Phillip Island Classic.

Thankfully, just like the shocking crash involving Bryan Taylor , both drivers were uninjured.

Bill Shepherd of Bill Shepherd Mustang in his 1963 Shelby Cobra 289 in car footage of his qualifying session, and earning Pole position for the GT Master Race on the Nurburgring Grand Prix circuit.

Robin Williams on Hybrid NASCAR.

1934 Ford roadster pits itself against single seater competition cars. Can anyone identify the location?

Indy 500 pit crews can make or break race results. Each crew member has a specific role to be at the right place at the right time. Change four tires and refuel in a manner of seconds. Not for the unfit.

Bill Warner, Tony Carpanzano and Tom Cotter at Lime Rock Park, Labor Day. Courtesy Sports Car Digest.

122 in. rear drive Miller at the Culver City board track circa 1926.

Indy champ Jimmy Bryan.

Andy Killorin in his grandfather's original Duesenberg factory uniform, Lime Rock Vintage Festival 2012.

Andy Killorin at left talks cars and tennis with Miles Morris (center) and VSCCA Secretary Tony Carroll at right. Lime Rock paddock September 2012.

Cobra coupe, I believe once owned by record producer Phil Spector then later sold at auction and ensuing controversy. Killer machine.

Girls at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

A moment captured at the Long Beach F1 Grand Prix in 1976. From left to right: Jack Brabham, Stirling Moss, Innes Ireland, Juan Fangio (yellow shirt), Richie Ginther, Rene Dreyfus, Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby, Maurice Trintignant. I call this "Heroes" because they are all ours and Rene is theirs. — with Lucy Hall.

Porsche follows Cunningham.

Insane crash at Pikes Peak. Jeremy Foley and his co-driver go off at Devils Playground at exactly the same spot Bobby Regester did last year. They weren't quite as lucky. Both were taken to the hospital but all I heard was that one of them had serious but not life-threatening injuries. I certainly hope it wasn't too serious.

The Ford GT40 at the Nurburgring.

NASCAR 2002-05 Ford Taurus

Saddle up as the Red Bull Racing team and the F1 showcar gets chased by cowboys on the ranch and goes off-road onto the under-construction Circuit of the Americas track.

Mercedes Benz transporter for the world class winning 300 SLR.

Indy driver Jimmy Bryan.

Import tuner.

Duesenberg-based Meteor III on the salt flats. Click thru to host site to play video.

42-Litre Mavis Special. Footage of Chris Williams' Packard-engined Bentley special in the paddock on its debut at the Pageant of Power in 2010.

Rocker Goes Racing! AC/DC frontman and Sarasota Cafe Racer Brian Johnson teams up with ex-F1 driver Roberto Moreno to run in World Sports Cars Masters race at Silverstone this weekend.

It's less than 1 month away. To build up your tolerance for the blinding white salt, I'll be spoon feeding some images from Bonneville Speed Week years gone by.

James Dean in his racing Porsche "Lil Bastard."

Stirling Moss in the Jaguar XKC 005. This is the actual C-type that he won the 1952 Rheims Grand Prix for sports racing.

Parnelli Jones, Daytona 1967.

Mercury Cougar, Daytona 1967.

Race car driver Bob Burman and his Blitzen Benz.

A compilation of historic wrecks...from 1931, to just the other day. You've never seen anything like this before. MUSIC by the HOT ROD REBELS!!!

Short movie from the 70s, showing many sports and crashes from the Adenauer Forst, on Nurburgring Nordschleife, in 1970.