The Tenth Annual Wild Hare Run at VIR

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The Winter Games at Road Atlanta

By Ray Morgan
photos by Ray Morgan and Chris Sloan

Road Atlanta, nestled in the north Georgia mountains, comes alive only a few times each year with the sounds and smells of past championship racing cars. This February was no exception as VDCA for the third year lit up the red clay hills with a plethora of vintage racers, grouped by three categories; open wheel/sports racers, large bore, and small bore. This three-day meeting opens the racing season in the southeast, and there was no lack of talent or competition among the entrants.  VDCA members always get lots of track time with a full day of practice, a thirty minute sprint race each day, a one hour enduro, and even a sport (gimmick) race open to all entrants. 

Spectators are welcome and the vantage from most corners is open for close up viewing and photography.  Perhaps the three best spots are turn 1, the turn 3, 4, and 5 complex known as the Esses, and turn 10a/b.  As it happens during the Saturday feature races, turn 5 was a great spot to watch Rollin Butler and Miles Whitlock battle for the lead in their fast Formula Fords.  Butler led on the long straights with Whitlock taking the corners back and forth, lap after lap, until Whitlock, who had under calculated the fuel requirements, ran out of gas on the last lap.  But perhaps the most fun for the session was watching Glen Stephens slide his 1956 Lotus 11 right on the heels of the front runners. Watching a plus fifty-year-old sports racer on skinny tires running competitively with the FF’s was simply amazing!

Next up was the big bore group which included Alfas, Porsches, Lotus, Triumphs and MG’s, among others. The show was the Troysport Porsche 911 driven by Sid Collins laying chase to the ’67 Alfa Duetto of Ceasar Cone. Interestingly the Porsche would close on the Alfa in the corners only to see the Duetto pull away on the straights.  At the most only a car length split first and second place, but Cone took the checker.  There was a mix of bigger engines and more daring lighter production cars back in the pack where horsepower wins out on a long track like Road Atlanta.

The small bore group saw Doug Meis’s Honda S800 lead the pack screaming 10,000 rpm cheers through every shift. Further back, the real race was between Duke Waldrop, Mike Jackson and Mike Ennis who were slugging it out with some of really fast FV’s. Waldrop’s super motor made the difference on the long straights, but Jackson hung in chase despite shelling a brake drum.

The last race on Saturday afternoon was the one-hour Enduro.  Almost the entire Road Atlanta entry shows up for this race and why not, it doesn’t cost extra in VDCA events. The dash to the first turn saw Les Bowers’ Hawke FF in the lead, but in a few laps Miles Whitlock took over.  Determined to win this time, Whitlock carried a full tank of fuel. After securing a two-lap lead by the end of the race and on the last lap, Whitlock lost it in turn 1.  The Troysport Porsche driven by Sid Collins went on to finish first, but his win was short-lived. As the race officials determined, Collins was penalized 1 lap for cutting it short on the mandatory pit stop. Ceasar Cone backed into the win followed by Collins and Henry Costanzo in his Datsun 240Z.

During a three-day weekend meeting, VDCA traditionally offers a gimmick race. This year was no exception.  The idea of the "Mid-Pack Madness" was to finish exactly in the middle of the field.  If there were forty cars running, then the winner should finish twentieth.  No handicaps, no bonus points, no stopping on the track, --just a mid-pack finish.  There were no prizes for first place, but if you finished in the middle, there was a wonderful bottle of wine to share with your crew. This year saw Tim Slater walk off with the bottle of Red Truck vintage table wine. Stirling Heath captured a bottle of Twin Fin after officials carded him to assure that he has reached legal drinking age. Chris Bryant was awarded a lovely Richard Childress blush for finishing 11^th.

The VDCA social on Saturday evening was hosted by Dick Barbour Racing and sponsored by Heacock Classic Insurance.  In typical meeting form, all the racers and crew members, workers, and stewards shared in a relaxing dinner surrounded by Barbour’s Le Mans cars, memorabilia, and Dick’s stories about the good old days winning LeMans and Sebring.