44th HSR Mitty one of the biggest in the event’s history

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emailBy Vintage Motorsport | May 4, 2022 11:30 AM ET Follow @http://twitter.com/VMMagazine

A super Saturday at the 44th Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) that put Sports 2000 and late road racing great Gene Felton in the spotlight, and also featured a parade of motorsports legends and top HSR competitors to victory lane, will go into the record books as one of the biggest event days to date in the long history of the HSR Mitty.

Successful vintage and historic racing competitor Fritz Seidel topped a field of 43 competitors to score the Sports 2000 Feature Race victory in his 2004 No. 02 Carbir CS.

HSR regular Ben Myers earned the attention of more than one Sports 2000 competitor with a solid second-place finish in his 2001 No. 29 Carbir CS. Myers kept the pressure on to the finish, taking the checkered flag just 0.441 of a second behind Seidel and setting the fastest race lap.

John Thompson finished third in his 1991 No. 14 Lola T90/91. Thompson podiumed for the second straight HSR Sports 2000 race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after winning the “S2” Feature Race last September at the HSR Fall Historics.

 

44th HSR Mitty one of the biggest in the event’s historyJohn Thompson finished third in his 1991 No. 14 Lola T90/91. Thompson podiumed for the second straight HSR Sports 2000 race at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta after winning the “S2” Feature Race last September at the HSR Fall Historics.
Photo: Robin Thompson

The Inaugural Gene Felton Memorial Challenge was a moving affair on and off the race track. The unveiling of the spectacular new Lanier Technical College Gene Felton Trophy was an event in itself, with the hand-built award featuring actual pieces of Road Atlanta asphalt, decorative clear vials of the Georgia red clay that surrounds the track and a silver cup replicating one of Felton’s many racing trophies.
Photo: Robin Thompson

The first driver who will have his name engraved on this perpetual masterpiece is former NASCAR star Joe Nemechek. “Front Row” Joe topped a field of 28 HSR Group 8 Stock Cars in his NEMCO Motorsports 2006 No. 8 Toyota Camry to win the first Gene Felton Memorial Challenge race, but he had to hold off a NASCAR legend all the way to the checkered flag.

Hall of Famer and frequent HSR competitor Bill Elliott kept the pressure on Nemechek to the end in his 2010 No. 9 Ford Fusion. Elliott, who was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) in 2007 and the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015, crossed the finish line just 1.501 seconds behind Nemechek.

Brian Norman finished third in the Gene Felton Memorial race in his 2006 No. 41 Dodge Charger. Lanier Technical College donations in Felton’s honor can be made at https://www.laniertechfoundation.org.
Photo: Robin Thompson

Nemechek and Elliott weren’t the only former motorsports stars to visit victory lane at the 44th HSR Mitty. Former Corvette Racing winning driver Johnny O’Connell returned to the wheel of the Bill Heifner-owned 2011 No. 5 Cadillac CTS/VR and won Saturday’s HSR Stoner Car Care Global GT race.

O’Connell was joined on the Stoner Car Care podium by Terry Mathis in his 2006 No. 71 Corvette C6 and Ben Johnston in third in his 2015 No. 96 Porsche 991 GT3 Cup.



Saturday’s final feature race, the HSR Classic RS Cup sprint, was won by always-quick Porsche driver Yves Scemama in his 1974 No. 52 Porsche 911 IROC prepared by Heritage Motorsports.

Angus Rogers finished second in RS Cup in his KMW Motorsports 1973 No. 15 Porsche 911 RSR while Jack Lewis completed the podium in third in his Jack Lewis Enterprises 1974 No. 9 Porsche 911 RSR.

Scemama continued his winning ways in Sunday’s B.R.M Chronographes GT Classic (GTC) and Vintage Enduro with an overall and GTC win in his No. 52 Porsche.

Repeat was the word of the B.R.M. race as Craig Watkins followed up on his Friday Sasco Sports International/American Challenge race win with a Vintage-class victory in his 901 Shop 1968 No. 46 Porsche 911.
Photo: Robin Thompson

 

Photos: Friday at the 44th HSR Mitty

Robin Thompson
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emailBy VM Staff | 4.30.22 7:29 AM

Racing and festivities began on Friday as the 44th HSR Mitty roared to life at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. Qualifying sessions comprised the majority of the day and the Sasco Sports International/American Challenge race capped off the sunny Friday in Braselton.

Photographer Robin Thompson remarked that it was a great day at the track as he captured sights throughout the day. Look for a full writeup with more of his photos in the next issue of Vintage Motorsport.

On-site ticket sales for the 44th HSR Mitty continue through the weekend and are available exclusively at the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta main gate. Click HERE to see the variety of admission and camping options available.

More that 50 entries are on hand for the weekend’s featured group – Sports 2000. Photo: Robin Thompson

Geaorge Vidovic getting things going in this 1969 McLaren M6B. Photo: Robin Thompson

The start of the Sasco Sports International/American Challenge race paced by David Porter in his 1973 Ford Escort RS1600. Photo: Robin Thompsonobin Thompson

 

30 entries in the Historic Stock Car group should make for some great racing. Here’s Thomas Shelton through the esses in his 2017 Ford Fusion. Photo: Robin Thompson

Patrick Bean was mighty quick in this 1991 Chevrolet Intrepid – one of two at the track for the weekend. Photo: Robin Thompson

The business end of the 1991 Chevrolet Intrepid RM-1 featuring a 7.2L naturally aspirated Chevrolet V8. Photo: Robin Thompson

Dean DeSantis ran P2 in qualifying Friday in his 1972 BMW 3.5/CSL. Photo: Robin Thompson

 

A pair of Datsuns paced by Grayson Upchurch, Jr. in his 1970 Datsun SRL 311. Photo: Robin Thompson

Bring on the weekend! Photo: Robin Thompson

 

HSR Mitty roars into Road Atlanta

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emailBy VM Staff | 4.24.22 8:30 AM

A packed paddock of race cars comprised of nearly 300 entries representing an endless variety of road racing and sports cars from the last 65 years is in store at the 44th Historic Sportscar Racing Mitty at Michelin Raceway, April 28-May 1

A high-speed rite of spring that is HSR’s oldest event, the 44th HSR Mitty truly offers something for everyone with an incredible variety of vintage and historic sports cars, stock cars and open-wheel racing machines.

One of the many weekend highlights is the 44th HSR Mitty’s Featured Marque Sports 2000. A popular road racing category that has provided an affordable yet competitive entry into sports car racing for thousands of racers around the world, HSR announced late in 2021 that Sports 2000 would be in this year’s HSR Mitty spotlight. More than 50 competitors have entered in what the racers themselves are now calling the 45th Sports 2000 Reunion.

Introduced in the UK in 1976, Sports 2000 first ran as a series with a 20 round championship in 1977 to begin a successful run of both amateur and professional competition around the world that remains strong today in vintage and historic events. This year marks the 45th year of series competition for Sports 2000 — also know as S2000 or simply S2 — and the milestone will be celebrated in Saturday’s Sports 2000 Feature Race that kicks off Saturday’s competition schedule at 12:45 p.m. ET.

A standout entry even in a stacked Sports 2000 field is the 1988 No. 34 Lola T88/90 of M Bart Wolf from Wolf Motorsports. The “Team 34” Lola was raced in its prime by National Football League legend Walter Payton and carries the signature No. 34 “Sweetness” wore in his Hall of Fame career.

Another weekend “must-see” is the Inaugural “Gene Felton Memorial Challenge” for HSR Group 8 Historic Stock Cars.

Honoring the late driving star Gene Felton, the Memorial Challenge features a pair of races for HSR Group 8 Historic Stock Cars with the winner determined by total points from the two events. In addition to receiving a special race winner’s trophy, a plaque bearing the winning driver’s name will be placed on The Lanier Technical College Gene Felton Trophy. Based on victory lane hardware from Felton’s vast collection, the permanent trophy commemorates the driver’s long association with the Lanier Technical College, where he helped interns in the Motorsports Vehicle Training program get hands-on racing experience. Donations in Felton’s honor can be made at https://www.laniertechfoundation.org.

Sports cars of all types and from all generations anchor the 44th HSR Mitty’s growing entry list but few will bring as much thunder and excitement to the race as the pair of 1991 Chevrolet Intrepid GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) cars of brothers Patrick Bean and Theo Bean.

Carrying on a family tradition of racing started by their late father Toby Bean, Patrick Bean drives Intrepid No. 64 while his brother Theo – a veteran of European Le Mans Series competition – wheels the No. 65 Intrepid (pictured at top).