What is a sports car. A controversay that has embroiled motor heads for
years. One classic definition is "a sports car is a sport's car".
Anyway, if you define a sports car as as 2-seat, open roadster, you will be
in the minority at a lot of "vintage" races. Are Mustangs, Camaros,
Mini-Coopers, Alfa Sprints, BMW CSL's, and such, sports cars? In racing
terms, a sports car race is normally run on a road course. Wouldn't any
suitable race car be a sports car?
The terms vintage and historic have become interchangeable. It used to be
that vintage cars were twenty years old and historics ten. That was some
twenty years ago when we were first getting started at this. Some clubs still
define the older cars as vintage, with a break somewhere in the sixties. The
sport of vintage racing has come to include cars from many racing eras and
venues. Each has it's place and that variety is what makes the sport
appealing. Excluding cars based on personal prejudices and self-serving
definitions has been tried by several organizations, and has proven I think,
to result in small fields and financial deficits.
Which is more significant in terms of racing history? A Petty or Earnhardt
stock car or a street Sprite made into a "race car" in 1993? Which will
create more spectator appeal that will generate the cash that we need to
offset the increasing costs of putting on these events? Hey, I like Sprites
and MG's as much as anyone, but they won't pay the bills.
Lets be thankful that the "rich guys" want to spend their money in this
sport. We could't do it without them.
Jack Woehrle
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