Huge, authentic Trans-Am race group set for Lime Rock Labor Day racing‏

Lime Rocks Historic Festival to Host Huge Array of Authentic 1966 - 1971 Trans-Am CarsRacing Saturday and Monday; also on display for Sunday in the Park Concours

Earlier this year, Lime Rock Park Historic Festival 31 Chairman Murray Smith announced that he had arranged for a large group of golden era Trans-Am cars to enter the Labor Day weekend racing extravaganza. This past Friday, Smith received the entry list from west coast Trans-Am historic-racing organizer Ken Epsman; its a huge group of 30 cars and significantly, each is a true in-period car. These are the cars once driven by Jones, Donohue, Revson, Follmer, Posey, Gurney et al., and are in their original livery and mechanical states.Epsman and Smith are certain this is likely the biggest field of authentic Trans-Am cars to race on the east coast since the actual Trans-Am races of the early 70s.The Trans-Am field is made up of 12 Camaros (1967 through 1970 models), eight Boss 302 Mustangs (1969 and 1970), and five Mustangs from the 1966 to 1968 era. In addition, theres a 1967 Bud Moore Mercury Cougar (as driven by the likes of Peter Revson and Ed Leslie), Mark Donohues 1971 Penske AMC Javelin, Sam Posey's 1970 Dodge Challenger, even a Ford Falcon Sprint raced in the first year of Trans-Am.Smith said, This Trans-Am group has been seen racing on the west coast, but theyre eager to race, for the first time, at the east coasts premier historic motorsports event. We cant be more pleased about their participation.Smith was adamant in underscoring the fact that this Epsman-led group is nothing but actual Trans-Am cars that were raced back in the day, unlike some vintage racing events where youll see newly built old Trans-Am cars.Entry list for Competition *Race Group 5: Fast & Furious, Authentic Trans-Am Driver, Town, Car Ken Adams, Gilroy, Calif., 1969 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Martin Beaulien, Menlo Park, Calif., 1969 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Walter Brown, Jr., Scottsdale, Ariz., 1968 Chevy Camaro Bill Bryan, Winter Park, Fla., 1968 Chevy Camaro Karman Cusack, Conifer, Colo., 1968 Chevy Camaro Christi Edelbrock, Torrance, Calif., 1968 Chevy Camaro Vic Edelbrock, Jr., Torrance, Calif., 1969 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Mike Eisenberg, Northridge, Calif., 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint Ken Epsman, Saratoga, Calif., 1971 AMC Javelin Brian Ferrin, Sonoma, Calif., 1970 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Phil Gallant, Oceanside, Calif., 1968 Ford Mustang Jim Glass, Kingston, N.Y., 1967 Chevy Camaro Bill Godwin, Pleasanton, Calif., 1968 Chevy Camaro Richard Goldsmith, Gilroy, Calif., 1970 Dodge Challenger Jim Hagne, Gilroy, Calif., 1970 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Jim Halsey, Los Angeles, Calif., 1970 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Tony Hart, Moorpark, Calif., 1967 Chevy Camaro Z/28 Mike Joy, Holland, Mich., 1968 Ford Mustang Bob Kauffman, Greenwich, Conn., 1970 Chevy Camaro Z/28 Ike Keeler, Macatawa, Mich., 1967 Mercury Cougar Chris Liebenberg, Boyertown, Pa., 1970 Ford Mustang Tom McIntyre, Burbank, Calif., 1968 Chevy Camaro Z/28 Art Miller, Santa Barbara, Calif., 1969 Chevy Camaro Ross Meyers, Boyertwon, Pa., 1969 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Jan Nelson, Franklin Square, N.Y., 1966 Ford Mustang Shelby Bill Ockerlund, Holland, Mich., 1969 Ford Boss 302 Mustang Pat Ryan, Fletcher, N.C., 1967 Chevy Camaro Steve Shanahan, Boyertown, Pa., 1966 Ford Mustang Ed Wheatley, Macatawa, Mich., 1970 Chevy Camaro TBA, 1967 Chevy Camaro*Other Competition Race Groups include: Speed and Agility, small-bore post-war sports and GT cars; The Dawn of Real Performance, racing and sports cars to 1949; Racing Icons, the Porsche 911 turns 50; Who Needs Fenders, built for victory, formula cars to 1965; Built to Win, sports racers 1950-1962; No Holds Barred, a formula libre category; Wild, Wild Horses, big-bore post-war sports and GT cars; Sophisticated and Specialized, sports racers 1965-1976The 31st edition of the Lime Rock Park Historic Festival, which includes the Sunday in the Park Concours & Gathering of the Marques, is Labor Day weekend, August 31 through September 2. No other venue in the U.S. has three days of on-track racing sandwiching a prestigious concours event all on the same property at the same time. Since 1983, the East Coasts premier vintage racing event has been the Historic Festivalmore than 300 vintage and historic race cars have been entered for 2013and its companion Sunday in the Park Concours (200+ entrants) and Gathering of the Marques show (600+).For details on Historic Festival 31, please go to the all-new website www.limerockhistorics.com

Did You Know?- According to Ultimate Racing History.com, the Bud Moore Mustangs in the May 31, 1969 Trans-Am race at Lime Rock Park (its first T-A race) were to be driven by Richard Petty and Cale Yarboroughbut NASCAR denied them the permission to race. The two Moore Mustangs were instead driven by Swede Savage (who finished second) and John Cannon (fourth). The winner of the race? Sam Posey in a Carroll Shelby Mustang. Rounding out the podium was Bob Johnson in a Penske Camaro.- In the five Trans-Am races at Lime Rock Park 1967 - 1971, there were four different winners driving four different models: Peter Revson/Cougar, Mark Donohue/Camaro, Sam Posey/Mustang, Parnelli Jones/Mustang and Donohue/Javelin, respectively.


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