Sonoma Historics Saturday Press Note

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Judy Stropus, 203-438-0501; cell 203-243-2438; jstropus@earthlink.net

SONOMA HISTORIC MOTORSPORTS FESTIVAL PRESS NOTES - Saturday, May 18,  
2013

The second annual racing seminar at the Sonoma Historic Motorsports  
Festival was held today, in front of an avid crowd of 120-plus vintage  
racing drivers, media and Corvette fanatics. Nearly 400 historic and  
vintage race cars are competing in this weekend's event, the fourth  
under the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival banner.

Celebrating the Corvette brand's 60th anniversary, the panel  
represented the six generations of the iconic Corvette, from its birth  
and introduction to racing in 1953 to the successes of today's  
Corvette Racing team. Paul Reinhart, Bill Pollack, Joe Freitas and  
Dick Guldstrand talked of the early years of competing in Corvettes  
mainly in California, while Michiganders Tony DeLorenzo and Corvette  
Racing Program Manager Doug Fehan covered the later years of  
Corvette's rise to popularity. It was moderated by Rick Voegelin,  
author/journalist and former p.r. manager for Corvette Racing.

Fehan, whom many credit for the success of the modern Corvette Racing  
program that began in 1997, made his first visit to the Sonoma  
Historics Motorsports Festival this weekend to take part in the  
seminar. "Not only is it my first time at the Sonoma event, it is my  
first time at any significant historic racing event," he said. "And, I  
have to tell you, I am deeply moved over what I've seen here, and I  
say that not only from a historic perspective in general but on a  
personal note as well. So many of the programs with which I've been  
fortunate enough to be associated over the years are well represented  
by the vehicles I see here. The memories flood back. It just really  
impresses not only on me but I'm sure on everyone here the importance  
of keeping historic racing alive and well. This is our history, this  
is a moving museum, if you will. It's just been a very moving  
experience for me and I've enjoyed every moment.

"When we look at particularly this event, which celebrates Corvette's  
60th anniversary, we see those drivers (on the panel) who have a deep  
passion and love for the automobile, an interest in not only the era  
in which they raced but obviously in the new generation Corvette,  
specifically the C7. It's heartening to know that once a Corvette fan,  
always a Corvette fan. To be able to take the brand forward and bring  
it to the public's eye and for those who may have not known anything  
about Corvette to learn about it and learn about it first hand from  
those that started Corvette racing I think makes a huge mark. From a  
marketing standpoint this is one of the most powerful events you could  
ever conceive."

DeLorenzo, whose record in the Owens-Corning Corvettes in 1969-70  
boasts a streak of 22 straight wins in SCCA A-Production and FIA  
endurance races, also made his first appearance at the Sonoma  
Historics. It was also the first time he's been to Sonoma Raceway  
since 1978. "That would be 35 years," he said. "It's been absolutely  
wonderful. The weather is spectacular and that's enjoyable, but seeing  
the guys who care for these cars now is the biggest treat for me. As  
racers, we were always moving on to the next car, so these cars got  
short shrift from us, but now they're being well cared for, and we're  
happy about that. That helps keep the brand of the cars and the sport  
alive, and that's what we need. We need more young people getting  
involved, and I think this helps.

"We picked up the torch from the guys before us and we carried it for  
our time, and it's amazing to see the guys that are carrying the torch  
after us. We started out with hammers and bigger hammers and now the  
new cars are just an engineering tour de force. It isn't easy, it  
doesn't come overnight, but we're happy that we're a part of it.  
Pioneers, if you will. We just wanted to win the next race, that's all  
we thought about at the time, but it's fun to look back and say, Holy  
Cow, look what we did. We didn't know it at the time."

Digital image attached: From left, Rick Voegelin, Bill Pollack, Paul  
Reinhart, Joe Freitas, Dick Guldstrand, Doug Fehan.



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