winter/2009 61 - the SAAC Members Only website!

The warm-up lap. Curt Vogt of Wallingford, CT (#530) and Dan Luckow of Tarzana, CA (#99) slugged it out for the pole. They had gone at it,
hammer-and-tong, at the last west coast convention so there was a lot of residual testosterone. Vogt’s best time was a tad quicker. Tom
Mabye’s GT40 turned out to be the fastest car in the race but he wasn’t around to qualify so he was gridded sixth. By the third lap to
motored into the lead and never looked back.
The high point at most conventions is the vintage race, which brings
together some of the fastest GT350s
in the country for a no holds barred
slap-down. A strong field of 31 cars
were contained a good cross-section of
mustangs while being a little light on
Cobras. There were 4 ‘65 GT350s, 10
‘66s, 2 each ‘65 and ‘66 fastback Mustangs, a ‘65 Mustang notchback, a ‘67
notchback, a ‘67 GT350, a ‘68 GT350,
one ‘67 Shelby T/A notchback, a ‘68
T/A notchback, two ‘69 Boss 302s and
a ‘63 Falcon. Also in the mix was a
GT40 MK I, a ‘64 Cobra Daytona
Coupe replica and a CSX4000 roadster.
Pace car for the vintage race was Howard
Pardee’s ‘07 GT500. In a weak attempt to
garner the car some “history.” Pardee
somehow convinced Peter Brock to drive it
on the pace lap. When asked what Pardee
had offered as a bribe, Brock would only
frown and shake his head in disbelief.
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Regarded by some as the fastest vintage Mustang on the west coast, Dan Luckow’s fastback is all of that. He was so intent on taking the
lead on the first lap that he charged into the first turn, getting a fender ahead of his east coast counterpart, Curt Vogt. But Luckow went in
too hot and ran short of braking room, running off into the gravel. In the blink of an eye, he went from first to last as he was forced to wait
for every other car to go by. And he picked up a coat of dust. From dead last he carved his way through the pack, ending up 8th.
We owe Kevin Sittner a huge apology. When the qualifying times were turned in there was some confusion and we discovered we had no
times for Kevin’s ‘68 GT350. So, we put him near the back of the grid because, hey—it’s a ‘68 GT350, right? Everybody knows these cars
aren’t exactly rocketsleds, But rocketsled is exactly what the red ‘68 was. In five laps he had moved from 29th to 10th, where he finished. ‘68
GT350s just aren’t suppose to run like this. All mods and preparation is done at his shop, Precision Machine & Maintenance in Lodi, CA and
this car is a testament to his work.
Bill Miller brought his Hertz car from Arvada, CO. He
is something of a legend in Colorado vintage racing
circles, having competed with 6S1642 in over 100 vintage events. Want more? The car has over 200,000
miles on the clock. More? He doesn’t have a trailer.
He drives the car to and from each vintage race—as
he did at SAAC-32.
You don’t see too many Falcons racing, so Mike Eisenberg’s ‘63 Sprint ex-SCCA A/Sedan is a stand-out. It is
not only quick but it handles really well. That probably has something to do with the Falcon’s light
weight. It probably has a 400 lb. advantage on a similarly powered Mustang. Leave it to Eisenberg to find
an edge like that!
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Chip Hane is no slouch in his A/S Mustang
notchback. The car is prepared by him and
his dad, Walt Hane, a former R-Model driver and 1966 SCCA B/P National Champion out of their UTS Automotive in Evergreen, CO. Chip won the coin toss with his
dad to see who got to drive. He ran strong,
starting 4th and finishing 4th.
Russo and Steele auction kingpin and
SAAC member Drew Alcazar dipped his
toe into the vintage racing pool at SAAC32. He had purchased a ‘65 GT350 which
has more than 25 years worth of vintage
racing history. It was obvious to anyone
who talked to him during the weekend
that his mind was on the track. Racing will
do that to you.
John Barnes [above left], usually known
for wheeling and dealing literature, woke
up one day and realized that instead of
buying and selling magazines with race
cars in them, he could BE in magazines
with a race car. His ‘69 Boss 302 vintage
racer was originally campaigned in Canada. Jon Carey [above] made the trip from
Newton, MA to race his recently completed
GT350. If it’s #530 it must be Curt Vogt
[ left ]. At one point he owned R-Model
5R530, which he raced for a year or so and
after selling it and replacing it with a ‘66
GT350, he took a liking to the number and
it’s been his calling card ever since. It is a
rolling test bed for Cobra Automotive.
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Michael Cox from Brighton, CO has a pretty decent replica of a ‘67
Shelby Trans-Am notchback. He started 13th and finished 12th; a
respectable run.
Another east coast Shelby was brought west by Scotty Hackenson
of Trumbull, CT. The car is another one of Cobra Automotive’s
mules and it’s a front-runner. He started 3rd and finished 3rd.
Some practice sessions were as intense as the race. A testosterone demonstration between Curt Vogt (#530) and Dan Lukow temporarily
made Drew Alcazar (#70) the meat in the sandwich as they blasted past him on each side. Gary Underwood [below, left] brought his ex-John
McComb ‘67 Shelby Trans-Am notchback to stretch its legs. Kevin Sittner tried to squeeze his highly modified ‘65 Mustang [below, right]
into the vintage field, but the car was rejected because it wasn’t period correct. Rather than argue, he substituted his ‘68 GT350 and taught
us a lesson about what a talented driver can do with an outclassed car. His sterling attitude got him an invitation to enter the Mustang in
the Mustang Race. He started 8th and finished second.
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