Straight axle (C1) and Sting Ray (C2) Corvettes outperform at Laguna Seca RMMR on Aug 23-26
A golf tournament at Pebble Beach that pushed the RMMR back from its traditional third August weekend may have juiced the outcome for 2 of 5 Corvettes among 42 entries in Group 1B for 1955-62 GT.
# 15 is a 1962 fuelie built and sorted for a customer by top pilot Tony Garmey. He finished 2nd ahead of # 59, a 1959 raced by RMMR veteran Ron Cressey.
# 61 is a 1962 Corvette is owned and driven by Carlos de Campos, a relative newcomer in a car we hope to learn more about its origins.
Remarkably five (6) Corvettes finished in the top nine of the 47 car field for Group 6B 1963-66 GT > 2.5L (10 C2 Sting Ray Corvettes). # 32 Kyle Kelly with pro racing experience was second followed in third by # 75 Tommy Steuer. This car has won when owned and driven by Terry Gough. Check out Corvettes in this pre-reunion 1 min video.
https://www.facebook.com/sportscardigest1/videos/656945928123619
Next were # 5 Jeff Abramson fourth and # 116 Jim Gallagher fifth.
Expert restorer # 165 Chris Springer was seventh in the ex Larry Park 1965 Corvette and # 71 Joe Cotrone, driving for new owner Jim Cantrell was ninth in the ex Ed Lowther 1964 Corvette fuelie acquired from Jerry Gollnick.
The winner was # 96 Lorne Leibel, a veteran from North York Ontario in a 1965 AC Cobra that snatched the lead in the late going.
The C4 # 5 IMSA and # 88 Trans Am tube frame silhouette-body Corvettes of John Goodman and Mike Malone respectively fell short in Group 7B 1973-1991 IMSA GTO/TA (45 total). Both are top quality collectables that also see racing action.
There was no race group for 1968-1972 C3 (Sharks), perhaps the most popular among vintage racing fans. (# 17 Randy Peterson in ex Gary Carlin shown at Sonoma). Maybe next year.
Our thanks to dedicated historian Mike Matune for the great photos.
