Ron Fellows wins as the 2023 RMMR celebrates the Corvette’s 70th anniversary at Laguna Seca August 15-16
Ron Fellows took the # 2 1987 Protofab Corvette to victory over 21 other 1981-1991 IMSA GTO/Trans Am cars consisting of Mustangs, Camaros, Berettas, Pontiacs, Oldsmobiles and Buicks. Ron also served as RMMR Grand Marshall.
Dan Binks, Ron’s former Corvette Racing Team crew chief restored the ex-Gregg Pickett’s fire-breathing V-6 turbo for owner Wally Owens (shown above in 1987 at Columbus OH); and Dan and Wally won the John Fitch Award.
# 5, 1964 Jeff Abramson finished fifth topping 12 other Corvettes in a 32-car field for 1955-1967 SCCA Production-Large Displacement cars consisting mostly of Ford-badged Mustangs and Cobras.
# 8 Don Haney, # 6 Nick Colonna, # 73 A.C. D’Augustine and # 31 Craig Carter made the top 10.
# 17 Patrick Byrne, # 44 George Wright and # 82 Gay Bentley filled out the Sting Ray contingent.
# 283 1957 of Ron Erickson (who won the Rolex Spirit of Monterey award) and the # 58 of Ed Hugo are the only Corvettes in memory that took part in the Corvette 50th, 60th and 70th anniversary tributes at Monterey.
# 57 1956 of Dave Roberts also has a long racing history while # 61 1962 of Cooper DuBois has been racing in the northwest.
# 00 1961 Corvette Special of Dr. Ernie Nagamatsu is an exact replica of a super lightweight Corvette the late Dave MacDonald raced a few years before his fatal crash on lap 2 of the 1964 INDY 500.
# 53 1979 of Mike Thurlow finished 5th in the 27-car field for 1972-1981 FIA, IMSA GT, GTX, AAGT, GTU and Trans am cars. # 15 1976 of Brad Briscoe finished 15th in a one-off Greenwood chassis 010 built for Trans am.
Photos courtesy of Dennis Gray, Rex McAfee and Mark Windecker
Corvettes on display outnumbered those on the track compared with previous Corvette tributes.
http://rcrc.squarespace.com/keeping-track/2023/8/16/rmmr-at-laguna-seca
As the years go by, it seems that small-bore production and formula cars plus Miatas are easier and more affordable ways to go vintage racing.
