gbvette62

This past weekend I was at Sebring International Raceway to crew for Jim Glass on his 71 Corvette vintage racer, as I often do. The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) was hosting a series of vintage races, along with the Trans Am Series.

The SVRA has classes for cars from just about every era. 53-62 Corvettes compete in Group 4, and 63-72 Corvettes, including 63 Grand Sports (both real & replicas), are in Group 6. 73-82 Corvettes and Greenwood's compete in Group 10, and 84-2002 Corvettes, along with heavily modified earlier ones, fall into Group 12.

This is Jim's 71, though a previous owner added the 68-69 side louvers to it.









Why we race




Ken Mennella's 63 Grand Sport Replica













Walo Bertschinger's Duntov Grand Sport






Ron Ramsey's 65 (before he sun a bearing)






And after the spun bearing.



On Woody Smith's 70, the left trailing arm bushing failed in Friday mornings practice session. He drove to Clearwater with the trailing arm, where Van Steel replaced it for him, so he could race the rest of the weekend.








Bob Lima's 69 Corvette






Ray Zisa's 1990 R9G World Challenge Corvette








Rick Ortman's 88 Corvette






Frank Morelli's 61






Bill Treffert's 60 Corvette

1bdvet

Thanks for sharing!

gbvette62

The following Corvettes were also competing at Sebring last weekend.

John Reisman Corvette Coyote Daytona Prototype






Robert Blain




Forum member Will Hubbell





There were a number of Corvettes competing in the Trans Am, along with several drivers connected to Corvettes and the Corvette Forum.

Simon Gregg






Amy Ruman






Larry Hoopaugh




Blaise Csida






Daniel Urrutial Jr






Lawrence Lepurage






Richard Grant




Randy Kinsland (TA3 class)




Kerry Hitt Cadillac ATS-V coupe. Kerry is a Forum member and long time Corvette racer. He also owns Advanced Composites in Harrisburg PA, that manufactures all kinds of composite body panels for racing and street Corvettes.









Dave Pinteric, also a Forum member and former Corvette racer






Andrew Aquilante of Phoenix Racing, a builder of race cars in Phoenixville PA, and Forum members.

Pop Chevy

Thanks for posting the pics. My car is (finally) nearing completion and hope to running with you guys this summer.
Question, I don't see many window nets . Are they letting them run with arm restraints?
Pops

gbvette62

Yep. Jim's been using the arm restraints in all of his Corvette race cars, as well as his 67 Trans-Am Camaro. SVRA rules say open cars, and closed cars where window nets can't be installed, must have arm restraints. If there's no window net installed, the stewards have been checking for arm restraints on the grid.

When Jim bought the yellow 71, it had t-tops on it, and a window net, but we removed the tops to give him more room and air in the car. Without the tops, it becomes an "open car", so arm restraints are acceptable. He races the Camaro with the Historic Trans Am, and EVERYTHING has to be period correct with them, so window nets aren't allowed.

We're looking forward to seeing you and your Corvette out there this season. We have a full season planned with our next race at Summit Point with VRG. In june we'll be at Lime Rock with HRG/VSCCA, and Thompson with VRG. July starts at The Glen with HRG, followed by HSR & the Historic Trans Am at Mont Tremblant and then NJMP with HRG/VRG. No races are planned for August, but in September there's the Lime Rock Vintage, followed by the US Grand Prix at The Glen, and then The Glen again with VRG in October. I don't know how many races I'll get to (okay, how many my wife will tolerate me running off too), but it will be at least 5 or 6 of them.

Here's the section of the SVRA rules on window nets and arm restraints.

E: Window Net
Sedans and Coupes, where possible, must have a window net installed on the driver’s side. Both
passenger and driver windows must be down. The window net must be attached to the cage. All
window nets must be SFI 27.1 certified. Net design must allow for one-handed removal in the event of
an accident. The use of tie straps or zip ties is prohibited. In the event cage and car design prevent
the installation of a window net, arm restraints are required.
Window nets expire two (2) years after the date of manufacture at the end of the month of
manufacture indicated on the label. Nets with no label will be considered out of date.

F: Arm Restraints
Arm restraints meeting SFI 3.3 specification must be used by all open wheel race cars, sports racers,
open (convertible) production cars, and sedans and coupes that window nets cannot be installed in.
Arm restraints should be attached to the forearm and limit the movement of the driver’s hands to just
above the helmet.

Pop Chevy

Good ! I have my arm restraints left over from my Formula Atlantic car. Is he running the rear window ? I am planning on running without the t tops and rear.
Shooting for my 1st race at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix in early July, then hoping to make a couple more. I would love to run the Glenn.

gilbybarr

Neat photos....some new screen savers! Thanks.

3JsVette

Nice pictures. Thanks for taking the time to post so many.

ChattanoogaJSB

RIKKI Z-06

So cool. Thanks for posting.

SonnyAK

Great pics! Thanks