Saturday, July 11, 2009

On the 4th of July, I attended the 21st annual Pacific Northwest Historics Vintage Car Races. Here’s how the brochure described it:

The Pacific Northwest Historics features many of the world’s rarest and most beautiful pre-1970 race cars. Most have been restored to mint condition and a handful retain the patina earned while racing years ago. This year, more than 250 vintage race cars from all over the West Coast and Canada participated. Fan favorites include Ferraris, Lotuses, Cobras, Corvettes, Porsches, Austin Healeys and some less recognizable names like Elva, Ginetta, and McLaren; many with impressive racing histories.

Some of the cars are valued at over $1 million, but the high values don’t hold back the owners and drivers - most cars will exceed 100 mph and some over 150 mph during the wheel to wheel competition. The Pacific Raceways circuit is a challenging 2 ¼-mile road course that includes nine turns, a 300 foot elevation drop and a near ¾-mile straightaway. Spectators are welcome in the paddock area and encouraged to take a close-up look at the cars and visit with the drivers.

Words do not describe the pulse-quickening roar of powerful engins reving upon entry to a long straight-a-way or shifting down to enter a tight curve. Maybe these pictures from the event will help.

Besides the racing, there were a lot of interesting cars on display ... like these for example.

We had access to the pits where there were all manner of photo opportunities for what I call “bits-and-pieces” photos ... like this one.

I know you’ll want to see hi-res versions of these, plus 37 aditional beautiful, bright, detailed images from the races. Right? Okay, then click here to see them!

Posted by Digital Quixote in • Out and About
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