Report and photos by Dennis Gray
The Portland Historic Races 2011 were held July 8-10 at the 12-turn, 1.967 mile Portland International Raceway in Oregon. Produced and sanctioned by HMSA, the Portland Historics celebrated 100 years of Chevrolet racing history. Bow Tie aficionados were treated to an all-Chevrolet race Sunday, a race populated with Chevrolet cars and cars powered by Chevrolet engines.
The 2011 Portland Historic Races featured approximately 175 historic race cars, representing a wide variety of manufacturers. Notable entries included Cameron Healy’s 1953 Cooper-Porsche “Pooper” and 1965 Porsche 904 GTS, Nick Colonna’s beautiful Lola T70 Spyder, the Sparling-Ferrari Special of John Goodman, plus the rarely seen 1966 Plymouth Barracuda of Michael Ritz and 1964 Studebaker Daytona of Jeff Taylor.
Similar to previous races, the open paddock at the Portland Historics allowed spectators to walk right up to the cars, meet the owners and drivers and in many cases sit in the cars they had just seen racing on track. More then 700 collector cars, motorcycles, trucks and hot rods filled the grass infield at Portland International Raceway.
Portland Historic Races 2011 – Results
Portland Historic Races 2011 – Photo Gallery (click on image for larger picture and description)
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[Source: photo credit: Dennis Gray]
About Dennis Gray
Image 6 of 126 was actually shot by my good friend Paul Smith.Nick Colonna’s Lola T70.
The classic look of the cars just reminds me of the more surreal Matchbox cars available today. Or the Wacohwski’s Speed Racer.
–Ri of http://www.changerules.net
The Porsche 904 pictured in this article really brought back memories! I remember seeing one of these at Moroso Motorsports Park in the early 70s. In capable hands these very light and slippery cars were FAST! Beautiful design. Thanks for the memories.
I have just seen your photos of Portland Historic Races 2011 that remind me the best sports cars of the 1960s. It would be good to put the exact year that sixties and in the photo 108 does not agree because it is a auto Ferrari not a Chevrolet Corvette. Thank You.
Hi Carlo – Good catch on John Goodman’s Ferrari Sparling Special. John does have a 1969 Corvette, so I’m sure that’s where the caption issue came from. We’ve updated the photo. Thanks much!
Can someone at Sportcardigest let us know where Griffith 400′s are entered in racing in the United States.
We know that Michael and Sean McInerney and Jon Shipman and Mark Hale/Reuben Niguel enter their highly competitive Griffith 400′s who beat Shelby AC Cobras and are so fast that they run with the Ford GT 40′s in qualifying times. See GT 40′s race on U- tube SPA Francorchamps 2011, GT 40 Six Hour Endurance.
We hear Jack A. Griffith is still alive and reside in Amelia Island. Will someone interview him before he dies? He is in his late eightys and his wife passed away last year. Is there any chance of interviewing the McInerneys or Shipman?
Hoping to hear from someone. I plan to fly to Europe to see the Griffiths compete with all the classic A production cars of the sixties.
My best,
Chuck