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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Report and Photos

Peter Falkner
The famous Lotus Turbine car (60) jockeys with other historic oval cars on Saturday afternoon

The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational was held June 11-14, 2015 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana. Competitors used the 14-turn, 2.43-mile road course and the famous 2.5-mile oval. This was the second year SVRA brought vintage racing to Indianapolis, building on the success of the 2014 inaugural edition.

Some 400 vintage race cars in 11 groups practiced, qualified and raced on the relatively new road course that incorporates two segments of the oval among its 14 turns, albeit in the opposite direction than when the full oval is in use. That is the charm of the Brickyard Invitational, at the same venue, racers get the clockwise road race action and an hour later can be running flat out counterclockwise on the most famous rectangular oval in the world.

The Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational is a true smorgasbord of vintage racing machinery. Cars from 1911 to 2010 and marques such as Audi, Alfa Romeo, Austin Healey, BMW, Chevron, Elva, Ford, Ferrari, Chevrolet, Crossle, Titan, Jaguar, Lotus, Lister, Royale, Maserati, Morgan, Porsche and Triumph.

Aside from the close racing among peers, the SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 boasted the “Indy Legends Pro-Am.” A total of 33 past Indy 500 drivers were paired with amateur drivers and their cars for a 40-minute American muscle shootout on the road course. The cars were 1963-1972 small block Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs from SVRA Group Six. The names were a who’s who of not just Indy cars but every sphere of motorsports; Max Papis; Lyn St. James; Willy T. Ribbs; Al Unser Jr.; Dick Simon; Eliseo Salazar; Davey Jones and Arie Luyendyk Jr.; to name a few.

For 2015 SVRA President Tony Parella had another fan-pleasing trick up his sleeve. Sunday saw the unprecedented gathering of the ‘first family’ of American racing, the Unsers. Bobby, Al, Al Jr., Johnny and Robby mixed with fans and signed autographs in pit lane and then climbed into five historic 500 winning cars to do two pace laps on the oval. This marked the first time the five family members had been in motion on the track together. Afterwards the Unsers posed together with the cars on the yard of bricks on the front straight. The fans couldn’t get enough of their multi-generational heroes. Judging by the smiles on the Unsers, despite the heat and humidity, they thought it was pretty cool too!

For those needing a break from the heady sounds and smells of the track there were diversions aplenty. Title sponsor Jaguar set up a stylish cafe stocked with enticing refreshments and examples of their latest desirable cars. Interested parties could also experience the new V8 F-Type first-hand at the Jaguar autocross course set up in the infield beside turns 9 and 10. The fan zone on the plaza behind the main straight was the place to find any kind of branded automotive apparel or accessory one could imagine.

But the whole point of the weekend was racing and race they did. Respect goes to all the drivers who push their valuable equipment to the limit and make amateur racing as entertaining as possible. The Indy Legends Pro-Am race was won by Bob Lazier and Jim Caudle in Jim’s 1969 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster followed by Mark Dismore and Scott Hackenson in Scott’s 1967 Ford Mustang and Max Papis and Curt Vogt in Curt’s 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302. Curt started from pole and built a substantial lead but was caught out by a double yellow. Judging by the huge smiles, racing is still massive fun for the pros even when the only reward was a bottle of milk!

Each of the regular groups enjoyed good-sized grids that kept the drivers on their toes. Each group had its own 40-minute feature race on Saturday with Sunday bringing two mixed class enduro races. The enduro format replicated professional endurance racing with multiple classes running at differing speeds over a 60-90 minute race. Pit stops are mandatory, one stop for a 60-minute race, two in a 90-minute race.

After a very slick change over by the IMS track crews, Friday and Sunday afternoons allowed drivers to try going the other way (counterclockwise) on the famous Indy oval. Although these were not races, drivers who normally ply their trade on gas and brake road courses found the flat out oval experience exciting and addictive.

The full results of all races of the SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 can be found at SVRA.com.

Photographer Peter Falkner documented the SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 with the following great selection of images from IMS. We split up Peter’s 355 pictures into two galleries. The first gallery starting below features our favorite images, all displayed in the full-width view of Sports Car Digest, while the second gallery can be found on the last page of the article and gives a comprehensive view of all the photographs.

SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery

 

63 Watson Tribute car powers past the main grandstand
1963 Watson Tribute car powers past the main grandstand
Dennis Firestone
Dennis Firestone in Chevrolet Corvette
Alex Lloyd, Corvette
Alex Lloyd, Corvette
59 Lister Costin
1959 Lister Costin
John Martin, 63 Corvette
John Martin, 1963 Corvette
Lyn St. James, Ford Cobra IV
Lyn St. James, Ford Cobra IV
Mirage M6
Mirage M6
70 Ford Mustang Boss 302
1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302

 

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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery Page Two

 

65 Lotus 23B
65 Lotus 23B
66 Ford GT MKII
66 Ford GT MKII
Chevron B31
Chevron B31
Sports racers steam down the front straight to turn 1
Sports racers steam down the front straight to turn 1
Lola leads Ford into turn one
Lola leads Ford into turn one
Great, close racing in group 6
Great, close racing in group 6
05 Audi R8 LMP
05 Audi R8 LMP
97 Weaver Camaro lighting up downshifting for turn one
97 Weaver Camaro lighting up downshifting for turn one

 

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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery Page Three

 

65 Genie MK10B
65 Genie MK10B
70 Porsche 914/6
70 Porsche 914/6
61 Watson Roadster during the Historic oval demonstration
61 Watson Roadster during the Historic oval demonstration
Historic oval cars roar again at Indy
Historic oval cars roar again at Indy
The famous Lotus Turbine car (60) jockeys with other historic oval cars on Saturday afternoon
The famous Lotus Turbine car (60) jockeys with other historic oval cars on Saturday afternoon
All classes enjoyed going the opposite way from the road course on the Indy oval, flat out all the way!
All classes enjoyed going the opposite way from the road course on the Indy oval, flat out all the way!
66 Ford Mustang
66 Ford Mustang
72 Porsche 911
72 Porsche 911

 

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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery Page Four

 

Group 10 Feature race start led by a Ford Fusion (90) and Dodge Charger
Group 10 Feature race start led by a Ford Fusion (90) and Dodge Charger
Curt Vogt's Mustang Boss 302 leads the roaring field at the Legends Pro-Am start
Curt Vogt’s Mustang Boss 302 leads the roaring field at the Legends Pro-Am start
Gary Moore holds on to 2nd early in the Pro-Am race
Gary Moore holds on to 2nd early in the Pro-Am race
92 Lola penzoil
92 Lola penzoil
Vintage/Classic Enduro race gets off smoothly on Sunday
Vintage/Classic Enduro race gets off smoothly on Sunday
Green flag for the start of Sunday's Historic GT/GTP Enduro
Green flag for the start of Sunday’s Historic GT/GTP Enduro
Alfa GTV and Chevron B36, GT/GTP Enduro
Alfa GTV and Chevron B36, GT/GTP Enduro
69 Chevron B16, winner Vintage/Classic Enduro
69 Chevron B16, winner Vintage/Classic Enduro

 

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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery Page Five

 

35 Chevrolet Sprint car
35 Chevrolet Sprint car
30 Bugatti 35B
30 Bugatti 35B
73 Porsche 911 RS
73 Porsche 911 RS
65 Ford Mustang
65 Ford Mustang
65 BTM Cheetah Coupe
65 BTM Cheetah Coupe
66 Porsche 906
66 Porsche 906
65 Alfa Romeo GTA
65 Alfa Romeo GTA
92 Lola Penzoil
92 Lola Penzoil

 

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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery Page Six

 

1984 Tiga SC84
1984 Tiga SC84
Chevron B23
Chevron B23
1967 Ford GT40
1967 Ford GT40
Swift DB2 taking the alternate line
Swift DB2 taking the alternate line
67 Ford GT40
67 Ford GT40
72 Chevron B21
72 Chevron B21
67 Brabham BT21
67 Brabham BT21
59 Corvette
59 Corvette

 

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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery Page Seven

 

61 Lotus 20
61 Lotus 20
91 Lotus Esprit
91 Lotus Esprit
97 Lotus Elise S1
97 Lotus Elise S1
74 Porsche 911 RSR
74 Porsche 911 RSR
66 Porsche 906
66 Porsche 906
69 Chevron B16
69 Chevron B16
70 Lola T70 MKIIIB
70 Lola T70 MKIIIB
66 Lola T70 MKII roadster
1966 Lola T70 MKII Spyder

 

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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery Page Eight

 

66 Alfa Romeo GTV
66 Alfa Romeo GTV
61 Porsche 356B
61 Porsche 356B
82 Williams FW08C
82 Williams FW08C
63 Jaguar XKE
63 Jaguar XKE
03 Doran JE 4 Daytona Prototype
03 Doran JE 4 Daytona Prototype
34 MG J2
34 MG J2
59 Curtis 500J
59 Curtis 500J
1911National 40
1911 National 40

 

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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Featured Photo Gallery Page Nine

 

The 5 Unsers on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway front straight together
The Unsers on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway front straight together
The racing Unsers standing in front of the "yard of bricks"
The racing Unsers standing in front of the “yard of bricks”
58 Echidna Roadster
58 Echidna Roadster
63 Lotus Elan
63 Lotus Elan
73 Lola T332
73 Lola T332
71 GRD 272F2
71 GRD 272F2
78 Lightning Indy Car
78 Lightning Indy Car
69 Corvette
69 Corvette

 

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SVRA Indy Brickyard Invitational 2015 – Main Photo Gallery (click image for larger picture and description)

 

[nggallery id=803 images=15]

 

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[Source: Peter Falkner]