Corvettes prevail in the SVRA vintage & historic opener at Sebring

Power and handling upgrades are key to winning today.

In the always popular group 6, Edward Sevadjian won the feature race on Saturday in the # 63 1963 coupe.  The owner, Patrick Sessions acquired the car from Ken Hazelton a few years ago and reached out to Duntov Motors for upgrades.

Edward’s rival Scott Borchetta has dominated group 6 in his # 1 1969 Corvette.   He was sidelined by a rare mechanical mishap on Saturday but won on Sunday.  Scott made big upgrades to his car that was built in late 1960 by the same folks who built the Owens-Corning cars that set records in the late ‘60s.

Clair Schwendeman was close behind the leaders in his # 37 1968 Corvette built and prepared by Duntov Motors.

Jim Heck had a good outing in his # 64 1964 coupe.  Its rather mild look belies upgrades done since starting out as a grocery-getter more than 40 years ago.

Group 6 turned out all the better with Corvettes from Jim Glass # 11, Woody Smith # 33 and Louis Guerra # 35.  Jon Miller # 11 raced his C4 Corvette in Group 12a combined.

Jose Chocron # 17 and Chas Wicht # 26 finished 1-2 against heavy competition in Saturday’s Group 10 feature race.  The close finish is remarkable considering a 2005 C5 Trans Am/GT1 silhouette-body vs. a 2016 C7 GT3.R exotic built from the ground up by Callaway Competition in Leingarten Germany.  John Kyle is the owner.

Bobby Kennedy, son of the late Corvette racer Mark “Squeak” Kennedy won his class in group 10 on Sunday.  He pilots a one-off tube-frame that was built by Robert “Bosco” Logdson and is powered by a contemporary NASCAR motor.

Ken Gold # 19 in striking Red Bull livery raced a 2007 C6 ZO6.  Cars like this one have remained viable over many years in the Trans Am SGT class.

Henry Gilbert # 3 in his 2016 Trans Am/GT1 silhouette-body did not make the start.

Adam Lindemann # 09 finished second in Saturday’s Group 11 feature race in his 2014 C7 DPi Corvette built on Coyote chassis.  John Reisman # 33 in a similar car did not make the start.  These cars marked the end of Corvette prototypes in the Grand-Am Series before GM turned to Cadillac for marketing reasons.

Bill Treffert # 24 in his upgraded 1960 Corvette was the winner and only entrant in Group 4; and second overall in groups 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5b combined.

 Photos courtesy of Larry VanScoy.  

 Speed Tour Complete Event Program by SVRA: https://speedtour.net/program/2023-sebring