A survey of Corvettes racing in the 30 th edition of the Brian Redman Classic at Road America
This # 8 1965 Corvette is Joe Hoffman in the Friday evening bespoke car show in downtown Elkhart Lake Wisconsin that kicks off 2 days of racing at the epic Road America 4.1-mile track that opened in 1955. The late Dr Bruce Halfert originally raced this 1965 Corvette on the west coast.
This # 8 1969 Corvette, built for vintage racing and piloted by Josh Belicki, NASCAR O’Rielly Auto Parts Series pro driver, battling with Dr Clair Shwendeman, a veteran accomplished racer in his # 37 1969 Corvette built for vintage racing by Duntov Motorsports (now Concierge Motorsports) as pictured above.
This # 33 1963 Corvette roadster is the fastest C2 Corvette in vintage racing. Its history begins with Ken Hablow, followed years later by Mike Donohue and made quicker by former IMSA GTP crew chief Curt Geaches. It is shown above in the hands of Jody O’Donnell who bought it to replace his dominating C3 Corvette that was put out of commission earlier this year in the HSR race at Road Atlanta.
This # 15 1976 Corvette, Greenwood chassis 010 was built specifically for Sam Mancuso who raced it in the Trans-am Series. The car was found and restored by Mike Sepe who sold it to Brad Briscoe who raced it for several years before passing it along to John Anderson shown above who added more punch.
Talk about cars with local history, this # 17 1969 Corvette was originally built up from a wreck by Randy Stafford and then raced in the mid-west SCCA events by himself and Rick Pfrang back in the day. The next owner, Alan Trotter devoted himself to preservation at the cost of performance. Pfrang bought it back at a favorable price, made upgrades and now plans to retire the car.
This # 3 1969 Corvette was originally raced in SCCA BP by Bud Deshler from Long Island NY. Rick Blaha and his son Kurt, shown above have raced in vintage events going on 20 years.
This # 8 1969 Corvette was originally raced in SCCA BP by Gary Sullivan in Colorado. J.C. “Jock” Griffith discovered it, brought it up to snuff and has raced at Road America a number of times.
This # 13 1969 Corvette was originally built and raced in SCCA BP by Chip Boatright who is still at it in vintage racing today.
This # 81 1968 Corvette has a long history beginning with Rod Harris from New England. The next owner, Sheldon Stafford from Kansas City installed a big block motor and raced it in the mid-west. Current owner, local enthusiast John Rische now races it sparingly and was sidelined by an engine-related problem resulting in a DNS.
This # 86 1964 Corvette was created for vintage racing as a hobby by the late Bruce Leven from the Pacific Northwest who made his fortune collecting trash d/b/a Bayside Disposal and is best known for his team that raced the Porsche 962 in IMSA GTP. Cooper DuBois calls himself lucky to have it and is shown above.
This # 5 1967 Corvette was built for vintage racing by Jan Quast. It now sports a great new look with current owner Jason Woita from Wahoo Nebraska, shown above.
This # 76 1969 Corvette was built for vintage racing by Brian Morrison to accompany his father and pioneer Corvette racer, the late, great Bill Morrison at vintage events.
This # 696 1969 Corvette was acquired by Robert Gee from J P Matison who built it several years ago for vintage racing, preferring the aggressive look of an IMSA endurance racer.
This # 9 1969 Corvette was built for vintage racing, also to look like an IMSA endurance racer and was recently acquired by Trent Thompson from Decatur IL.
This # 33 1969 Corvette coupe was built for vintage racing by Mark MciIlyar from Dallas.
This # 3 2017 Corvette is C7.R chassis 003 built by Pratt & Miller. Pierce Marshall, a prolific collector of Pratt & Miller Corvettes, was among the leaders in the group for newer race cars at the Brian Redman Classic.
This # 24 2016 C7 silhouette bodied GT1 was built by Rick Dittman, a gifted veteran from Illinois who has built and raced C2, C3, C5 and C6 Corvettes going on 60 years with no signs of slowing down.
This # 86 2003 C5 ZO6 Corvette was piloted by local Matt Jensen who began vintage racing decades ago in a C3 Corvette.
This # 24 1960 was the only solid axle Corvette to appear at the Brian Redman Classic. Bill Treffert, since buying it from Dennis Nettisheim in 2013, has “modernized” the car and raced it extensively over the years. It was purpose built for vintage racing by Jim Melton of Bow Tie racing in Wisconsin.
This # 65 1959 Echidna “Corvette Special”, powered by a fuel injected 283 cubic inch engine sits on a Corvette chassis. Its body, manufactured by Devin reduces the weight by a whopping 1,000 pounds. SCCA placed it in the C Modified class. Mike Silverman is shown above driving this authentic relic.
The same can be said for this # 66 1959 Echidna, bought from Steve Steers as shown above driven by Randall Greene.
We are grateful to Pete Gorski d/b/a Visors Down, Bill Nesius, Victory Image Media Group
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