The Paddock

Vintage Racer Group

1 week ago

Hello again!

Just a quick note to update everyone on the upcoming schedule for Spring into Summer in this unusual and uncomfortable time.

As you may have seen, VDCA and VIR have cancelled the Wild Hare in early April.

At the time, we wrote about the J500 and Thompson and now we have an update.

The Summit Point management and your J500 event team have scheduled a meeting for April 15 to determine what will happen for this year's Jefferson 500 and Drivers School.

We very much would like these events to continue, because we enjoy the paddock spirit and friendly competition of the Jefferson 500 as a highlight on our schedule each year and the Drivers School does a great job as an entry point for our newest racers and a "skill bump" for some of our experienced competitors.

However, it could be that the 2020 Jefferson 500 would either not take place in May, or not take place at all, due to safety concerns from this horrible pandemic we are currently facing. We continue to look to the CDC for guidance, and will certainly work in partnership with the Summit Point management to make the best decision for the safety of our entrants and volunteer staff.

We ask you, as you look ahead to make plans for May, to watch for an update around April 16, and until then - please do not make any reservations or plans that cannot be refunded or changed.

You should also expect updated information on our Thompson race, later in April.

We hope this medical and social challenge we are now dealing with can be overcome with all haste and minimal lasting damage and we wish all of you the best health in the time to come.

On a lighter note, please take the time to check, doublecheck and triplecheck your car (and your tow rig!!). I'm enjoying watching some videos online. No, it's not the same, but it's going to have to do for now. Here's a great one from the Group 1 race at the Glen, how many lead swaps and great respect shown by both drivers. I'll bet both of them had grins from ear to ear when they got back to their paddock spot. youtu.be/UWAG9fsaAS8. Let's see your in-car!

Mike Lawton
President, Vintage Racer Group ... See MoreSee Less

Vintage Racer Group

3 weeks ago

A message regarding Covid-19 from the VRG President:

Hi,

Well, I had hoped my first message as "VRG President would be in better circumstances, coming off a great couple of Spring events, supporting the VDCA at their Wild Hare Run and then another excellent J500.

Now, I'm hoping that will be my second message!

We're in an unsettled situation. Massachusetts is essentially on lockdown, even if we don't call it that. All restaurants have closed their dining rooms and are doing delivery/takeout only. My daughter's school extended their Spring Break and will be doing on-line classes for at least the first week after "return" from break. Boston University has joined Harvard, MIT, Tufts and a number of other colleges in going to online learning as well. Busy times around the house, the dog loves all the company.

It's a difficult time for many small businesses in the hospitality industry and I tend to think of the VRG, in some ways, as being part of that industry...although, we do have some significant differences...no payroll for one!

However, we need to consider the economic impact of our upcoming events and understand the risk in this turbulent time. We continue to monitor the CDC recommendations and speak with our track and catering partners.

We continue to offer our support as the VDCA works through their event planning for The Wild Hare. If you planned to go, or are thinking about attending, please check in at www.vintagedrive.com, regularly for updates on the event and any additional information they might release.

Next up on our calendar is the Jefferson 500 and Driver's School, which would start 8 weeks from today. We are in regular communication with the Summit Point management team about our contractual obligations to both them and the caterer.

The VRG Board met last week remotely to discuss possible options. We felt that the prudent thing to do at the time was to continue to plan for the event, while expecting that over the next 8 weeks we would understand more about whether we could continue or need to cancel. We will delay any cancellation decision until we are financially obligated to make that decision. We still hope that the Covid-19 outbreak may resolve by then and we do have the luxury of some time to make the best decision for the VRG, both as a club and for the membership. it probably goes without saying, we would recommend that anyone considering attending should probably not make non-refundable deposits on hotels, travel, etc., until we have more clarity on this changing situation.

After the J500, Thompson is up next on our calendar and is 4 weeks after the Jeff, so 12 weeks away. We are also in regular contact with the track management there and similar to Summit Point, we intend to continue to monitor the situation and use the time to our benefit to delay any decision as long as possible until our financial obligations come due.

We thank our event partners at Summit Point and at Thompson very much for their willingness to work together with us as we navigate these uncertain times.

Be well, safe and healthy everyone and I look forward to seeing you all at a racetrack very soon!

If you have any questions, please feel free to send me or any Board member an email, we're happy to share whatever information we have with you.

Mike Lawton
VRG President ... See MoreSee Less