Reno Historics To Feature H-Mod Reunion

The Reno Historic Races will honor the H-Modified racing class, the longest-lived internationally sanctioned racing class in existence, at this year's event. The fourth annual Reno Historic Races will take place May 4 through 6 at the Reno-Fernley Raceway, located at 1855 Hwy 95A, 30 minutes east of Reno, Nevada.

The Reno Historic Races delivers an exciting blend of historic production and special purpose-built racecars. The world-class historic cars are divided into groups according to make, age and horsepower. A typical representation includes racecars from prestigious manufacturers such as Ferrari, Jaguar, Porsche and Corvette that were raced in great series such as Formula One, Can-Am, and Winston Cup stock cars. One of the more notable features of the event is its "open paddock," which allows spectators the opportunity to walk right up to the valued vehicles and interact with the driver and crew.

Out of an entry list of more than 100 esteemed historic race cars will be a score of H-Mod cars. Better known today as the DSR class, these smaller, lighter, and lower displacement cars originally came from Italian and French factories in the early 1950s to meet the demand for increased sophistication in handling and style for race cars. Enthusiasts caught on, and quickly built even more limited production specials that used available production running components in highly innovative and modified lightweight bodies. H-Mod cars have made significant contributions to motor sports in terms of technological innovation and driver development.

The Reno Historic Races is pleased to have as its special guest Reno resident Tony Settember, one of only a handful of American drivers to have ever participated in Formula One racing. Settember competed in seven grand prix during his racing career: his best result was second place in the non-title 1963 Austrian Grand Prix on the Zeltweg aerodrome, behind Jack Brabham. In addition to Settember's European exploits, he competed in what is regarded as the highest level of sports car racing in North America: the Can-Am Series and the United States Road Racing Championship, driving a Webster, a Genie, and a Lola. Settember will be signing autographs at the event.

The Reno Historic Races run daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets cost $15 for the three-day event. Tickets are available at the Reno-Fernley Raceway; at the National Automobile Museum, 10 S. Lake St. in Reno; and at Dynamic Motorsports, 9728 S. Virginia St. #C in Reno.

The event is a fund raiser for The National Automobile Museum (The Harrah Collection), located in downtown Reno. The National Automobile Museum is an internationally recognized museum and a nonprofit organization whose mission is to collect and preserve the automobile for future generations, and to tell the story of the impact of the automobile on American society. The 105,000 square foot museum features changing exhibits, four period street scenes, and more than 200 antique, vintage, classic and special interest vehicles ranging from 1892 to present.

The Reno Historic Races are produced and sanctioned by the Historic Motor Sports Association (HMSA). Established in 1977, HMSA is an organization specializing in race events that feature historic cars through 1972. HMSA emphasizes the preservation and proper use of historic race cars.

For more information about H Modified and the history leading up to DSR, see the
[ Vintage Page ]

For discussion about H Modified, including participation in the Reno Historic Races, visit the
[ H Modified Yahoo Group ]

For more information about the Reno Historic Races, call 818-249-3515 or visit
[ www.renohistorics.com ]

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IMSA Names New Lites Manager

IMSA announced the immediate appointment of Mike Simons as Manager of Development Series, with his direct responsibilities being to manage IMSA Lites presented by Hankook and the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Michelin.

Mike's background includes 26 years of motorsports management experience, working with a variety of sanctioning bodies including NASCAR with the Goody's Dash Series, where he was series administrator; the SCCA and CART, where he was with the TransAm series as logistics manager.

"Both of these IMSA series have seen explosive growth, and it was critical to bring someone with Mike's level of experience to be a full time manager for these series, if they were to continue to see the phenomenal growth that they have enjoyed to this point," said Tim Mayer, Chief Operating Officer of IMSA. "The competitors in these series deserve our undivided attention; bringing Mike on-board ensures that we have both a dedicated Manager and the right level of experience to work with these great series."

"I have always enjoyed working closely with competitors," said Simons. "So the opportunity to work directly with the competitors of these two series is a great opportunity. There is still a lot of work to be done between now and the first races at Sebring, but luckily IMSA has retained the experience of many of the same people who have been working with these two series previously. My job is to grow the level of service that the teams can expect to receive, and to grow the profile of these series, as they compete in front of the greatest sports car fans in the world ? the American Le Mans Series fans."

Mike will be based full time at the IMSA office, and has started into his duties immediately.

The IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge presented by Michelin has rapidly grown into one of the largest Porsche Cup series in the world, this year featuring as many as 50 amateur competitors on the grid. The series will race at seven events this year; six times with the American Le Mans Series and once at the Unites States Grand Prix as a support race to the Formula One event in June. The series in being sponsored for the third year by Michelin, which has supported Porsche 911 GT3 Cup racing around the world including with the Michelin SuperCup Series, which is the world-wide pinnacle of the sport, all the way through to supporting club racing events.

The IMSA Lites presented by Hankook grew explosively in its first year in 2006 and looks to continue to grow in 2007, featuring the best in prototype sports racers in three classes. The L:1 Class features the carbon monocoque Elan DP02, designed and produced by the same team that has brought to life the next-generation Champ Car, the DP01. The L:2 class features the very best of the 1000cc class of sports-racer with the West WR-1000L, leading the way in cost-effective, high-performance racing. The L:3 class features the Van Diemen / Elan DP06, which is the SCCA Sports Racer class of car, and is marketed by SCCA Enterprises. This class is the most cost effective way to race in front of the crowds of the American Le Mans Series, which all three classes will do at six events this year.

Drivers and teams from both of these series compete as part of the sports-car festivals that the American Le Mans Series provides, operated and sanctioned by IMSA, which also operates the American Le Mans Series. For GT and Prototype drivers, teams and owners, both series represent a viable step towards the top levels of the sport.

[ IMSA Lites Series ]

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