Published in Monterey Car Week (Laguna Seca 2014)
By D. Brian Smith
Photography: D. Brian Smith
Every year during Monterey Car Week I have the great good fortune of spending some quality time with vintage race cars and vintage sports cars at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Each year the famous corkscrew-equipped racetrack hosts the nicest vintage machines from the world around for the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.
Laguna Seca 2014
I've been coming so many years that I've lost count how many times that I've been. The event never grows old to me. It's because of the magic that these ancient, old and recent racing machines do for the soul of a gearhead like me.
Racing history is not just on display it's on exhibition for these vintage competitions. Yes, I was a little boy when some of these cars were tearing up tracks all over the planet. But thatdoesn't mean that I wasn't aware of them.
My Dad bought me a little pocket paperback car book when I was at most a non-driving teenager called Sports Cars of the World. I pored over the pages of that handy guide and memorized the specs of my favorite sports cars. Then years later, when I first had the opportunity to spectate at Laguna Seca's vintage races, I had the distinct opportunity to see those various racing machines from my youth come to life at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Seeing these automobiles at speed on a challenging and famous road course like Laguna Seca 2014 is even better than seeing these cars at the static car shows across the land.
Given a highly impacted show schedule for Monterey Car Week in 2014, I was unable to get a photo vest and capture some action shots on track. I had several events that interfered with me being at Mazda Raceway for even one entire day. Nevermind. I still had occasion to capture some certainly special racing hardware in the pits and around the paddock on Saturday of the three-day event.
As with every year during Monterey Car Week, the best way to appreciate all the sporting machines from past epochs is at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Some of the photos displayed here do justice to the outstanding machines that careened around the track in 2014. But you know that you're best served by being here in person at the track. Make sure you venture out to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in mid-August 2015, if you're a gearhead like me. You'll be glad that you did. I guarantee it!
