By alley - Oct 12, 2014, 2:07 AM ET

Travis Engen exemplifies the serious racing at SVRA’s National Championships

Wandering the paddock at the Circuit of The Americas road course this weekend for the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association National Championships will tease a gearhead's senses. Throaty blasts of old school Can-Am cars tickle eardrums; wind tunnel developed aerodynamics of LMP prototypes rivet the eyes and the scent of burning high-octane fuel floods the nose. It's when you stop wandering and start talking to the crews and drivers of this weekend's vintage racing Mecca you realize these guys aren't kidding around.

Many of them, like Travis Engen (ABOVE), the deadly serious former president and CEO of Rio Tinto Alcan, demand nothing but the best in everything they do. In case you don't know, Rio Tinto Alcan is Canada's largest producer of aluminum products with a net annual profit of $2.8 billion. Now Engen applies the same intense focus to the racetrack he used to attain lofty heights in the corporate board room.

Engen isn't much for posing. He is focused on delivering results. Engen did that today, winning the SVRA Bell Helmet National Championship Trophy for hustling his Audi R8 LMP to victory in the prestigious GTP3 category. Attention? Publicity?

"I don't need it," Engen says.

What Engen does do is kick butt and take names in wheel-to-wheel competition. To reach his goals he acquires the best equipment and secures the top talent to crew it. He owns several racers but the Audi R8 LMP is the one that gets the most attention from fans.

His Audi is of 2005 vintage, among the last factory LMP cars that relied on gas engines before the company transitioned to diesels during the 2006 season. The car is prepared for Engen by GMT Racing one of several companies serious vintage racers turn to for everything from preparing the car, transporting it to tracks and crewing during race weekends. Essentially contracting with outfits like GMT Racing is the equivalent of hiring your own professional race team.

With that agreement comes some top talent with very credible resumes such as Greg Martin (RIGHT), who is on hand to crew for Engen this weekend. Martin has been in racing for nearly 30 years doing stints in IMSA Camel GT, IndyCar and ALMS. At the beginning of the century he hooked up with Champion Racing, a Florida-based team that became Audi's factory-backed effort in North America. Some of Martin's best memories are being a part of the team's Le Mans efforts in 2001, '03, '04 and especially 2005 when he was on the crew that took home the overall win.

"I think vintage racing is a misunderstood branch of motorsport," Martin says. "Sure, it's a real mix, but the approach Travis is taking is not at all unusual. In fact if you are going to win important events like these national championship races it's something you have to do."

Travis Engen did it – and he has the 2014 Bell Helmet National Championship Trophy to prove it.

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