By alley - Jun 13, 2015, 10:07 AM ET

At the Brickyard Invitational: The art of driving

ABOVE: Owner Steve Cole with co-driver Johnny Parsons.

The tagline of the SportsCar Vintage Racing Association is, "We don't collect art, we race it." While there's little doubt the stars of SVRA are actually the exquisite array of racing machines – in some cases worth more than a million dollars – the sport's drivers revel in another artistic expression. The car is their instrument and it's all about what they can do with the steering wheel and pedals.

"I remember as a young man watching guys like Mario and Emerson (Fittipaldi) taking corners," says Indianapolis 500 veteran Johnny Parsons Jr. "I'd listen to them downshifting as they approached the corner, keeping the revs up in neutral to match the next gear. They were like concert pianists, tickling the ivories, hitting all the notes with the rhythm of doing it over and over again. It was music."

Cars formerly driven by Andretti, Fittipaldi and others that competed with them in the 1960s and '70s are part and parcel of an SVRA field. They are fast, but fundamentally different from today's state-of-the-art ground effects racers.

LEFT: John Martin and the '63 "split window" Corvette he will race in the Pro-Am.

John Martin, another Indianapolis 500 veteran, is, like Parsons, a driver in the SVRA "Indy Legends" Charity Pro-Am. He got his start racing Corvettes like his 1963 Pro-Am entry.

"Back in our day you had to have an educated foot, because you did a lot of driving with it," Martin says. "Your right foot was your traction control. Mastering techniques like heal-and-toe to shift smoothly were challenging and satisfying."

Parsons, a member of the midget racing hall of fame, competed in an era that spanned the focus on mechanical grip through the introduction of advanced aerodynamics. His final Indianapolis 500 was 1996. The 2015 SVRA "Indy Legends" Charity Pro-Am is his second vintage race.

"I was fortunate to drive in an era to compete against people like Mario as well as Al and Bobby Unser," Parsons says. "I have complete respect for today's drivers but they just don't have the opportunities for driver input that we did with the cars – or to compete with those that were the absolute best at doing it."

Former Indy Lights Champion Alex Lloyd, still a young man at 30, agrees.

"I was taken aback by how well my '69 Camaro Z/28 (ABOVE) handled," Lloyd says. "The power is impressive but the cornering isn't as soft as you might think. Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of roll, but it's a riot. You have to drive the car with the throttle, which isn't something we modern drivers are used to. And with period correct tires you need to have quick hands when the tail inevitably comes around, but it's so predictable and enjoyable."

Lloyd's car owner and co-driver is Dave Roberts, long-time vintage racer and CEO of the Carlisle Company. Through two of his subsidiary companies, Hawk Performance and DevilBiss, he is a sponsor of Team Penske in IndyCar.

"Alex is a huge talent," Roberts says. "I know he enjoyed driving with the throttle and that wasn't something he was used to. Still, he was faster than me within a lap."

Parsons learned the art of driving with the throttle in his sprint and midget days on dirt tracks. While track conditions change more dramatically on dirt than on asphalt the son of the 1950 Indianapolis 500 champion says the knowledge a driver learns on dirt can be applied to road courses.

"In understeer conditions you can deliberately break traction to loosen the back end up," Parsons explains. "You can't overdo it though, or it'll turn around on you. Also it can be a way to get off the corner with higher revs. If you have 200 more revs off the corner than the next guy you might have 800 over him at the end of the straight. That's where the art comes in."

RIGHT: The Legends field heads out to practice.

Martin, a fit and vigorous 76-year-old, is evidence that the spirit of a true racer can burn strong at any age. He savors the opportunity to run wheel to wheel again even though he knows his '63 Corvette gives up as much as 100 horses to some of the other cars in the field. His challenge is to do the very best with what he has and enjoy it.

"Drivers want to have more input to the car and you get that here. It gives them satisfaction to test and develop their skills," Martin says. "This is a real driver's sport and that's why all of us are so delighted to be a part of this event."

Lloyd finds vintage racing a treat with a theme that transcends the on-track experience.

"It's the essence of driving, and having experienced it for the first time here last year, I was bitten hard by the vintage racing bug," Lloyd says. "The fact is though that in vintage racing the beauty is in the experience. Primarily I want to run well and have an awesome time with a bunch of other guys and gals all ringing the necks out of stunning vintage machinery. Vintage racing is about having fun — there's no politics or money involved - at least not my money, that's Dave's deal! We race hard but most of all we race clean and don't bend anything."

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the SVRA are producing what is already one of American vintage racing's premier events. The feature event of the weekend, the Indy Legends Charity Pro-Am is scheduled for Saturday at 1:35 p.m. The 40-minute contest features 33 veteran drivers of the Indianapolis 500. An hour-long fan walk along pit lane will precede the contest. Brickyard Invitational Grand Marshall and four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Sr. will drive the pace car. Tom Sneva, the 1983 Indianapolis 500 champion, will serve as honorary starter and wave the green flag.

All of the SVRA's 11 groups of race cars spanning over 100 years of vintage machines will compete in features starting at 8 am and continuing to 5:30 pm. The exciting array of entries include exquisite examples of select pre-war machines, classic sports cars, Formula 1 and Le Mans prototypes as current as 2009.

While the SVRA cars hit amazing speeds and demonstrate exciting displays of car control as they break traction in corners, the real treat for car buffs is the chance to roam the paddock capturing pictures. The drivers and owners continue to impress with approachability and knowledge. It is Instagram heaven. Race fans can enjoy every minute of the action by taking advantage of overnight camping inside the Speedway.

Famous oval cars will be on display in the Garage Area between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. A "Shine and Show" automobile display involving hundreds of cars from different clubs will also be presented on the golf course lakeside.

Saturday night will present a concert by the legendary Blood, Sweat & Tears band, complete with an informal banquet. During the banquet special trophies will be awarded to honor specific cars of the event for exceptional preservation and preparation. Among the awards will be the A.J. Watson Trophy and the Sir Jack Brabham Trophy that will be presented to the winner by Sir Jack's son, Geoff, who is one of the 33 Indianapolis 500 veterans competing in the Pro-Am.