Enduro races close Brickyard Invitational competition

The SportsCar Vintage Racing Association closed its high-speed competitive action Sunday morning with a pair of “Enduro” races, one 60 minutes, the other 90. These events are longer challenges than the typical feature races of 20 minutes. The teams typically use two drivers but are not required to do so. If they don’t however, the solo pilot must stop in the pits for the time required for a driver change.

The cool factor of the competition was bumped up a notch when two former Indianapolis 500 drivers landed on the podium in the 90-minute run. One, 1996 Indy 500 starter Scott Harrington, had his entry planned for months with long-time partner Bill Able. They finished third. For the other, 1992 Indianapolis 500 rookie-of-the-year Lyn St. James, it was pure serendipity. Her opportunity was the result of a chance encounter in the paddock with Bruce Hamilton, a driver and car owner she had never met before.

“I can’t put it into words,” St. James said on the victory podium after sipping from a bottle of milk several times. “To have this happen so unexpectedly and to come home second overall out of 34 cars, it’s amazing, really. This sport can be so hard. You have your dreams and then things don’t always work out they way you hoped. Now, to drink milk at the Brickyard, to stand on the podium, well, it really is a great moment in my life.”

For the record, St. James was visibly moved. Her eyes welled up.

Her co-driver and new friend Hamilton was not surprised. A long admirer of Lyn’s moxie, he could not resist approaching her about sharing driving duties. He was honored to have her in his car.

“For Lyn to have never sat in that car before (a 2008 Dallara-Infiniti Indy Lights racer), well it just shows what an amazing talent she is,” Hamilton said. “I am so honored to share this with her. I will remember it forever.”

The St. James-Hamilton connection was a great example of the recurring theme throughout the weekend. The atmosphere of shared passion for motorsports in general and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in particular infused more energy in established bonds and fostered new ones. Fellowship and competitive spirit may seem like an odd mix but it works at the Brickyard Invitational.

The fellowship between Harrington and Able is long established, dating back to childhood. Both were talented motocross racers as teenagers but Able’s pursuit of a professional racing career was held in check when he took a big fall that nearly paralyzed him from the waist down. Years later he decided to return to competition as a vintage racer and prevailed upon the coaching services of Harrington who had persevered on the professional path winning championships while marching up the ladder and earning the rookie-of-the-year title of the Indy Racing League (IRL) in 1999.

Able and Harrington drove a 1990 Shelby Dodge Can-Am racer. Harrington shares St. James feeling about gulping milk at Indy regardless of the style of racing.

“Just to succeed at IMS at any level is phenomenal,” reports Harrington. “This really is a take-it-to-your grave moment.”

Despite sharing the podium with better-known rivals overall winner Travis Engen could not be overshadowed from the top step. He chose to go solo in his stunning silver and red 2005 Audi LMP1, a team car to the machine that won the 24 of Le Mans that year. An accomplished driver, Engen and his Audi are invariably the favorites in SVRA events. The raw speed of the machine was an awesome watch as it zipped across the yard of bricks. Engen won the 2014 national championship of his class last October at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA).

Engen also ran in the earlier 60-minute Enduro to bring his 1962 Lotus 23B home second. He again drove solo in that contest. Drivers Gray Gregory and Randy Buck shared the steering wheel to score the victory with a 1969 Chevron B16.

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