PREVIEW: Treasure Island at Coronado Speed Festival

ABOVE: Fans in packed grandstands witness the start of
one of the Coronado Speed Festival's vintage group races.

As the organizers of the Sept. 18-20 Coronado Speed Festival ready the U.S. Naval Air Station North Island for the 18th running of their annual vintage racing extravaganza, they do so with great optimism tempered by experience that never underestimates challenges. Common in motorsport, the promoters relentlessly pursue ways to shed their reputation as a best-kept secret and attract visitors as well as sponsorship.

Brian Sack, executive director of the San Diego Fleet Week Foundation that produces the event, calls it "a diamond just below the surface," and adds, "The first thing people who come see us ask is, 'How come I didn't know about this?'"

Then Sack answers his own question. As a non-profit business with a mission to improve the morale, welfare and recreational opportunities of San Diego-area military personnel and their families, they are very conservative financially. In fact they attract an impressive 20,000-plus paying customers without advertising or full-on promotion.

What's more, the Speed Festival has quietly grown since its founding in 1997 based on self-sustaining funding, not government budget. The event self-funds through hard-earned ticket sales and sponsorship investment. Because of that they were able to continue without interruption in 2013 when virtually all government-backed military recreational activities went on hiatus due to the infamous Federal Government sequestration.

Successful events have a culture and this one is readily apparent in its nexus of Southern California car enthusiasts and military assets on an active naval base. The Coronado Speed Festival is the marquee production of a host of other activities presented by the foundation. Others include golf tournaments, special Sea World events and VIP seating at San Diego State football games.

With active military aircraft, battleships and even the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier as backdrop for some 250 vintage racecars, the weekend has no shortage of Instagram-worthy eye candy. Spanning the 1950s to the early 21st century, classic Trans-Am, NASCAR Cup Cars, Shelby Cobras, Jaguar Listers, open-wheel formula cars and small-bore sports racers can all be seen dicing on a 1.7-mile twisting temporary course fashioned from air traffic runways in just three days' time.

Bottom line, the Coronado Speed Festival has a lot of upside. All of what it is stirs the imagination of the event's founder, Jim Philion – a big-time vintage racer and a man of stout credentials in corporate America. His many and varied executive officer roles include stints as President and CEO of Thrifty Rent-A-Car System, Executive Vice President of Chrysler's Pentastar Transportation Group and President of the Airline Passenger Association. He also was chairman of the Holiday Bowl, and in that role founded the Speed Festival. Really, the list is way too long to cover here.

The main point is that Philion thinks big. Living the Foundation's mission to serve the military he dreams of growing the Coronado Speed Festival into a rival to the mecca of all such productions, the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England. While he and Sack share the near term goal of pushing attendance beyond the 30,000 milestone, Philion looks over the horizon to something Goodwood-style stupendous. To hear anyone else say it might produce guffaws but one glance at the man's bio demonstrates he has the chops.

Philion and Sack have a new partner in their quest in the form of the SportsCar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA). Saddling up with the rejuvenated SVRA, which was purchased by CEO Tony Parella in 2012, the promoters believe they are charging full speed forward into a new era of growth.

"I think Tony and his team are the right people to help us do it," Philion says.

Sack agrees, saying, "Tony is running vintage racing like a business, not a club. He wants everyone to enjoy themselves and retain the character of the sport, but he wants to see it grow. Like us, he knows it has to make business sense. I can work with a group like that."

There's no doubt Philion, Sack and the entire Coronado Speed Festival team had a running start when they hooked up with the SVRA. They have taken the term "festival" very seriously and enhanced the multifaceted show throughout the years. Among the key additions are a car show, car club corrals and the brainchild of Philion and his wife Beth – a NASCAR pit stop competition featuring teams of 10 badass enlisted men and women.

The pit stop competition is a fan favorite and gives the military people a chance to become participants in the event (ABOVE RIGHT). A professional with NASCAR experience trains all of them.

"I believe some of these men and women could jump into the real crews today and get the job done," Philion asserts.

The team at Coronado, like every branch of motorsport, is in pursuit of the elusive millennial fan. With the festival concept, Sack believes they have the right formula.

"I think we have our finger on the pulse of what young people want to see," Sack says. "We will have both BMW and Jaguar here with arrive-and-drive programs at no charge. We have Red Bull dirt bike stunt riders. Our car corrals have fantastic clubs like Ferrari and Porsche. The car show has hundreds of exotics like Shelby Cobras, Lamborghini and Vipers. The race cars will give a great speed show. Then our guests can go tour an active battle ship like the USS Somerset. It's the ultimate sensory experience – nobody's bored."

All of that is consistent with the mission of the event, which is to serve the active duty military and their families. They attend free of charge and are honored every step of the way. One of the mission-critical aspects of the weekend is to create a platform for the general public to come together with the military and their families. A lot of handshakes and heartfelt "thank you" messages are exchanged. It's the only active military base open house on the West Coast.

The event's history boasts the attendance of racing legends like Rodger Ward, Parnelli Jones, Phil Hill, George Follmer and John Morton. Robby Gordon brought his stadium truck series to the 2014 event. Cars of pedigree are always in abundance. Among them this year are Philion-owned Dodge NASCAR Cup cars raced by Sterling Marlin and Bill Elliott as well as Michael Andretti's 1982 Formula Super Vee championship-winning Ralt.

With everything the Coronado Speed Festival has to offer it is hard to believe the diamond just below the surface won't sparkle brightly through. Through determined leadership and a righteous cause this gem of an event just might make Coronado Island a modern-day Treasure Island.