NASCAR prominent at Coronado Speed Festival

When Coronado Speed Festival Founder Jim Philion considered last year the SportsCar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) as the sanctioning body for the event one stipulation was a must. The Naval Air Station paddock had to make ample room for the vintage NASCAR Cup racers.

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"That was non-negotiable," Philion asserts. "We know our military people. They come from all around America. They skew younger and they understand NASCAR."

Philion's strategy is to provide a style of racing that the generally younger adults making up the military – and their families – will find appealing. The idea is to capture their attention with a branch of motorsports they are familiar with and simultaneously expose them to others. Like every promoter in racing Philion and has team want to build a younger audience for the future.

The result is a NASCAR vintage race in this weekend's SVRA Group 10. Philion and his wife Beth own a pair of pristine-looking Cup cars that boast two pretty stout names on their roofs: former series champion Bill Elliott and two-time Daytona 500 winner Sterling Marlin. Beth drives the ex-Marlin car, a 2001 Dodge (BELOW). Jim's machine is the last road racing car Elliott drove – a Ray Evernham 2002 Dodge.

Among the most rare NASCAR machines in the paddock is Ron Myska's 1969 Ford Talladega once raced by Hall of Fame driver and Daytona 500 winner Lee Roy Yarbrough. Myska has the documentation to prove the car is an original Holman and Moody chassis and engine campaigned by team owner Junior Johnson for Yarbrough. All the parts deep inside the engine – head, crank, rods, cam – are stamped with "HM" for Holman and Moody. Myska's dream is to take his car to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in England.

"This car has a big fan base," Myska says. "People walk up to me and tell me it has a unique sound. I don't hear the difference so much because I have my helmet on. What I do know is that I have a big smile on my face."

The car is a prime example of how a careful observer can witness first hand the evolution of the machines of NASCAR's highest level simply by strolling the paddock and paying attention. Myska's Talladega is a specimen of why NASCAR racers were called stock cars in the first place. The car is entirely metal, no fiberglass here.

The hood, deck lid, doors (yes, actual doors) and bumper – basically the entire body – are all stock. The Ford transmission is something Myska reports could have been purchased from a dealership. The front brakes, though – 3.5 inch drum – were considered experimental at the time. The brakes were drum all around (RIGHT). It was a different time.

Contrast that with the cars of Tom Klauer, arguably the Rick Hendrick of the Coronado paddock. This weekend he is driving an ex-Jimmy Johnson 2003 Chevy Monte Carlo he acquired directly from the team. In fact it came off a rotating turntable platform right out of Hendrick's museum.

One of the interesting facts about the car is that while both Johnson and teammate Jeff Gordon tested in it, the machine was never raced. Showing the depth of Hendrick Motorsports, the car is an example of a first rate beast of a machine that never arose from "back-up" status. It was there just in case.

Similarly, Klauer, who also occasionally races in NASCAR's professional K&N series, is among the few vintage racers arriving with his own back-up. Stashed in his transporter is an ex-Rusty Wallace Miller Genuine Draft racer. It's there just in case.

Continuing through the paddock, fans can find cars spanning the decades from the 1960's to as late as 2007. There's an ex-Harry Gant #33 Skoal Bandit 1993 Chevy Lumina, a 1991 ex-Sterling Marlin Ford Thunderbird, a 1995 Mark Martin Valvoline Ford Thunderbird and an eye-catching, very rare 1995 Chevy Monte Carlo once driven by "The Intimidator" himself, Dale Earnhardt Sr. There are 24 entries in the Group 10 event.

The Valvoline car from Ford stalwart Jack Roush has the unusual history of once being a fan sweepstakes prize. Current owner-driver Steve Beck acquired it from the prize winner when the man slowly realized owning a NASCAR Cup car wasn't practical for a guy with one-car garage.

Commercial real estate developer Ralph Borelli owns Marlin's former Thunderbird ride, a car that was sponsored by Maxwell House coffee (BELOW). He loves vintage racing and brandishing a New York Times article on the subject, he insists it is analogous to what people have always said about golf: the sport is a great platform for building business relationships.

"There's a lot more to it than people realize," Borelli says. "It is the new golf. It is a great way to build relationships."

Watching Borelli hold court among his fellow racers between practice runs lets you know he's serious. The smile on his face immediately exiting his prized possession he has owned since 1999 tells you there's another reason he does it. He simply loves racing cars with character.

The newest NASCAR machine in the Coronado Speed Festival paddock is the ex-Juan Pablo Montoya 2007 Dodge of owner-driver Andy Weiss. Carrying the iconic number 42 with the black and orange livery of sponsor Havoline, Weiss acquired his racer directly from the world-class shops of Chip Ganassi racing.

Weiss, who will tell you he feels very fortunate to be in the vintage racing scene with such a terrific car, acknowledges that Klauer, with his considerable resources, operates at another level. Still, Weiss is able to pick up the pieces – literally – when facing setbacks like blown engines. His current power plant is an Evernham motor that delivers 830 horsepower. That's the kind of language Jim Philion knows his military-oriented race fans understand.

The SVRA race groups spent Friday practicing while the San Diego Fleetweek Foundation, promoters of the Coronado Speed Festival, continued to set up for their big days of Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday the 11 SVRA run groups qualified for the Sunday feature races. They will be joined by a special homage to the Panama-America Exposition road race conducted on nearby Point Loma in 1915. Twelve period-correct cars include two surviving entries of the original race will take part in a truly historic moment. That tribute will take place during the noon hour.

The backdrop to the auto racing will be the West Coast's only open house to an active military base – the North Island Naval Air Station. This includes rare active battleship tours, large displays of military equipment, a military-personnel NASCAR pit stop competition and a host of family friendly activities such as kiddie go-kart rides and zip lines. Jaguar and BMW are on hand with arrive-and-drive opportunities. Organizers expect as many as 20,000 fans to attend. Active military and family members are admitted free of charge.