SVRA set to let the good times roll at NOLA

Aerial photo courtesy of NOLA Motorsports Park

This weekend (Oct. 8-11) the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) descends on NOLA Motorsports Park just 15 miles from the New Orleans French Quarter. The vintage racers will again share the stage with the Trans Am professionals led by female driver sensation Amy Ruman and former SVRA Group 11 National Champion Paul Fix, who are locked in a battle for the series' top-level class championship. Also on board to complete a field of some 150 racecars are the Corinthian Vintage Auto Racers (CVAR).

The race meeting, dubbed by the SVRA as "Mardi Gras in October," promises a big dose of Cajun culture to spice up the usual festival atmosphere and eye candy of vintage racing as well as the intense wheel-to-wheel nature of Trans Am. Beyond the on-track action there will be a parade of the vintage machines leading to the French Quarter on Friday evening as well as a "shine and show" collector car show on Saturday plus a New Orleans jazz concert with local musicians later that evening.

Thirteen police officers on motorcycles will lead the Friday kickoff parade composed of some 50 vintage racecars as well as choice current models of series sponsor Jaguar. The racers will park in front of the Harrah's casino, sponsor of the parade. The plan is for them to arrive sometime after 4 p.m. and return to NOLA at 7 o'clock.

Davy Jones and Roberto Guerrero, both runners-up in the Indianapolis 500 as well as the owners of numerous other major racing victories, will engage Jaguar guests with conversation and hot laps in special edition Jaguar F-Type high-performance cars (RIGHT, photo courtesy of Jaguar-Land Rover). Fans attending the SVRA weekend at NOLA can register to get behind the wheel of F-Types in an autocross arrive and drive.

"This is our first time in the Big Easy and I am here to tell you NOLA is a state-of-the-art facility," says SVRA President and CEO Tony Parella. "We will embrace all the accouterments of the rich local culture. NOLA President Kristen Engerson and her team have been great to work with. They are making sure everyone can have some of the greatest food in the world, jazz music, the beads – everything."

The event will showcase NOLA's multi-purpose facilities with 21st century accommodations for events with classrooms, lounges and a two-story complex providing comfortable accommodations with vantage points of the entire FIA certified 2.75-mile, 16-turn course. Opened in 2011, NOLA enjoys the advantages of the latest technology and the ability to provide a multi-faceted experience. One example is the go-kart course on the grounds that will be open to fans looking to do more than just watch others go fast.

"October is the perfect time of year to come to New Orleans and we are determined to make this a signature event for the SVRA, that's our mission." says Kristen Engerson, NOLA president. "We have great communication with Tony and the SVRA team. We are excited to have Jaguar and all they bring as well to marry everything with our world-class facility at NOLA to create a speed festival."

NOLA is one of America's newest permanent motorsports facilities but it's also interesting to note that the city of New Orleans has some legendary auto racing history. In 1909 Ray Harroun (LEFT, IMS photo), winner of the first Indianapolis 500 in 1911, scored one his early important victories in the 100-mile feature of a Mardi Gras race meet at the local fairgrounds.

Perhaps more historically significant was Joan Cuneo, regarded as the top woman driver of her day (BELOW, photo courtesy of Elsa Nystrom). She won one of the other races over male competitors – a success that led the national governors of the sport to ban women from racing according to her biographer Elsa Nystrom, author of "Mad for Speed: The Racing Life of Joan Newton Cuneo."

"Joan loved racing and entered all of the contests of the New Orleans weekend," Nystrom reports. "She was later very disappointed to learn she had been ruled out of the sport."

While the SVRA celebration of vintage racecars helps put the sport's history into context for contemporary race fans, part of that involves how much things have changed for the better. That includes racing at a state-of-the-art facility like NOLA and the chance to watch women like the SVRA's Lou Marchant race her heart out in her 1959 MG-A (pictured top left, SVRA photo). There's also the chance to watch another woman, Trans Am's Amy Ruman, make history by winning a major auto racing championship. There's a big weekend ahead.