SVRA: Brickyard Invitational Rewind

The multi-faceted, racing-themed festival that is the Brickyard Invitational at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway just might become the Father's Day Classic in the Hoosier Capital – especially if clear skies and not-too-warm temperatures prevail as they did this weekend. There was clearly good energy to the event with clusters of fans at choice spots such as the Hulman Terrace Suites and their perfect vantage point for the challenging first turn, or across the way with the infield viewing mounds bordering the same spot. Railbirds perched atop viewing mounds all along the course or hung on the fence lining the bridge looking over Gasoline Alley. They filled the upper deck along the old Formula 1 suites as well.

Most fans, though, were nomadic. They roamed the grounds with free access to areas almost always highly restricted, including the garages, even as mechanics prepped the cars. The low-pressure atmosphere allowed time for fans to ask questions and capture it all on Instagram or post videos to Facebook. Pagoda Plaza and its food vendors were busy.

• Robby Unser, Tracy star in Indy Legends Pro-Am

The big names of the Indy Legends Charity Pro-Am ruled the Speedway again – Al Unser Jr., Bill Elliott, the Foyts, Willy T. Ribbs, Max Papis, Roberto Guerrero, Davy Jones, Davey Hamilton and Dick Simon were among the 34-car field. While Robby Unser and Paul Tracy were the winners in A Production and B Production, respectively, some of their professional colleagues strayed into other areas.

Dennis Firestone ran a Formula Super Vee in Group 9 and Lyn St. James actually drove two cars in the same Sunday morning 90-minute enduro. She started the contest in Bruce Hamilton's ex-Matt Brabham 2008 Dallara Infinity Indy Lights car and then finished a second stint in Josh Shaw's 2008 Ford Doran GT. As a result St. James finished fourth and sixth in the same race. The enduro also attracted Indy 500 veteran Davey Hamilton, who shared driving duties with his Pro-Am co-driver George Del Canto in the latter's 1967 Camaro. Jack Baldwin, the 1992 Trans Am champion, drove the race as well in Bill Riddell's 2011 Porsche Cayman. Travis Engen, who won the enduro last year in his awesome 2005 Audi LMP 1, gulped the milk yet again.

One of the big stories of the weekend was Geoff Brabham's opportunity to become the second member of his legendary family to race a Brabham racecar at the Speedway, the first being his father, three-time Formula One world champion Sir Jack Brabham. The story got even better when Geoff dominated qualifying to sit on the pole and then won the Saturday Group 2 sprint race. He also won the pole for Sunday's second go for the run group, but mechanical issues sidelined him in the race. His car owner and teammate Ron Hornig salvaged the weekend by making it a clean sweep for the team with a victory in the Sunday race. Hornig had a huge weekend as he also won his second consecutive Brabham Trophy for immaculate preparation of his 1971 Brabham BT35 racecars.

Geoff's son, Matt, who ran his first Indianapolis 500 last month, was a last-minute surprise entry in the Sunday morning enduro. He drove an ex-Gabby Chaves 2008 Dallara Indy Lights racer, coming home third and on the podium just one spot ahead of St. James and her partner Hamilton, who were driving a car Matt once drove in his Indy Lights days.

In addition to the Brabham Trophy, there were three other trophy winners for best-presented cars. Jeff Taylor won for "Best of Show" with his 1964 Studebaker Daytona. Pat Kennedy took home the "Best Roadster" trophy with his 1948 Kennedy Tank Special Indianapolis 500 racer while Charles Test won the "Best Pre-War" trophy with his 1911 National Motor Vehicle Company stock car.

All about the grounds were cars. In addition to the more than 450 racecars competing there was the Hagerty Insurance "Shine & Show" car show with dozens more entries and the nearly 100 fine and rare collector cars that crossed the Motostalgia auction blocks on Saturday evening. Jaguar and Land Rover were on hand with driving experiences for anyone with a driver's license. A variety of vendors offered their wares – everything from performance and car care products, apparel and safety gear to memorabilia. Yes, the Brickyard Invitational has earned its festival stripes and SVRA President and CEO Tony Parella was suggesting to people to keep an eye out for an expansion of the show in 2017.

Check out the gallery below, followed by the the overall podium finishers for each run group through the weekend:

Click on the thumbnails below for larger images.

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Saturday, June 18 Race Results

Group 1
1. Bob Koons, 1961 Lotus 20
2. William Goldkind, 1962 Lotus 20 Formula Junior
3. Leo Basile, 1965 Cooper T75

Group 2
1. Geoff Brabham, 1971 Brabham BT35
2. Bruce Hamilton, 1970 Brabham BT36
3. Ron Hornig, 1971 Brabham BT35

Group 3, 4
1. Steve Patti, 1963 Ginetta G4
2. Michael Leveque, 1966 Chevrolet Yenko Stinger Corvair
3. Richard Brown, 1967 Marcos GT

Group 5, 7
1. Alex MacAllister, 1971 Chevron B19
2. R. Kent Baker, 2008 Stohr WF-1
3. Robert Sherwood, 2002 Carbir CS2

Group 6a
1. Curt Vogt, 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302
2. Shannon Ivey, 1967 Chevrolet Camero SS
3. Gary Moore, 1965 Ford Mustang GT350

Group 6b, 12b
1. Peter Klutt, 1969 Chevrolet Corvette
2. Jody O'Donnell, 1969 Chevrolet Corvette
3. Richard Wall, 1965 Cobra 427

Group 8, 12a
1. Richard Nichols, 1971 Datsun 240Z
2. Scott Kissinger, 1971 Datsun 240Z
3. Kirk Blaha, 1970 Datsun 240Z

Group 9
1. Jacek Mucha, 2007 Panoz DP01 Champ Car
2. Mark Brannon, 1997 Lola T97/20
3. Steven A, Hickman, 1997 Lola T97/20

Group 10
1. David Fershtand, 2005 Chevrolet Corvette CS
2. Jeffrey Bernatovich, 1990 Chevrolet Corvette GT1
3. Casey Putsch, 1988 Chevrolet Corvette GT1

Group 11
1. Travis Engen, 2005 Audi R8 LMP
2. Forest Barber, 2003 Doran JE4 Daytona Prototype
3. Joshua Shaw, 2008 Ford Doran GT

Pre-War
1. Paddins Dowling, 1934 ERA R2A
2. Charles McCabe, 1936 ERA R6B
3. Richard Morrison, 1939 Logonda V12 LeMans rep

Vintage/Classic
1. Scott Kissinger, 1971 Datsun 240Z
2. Craig Lyons, 1968 Porsche 911/S
3. David Baughman/Bruce Domeck, 1969 Nerus F100

Indy Legends Charity Vintage Pro/Am
1. Andre Ahrle/Robby Unser, 1965 Cobra Comp R
2. Gary Moore/Paul Tracy, 1965 Ford Mustang GT350
3. Clair Schwenderman/Richie Hearn, 1968 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster

Sunday, June 19 Race Results

Historic GT/GTP Enduro
1. Travis Engen, 2005 Audi R8 LMP
2. Nick Hommerson/Michael Bartels, 2004 Maserati MC12 GT1
3. Lee Brahin/Matthew Brabham, 2008 Dallara Infinity

Group 1 Feature Race 2
1. Bob Koons, 1961 Lotus 20
2. William Goldkind, 1962 Formula Junior
3. Donald Racine, 1961 Austin Mini Cooper S

Group 2 Feature Race 2
1. Ron Hornig, 1971 Brabham BT35
2. Bobby Brown, 1971 Brabham BT35
3. Travis Engen, 1970 Chevron B17b

Group 3, 4 Feature Race 2
1. Steve Patti, 1963 Ginetta G4
2. Michael Leveque, 1966 Chevrolet Yenko Stinger Corvette
3. Chris MacAllister, 1955 Jaguar D Type

Group 5, 7 Feature Race 2
1. Alex MacAllister, 1971 Chevron B19
2. Tom Lehmkuhl, 2002 Carbir CS2
3. Chris Arbuckle, 1988 Lola T88-90

Group 6a Feature Race 2
1. Scott Hackenson, 1967 Ford Mustang
2. Peter Baselice, 1970 Ford Mustang Boss 302
3. James Bradley, 1967 Chevrolet Camaro

Group 6b, 12b Fearure Race 2
1. Jody O'Donnell, 1969 Chevrolet Corvette
2. Richard Wall, 1965 Cobra 427
3. Clair Schwendeman, 1968 Chevrolet Corvette Roadster

Group 8, 12a Feature Race 2
1. Kirk Blaha, 1970 Datsun 240Z
2. Richard Nichols, 1971 Datsun 240Z
3. Scott Kissinger, 1971 Datsun 240Z

Group 9 Feature Race
1. Jacek Mucha, 2007 DP01 Champ Car
2. Mark Brannon, 1997 Lola T97/20
3. Steven A. Hickham, 1997 Lola T97/20

Group 10 Feature Race 2
1. David Fershtand, 2005 Chevrolet Corvette C5
2. Kurt Fazekas, 2014 Porsche GT3 Cup
3. Casey Putsch, 1988 Chevrolet Corvette GT1

Group 11, 9F5000 Feature Race 2
1. Niek Hommerson, 2004 Maserati MC12 GT1
2. Travis Engen, 2005 Audi R8 LMP
3. Jacek Mucha, 2006 Swift JMS 016 CP

Pre-War Feature Race 2
1. Paddins Dowling, 1934 ERA R2A
2. Richard Morrison, 1939 Lagonda V12 LeMans Rep
3. Nathanael Greene, 1925 Bugatti T 35