Victory Lane Magazine – January 2024: Volume 39, No.1

Summit Point Motorsports Park, Summit Point, WV, November 17-19, 2023

Story by Terry Johnsen

Once again, the vintage racing season has drawn to a close. In general sports terms that conjures up thoughts of ‘the grand finale’, the fantastic finish that crowns a champion, or the gala event with all its bells and whistles. The fine folks of Vintage Racer Group (VRG) for years have chosen to take a different path to commemorate the end of their season. The Turkey Bowl at Summit Point Motorsports Park, a week before Thanksgiving, is a race meeting to savor the fun and comradery of fellow racers and friends one last time. Like a collective deep breath to appreciate each other and their shared love of racing competition.

I asked John Wood, current VRG President, what makes the Turkey Bowl the Turkey Bowl? He thought for a moment and said, “It’s a low-key event, it’s as much about the people as the cars. It’s a social thing, getting the cars out one more time before the snow flies, and to hang out with your friends.” And in that spirit VRG and their members will come together on Saturday night to celebrate a great year, give out a few awards and satisfy their palate with a good old-fashioned chili cookoff.  John went on to say that 2023 was a good year for VRG, with increased participation at every event, and that financially they’re in solid shape. Looking forward John told me that the 2024 VRG will feature the same dates and same tracks as this year. Which is a welcome sign of stability for any racing series. 

A bit of sadness played a part in the 2023 season, as two of VRG’s nine original founding board members died this year. First, Brad Marshall passed away mid-year. John noted that Brad was a driving force to get VRG started in 2004, with his focus on safety. Brad was the one who said, “let’s do this!” Then in late August, Tivvy Shenton passed away. John said “Tivvy was the one original board member that was most continuously involved from day one and remained active through this year.” VRG has come a long way, supported by the solid leadership of its founders. Their beloved memory was on the minds of all Turkey Bowl participants this weekend. 

Five race groups defined the on-track activity for the weekend: Group 1 (VRG Small Bore), Group 2 (VRG Open-Wheel), Group 3 (VRG Medium/Big-Bore), Group 4 (Modern Sports/GT), and Group 5 (Legends). The weekend schedule was a straightforward and simple affair. Friday consisted of registration, tech inspection, and some limited practice. Saturday’s activity was pure racing, beginning with a warmup session, followed by a round of qualifying, then a race for each group after the lunch break. Sunday’s activities featured three special ‘Festival’ race events.

Group 1 held their race just after the lunch break. It was basically over before it began, with two separate black flags (the first after lap one and the second after lap four) ultimately stopping the race. Setting the pace from the drop of the green flag was Andrew Moore (#79) in his 1964 Austin Healey Sprite. He was followed closely by Jesse Darrow (#51, 1965 Triumph Spitfire) and Mark Gobble (#59, 1959 Elva Courier). It was in this order they finished race when it was called, due to multiple cars off-track.

Group 2 then took to the track and ran a clean race throughout. Josh Lewis (#812) stormed away from the field in his 1985 Lola T598. His fastest lap of the race was an impressive 1:19.496. Steve Byrne (#23, 1984 Swift DB1) and Leon Hodges-Austin (#45, 1978 Zink Z10 C) finished second and third respectively, drawing away from the pack and running by themselves for much of the race. The hottest battle in this group was for fifth place, waged between Dennis Austin (#5, 1976 Zink Z10-A) and Andrew Graham (#7, 1986 Van Diemen 1600), finishing in that order.

Group 3 presented a huge field of 37 cars for the race. Cord Kisthardt (#69) started on pole in his 1968 Chevrolet Corvette and cruised to an easy victory. But early on he withheld a serious challenge by second place runner, Todd Reid (#61, 1995 Honda Civic DX), who even took fastest lap on the 4^th circuit of the race. During laps 3-5 the two drivers were nose-to-tail. Lap six is when Reid’s car began to fail him, and he eventually fell through the field out of contention. James Glass (#11, 1965 Chevrolet Corvette) inherited second spot, while Scott Krueger (#22, 1972 Porsche 914-6) improved to hold on to third position. Drivers finishing in positions 4-23 were a lap down, while the rest of the cars were further afield.

The race for Group 4 was a bit of a headscratcher, in terms of the official results posted by MyLaps. Their listing had Qais Musmar (#34) winning in his 1973 Porsche 911, followed by Andrew Mistak (#17, 2013 Chevrolet Camaro TA2) in second and Thomas Beverly (#4, 1992 Honda Civic) in third position. This writer was in the scoring booth lap counting, watching Mistak (#17) dominate the field, building a healthy gap till lap 8 when he pulled in for a brief stop. He reentered the race in third position, with Musmar (#34) in the lead and Graham Fuller (#22, 1992 Toyota Tercell) in second position. It stayed that way for a few laps until a black flag came out on lap 11 because Michael Ballo (#135, 1974 Porsche 911) spun and collected the inside retaining wall on the front stretch, losing his front bumper along with other assorted parts strewn all over the track. The entire field was then brought onto pit lane while the clean-up was underway. When the cars were released to resume the race, the order passing the start-finish line was #22, #17, #4, #0, and Musmar (#34) in fifth position. When they took the green flag the next time by, Mistak (#17) was in the process of passing Fuller (#22) for the lead. On lap 17, Beverly (#4) passed Fuller (#22) for second. At the checkered flag Mistak (#17) was the winner, and class of the field. I had Musmar (#34) moving up to fourth position, last car on the lead lap. My old-school lap-counting process in usually spot-on, so I’m at a loss as to why there’s a discrepancy in the transponder readings, but there you have it.

Then came group 5. If you’d put your money on #8 you could have won a bunch of money, for there were plenty to pick from. The winner of the contest was Tyler Hughes (#8h) in his 1934 Ford Legend. For much of the race he was followed closely by Mike Weddell (#8m, 2014 Legend Ford) and Connor Weddell (#8c, 2014 Legend Ford). Ultimately David Markham (#10, 2014 Legend Chevy Coupe) claimed second position with Mike Weddell (#8m) settling for third spot. A great day of racing was in the books, now it was time for some chili!

The highlights for Sunday’s activity centered on the three Festival Events. First on track was Group 2 for the Formula Festival race. Steve Byrne (#23) cruised to the win in his 1984 Swift DB1. He had Leon Hodges-Austin (#5, 1978 Zink Z10 C) in his mirrors throughout the race but provided no serious threat, even though Leon captured the fastest lap of the race with a 1:21.657. Tim Hannen (#0, Ford Hawke DL17) rounded out the podium in third.

Next up was the Vintage Festival, featuring cars from Group 1 and Group 3. An incredible field of 54 cars took the green flag. Todd Reid (#61) set the pace in his 1995 Honda Civic DX. He secured the fastest lap with a 1:27.028 and went on to capture the win. James Glass (#11, 1965 Chevrolet Corvette) and Scott Krueger (#22, 1972 Porsche 914-6) put in strong showings, taking second and third finishes respectively.

Closing out the Sunday Features were the racers from Group 4 and Group 5 in the Modern Festival. Qais Musmar (#34) piloted his 1973 Porsche 911 in a close fought race for the win. He was followed across the line by Tyler Hughes (#8h, 1934 Ford Legend), 1.531 seconds back. Connor Weddell (#8c, 2014 Legend Ford) claimed a respectable third position.

The Turkey Bowl concluded as the sun faded on the horizon. Another successful VRG racing season finished, not as a grand finale, but as a satisfying get-together with friends before the first pesky winter snowflakes make an appearance. This may be a ‘low-key event’ as VRG President John Wood put it, but it’s also the perfect opportunity for everyone to savor the moment, give thanks, and to appreciate each other and their shared passion of racing. On to 2024!

TJ