SOUTHLAKE, Texas – The Sportscar Vintage Racing Ass’n has announced six top contenders for its Vintage Race of Champions Charity Pro-Am presented by Chopard Watch championship have filed entries for the next race at Virginia Int’l Raceway Sept. 19-22.
All are in the hunt for either the A Production or B Production championships. Willy T. Ribbs and Boris Said, fresh off their VROC victories at Indianapolis Motor Speedway last month, appear to be the drivers to beat in AP and BP, respectively.
Bobby Labonte and Mike Skinner, also favorites in AP, have filed entries. Wally Dallenbach Jr. and Mark Dismore, both top contenders for the BP championship, are expected to run at the front in the decisive VIR contest.
In addition to the professionals, amateur drivers Ed Sevadjian, Gary Klutt and his father Peter Klutt are in the hunt for the amateur AP title while Jim Caudle, John Cloud and Shannon Ivey are the leaders of the BP championship. Sevadjian, with Ribbs, won in AP at Indianpaolis while Caudle and Said shared the winning BP car at the same event. Cloud won the Road Atlanta BP round with co-driver Max Papis in March.
Chopard, the Swiss artisan of luxury timepieces, and the Official Watch of SVRA, will present an SVRA-branded watch to the champions of AP and BP, both professional and amateur. It is modeled after their prestigious Grand Prix De Monaco Historique Race Edition timepiece. Since 2002, Chopard has served as sponsor and official timekeeper at the renowned Grand Prix De Monaco Historique.
The Virginia Int’l Raceway event will benefit IGNITE – the Autism Society of North Carolina’s community center for young adults with high-functioning autism or Asperger’s syndrome. IGNITE was founded by The Evernham Family Racing for a Reason Foundation – a nonprofit established by legendary NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham and his family.
The VROC Charity Pro-Am presented by Chopard Watch is a Saturday feature event at VIR. The cars are 1963 to 1972 vintage Corvettes, Camaros, and Mustangs of SVRA Group 6 A and B Production. The professionals will be paired with amateur drivers. Amateurs will start the race and be required to drive a maximum of seven laps.
In addition to the Pro-Am, there will be a festival of other activities at VIR including professional Trans Am by Pirelli series races on Saturday and Sunday. The weekend also presents the Hagerty Insurance cars and caffeine car corral, and 300+ vintage racers ranging over 100 years of automotive history racing in SVRA Groups 1 through 12.