Velocity Invitational Brings Vintage NASCAR and Trans Am Action Back to Life

The Velocity Invitational returned to Sonoma Raceway this past weekend, showing off a wild mix of machines ranging from stunning low-rider Impalas to fire-breathing Group B Rally machines. This year, a large portion of the open infield paddock—which attendees can wander through at will—was dedicated to some choice bits of high-horsepower Americana.

The first, and perhaps loudest, was a group of NASCAR machines from 1981 to 2013. There were plenty of iconic machines and liveries on display, many of which had previously raced at Sonoma in anger when they were new. This included Dale Earnhardt’s 1993 Chevrolet Lumina, still wearing its black and silver Goodwrench livery, and a Richard Petty Pontiac Grand Prix in STP colors.

It was another Grand Prix, a 1998 example in a striking Hot Wheels livery, that surged into the lead at the start. The car, originally campaigned by Kyle Petty at Sonoma in the 1997 and 1998 seasons, was this year piloted by former IndyCar racer J.R. Hildebrand.

Within three laps, Hildebrand had earned a four-second lead over the second-place car, the #56 2011 Toyota Camry, a former Martin Truex car now piloted by owner Mike Thurlow. Hildebrand was looking set for an easy victory, running lap times in the 1:39 second range when most of the field was struggling to break out of the 1:50s.

Sadly, his dominance didn’t last long. On the fifth lap, Hildebrand’s Pontiac developed a bit of a smoking problem as it entered into the esses toward the end of the lap. The smoke quickly became substantial. Even from the top of the grandstands, it was easy to see the car’s precious fluids gushing out onto the asphalt.

Hildebrand limped into the pits, and the safety car came out to slow the field down. Sadly, the race would not restart. Thurlow, in the Martin Truex Camry, took the win over Justin Hertel in a 1988 Buick Regal, originally driven by Bobby Allison.

The Hillclimb

Hildebrand had slightly more success earlier in the event, taking place in Saturday’s Velocity Hill Climb, where a diverse cast of characters and cars ran the track in reverse, heading out from Turn 11 and climbing back up to the circuit’s highest point. 

Hildebrand ran the same Pontiac Grand Prix, certainly the brightest liveried car in a medley that included IndyCar legend Tony Kanaan piloting a McLaren Senna, former Formula One driver Romain Grosjean in a track-only Ford GT Mk IV, and Donut Media co-founder James Kirkham in his Mercedes-AMG GT3 “raw spec.” 

But it was Scott Speed who denied them all, dominating the field in Subaru’s Project Midnight, which later would go on to win Sunday’s Time Attack. Hildebrand came in ninth in the NASCAR machine, beating Tony Kanaan in his McLaren by two-tenths of a second. 

Trans Am

As anyone who’s seen these cars at speed can attest, the Trans Am run group did not disappoint. Featuring iconic and familiar American shapes dating from between 1966 and 1972, it kicked off late in the afternoon. The tires on these brutes are challenged at the best of times, but with air temperatures hovering around 103 degrees and the sun beating down, grip was clearly at a premium despite the freshly resurfaced track.

This race was again littered with notable machines, including the very first Boss 302 Mustang to race in Trans Am, which competed and won at the hands of Parnelli Jones in 1969. Another 1969 Boss 302 started on pole at this year’s event, a maroon example piloted by Ken Adams. He started ahead of endurance and prototype racer Patrick Byrne in yet another 1969 Boss 302, this one raced in period by Dan Gurney. 

Byrne took the lead not long after the start, but a charging John Hildebrand (J.R.’s father) was making early waves in a 1964 Pontiac Tempest known as the Gray Ghost. The elder Hildebrand climbed from the back of the pack to fifth after the first lap, and grabbed the lead on the fourth lap. Hildebrand and Byrne started an intense fight, battling with Jim Hague in another Boss 302, a 1970 example that Peter Gregg drove to third place in the 1971 Trans Am championship.

Byrne, Hildebrand, and Hague put on a thrilling race for the second half of the nine-lap feature, passing and re-passing each other, dipping tires into the dirt and leaving plenty of fresh tire marks on that pristine Sonoma asphalt as they struggled to put down power out of the hairpins.

In the end, it was Byrne in the 1969 Mustang that came in first, just a quarter of a second ahead of Hague in the ’70. Hildebrand in the Gray Ghost came in third, two seconds further back.

It was far and away the most entertaining race of the weekend, a great exhibition of classic muscle, a worthy resurrection of decades-old inter-marque rivalries, and a fitting display of classic American racing at an increasingly classy American track.