Blackhawk Vintage Classic 2014 Group 3 & some 4 - Sports Racing Cars & Monoposto Cars through 1972

Today we continue our photospew of the Blackhawk Vintage Classic with my favorite, group 3 - Sports Racing cars. These are actual purpose-built racing cars from decades ago.

After that, there are some group 4 formula Vees. There were so many of them, they overflowed from tomorrow's post into today's. Formula Vees are single seat "monoposto" cars with Volkswagen engines and drive trains. They don't have gobs of power (like maybe 40), but they're so small and light, they're anything but slow. They have the cheapest barrier-of-entry into the sport, so there are always lots of them to look at. But first, the bigger group 3s.

Because they're not production-based (meaning you couldn't just walk into a dealer showroom and buy one), it can be hard to guess the make of a group 3. I never know without asking. This one is green.

See? Green.

Because I saw this car last year, I happen to know that it's a Lola. Ooooo, Lola! Last year I got to help push this car onto the false grid (the starting area).

Another terrible attempt at a pan shot. No blur. No excitement. I really did get better later on. I promise.

Aha! See? Much better. Doing these follow shots takes a lot of trial and error, but it's worth it.

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I think this car may be a group 7. "all types of single-seat race cars, equipped with wings and slicks, from the late 60's through 1979." We welcome input/corrections from any VSCDA people on this stuff.

Same car as above, with it's skin off.

Starting to get the hang of pan shots. First priority for the next event: get a less shitty tripod. I got smoother results when I handheld the camera and rested my elbow on the tripod to steady it (my arm, not the tripod).

A green formula Vee going a million miles an hour.

A good pan shot means tracking the car perfectly with the lens as you follow it. Here's what you get if you can't quite do it.

The cars all drive back to their respective paddocks (camp sites) along the main road. Race tires are usually pretty sticky, and toss rocks around like crazy.