Breeze from the Hudson
Racing Sport Cars
At that time, my sincere and devoted focus on building a viable and profitable business interfered with my hopes of racing sports cars: I had neither the time nor the money. Fortuitously, a close friend agreed to let me drive his race car to attend a race driver’s school sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). The car was a Berkeley, a midget front-engined car powered with a motorcycle engine. It was racing, but not as I envisioned or aspired to.
A downturn in the real estate business gave me some free time. Perchance, I encountered a local race car builder and SCCA champion driver, Rick Cline. He made me an accommodating proposal to rent a competitive race car, a Triumph Spitfire. Finally, I was able to commit to my lifelong dream. I attended mandatory driver’s school. My performance was so exceptional that I received a trophy as best in the school. Not requiring further instruction, I was off and racing.
In the fall of 1962 in Jacksonville, Florida, a large autocross was held. The Brumos factory Porsche team was there in force along with mechanics and race vans. (Brumos was soon thereafter purchased by Peter Gregg and went on to become the all-time leader in victories at Daytona and Sebring.) I took my Porsche 1600 Normal to the event to challenge the best factory cars and drivers. I won.
We set lap records at courses in Gainesville, Palm Beach, Savannah, and Charlotte. My racing agenda expanded to include racing licenses for IMSA and FIA and races at Sebring (7th in class in 1977, Lotos Europa) and Daytona 24-Hour (Lancia Stratos). I continued SCCA racing and vintage racing, driving Lotus 23 (ex-Jimmy Clark) and Lotus 26, among other competition cars and motorcycles to include those already mentioned plus SCCA Spec Racers, Formula 2000, and a lowly Ford Pinto in several SCCA endurance events, finishing all. I even managed to break several ribs on a Yamaha YZ125 dirt bike.