{"id":31514,"date":"2023-09-29T08:04:26","date_gmt":"2023-09-29T12:04:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=31514"},"modified":"2023-09-29T08:04:26","modified_gmt":"2023-09-29T12:04:26","slug":"american-speed-festival-le-mans-racers-corvettes-and-indy-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/american-speed-festival-le-mans-racers-corvettes-and-indy-cars","title":{"rendered":"American Speed Festival: Le Mans racers, Corvettes and Indy cars"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>Pontiac<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 Celebrate 100 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 70 years of Corvette, and 50 years of the International Race of Champions as the third annual American Speed Festival takes over M1 Concourse auto club this weekend.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The celebration of motorsports performance, which opens Friday and runs through Sunday, puts an exclamation point on a month of auto shows in Metro Detroit, including Detroit 4fest, the North American International Auto Show and Concours d\u2019Elegance.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_img\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/presto\/2021\/02\/22\/PDTN\/4658f455-296a-4ce7-a99c-7398ca2bc8e8-2021-0222-dm-racing-exhibiton0695.jpg?width=660&amp;height=443&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Race car drivers A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney won the 2'4 Hours of Le Mans', the first Americans ever to do so, in this Ford GT40 Mk IV in 1967. It's among the sportscars that will be at the American Speed Festival this weekend at M1 Concourse.\" width=\"486\" height=\"326\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"gnt_em_img_i\" src=\"https:\/\/www.detroitnews.com\/gcdn\/presto\/2021\/02\/22\/PDTN\/4658f455-296a-4ce7-a99c-7398ca2bc8e8-2021-0222-dm-racing-exhibiton0695.jpg?width=660&amp;height=443&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp\" srcset=\"\/gcdn\/presto\/2021\/02\/22\/PDTN\/4658f455-296a-4ce7-a99c-7398ca2bc8e8-2021-0222-dm-racing-exhibiton0695.jpg?width=1320&amp;height=886&amp;fit=crop&amp;format=pjpg&amp;auto=webp 2x\" alt=\"Race car drivers A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney won the 2'4 Hours of Le Mans', the first Americans ever to do so, in this Ford GT40 Mk IV in 1967. It's among the sportscars that will be at the American Speed Festival this weekend at M1 Concourse.\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"gnt_em_img_ccw gnt_em_img_ccw__cap gnt_em_img_ccw__crd\" data-c-caption=\"Race car drivers A.J. Foyt and Dan Gurney won the 2'4 Hours of Le Mans', the first Americans ever to do so, in this Ford GT40 Mk IV in 1967. It's among the sportscars that will be at the American Speed Festival this weekend at M1 Concourse.\" data-c-credit=\"Daniel Mears, The Detroit News\"><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">American Speed Festival is not just an opportunity to see some of the most historic race cars ever made, but to see them in their natural habitat \u2014 on track \u2014 as many of the cars take to M1\u2019s 1.5-mile Champion Motor Speedway.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">&#8220;The American Speed Festival aims to preserve the rich heritage of motorsports and ignite a passion for automotive excellence in present and future generations,&#8221; said M1 Concourse CEO Tim McGrane of the 2023 event sponsored by Comerica Bank and WLLZ.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-mi-detroit-C1561-native-article_link-money-autos-2\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Held on M1\u2019s 87-acre property at the corner of Woodward and South Boulevard in Pontiac, the event hosts a wide range of historic performance cars from Indy racers to NASCARs to endurance racers and state-of-the-art supercars. Attendees can ogle the cars under M1\u2019s large paddock tent and talk with the owners and race teams that maintain them. Then they can grab a hot dog from a food truck and head to the grandstands as the four-wheeled greyhounds go out on course in their respective \u201cSpeed Ring\u201d sessions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The chorus of V-12, V-8, and turbocharged engines is beautiful music at the facility. Friday will feature a special parade of Corvettes and Saturday a Ford GT40 parade.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-mi-detroit-C1561-native-article_link-money-autos-3\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-x-c=\"2\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Endurance cars from 100 years of France\u2019s prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans will headline the event. Le Mans has long been the standard for sportscar speed and reliability. The so-called Circuit de la Sarthe has seen battles over the decades between some of the most famous marques in racing with the Ford v Ferrari battle of 1966 recently the subject of a popular Hollywood film.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Among the Le Mans cars present will be the red-and-white-striped 1967 Ford Mk IV, which AJ Foyt and Dan Gurney piloted to victory in 1967, the second straight year that Ford beat Ferrari to the finish line. The 427-cubic-inch Mk IV recorded speeds on the nearly four-mile long Mulsanne straight of 230 mph and won the race at a record average speed of 135 mph. The Speed Festival will be a rare appearance for the \u201967 Ford outside of its Henry Ford museum home.<\/p>\n<aside id=\"gnt_atomsnc\" class=\"gnt_em gnt_em_anc\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"loadAnc\" aria-label=\"Newsletter signup form\">\n<div class=\"label\" hidden=\"\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"message\">\n<div class=\"title\">Get the\u00a0<span class=\"highlight\">Michigan Politics<\/span>\u00a0newsletter in your inbox.<\/div>\n<p class=\"description\">Washington and Lansing, red and blue, we&#8217;ve got your government covered.<\/p>\n<div class=\"frequency\">Delivery: Daily<\/div>\n<div class=\"container\">\n<div class=\"input-container populated\"><input autocomplete=\"off\" name=\"email\" required=\"\" type=\"email\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"clickable\"><\/div>\n<p><label>Your Email<\/label><\/div>\n<div id=\"bar\">\n<div class=\"highlight\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"progress-primary\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"progress-secondary\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Honoring the 70<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary of Corvette will be gems like the 1963 Z06, which raced and won in both SCCA A\/Production class and international FIA racing. The Z06 was piloted by Dr. Dick \u201cThe Flying Dentist\u201d Thompson. Other notables include numerous Calloway Corvettes that competed in endurance racing in the 1990s and early 2000s, a 1962 Le Mans Corvette entry, and a 1959 so-called CERV-1 from Chevy, which was an early exploration of mid-engine layout that eventually found its way into the 2020 Corvette C8 that&#8217;s on the road today.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">The International Race of Champions \u2014 IROC to enthusiasts \u2014 was motor racing\u2019s All-Star game, which ran from 1973-2008. The series featured the sport\u2019s best drivers competing in identical sportscars like, say, Porsche 911s. Speed Festival will showcase three championship-winning cars from the IROC era.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-mi-detroit-C1561-native-article_link-money-autos-4\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-x-c=\"3\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">But wait, there\u2019s more. In the tradition of Speed Festival, the grounds will be littered with significant Indy cars.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Consider the 1968 Lotus 56 STP Turbine, one of that decade\u2019s experiments with jet engines in race cars that produced astonishing speeds around Indianapolis. The Lotus 56 pumped out 500 horsepower at, ahem, 45,000 RPM and was banned for being too fast.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">Other notables include a 1963 A.J. Watson Roadster, the first Indy car to record laps in excess of 150 mph, Gordon Johncock\u2019s sixth-place 1990 Lola T90 and a 1977 Team Penske McLaren driven by Mario Andretti at the Indy 500.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">After the on-track action Friday, spectators can buy a ticket to the Garage Reveal and stroll M1 garages where local collectors keep some of the area\u2019s finest cars. Ogle collections of Ford GTs, Lamborghinis, Porsche 911 GT3s and more. Dinner is included on the tour.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">It wouldn\u2019t be a Metro Detroit show without a charitable ball, and Saturday ends with the swank Checkered Flag Ball presented by the Checkered Flag Challenge, M1\u2019s philanthropic arm. The ball benefits M1 Mobility and the Pontiac Community Foundation.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"gnt_m gnt_x gnt_x__lbl gnt_x__al\" aria-label=\"advertisement\">\n<div id=\"ad-slot-7103-mi-detroit-C1561-native-article_link-money-autos-5\" class=\"gnt_x_sl gnt_x_al\" data-g-r=\"lazy\" data-gl-method=\"lazyLoadX\" data-x-c=\"4\"><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\">General admission ickets for the American Speed Festival are available for $25 (66% off last year\u2019s price). For tickets and more information, visit www.americanspeedfestival.com.<\/p>\n<p class=\"gnt_ar_b_p\"><em>Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pontiac\u00a0\u2014 Celebrate 100 years of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 70 years of Corvette, and 50 years of the International Race of Champions as the third annual American Speed Festival takes over M1 Concourse auto club this weekend. The celebration of motorsports performance, which opens Friday and runs through Sunday, puts an exclamation point [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31514"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31514"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31514\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31515,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31514\/revisions\/31515"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}