OFFENHAUSER HEROES AND MERCHANTS OF SPEED SEMINARS OFFER FANS A BACKSTAGE PASS TO AMERICAN MOTORSPORT
Company press release.
A pair ofthe Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance's popular seminars will offer 'backstage passes' to the history and the business of American motorsport.
On Friday March 7, 2014 the celebration of Offenhauser-powered vehicles will begin in the Talbot Ballroom of the Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island at 3:00 PM with the Great Offy Drivers and David Hobbs Seminar.
Amelia's seminars are famous for their star power. On Friday Indy 500 winners Johnny Rutherford, Parnelli Jones and Al and Bobby Unser will comprise The Great Offy Drivers Seminar. This all-star quartet is a key part of the Offy racing legend having logged five Indianapolis 500 wins and 35 National Championship victories with Offenhauser's legendary racing engines.
They will be joined by sometimes Offy racer David Hobbs and Louis 'Sonny' Meyer, Jr., son on three-time Indy winner Louis Meyer, co-founder of Meyer & Drake Engineering builders of Offenhauser racing engines after WWII. Sonny's engines and cars won 19 Indy 500 poles and 24 500s. In 2013 he was inducted into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's Hall of Fame.
Since their first Indy 500 victory in 1935, Offenhauser engines ruled the Indy 500 and the American National Championship. Offy engines powered Indy winners, Champ Cars, midgets, racing powerboats and even sports cars, winning 33 American National Racing championships across 41 seasons of competition.
'With five legends of the sport and David Hobbs, The Great Offy Drivers Seminar is an insider's look at a storied period in American championship racing from depression-era American track racing through the end of the seventies,' said Bill Warner, Founder and Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.
The Merchants of Speed Seminar is a first person look at not just on-track race management, but the sharp-edged business of racing that rarely sees the light of day. The 10:30 AM Saturday seminar in the Ritz-Carlton's Talbot Ballroom will be empaneled by five men who helped create the template for modern American motorsport.
Ray Evernham will explain not just the challenges of running a championship-winning NASCAR Cup team, but the complexities of creating one from the ground up.
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Alwin Springer managed Porsche Motorsport North America, and has been a pivotal part of that program since the days of the mighty Porsche 917/10 and 917/30 Can-Am turbos in the 1970s. John Mecom will discuss running Corvette's racing program while General Motors disavowed any motorsport involvement. Indy 500 winner and IndyCar team owner Bobby Rahal will explain the complex challenges of managing his son's Indy Car career while running two racing teams. Tyler Alexander will discuss the creation of McLaren Cars, the sole marque to win the Formula 1 World Championship, the Indy 500, the Can-Am Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Group 44's Bob Tullius explains the complex and intricate mission of transforming a manufacturer's championship-winning national club racing program into an international championship caliber professional sports car racing team. 'The Merchants of Speed will be a fast paced, 90-minute 'MBA-quality' seminar about the inside business of motorsport, something that has not been offered to the public until now.' said Warner. 'Both seminars will take an intimate look at motorsport and the business of motorsport from an insider's perspective.' Admission to each seminar is $30.00. To order tickets to either or both The Great Offy Drivers and The Merchants of Speed seminar visit www.ameliaconcours.org.
