The Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) Classic Daytona presented by IMSA race week is here, and the celebration around Riley Technologies as the Featured Marque has picked up speed heading into the eighth running of America’s premier historic and vintage sports car race at Daytona International Speedway, November 2-6.
Race cars designed and constructed by Riley Technologies and Riley & Scott, as well as cars run in competition by Riley Motorsports, will be in the spotlight on and off the track throughout the five-day HSR event at the “World Center of Racing.”
One HSR Classic 24 GT contender has been painstakingly restored—right down to the correct contingency and sanctioning body stickers—to the exact specifications and livery of Riley & Scott GT/Trans-Am chassis No. 26 that was co-driven to the American GT class win in the 2001 Rolex 24 At Daytona. Ken Bupp, Dick Greer, Simon Gregg and Doug Mills scored the victory in the 1993 Hamilton Safe Motorsports Camaro No. 11 Camaro R&S, topping an AGT field that included cars driven by drivers such as Joe Varde, Eric Curran, Craig Conway, Doug Goad, Bill Lester, Todd Snyder and more.
Bupp, the oldest driver in the Classic 24 field at age 85, co-drives the Camaro this weekend with his son Jordan.
“When we learned that this year’s event was to honor Bob and Bill Riley and the Riley & Scott brand, we decided to restore the 2001 AGT winning 1993 No. 11 Camaro R&S to the identical livery for participation in this Classic 24-hour race,” Ken Bupp said. “I purchased the car from the Irv Hoerr family in January of 1996 and ran most of the Trans-Am series races with some top-10 finishes. We have continued to race the car in multiple series, and more recently Jordan has successfully raced it in Trans Am. At age 85, it is my blessing to be able to still race competitively. The excitement never grows old!”
The Bupps have owned and raced the Camaro for more than 25 years. Ken Bupp won the 2016 Trans-Am opener at Sebring in the car at the age of 79, topping Paul Newman as the oldest driver to win a Trans-Am race. Jordan Bupp—who calls the restoration of the family Camaro for the HSR Classic 24 a “huge passion project”—holds the Daytona GT1 track record in the car and finished fifth in his and the Camaro’s final Trans Am race at DIS in 2019.
Friday All-Star Riley Panel
For the first time since 2019, the HSR Classic 24 will feature a Driver Panel and Q&A open to all ticket holders and credentialed guests, media and competitors on Friday, Nov. 4, at 4:30 p.m. EDT in the Daytona International Speedway Drivers Meeting room.
This year’s guest list is led by the father-and-son team behind all things Riley, Bob and Bill. Now 91 years old and a member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, Bob Riley still works every day and never stops designing and developing race cars. His partner for more than 30 years has been his son, Bill, who is an accomplished designer and engineer in his own right but has also built the Riley Motorsports team-related business into a true global power.
The Rileys will be joined by their fellow Riley & Scott engineering and design partner, Mark Scott; longtime Riley customer competitor George Robinson; and three-time Rolex 24 At Daytona overall winners Andy Wallace and Butch Leitzinger.
Robinson has been racing with Riley for more than 20 years, and his son, Gar Robinson, continues the race and championship-winning relationship between the two families today with Riley Motorsports in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship LMP3 competition. Leitzinger and Wallace are on a short list of just 15 drivers with three or more overall victories in the Rolex 24. The duo co-drove together in Dyson Racing Riley & Scott Mk III Fords for their last two Daytona 24-hour race wins in 1997 and 1999.
Rileys for Show and a Little Go
Riley-built and run race cars are well represented on the 2022 HSR Classic Daytona entry list but several more notable Riley Technologies, Riley & Scott and Riley Motorsports cars will be on display throughout the weekend in the Daytona International Speedway infield FanZone.
Even better, several of these memorable machines will take to the 3.56-mle DIS road course for exhibition laps at 11:45 a.m. EDT Friday and 11:50 a.m. EDT on Saturday.
A trio of Riley & Scott gems are being brought to the Classic 24 for display by longtime HSR competitor and supporter Al Petkus. The Petkus collection includes the 1999 Rolex 24-winning No. 20 Dyson Racing Riley & Scott Mk III, which Leitzinger and Wallace co-drove with Elliott Forbes-Robinson and Rob Dyson, and the similar yellow and blue Mk III campaigned by Scott Schubot. Both Mk IIIs are expected to participate in the exhibition laps with a Riley & Scott 2007 No. 12 Ford Mustang current HSR Competition Director Dorsey Schroeder drove in its prime set for the display area.
Seven Run Groups
First held in 2014, the immediate success of the inaugural HSR Classic Daytona 24 called for a second running in 2015. After a year off, the 24-Hour classic race on the 3.56-mile DIS road course returned in 2017 and is now an annual fixture on the HSR calendar.
The HSR Classic Daytona features seven different Run Groups competing in succession for a full 24 hours on the DIS road course. The various period-correct classes within each Run Group combine to make just about any closed-wheel competition sports car from the last 60 years eligible for the HSR Classic Daytona.
The packed five-day schedule of historic and vintage competition begins in just under two weeks at the “World Center of Racing” and also features the HSR Daytona Historics, which is part of HSR’s series of season-long sprint and endurance racing championships.
The 2022 HSR Classic Daytona presented by IMSA and HSR Daytona Historics entry lists can be found by clicking HERE. A competitor test day on Wednesday, November 2, kicks off the 2022 HSR Classic Daytona presented by IMSA. The full-day test sets the stage for the following four days of official competition, which culminates with the classic 24-hour race from Saturday, November 5, at 2 p.m. EDT straight through to the final checkered flag 24 hours later on Sunday, November 6 at 1 p.m. EST. The overnight time change from EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) to EST (Eastern Standard Time) – when U.S time “falls back” an hour – will see repeat 1 a.m. sessions early Sunday morning. Group G runs its second of four sessions at 1 a.m. EDT and will be followed by the third round for Group A at 1 a.m. EST. Information on the 2022 HSR Classic Daytona and the accompanying HSR Daytona Historics, including the event schedule and more, can be found by clicking HERE.
By VM Staff | 11.3.22
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