50 Years of Historic Racing at Monterey

The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year on 14-17 August and has recently revealed it limited edition programme for 2024 depicting 50 years of memories. “We wanted to showcase the diversity of the many motorsport legends and personalities that annually enjoy the gathering,” commented Barry Toepke, director of heritage events at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. “Each of the 25 personalities have stories, and I hope people will enjoy identifying each person to stir up their own memories and smiles.”

Among the moments depicted are when Alma Hill surprised Sir Stirling Moss with a cake before leading a rousing chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ in 2014, or when Dan Gurney was honored in 2010 and spent hours signing autographs on all sorts of memorabilia. There was five-time World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio, who in 1991 turned in quick laps during exhibitions, and then stayed far past the ending to his autograph session to visit fans, saying through a translator, “as long as there are people in line, I will stay here and sign.”

Complementing the more than 400 historic cars that are racing is the Golden Anniversary Exhibition, presented by Motul. This once-in-a-lifetime gathering will bring together cars representing each of the past celebrated marques and individual achievements. Cars such as the 1966 Gurney Eagle IndyCar (Dan Gurney in 2010), and 1956 Maserati 250F (Maserati in 1988, 2000 and 2014), to the 1955 Mercedes-Benz W196 (Mercedes in 1978 and 1986) and 2023 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 “Garage 56” NASCAR (Chevrolet in 1987) that competed in the 2023 24 Hours of Le Mans, will be showcased, with most of them scheduled for spirited track sessions on Friday and Saturday.