1972 Vega
GT Coupe, Holtville Aerodrome International Raceway (HAIR),
1974. This is a Polaroid taken by
a family member. The man is Scott Bell, eminent Vega and Cortina racer, and photographer
in his own right. He's on the NEXT page..
Racing was fun, and
Holtville was the most fun place to do it. A great compromise
among facilities, safety, and informality. I believe the San
Diego Region SCCA still does a couple events there before and
after the summer heat (It is a few miles east and north of Mexicali,
in the
Imperial Valley) (sorry: Holtville is no longer useful to the
SCCA-SDR).
This is one of the venues Steve
McQueen utilized to spruce up his considerable skills in preparation
for the movie Le Mans. He said he appreciated how the organization
made him feel right at home. Dick Smothers, Peter
Deuel, and another racing-oriented celebrity whose name
eludes me flew in to watch the process a time or two.
Or
was it the other way around? Maybe Deuel
was doing his licensing thing and McQueen and/or Smothers came to support him.
This had to be late 60s or early 70s. I forget. Shucks.
Four-time
Indy 500 winner Rick Mears consolidated his road racing
license here while making the transition from off-road to open-wheel track racing.
I was Chief Steward of the Driver School, and got to sign off his logbook. Heh.
To
see an aerial view of the Holtville track and a link to frames from a lap of the
long course recorded on 8mm film, click here.
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