A Vintage Series with Big-Time Hopes, SVRA Arrives for Third Season at IMS

Thursday, June 16, 2016 Phillip B. Wilson

A visionary businessman who was born missing fingers and toes saw the potential for growth when he purchased the Sportscar Vintage Racing Association in 2012. Truth be told, Tony Parella visited the Indianapolis Motor Speedway before he bought the SVRA. He was already thinking ahead. A classic classification of cars and several familiar racing names return to the Speedway this weekend for the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational. It’s one of 16 SVRA races this year. And Parella isn’t just the guy behind the scenes, he’s driving with two entries. “I’ve had a history of building companies, but it was always in telecommunications,” said Parella, 56, after a Thursday afternoon practice session. “In 2012, I was at a crossroads in my life. I had sold my last company the year before and went to Harvard to participate in a business program about what was next. “One opportunity was a billion-dollar-a-year business. The other one was a lemonade stand called SVRA.” It’s about a love of cars. And more than that. “Cars are cool, but it’s the people, too,” said Chris Kaiser, owner of K-Hill Motorsports, which has brought six cars from Abbottstown, Pennsylvania. There are familiar racing names, rich guys who made their money in business as well as blue-collar participants. Motorhomes have filled the infield for four days. Formula One and Gasoline Alley garages are housing cars, as are tents pitched over the gravel in overflow parking areas. An Indy Legends Charity Pro-Am race on Saturday includes two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. as well as 2002 Brickyard 400 winner Bill Elliott teaming up with longtime NASCAR-winning crew chief Ray Evernham. Parella joked his recruitment of the NASCAR heavyweights was “to keep the Indy guys honest,” since the lengthy list of former “500” drivers in the pro-am also includes A.J. Foyt IV, Alex Lloyd, Ana Beatriz, Darren Manning, Davey Hamilton, Davy Jones, Dick Simon, Geoff Brabham, Jaques Lazier, Johnny Parsons Jr., Johnny Unser, Josele Garza, Lyn St. James, Max Papis, Paul Tracy, Richie Hearn, Roberto Guerrero, Scott Harrington and Willy T. Ribbs. When putting together the first pro-am for the SVRA debut at IMS in 2014, calls needed to be placed to attract interest. Since then, the drivers keep calling. The latest pro-am entry list has five extras. Proceeds go to the IMS Museum Foundation and Hagerty Driving Experience program. In the past 48 hours, more than 400 SVRA entries have sped around the Speedway’s 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course. That’s familiar models from IndyCar, NASCAR, Formula One, Formula Atlantic, Indy Lights, Le Mans, Grand Am and Can-Am Series cars. There are also Camaros, Corvettes, Mustangs, Lotus, Brabham, Audi LMP1s, Cobras, Stutzes, Lolas, Datsuns, Triumphs, Alfa Romeos and Porsches. “Some people collect art. We race it,” said Parella, who grew up in Syracuse, N.Y., but is now based with SVRA in Southlake, Texas. “We trademarked that.” The oldest entry is a National Motor Vehicle Company-sponsored National car driven by Charlie Merz to a seventh-place finish in the first Indy 500 in 1911. The base cost for owners to participate is $650, which guarantees five sessions on the track. Qualifying is Friday. Thirteen run groups race Saturday and Sunday. The racing is non-contact, or as Parella says “flag football,” which means overly aggressive drivers or anyone obviously to blame for an accident are sent home. All three podium finishers from the races receive a bottle of milk and medallion as well as a picture in Victory Circle – and that satisfaction of knowing they won a race at such a prestigious venue. “As they say, that’s priceless,” Parella said. “The truth of the matter, for most of these folks, if you can afford to go racing, the prize wouldn’t make any difference to them.” Bruce Hamilton, of Baltimore, Maryland, didn’t get his competition license until 11 years ago. The 66-year-old is among the many late bloomers. He’s one of K-Hill Motorsports’ successful drivers and, in addition to driving a 1970 Brabham BT 36, will team up with St. James to drive an Indy Lights car in an endurance race. “It’s arrive and drive, basically,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got the fun job.” Kaiser adds, “Yeah, they get to show and go.” But like everything else, it’s more than that. Hamilton mentions how an inquisitive child can do more than just look at a car up close. He can sit in the cockpit while his father takes a picture. “You make their weekend. And it’s so easy to do,” he said. “Everybody who is here is going to walk away from this with something more than they had.” And get this, Parella foresees so much more for SVRA. “I looked at it like it was the same Wally Parks did for the NHRA,” he said. “Drag racing was a fragmented, local hobby-type sport. It really wasn’t mainstream motorsports. All Wally did was put some structure to it, take it national, raise sponsorship and go to work. “This was definitely a fixer-upper.” If his aspirations sound a bit farfetched, take into consideration that this man drives a car with deformed digits on both hands. He decided he had endured enough after 48 surgeries to give him a modest level of mobility. “I probably won’t be a concert pianist,” he said flashing his unusual hands, “but I’m not really limited in what I can do.” Parella also sees unlimited potential in his lemonade stand of a racing series. “The future is very bright,” he said. “We’re staying within ourselves, but I’m just getting started here. This is the absolute beginning.”