Of course, never televised (as Hobbs & Joy suspected), but recorded. Kinda sounds like the TV crew gets as "loopy" as anyone else did after being at the track all week.
OMG. I love everthing about this. The Cars. The body roll. The commentators are clearly plastered. The VHS Fuzz. And it's also some of the best racing ever.
There's more to the story. Salerno had qualified on outside pole. His Rabbit was indeed his road car. After qualifying his wife Barbara was driving the Rabbit to the local 7-11 and was hit by a drunk driver. The Rabbit was totaled. The next day Alan goes shopping and finds a suitable Rabbit on a used car lot. It was not a new car as mentioned in the video. Lucky for Alan he had enough credit on his Visa to pay for the car. He drove it to the track and transferred the bolt in roll bar and other safety gear from the wreck to the 'new' car. Since his 'new' car hadn't been qualified he had to start at the back of the pack. His 24th to 2nd finish left no doubt has to how good a driver Alan was. In those days the SS classes were claiming races and no sooner had Alan gotten out of the car the car was claimed by a competitor who wasn't buying the fact that the only thing special about the car was the driver. Alan actually made a few bucks from the claims. The SCCA tech teardown proved that the car was indeed Showroom Stock.
Next to the DP race this is my favorite race ever seen on You Tube. Did AMC 6 carb and cylinder head prep along with suspension mods for various AMC straight 6 race cars. Love it.
I'm sure no-one will be surprised by this, but the air pressures that were used in order to survive this abuse averaged 80psi or greater. I really miss these days; even more fun to watch was the pro Rabbit Racing series that also existed around this time; they were amazingly entertaining!
The Gremlin's performance in spite of its heavy weight and outdated suspension is absolutely shocking. Maybe they deserve a little more respect! Other thought: why no Sciroccos? Not allowed in?
Fred Fiala was 1st in the #12, 2nd-Al Salerno #1, 3rd-Sammy McSpadden, 4th-B J Greber, 5th-Doug Farrow In prior years, McSpadden & Farrow had won SSC (1979 & 1977) championships Skip Gunnell was the Gremlin driver who spun on the 17th lap (according to the official archives)
at 42:37 mr. Tumbs up take a "one hit" Road Atlanta was so much more relaxed back in the day. That is why the Wittingtons bought the track in mid-80's possibly a little money laundry going on?!?! The crowds would be same size as shown, and Atlanta J Courier would report 20,000-30,000 in attendance. You could also land an airplane on the back straight..........you do the math.
+mpharr2 , unfortunately, no. It is really difficult to find any footage of Club Racing from before the home camcorder was invented. Most of the existing film/video from before '85 or so is Runoffs highlights, since it was the biggest race of the year. I have one video of a National at Pocono, but it's a Showroom Stock onboard from the '90s.
tradingpilot, It's Mike Joy. And yeah, the old girl was pretty rough. 1980 was the track's 10th anniversary. RdAtl suffered from "Deferred Maintanence" until Panoz bought it in the '90s. Honestly, I'm surprised it's still here!
oldSCCAguy yah how did you get all these awesome old races? I have been addicted to your old imsa uploads of the gtp cars from the 80s... How awesome is it that you could win a top line championship with weed money lol ("Blue Thunder Racing" /Lanier & Whittington 1984)
The beginning of the end of SCCA. They killed themselves by continuously adding more and more classes. And making it more and more less attractive and affordable to grassroots racers.
OMG. I love everthing about this. The Cars. The body roll. The commentators are clearly plastered. The VHS Fuzz. And it's also some of the best racing ever.
There's more to the story. Salerno had qualified on outside pole. His Rabbit was indeed his road car. After qualifying his wife Barbara was driving the Rabbit to the local 7-11 and was hit by a drunk driver. The Rabbit was totaled. The next day Alan goes shopping and finds a suitable Rabbit on a used car lot. It was not a new car as mentioned in the video. Lucky for Alan he had enough credit on his Visa to pay for the car. He drove it to the track and transferred the bolt in roll bar and other safety gear from the wreck to the 'new' car. Since his 'new' car hadn't been qualified he had to start at the back of the pack. His 24th to 2nd finish left no doubt has to how good a driver Alan was. In those days the SS classes were claiming races and no sooner had Alan gotten out of the car the car was claimed by a competitor who wasn't buying the fact that the only thing special about the car was the driver. Alan actually made a few bucks from the claims. The SCCA tech teardown proved that the car was indeed Showroom Stock.
Great story!👍
I was there! I remember seeing the Salerno car all torn up in the paddock. Great times!
@@robertrishel3685i love stories that end like that
That Gremlin setting over into the turns!! Love it😍👍👍👍👍✊
Great driving by these guys!! All those inside rears lifting into the air!
This is absolutely amazing.
This is great stuff! Just hearing the commentator calling the race and talking about a Gremlin in a pack of Rabbits is priceless!!
Next to the DP race this is my favorite race ever seen on You Tube. Did AMC 6 carb and cylinder head prep along with suspension mods for various AMC straight 6 race cars. Love it.
Wish we could see if the Gremlin was booted off the track at Turn 1 or just spun off at the end.
What an exciting race.
The announcer is funny. "Mr. concerned citizen taking a leak outside his camper" LOL
I'm sure no-one will be surprised by this, but the air pressures that were used in order to survive this abuse averaged 80psi or greater. I really miss these days; even more fun to watch was the pro Rabbit Racing series that also existed around this time; they were amazingly entertaining!
David Hobbe's impression of Jackie Stewart was fantastic!
I miss this. Real, everyday cars. World Challenge is fine, but it's a different monster.
Totally agree Cory
Wow. Thanks from Manhattan
Awesome footage. I remember it well. Thanks for posting!
Man I have tears of laughter from listening to the "subtle" jokes of the announcers!
Go Go Gremlin! great race. looks like so much fun. Commentators are great!
Man, o man Pinto's Gremlins Dodge Ommie, V.W. what hoot to see
Dude thanks for posting this. Brought back many memories!
I haven't seen this many rabbits in the past ten years!
The Gremlin's performance in spite of its heavy weight and outdated suspension is absolutely shocking. Maybe they deserve a little more respect! Other thought: why no Sciroccos? Not allowed in?
1990 National Pocono - SSC Miata Driver Neal Sapp - I believe he placed 1st in the runoffs that year.
The Dodge Colt RS made me smile. I had one for a while.
i love it when they realized this wasnt going to be aired at all the jokes they started doung at the 28min mark
Pretty sure he was joking when he said the cars would be scrapped at the end of the race.
Fred Fiala was 1st in the #12, 2nd-Al Salerno #1, 3rd-Sammy McSpadden, 4th-B J Greber, 5th-Doug Farrow
In prior years, McSpadden & Farrow had won SSC (1979 & 1977) championships
Skip Gunnell was the Gremlin driver who spun on the 17th lap (according to the official archives)
Darrell Cook was my DDS as a teen in Austin
the sequence at 36:30 had me in tears laughing ahhaah
at 42:37 mr. Tumbs up take a "one hit" Road Atlanta was so much more relaxed back in the day. That is why the Wittingtons bought the track in mid-80's possibly a little money laundry going on?!?! The crowds would be same size as shown, and Atlanta J Courier would report 20,000-30,000 in attendance. You could also land an airplane on the back straight..........you do the math.
The first [real] race took place after the second Rabbit was built.
Anything from 79 SCCA Nationals SSC Summit Point - Pocono - Lime Rock?
+mpharr2 , unfortunately, no. It is really difficult to find any footage of Club Racing from before the home camcorder was invented. Most of the existing film/video from before '85 or so is Runoffs highlights, since it was the biggest race of the year. I have one video of a National at Pocono, but it's a Showroom Stock onboard from the '90s.
Sounds like Bob Varsha! Is it him????
Wow road atlanta looked like crap back then!
tradingpilot, It's Mike Joy. And yeah, the old girl was pretty rough. 1980 was the track's 10th anniversary. RdAtl suffered from "Deferred Maintanence" until Panoz bought it in the '90s. Honestly, I'm surprised it's still here!
It's one of my favorite tracks now!
oldSCCAguy yah how did you get all these awesome old races? I have been addicted to your old imsa uploads of the gtp cars from the 80s... How awesome is it that you could win a top line championship with weed money lol ("Blue Thunder Racing" /Lanier & Whittington 1984)
@@oldsccaguyyah9901yeah i thought that was Mike Joy...is that David Hobbs calling the race with him?
Where is this?
Austin Bittle This is Road Atlanta, in Brazelton, GA (US). Place is still there, it's where the "Petit LeMans" is held.
The beginning of the end of SCCA. They killed themselves by continuously adding more and more classes. And making it more and more less attractive and affordable to grassroots racers.
Iam only one rooting for AMC gremlin 😂👍😎🏎️🏁🏆