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2006 Coronado Speed Festival
By: Drew Phillips
Photos by the author
October 11, 2006

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For the good part of a decade, the second weekend in October has meant vintage racers from around the country converge on San Diego, CA for the annual Coronado Speed Festival. The races are the last in the vintage racing series put on by General Racing Ltd that also includes the Monterey Historics at Laguna Seca, the Wine Country Classic in Sonoma, and the Lime Rock Vintage Festival in Connecticut. The Speed Festival takes a different approach than the rest of the races, and holds the event on the Naval airstrips on Coronado Island. The location offers a unique view of the San Diego harbor, filled with resident sailboats and the occasional warship. The 1.6 mile course itself isn’t exactly scenic, with plenty of orange cones and gray concrete to ruin the view. The cars seem more at home running up and down the hills of Laguna Seca or Lime Rock, but the flat pavement does at least offer an excellent view of the cars around the entire course.

The Speed Festival is also part of the Naval Fleet Week in San Diego, which aims to pay tribute to and thank San Diego’s military service men and women for their dual service: defense of the nation and their involvement in the community. The military plays a large part of the show, in addition to hosting the event. A variety of military equipment is on display, and the crowds are treated to flyovers from both vintage and modern warplanes.

The races consist of eight groups racing both days, with morning practice sessions, qualifying Saturday afternoon, and the actual races Sunday afternoon. The races are done in chronological order, starting with the Pre-1941 cars and ending with the 1966-1972 Historic Trans-Am cars, so watching the races throughout the day is almost like watching sixty-plus years of racing history in four hours. Despite strict rules regarding touching other cars and the fact that many of the cars are worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, the racing action is actually exciting. The later groups are especially close due to the regulations in place during their creation to help keep the competition even. The runways of Coronado don’t have the most tractable surface, and the cars could be seen slipping and sliding around the turns, especially the Trans-Am cars and Cobras. This only added to the excitement because it allowed for passing and re-passing on nearly every turn.

Besides viewing the racing action, spectators could wander through the paddock area to see all of the race cars on display, often with owners tinkering underneath the hood. Next to the paddock was vendor village, with a variety of products from racing schools to a Ford GT40 replica. Another attraction is the car corral that features car clubs from around the area. This year, cars could be entered in the Speed Festival’s first annual car show with awards being given in over thirty categories.

DaimlerChrysler’s SRT division was this year’s lead sponsor, and those attending the show had the opportunity to not only see but drive many of the SRT vehicles. The full SRT lineup was on display, with a small road course was set up for short drives with anything from a Chrysler Crossfire SRT-6 to the Dodge Ram SRT-10 Quad Cab. Other SRT vehicles fulfilled the pace car duties on the track and offered VIP rides in between races.

The unique blend of vintage cars, planes, and exciting racing action all combine for a great event. It also doesn’t hurt that this all takes place in the San Diego harbor with the California sunshine overhead. For more information, direct your browser to www.coronadospeedfestival.com .