When one thinks of vintage auto racing, you likely associate it with the upper crust of car culture—and usually for good reason. Genuine historic race cars are often extremely valuable and expensive to maintain, far out of the price range for most weekend warriors.
And while we love seeing prestigious, multi-million dollar machines take to the track at places like Monterey and Goodwood, competitive and enjoyable vintage racing doesn't have to be limited to the ultra wealthy and their priceless cars.
The Vintage Auto Racing Association (VARA) is an organization that's been holding vintage motorsport events on the West Coast since the '70s, and we headed to Buttonwillow Raceway last weekend to check out their annual Oktoberfest races.
What we found is vintage racing in a very approachable form—husband and wife crews, family BBQs, competitive, wheel-to-wheel action and some of the coolest retro race cars around. If you thought classic race cars were only for the wine and cheese crowd, check again.
Browse through the gallery above for a collection of scenes from the track, and we'll be back to soon to follow up with a closer look at the world of vintage B-sedan racing—on prime display over the weekend.