Bobby Rahal’s Legends of Motorsports: Historic Racing’s New Leader

SEBRING, Fla.—Racing legend Bobby Rahal’s Legends of Racing historic series held its inaugural season finale at the equally legendary Sebring International Raceway last weekend. The event set a new standard for all historic racing series.

When Rahal and his partners, racer/promoter Zak Brown and financier Peter Stonebridge started Legends of Motorsports (LoM), they set the goal of providing a better experience for everybody—more track time for the drivers, more entertainment for the fans, and better attendance for the tracks. The Sebring season finale proved the success of the concept.

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Historic racing events are characterized by a casual, friendly atmosphere. Everyone races hard, but everyone is there for fun.

LoM managed to preserve that friendly feeling while injecting a dose of professionalism and organization into the weekend’s event. There were more fans, more vendors, more races, and more added activities than at any historic event I had ever attended.

Rahal joked about the turnout last Saturday afternoon. “This is a great venue, people like to come here. A lot of the competitors are from up north—it’s snowing in Chicago right now so this is pretty good right here,” he said laughing.

“We’re looking for other races as well,” Rahal continued more seriously. “We have to make sure that they are the right places, the right entries, the right cars, and you have to be at the right tracks to get that.”

At Sebring, he concluded, “The crowd is great and the levels of cars that we have are really fantastic.”

More Than Racing

Fans are encouraged to wander through the paddock and ask drivers about their cars at historic events, but here frequent PA announcements encouraged it.

Last Sunday’s autograph session, open to all, featured Rahal, a three-time CART champ and Indy 500 winner who also won the Sebring 12 Hours and the Dayton 24 hours, Brian Redman, another racing legend with an even longer pedigree, and Doc Bundy, yet another historic racing legend.

The high point of the weekend—aside from the racing—was a public Q&A session with Rahal, Redman, and American Le Mans Series (ALMS) CEO Scott Atherton. Rahal and Redman entertained the crowd with racing anecdotes and insights, chatting casually with the roomful of fans until there were no more questions—no time limit, no tight schedule, just a long, informal chat with two legendary drivers.

Atherton discussed the future of the series, some of the challenges it has overcome, and some changes fans could look for in the next few seasons. Stuff like this is rare at any event, and unheard of at historic events—though it might be the norm in the future, thanks to LoM.