Flag girl Sara defying gravity on the West Coast. Photos by Daniel Beaudry.
October, it seems, is a cruel mistress. After bad weather in 2014 and a one-week delay for Hurricane Joaquin in 2015, The Race of Gentlemen (TROG) moved its East Coast event to June and added a new October event for West Coast fans at Pismo Beach, California. Conventional wisdom says it never rains in Southern California, but for TROG, Mother Nature appeared willing to make an exception to this rule.
Early Saturday, with the racing surface still underwater.
The remnants of Typhoon Songda hit the West Coast last weekend, just in time for TROG. In addition to high winds and torrential rains, the storm drove in heavy surf, shrinking the racing surface and prompting a delayed start to Saturday’s beach racing. Instead of kicking off at 11:00 a.m. and running until 6:00 p.m. as planned, the competition began around 1:30 and was only allowed to run until 5:00 or so.
The Navarro Roadster waits for the tide to ebb.
Despite the bad weather and delays, Saturday’s racing drew in an estimated 12,000 fans and roughly 150 racers, including both cars and bikes. Sunday dawned with better weather, but continued rough surf and high tides, prompting local and state officials to cancel the second day of racing. Instead, organizers threw together a vintage car show and party at a local campground, and while that’s not the same as racing, the chance to see such a diverse collection of vintage iron in one place doesn’t happen all that often.
The Hemmings tow truck on duty.
Most of the Hemmings Motor News attendees (and our 1934 Ford tow truck) are in transit back to Vermont, so look for more on the event in the coming days and weeks. Until then, enjoy this gallery from the event provided by managing editor Daniel Beaudry.
