108 / 150
guests and the sponsors who provided
the funds that allowed them to be
there. Additional tickets were sold to
convention attendees with a sense of
history who were interested in hear-
ing and seeing what was an interest-
ing and enjoyable series of comments.
These guys never seem to run out of
stories. Often hearing someone else
prompts memories that had been
buried in the back of their minds. The
stories came, practically non-stop,
with Carroll Shelby often stepping up
to the podium to add comments of his
own. Seeing all of these guys in action
was very memorable. As the program
wound down, the VIPs were ap-
proached for autographs and photos.
After the track activity wound
down everyone headed back to the
Sheraton hotel. There was a private
dinner for VIPs and sponsors, which
was followed by an evening program.
It centered around the GT40, because,
after all, we had included a GT40 Re-
union as part of the festivities.
On Monday everyone was back at
the track. At noon there were three 12-
lap vintage races: one for Cobras and
GT40s, one for Shelbys and one for
Trans-Am Mustangs. The wheel-to-
wheel racing was exciting, bringing
everyone to the fences. Rain was
threatening during the first two races
and by the Trans-Am race it began.
The parade lap was not yet completed
when the race was cancelled. We had
no desire to turn it into a demolition
derby. The end of SAAC’s largest con-
vention was hastened, but it had no ef-
fect on the memories.
The SHELBY AMERICAN
Summer 2016 106