Dates Also Include Celebrating NASCAR’s 75th Anniversary and the Return of the Ridge Runner Rally
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Not one but two major events at the legendary Watkins Glen International road course, an on-track celebration of NASCAR’s 75th anniversary at the 45th HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and a return of the popular HSR Ridge Runner Rally are new additions to the 2023 Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) schedule that once again features races on legendary North American road courses that are favorites of race fans and competitors alike.
The pair of races at The Glen begins with the inaugural HSR Classic Six Hours at Watkins Glen, June 8-11, joining the HSR Classic 24 At Daytona and HSR Classic 12 Hours of Sebring as one of HSR’s premier tribute races. The Classic Six Hours marks the first time in recent history that HSR has competed on the historic New York track with its own feature event weekend.
Additionally, HSR returns to The Glen on Aug. 19-20 with its growing group of HSR Historic Stock Cars competitors to mark HSR’s first time as a support race series on a major NASCAR event weekend.
Another highlight of the 2023 calendar is the return of the popular HSR Ridge Runner Rally, May 14-18, after a one-year absence. The multi-day and more than 500-mile road rally typically takes participants through the most scenic Southeastern U.S. states and their hidden highways and has become somewhat of a “seventh-inning stretch” for HSR members and competitors each racing season.
“This is HSR’s first schedule announcement under our new IMSA ownership, and it is easy to see the benefits our members, teams, competitors and fans are realizing from HSR being a part of the IMSA family,” said HSR President David Hinton. “Doors have been opened up for HSR like never before and we are grateful for all of the behind-the-scenes work (IMSA President) John Doonan and the team at IMSA have done to make the 2023 HSR schedule one of the best ever. Celebrating NASCAR 75 at the HSR Mitty, adding a pair of showcase races at Watkins Glen – one with NASCAR, no less – and being part of what is growing into a multi-week schedule around the 12 Hours of Sebring are things we could have only dreamed about before. We are already looking forward to 2023!”
In total, the expanded nine-event calendar begins and ends at Sebring International Raceway in Florida and includes at least one stop at equally legendary circuits like Daytona International Speedway, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Road America and Watkins Glen. HSR is also expected to return to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca next August for its third year as the sanctioning body of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and the Monterey Pre-Reunion.
Other highlight blockbuster races on the schedule include the 45th HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway, April 27-30, and the HSR Classics at Daytona, Nov. 1-5, and Sebring, Nov. 29-Dec. 3, that once again close out the 2023 calendar.
The season-opening event for the fifth straight year is the HSR Spring Fling at Sebring, March 24-26. The March date is just one week after the 71st running of the iconic Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race and will see HSR co-headline the weekend with other contemporary racing series.
The Sebring opener is followed by the 45th HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, one of the longest-running historic and vintage races in the U.S. and HSR’s first blockbuster race of the season. The HSR Mitty packs even more horsepower next year with the event celebrating 75 years of NASCAR racing. The sanctioning body was founded in 1948, making 2023 its 75th season, and the Mitty will be just one part of the yearlong NASCAR 75 celebration.
Historic Stock Cars are already a major part each HSR weekend at Michelin Raceway, but next year’s 75th anniversary celebration is expected to draw a large entry of former NASCAR stars and cars for the weekend’s main feature.
May is set aside for the Ridge Runner Rally that sets the stage for the inaugural HSR Classic Six Hours at The Glen in June. The exact format of the six-hour race will be announced in the future, but fans and competitors can expect the event to follow the same continuous schedule of “heat races” categorized by Run Group that is used for the HSR Classics at Daytona and Sebring.
The HSR Classic Stock car race at The Glen on its long-established NASCAR race weekend will be both a popular and historic event. It is very likely that retired stock cars that were raced at The Glen in their prime could make a return appearance for HSR’s first event with NASCAR on the Watkins Glen short course.
For the fourth straight year, the autumn race schedule for HSR begins with a guest appearance with the Vintage Sports Car Drivers Association at the Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival, Sept. 14-17. HSR competitors from all classes are placed in existing and appropriate VSCDA run groups for this popular event on the four-mile Road America circuit.
Just one week after Road America, HSR returns to Michelin Raceway for the HSR Fall Historics, Sept. 21-24. The perfect complementary event to each April’s HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway, the Fall Classic has developed an appeal and popularity of its own and is the second of what is now three return visits to tracks on the annual HSR calendar.
Set for its ninth running in 2023, the HSR Classic Daytona presented by IMSA returns to the “World Center of Racing” from Nov. 1-5 and is again followed by what is now its second HSR Classics sister event, the HSR Classic 12 Hour at Sebring, Pistons and Props, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network. The eighth annual HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour will be held on the legendary Sebring airport circuit, Nov. 29-Dec. 3.
The HSR Classics events at Daytona and Sebring share the card each weekend, respectively, with the Daytona Historics and Sebring Historics races that annually bring each HSR championship season to a close.
More information on all HSR event weekends and additional spectator and competitor information can be found at www.HSRRace.com.
2023 Historic Sportscar Racing Race-Event Schedule
March 24-26: HSR Sebring Spring Fling – Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida
April 27-30: 45th HSR Mitty at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta – Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia
May 14-18: HSR Ridge Runner Rally – Southeastern U.S.
June 8-11: Inaugural HSR Classic Six Hours of Watkins Glen – Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York
August TBD: Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion and Monterey Pre-Reunion – WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Monterey, California
Aug. 19-20: Inaugural HSR Classic Stock Cars at The Glen – Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, New York
Sept. 15-18: VSCDA Elkhart Lake Vintage Festival – Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Sept. 21-24: HSR Atlanta Fall Historics – Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, Braselton, Georgia
Nov. 1-5: HSR Classic Daytona presented by IMSA and the HSR Daytona Historics – Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida
Nov. 29-Dec. 3: HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour, Pistons and Props, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network, and the HSR Sebring Historic Races – Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida
(*Event schedule subject to change)