For many car enthusiasts, Monterey Car Week is a fascinating event. Cars appear that you can hardly see anywhere else on Earthand of all the events at car week, the History races at Laguna Seca are my absolute favorite.
If you have never been Laguna Seca, it should be on your list as a car enthusiast. There’s no other track like it in America, and that’s part of why it’s become the spiritual home of classic American races. The combination of California’s natural beauty, lots of great viewing areas, and exceptionally great weather is basically unbeatable.
Plus, you can just spend so much time looking at cars parked on the golf course grass, right? And while the Historic Rolex itself isn’t too expensive to attend, trying to stay in or around the Monterey Peninsula during Car Week will cost you dearly. No one is trying to pay $900 a night to stay in Salinas, friends.
Luckily, there’s a new event that brings cars of the same caliber to race at Laguna Seca (plus some you’ll never see at Monterey Car Week), and since it’s the end of the year, Attendance should be more affordable. It’s called the Velocity Invitational, and marks the year 2022 second run about what could be the best classic car event in America.
G/O Media may receive a commission
If you love F1, McLaren already has a substantial collection of cars from its following catalog here, even running demo laps with some of them. There aren’t many places where you’ll hear an old F1 car Ayrton Senna actually tearing the lap, followed by Mario Andretti in a modern F1 car. Don’t like F1? How about Tommi Mäkinen’s Subaru WRX race car or a Lancia 037 drifting Corkscrew? In general, the cars are very diverse, giving interesting results. There are classic Trans-Am cars, racing Minis, previous Le Mans prototypes and even Ferrari 250 GTOs. There were even brass era racing cars and pre-war Grand Prix cars.
General admission for the weekend is around $150 (individual admission is also available), and children under 15 get in for free. Unlike some events, general admission doesn’t force you to sit in bottom-of-the-line seats in the sun; you get the same level of access as more expensive tickets. The on-site food and drink vendors are also pretty good, but you’re allowed to bring your own bottles of fine wine as long as you don’t leave them in the landfill.
For the sophisticated adult types with some extra greenbacks to burn, there’s also the Sip and Savor stall, with an extra charge for standard ticket, which gives you unlimited booze and food basically throughout the day, plus killer tracking views. It’s not cheap at $475 per person, but if you’re planning to hang out all day and eat at the track all weekend, that’s not too bad either.
My favorite reason to go to the Velocity Invitational is the Mustangs vs. First of all, it was a great race. The cars put together surprisingly well in terms of overall lap times, but as you’d imagine, the cars combine those laps together in very different ways. What is more interesting, however, is that the race usually runs after sunset. If you are a frequent visitor to Laguna, you will understand how rare and special it is to watch a night race there.
While the Invitational hasn’t quite reached the level of Goodwood’s superiority, it’s well on its way there. It’s hard to say where the event will go, but if it continues on its current path – think of the Festival Of Speed cars comfortably revival vibe – it gets better and better. Don’t fall asleep with this event, and maybe I’ll see you there next Fall.
