Local Competitors Ready for Wine Country Classic at Infineon Raceway

Larry Ayers (Vallejo – 1930 Morgan Super Aero)
Vallejo resident Larry Ayers will compete in a rare three-wheeled Morgan entered in the Wine Country Classic. Ayers’ 1930 Morgan Super Aero is one of only about 2,000 cars left in the world, and Ayers is one of only about a dozen people who races one in the United States. Ayers has been racing in vintage car events since 1996, when he decided to give it a try and got hooked. He does all of his own mechanical work and has been competing in the event for eight years. Away from the track, Ayers retired after working for ABC/Disney as a television producer for 37 years.

Jeff Hill (Oakland – 1962 Alfa Romeo SZ)
Jeff Hill is chief mate on a 900-foot cargo ship that sails between Los Angeles and Honolulu, transporting everything from consumer goods to cars to livestock. He graduated from the Maritime Academy in Vallejo in 1979, and has been working on a container ship ever since. Even though the ocean and travel are his two main interests, he also climbed the Himalayas in the early 1980s and enjoys hiking for mushrooms in the fall. He is part of the Sonoma Mycological Society and the Mycological Society of San Francisco. This is Jeff’s third year competing in the Wine Country Classic.

Robert Davis – (San Francisco - 1953 Siata 208S)
Robert Davis didn’t begin racing until he was 60 years old. He lives by the saying, “It’s more fun to drive a slow car fast, than a fast car slow.” Davis is a real estate developer and spends much of his time in Florida, where he is developing a holiday village, where everything is designed to be within walking distance. He is the current chair for the Congress for the New Urbanism, which promotes walkable, neighborhood-based development as an alternative to sprawl and redirects energies toward rebuilding American cities to become friendlier to older people, children and those who cannot drive. Davis’ first Wine Country Classic event was in 2004.

Fred Cziska (Petaluma – 1974 Shadow DN4)
Petaluma’s Fred Cziska manages several car dealerships in Marin County, but when he’s not working, he’s usually vintage car racing. Cziska owns 12 vintage race cars, including a Formula Junior, Can-Am, Trans-Am and Formula-1 cars. This weekend, he will pilot Jackie Oliver's 1974 Can-Am championship-winning car for the second time on the twists and turns of Infineon Raceway. Cziska has won a few times in Sonoma, with his most recent win in 2005 in Group 8. Cziska has competed in every Wine Country Classic event since its inception in 1987.

Peter Giddings (Danville – 1931 Alfa Romeo Corto)
Giddings was born in Sussex, England and moved to the United States more than 30 years ago. He works in electronic and digital communication designing and manufacturing shuttle systems, theaters and broadcast equipment. When Giddings was young, he “scraped pennies” together playing the trumpet as a musician and also delivered newspapers. Now, he races historic cars all over the world and owns several vintage marques including Maserati, Ferrari and Bugatti. He calls historic racing “wonderful foolishness.” He is the defending Group 1 class champion.

Doug Schultz (Vacaville – 1969 Ford Talladega)
Vacaville’s Doug Schultz is a retired Air Force flight engineer, who worked on C5 Galaxies for 22 years, beginning in 1976. He has flown to just about every country in the world, serving in conflicts such as Desert Storm, Panama, Grenada and also aiding countries during several national and world natural disasters. He met his wife, who was a crew chief on F-15s, at Travis Air Force Base. On the ground, Schultz has always been a fan of muscle cars, but decided he would rather race cars than show cars. He has competed in the Wine Country Classic off-and-on for 13 years. He will drive a vintage NASCAR stock car that won the 1969 NASCAR championship with driver David Pierson.

Glenn Oliveria (Oakland – 1955 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint)
Oliveria began his racing career running motocross and motorcycles for 20 years. He remembers racing motocross at Infineon Raceway in the early 1970s on the dirt course in the current Turn-7 area. He then began racing vintage motocross in the late 1990s before getting into vintage car racing in 2003. Since 1985, he and his wife have traveled once a year across the world to a Formula 1 race, including races in Monaco, Germany, Hungary, England, France, Italy and Belgium. This year they will head to Valencia, Spain. This is Glenn’s first time competing in the Wine Country Classic. He works on Alfa Romeos at his shop, Oliveria Engineering, in Berkeley.

Mike McNally (Sacramento – 1931 Riley Port Ford)

Eighty year-old Mike McNally from Sacramento will take to the track in a 1931 Riley 4 Port Ford at the Wine Country Classic. He hopes to have better luck this year as the car blew a gasket during its maiden voyage in Sonoma in 2007. McNally had previously owned the car in the 1940s, but sold it and subsequently bought it back in 1952. McNally claims that while growing up racing cars, he struggled financially, but thanks to wealthier friends, he was always able to find a car to race. He has been racing in the Wine Country Classic for more than 13 years and racing more than 60 years total. He claims that racing keeps him in shape due to the physical inspection he must pass each year. Off the track, McNally worked for several years in public relations with Coca Cola and then in broadcasting, but eventually founded a family retail business with his wife. He is semi-retired.

Clint DeWitt (Sacramento – 1960 Porsche Roadster)

The deWitt's 1960 Porsche Roadster from Sacramento is entered in the Wine Country Classic, its first General Racing event. Clint de Witt and crew chief, Frank Lettini, have been working on this Roadster project for several years, as both are now retired. The Roadster has spent many hours of testing at Infineon Raceway in the last six months and is now ready for its debut at the Wine Country Classic.

Wine Country Classic Historic Car Races

Big O Tires Racing Season Presents: Wine Country Classic Historic Car Races

May 30-31

CIRCUIT: 12-turn, 2.52-mile road course

NOTABLE: The feature marque of the weekend will be the Morgan, which celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2009.

TICKETS: $40 day/$60 weekend; Children 12-and-under FREE and parking is FREE. Each ticket includes entrance to the Wine Country Pavilion.

INFORMATION: 800-870-RACE, www.infineonraceway.com, www.ticketmaster.com