About the VRG
In 2004 a couple of vintage racers got together and said, “What if we started our own club” They started calling around to other racing friends and asking the same question along with “and if you did start up in a new club what would you want from it?” Well, it seems that it boiled down to three things, Safety, Safety, & Safety. It seemed that everyone felt that if you got that part right, car safety, driver safety and a safe attitude, everything else would just follow. And it appears that they were correct. Coming out of the gate in 2004 with one event in hand, the New Hampshire Vintage Festival, they quickly added the PVGP BeaveRun Historics and kept right on from there. Now recognized as a premier vintage racing group they have a schedule that spans a nice locale and a full year. Ranging from the northern tracks of Watkins Glen & NHIS to Summit Point and BeaveRun. Developing a coalition of like minded clubs their members can race at places like Mosport and VIR with all the advantages of club members. Safety, Safety, Safety has been the mantra and with a enviable event record behind them it works. Boasting a in-house driver’s school that rivals the best pro schools around, to a cadre of some of the best technical people in the business. Sharp minds and a very active driver’s committee helps all of the drivers to have a safe and enjoyable race. Active member support gives our paddocks and race venues a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere. Add a few off season events to keep us all in touch and you have one of the finest vintage racing clubs you could join. Thanks, Bob, Tivvy, Ralph, Mark, Brad, Chris, Bill, Kim, and all the others that have taken this club from an idea to a reality
Board of Directors
Rev. 1/2024
Officers:
John Wood – President, john@vrgonline.org
John’s interest in racing began in the late 1960s and 70s while attending TransAm, Can-Am, F5000, Indy series and SCCA races at Mid-Ohio, Nelson Ledges, Indianapolis, and Pocono with his father. He began vintage racing with VRG, VSCCA and VDCA in a nicely prepared 1956 Healey 100-4 race car vintage racer. Later he began campaigning a 1972 BMW 2002tii that he continues to race frequently. John has spent his career working on environmental, health and safety management systems and improvement programs in the chemical industry and has his own consulting business. John is a member of VRG’s Driver’s Committee and is an instructor with VRG’s Driver’s School. Off track, he can be found motoring in a 1954 Healey 100-4 that he restored himself, or in his 1985 Vanagon with his dogs.
Ian Wisbon – Vice-President, ian@vrgonline.org
Ian resides in Pittsburgh, PA with his wife Betsy and their fur children. Ian has been involved with the VRG since the late 2000’s campaigning his 1961 Austin Mini “Duckworth”, volunteering in various capacities, and largely handling IT concerns for the VRG prior to, and during, his time as a director. Ian works during the day in autonomous vehicles, and is part-owner and Chief Broom Pusher at B&W Autosport, a family owned vintage race shop near Pittsburgh. Ian’s first car was a 1974 1/2 MGB GT, and to this date he has never owned an automatic transmission vehicle, nor a vehicle manufactured after 1994. Ian’s other interests include sim racing, 3D printing, and at one point, he played in a Ska-punk band in high school like any other high school band geek in the late 90’s. His next race car project is a 1963 Hillman Imp, hoping to bolster the small bore ranks – name for the Imp is still TBD…
- PVGP PittRace VRG Event Chairman
Drew Cullen – Secretary, drew@vrgonline.org
Drew’s interest in auto racing began in his tweens when he attended dirt track stock car races in Fonda, New York and grew with his joining of the Accident Investigation Team at Watkins Glen in the late 1970s. The volunteer team worked all levels of racing from regional SCCA events to TransAm, Can-Am, CART and F1 races, and provided free entry and camping at the track. After attending several vintage races at Wakins Glen his wife asked him why he wasn’t doing that. 8 months later he began racing with VRG in an MG BGT and has raced with VRG, VARAC, SVRA and VSCCA, currently racing a 1958 Elva Courier. Drew is a member of the VRG Drivers Committee and assists at the VRG Novice School. He is retired from a career in school finance, labor economics and education policy development and now enjoys skiing, paddling and driving his Porsche 356B Super in the mountains near his home in the heart of the Adirondacks.
Scott Janzen – Treasurer, scottj@vrgonline.org
Scott bought his first car before he could get a driver’s license, promptly took it apart, and has been playing with cars ever since. He spectated at races for many years, but didn’t start racing until he had the opportunity to go to a Skip Barber Formula Dodge racing school at his employer’s expense. He immediately bought a basket-case Formula Ford (oops). The Triumph GT6 he currently races is his second race car, and he has been racing with VRG since 2004. Scott got into racing for the cars, but has found that the friendships and camaraderie are a huge part of the fun with VRG. In “real life”, Scott has his own real estate investment and development business as well s a consulting business. Scott and his wife Sara (who thankfully supports his racing hobby) live just north of Philadelphia, PA.
Matthew Barbour – Director, matthew@vrgonline.org
Matthew has been a member of VRG for over 7 years and has raced at numerous events including The Glen, Wild Hare, the Jeff, PVGP, NJMP, and Lime Rock to name a few. Matthew currently races an Historic Formula Ford but has added an MGB GT so that he can also run with the tin-tops. Matthew has served on the Drivers Committee on multiple occasions and was the Co-Chair of the Watkins Glen event in 2022 and will be tackling that role again this year. You can always find Matthew in the paddock with his parents Jeff and Karen and his wife Amanda as they are a family racing team. In his off-track life, Matthew is co-owner and CEO of Office Service Co headquartered in Reading, PA.
John Jeffrey – Director, jjeffrey@vrgonline.org
John’s first time operating a motor vehicle came when he was 8 years old: he and a 10-year-old friend “borrowed” his father’s ’36 three-window coupe for a joy ride on city streets. John sat on the floor and operated the pedals and his friend shifted and steered the car until they stalled it a few miles away. Since then, John has driven nearly 2 million miles in 49 out of 50 states and 21 different countries while trying to drive like that of a local. It turns out that Germany and Italy suit his driving style very nicely. In 1974 John purchased the only new car he has ever owned, a Datsun 260Z from Bob Sharp’s dealership that was totaled at LRP in 1975 when another driver lost control of his car. Fast forward to 2000 he began doing autocross and track days in a 1972 240Z street car. He became an instructor in 2005 while driving another 240Z, a one-time Bob Sharp race car test mule that John restored using parts from several BSR C-Production cars. John was the President of the New England Z Car Club for over 10 years and is currently their motorsports coordinator. He joined VRG in 2012 and competed in his first event at the New Hampshire Motorsport facility. Since then, he has become an instructor at the VRG School, a member of the Driver’s Committee and co-chair of the Thompson event. John retired in 2020 as the Environmental Health & Safety Manager for a chemical and engineering firm after working in various government, corporate and NGO jobs in the US and abroad.
Paul King – Director, paulking@vrgonline.org
Paul has raced a Triumph GT6 with VRG since 2005, and actively races the GT6 in vintage events in the northeast. Paul has served the club in many capacities, including the Event Chair of the VRG event at Thompson Motorsports Park and the Event Chair for VRG of the Lime Rock Labor Day Motorsports Festival. Paul also serves as a Senior Instructor at the yearly VRG Novice School.
- Lime Rock Labor Day VRG Event Chairman
Andrew Stein – Director, andrew@vrgonline.org
Andrew’s first car was a Fiat 128, which was quickly supplanted by a derelict Alfa Guilia Sprint GT, thus learning many lessons about car repair and disappointment at an early age. He began vintage racing in 1985 with an Elva Mk V sports racer and, later, a beastly Devin-bodied V8 powered special. That was replaced by a Merlyn 11A Formula Ford and followed by more Formula Fords Andrew was a co-founder of the Formula Ford Challenge Series, is a member of VRG’s Drivers Committee and assists at the VRG Drivers School. Now retired, he was Operations Director for an auto parts chain owned by him and his brothers.
Jeff Tapolci – Director, jefftapolci@vrgonline.org
Jeff has been racing since 2015 when a fellow driver recruited him to take the VRG school. After the licensing school, Jeff found a 1969 MGB that he drove for several years until he passed it on to his son Michael. Currently, Jeff races a 1962 Lotus Super Seven and a 1969 Lynx Formula Vee. In addition, he races a 1993 Caracal Formula Vee with the Challenge Cup/Drivers Cup. Jeff has also raced a Merlyn Formula Ford with FFCS. Beyond the track, Jeff has been operating a family business that invests and operates in technology. In his spare time, he loves skiing, fitness, and photography.