Sonoma Speed Festival Is Bringing Goodwood-Style Action Stateside
With historic cars like Ferrari 250 GTOs, fine wine, and a racetrack, Sonoma Speed Festival’s where Goodwood and Pebble Beach will meet.
This spring, Sonoma Raceway will host a get-together of vintage race cars in California's wine country for a weekend of fine drinking, dining, and everyone's favorite—motorsport—at the inaugural Sonoma Speed Festival.
Held between Thursday, May 30 and Sunday, June 2, the Sonoma Speed Festival hopes to bring the spirit of the Goodwood Festival of Speed to the Americas. Primarily being a motorsport festival, the event's emphasis will be on-track activities, which will feature iconic and historic race cars duking it out like the old days. Notable entries include a multitude of historic Ferraris, such as the 250 Testarossa and 250 GTO, a Maserati 300S, multiple Maserati Tipo 61 "Birdcages," Gulf Porsche 917Ks, Jaguar D-Types, Mario Andretti's 1976 Lotus 77 Formula 1 car, and Niki Lauda's 1977 Scuderia Ferrari 312T2B.
The event's pièce de résistance will be a historic 1966-1969 Trans-Am race, which will pay tribute to the monstrous 1969 Trans-American Sedan Championship title fight between Mark Donohue and Parnelli Jones, part of which occurred on the hallowed grounds of Sonoma Raceway, then known as Sears Point.
Those not racing or hosting one of the paddock's historical or cultural displays (which will showcase the evolution of racing technology) can indulge in some of California's best wine, beer, coffee, and restaurant offerings. Accommodations can be found either in the best local hotels or alternatively, tents, as the Sonoma Speed Festival is selling weekend camping passes.
Admission can be paid by the day, with general admission coming in at $70 presale for one day or $90 for the whole weekend. General admission allows access to the entire paddock and the all-important close-up view of the event's cars, which are liable to make lifelong impressions on any kids that attend the event—ages 12 and under are free with a paying adult. For parents that have $1,500 sitting around, it may be worth taking advantage of that provision to get their kid behind the VIP tape.