Vintage race cars roar back to Put-in-Bay

PUT-IN-BAY - As old classic sports cars were whizzing and roaring up and down the track, for at least one longtime racing fan, just watching wasn’t enough.

During the Put-in-Bay Road Races Reunion last year, Roger Sieling, of Columbus, was a spectator. Sieling said he was still recovering at that time from a recent open heart surgery. But he was eager to get back behind the wheel and return to the track.

The Put-in-Bay Road Races Reunion, a three-day event celebrating and re-creation of the famous historical road races held on the island back in the mid- to late 1950s, returned for it's eighth year on Monday through Wednesday at the Put-in-Bay Port Authority on Langram Road.

Sieling’s own reunion with the vintage race event at Put-in-Bay did not disappoint. Sieling not only finished first place in his division, he was lapping a few other drivers in his 1962 Lotus 20/22.

“This feels so good,” he said. “This has really been fun. It’s been a wonderful week.”

As a retired mechanical engineer, Sieling said he always had a love for cars. Back in the mid-1980s, he raced in the Sports Car Club of America.

But he said the Lotus 20/22 was a car that he had wanted since he was in high school. When he finally bought his in the early ‘90s, it was just a bunch of parts. Sieling built and restored the car and was able to return it to the track in just under a decade.

“I love the cars,” Sieling said. “I love racing in general.”

Of course, some of the drivers were new to the event, racing at Put-in-Bay for the first time, such as Ron Smith, of Caledonia, Michigan.

Smith also had prior race experience before getting into the vintage divisions, but had been away from it for a long time. He said about 15 years ago he and his wife attended a vintage car race in California, and she recommended he get back into it.

“This is so much more fun,” Smith said of vintage racing. “You’re running with people who actually care. Competition is still competition, but they’re friendly.”

Smith took second place in his division, driving his 1966 Lynx B. He described the Lynx as his backup car, but said it is a fun one to drive. He bought it after it was in a wreck and restored it back to racing condition.

“This is just a real blessing to be able to do this kind of thing,” he said. “I’ll be 68 soon and it’s just nice to be able to get in and drive competitively.”

jstinchcom@gannett.com

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