The Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion is an annual event held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, California. Its purpose is to provide an event in which historic racecars can compete. It takes place over the course of one weekend every mid-August. It was first established by Steve Earle in 1974 as the Monterey Historic Automobile Races. Earle organized the meeting for his friends to race their cars at Laguna Seca.^[1] The event, known as the Monterey Historics until 2010, acts as a part of Monterey Car Week, which includes the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and other events.^[2]

Approximately 550 cars participate in the event.^[3]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 event was canceled.^[4]

Sponsorship

The first company to sponsor the event was the Chrysler Corporation.^[5] Later, the event added a sponsorship from Rolex. The Chrysler sponsorship was replaced with one from Toyota, who sponsored the event from 2006 to 2008.^[6]

Awards

Although celebrities and professional drivers do attend, the Reunion is not a professional event, and has no awards or prizes for finishing position. Each Saturday and Sunday afternoon race has a Rolex Award winner voted by committee. Two of the morning races each day honor a Bonham's Cup winner similarly chosen. There are special Awards for best paddock display, best Ford-powered car, outstanding craftsmanship, etc. The highest honor is the Rolex Spirit of Monterey Award, A Rolex watch and original Bill Patterson painting, presented to the entrant who best embodies the spirit of the event in his presentation and competition drive.

In magazines

The Reunion has been featured in Autoweek magazine. It was featured in an online article in early August 2008^[7] and in the September 2008 issue. The 2003 event was featured in an issue of Popular Mechanics.^[8] Popular Mechanics also documented the 2000 event.^[9] The 2009 event was also featured.

The 2010 event was featured in an issue of Road & Track.^[10] The 2004 event was also featured in an article on the R&T website.^[11]

Telecasts

For many years television network Speed Channel provided coverage of the event. For a few years the coverage consisted of several different episodes featuring the major groups (IMSA, Trans Am, F1, and Can Am). In later years the event was abridged to one episode combining behind-the-scenes coverage with coverage of select races. The races covered were a mix of the major groups and some of the GT groups for better interest. If the featured a one-time race group, that race may be covered. The Reunion was for a while covered by Fox Sports 1, which replaced Speed in August 2013.

Internet

In recent years the Reunion has been livestreamed by Motor Trend magazine, with the coverage being shown on YouTube.^[12]

Race groups

Various race groups from multiple eras and types of automobile racing are featured at the Monterey Reunion. The groups often contain vehicles that competed against one another during that point in history.^[13]

Combined class

Occasionally the schedule will feature combined-class races, such as the sports racing cars competing alongside the GT cars. While these two groups race simultaneously, they do not compete against each other, much like in professional racing.

Former groups

• Previously the event featured a mixed "GT and production cars" race group in which professionally raced grand tourers competed against unmodified sports cars of the same era.^[14] The unmodified cars have since been phased out.
• In the past the prewar groups were divided into two types: production (sports, racing, and touring) and single-seater (Indy roadsters and grand prix).^[14] The latter has since been merged with the racing cars. The sports and racing cars were also merged and ultimately combined with the touring cars.
• United States Road Racing Championship- a former name for the sports racing cars

Special race groups

The Reunion also features special or expanded race groups in an attempt to generate greater interest from its spectators. These often one-time groups have included Grand National^[15] and Winston Cup Series^[16] stock cars, an under two liter Trans Am Series race group,^[17] and a Formula Atlantic^[18] group. Single-marque spec groups have also been featured. In 2011 an all Jaguar XKE race^[19] was featured to commemorate that model's fiftieth anniversary. The same was done in 2012 for the Shelby Cobra, featuring small block AC Cobras racing against the big block Shelby 427 Cobras. In 2013 an all Porsche 911 "Weissach Cup" was featured to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the 911.^[20]

Featured marques

In 1975, the event introduced the tradition of honoring a "featured marque" each year.^[29] This tribute is done through various ways. These include an increased number of entered vehicles from that marque, special displays of the marque's history and some of the brand's vehicles (past and/or present, with the former sometimes featuring entered vehicles), and sometimes spec races only featuring vehicles from the marque being tributed. Occasionally the event will have special one-time tributes. These have included Can Am team Chaparral Cars and racing legend Juan Manuel Fangio.