THE 2012 MITTY SET TO BE A TRIUMPH CELEBRATION AND BRITISH EXTRAVAGANZA

The Speedfest at the Classic Motorsports Mitty, the oldest and largest historic car event on the East Coast, will return to Road Atlanta April 27-29, 2012. Sanctioned by the Historic Sportscar Racing Association, the 36th Mitty will bring together cars ranging from 1950s classics to current models.

In addition to four days of racing action on the historic Road Atlanta track, cars will be featured in many off-track activities: car corrals for different makes, after-hours parties and events, car club gatherings and more.

Triumph is the featured marque for this year's event, and Kas Kastner, former Triumph team manager, will serve as grand marshal. In addition to being the successful leader of Triumph and British Leyland racing in the United States, Kastner also managed the Nissan GTP car program.

Other Triumph celebrities in attendance at this year's Mitty are championship driver Bob Tullius and longtime U.S. Triumph and British Leyland advertising director Michael Cook, author of the books "Triumph in America" and "Triumph Spitfire."

The event will feature more than 200 race cars representing such famous makes as Porsche, Jaguar, Alfa Romeo, BMW, Fiat-Lancia, Lola, Corvette, Datsun, Mustang, MG, Austin-Healey and, of course, Triumph.

The Speedfest at the Classic Motorsports Mitty will include races for IMSA Camel GT, SCCA Trans-Am, Cam, Formula 1, CART and NASCAR Winston Cup cars. The feature race of the weekend is the Triumph-only Kastner Cup race, brought to The Mitty by the Friends of Triumph vintage racing group. Also on the schedule are races for other vintage sports cars from the past six decades as well as the modern-day Porsche Cayman series. The Mazda MX-5 Cup will be a featured professional competition of the race weekend.

Triumphs of every model and year imaginable, in both street-legal and racing configurations, will get the spotlight. Also on display and on track will be the legendary Triumph 250K race car that Kastner designed.

Several non-racing activities will appeal to fans as well. This year's Mitty is a British extravaganza with a number of events in the infield. The biggest of these is the Vintage Triumph Register regional event. The event will be held in the Mitty infield all weekend and feature a Le Mans-start race, a spectators' choice car show, and an awards party Saturday night. The Saturday night party, sponsored by eBay Motors, will also be a special 50th birthday celebration for the Triumph Spitfire and the MGB. In addition to the Vintage Triumph Register, more than 40 other car clubs, including those dedicated to MG, Jaguar, Mazda, Porsche, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Alfa Romeo, BMW, Lotus and Fiat-Lancia, will display their machines in the infield.

To keep up the momentum of last year's Mazda Mitty, Friday night will feature the Mazda Owners Key Party sponsored by Mazda and SafeRacer. The Key Party is open to all Mazda owners who show their car keys at the door. Since many classic sports car owners also own Miatas, we know that the Key Party will be well attended.

DIYAutoTune is also returning in 2012. Based on the success of last year's event, DIYAutoTune will hold another MegaSquirt MegaMeet. The MegaMeet is an opportunity to hang out with all the major car geeks behind MegaSquirt fuel injection. Just about everyone who has played a major role in the project, including people from all over the U.S., Canada and the U.K., will be on hand to answer questions and provide technical assistance. A new addition to this year's MegaMeet will be a Friday night party in the DIYAutoTune.com tent featuring live band Hang Overture.

This will be the biggest Mitty yet and likely the largest gathering of British sports cars of 2012. If your sports car is not from the U.K., don't fret: The Mitty welcomes all sports car fans, no matter which marques they love.
The 2012 Mitty would not be possible without the help of our sponsors. We want to thank Mazda, Kumho Tires, Skip Barber Racing School, Moss Motors, eBay Motors, G-Force Racing Gear, SafeRacer, Exotic Car Transport and The Gorsline Company for their continued support of this great event.

The Mitty was founded by a group of Atlanta-area racing aficionados in 1978 who wanted a place to compete with their cars. That gathering has grown into the largest classic car event on the East Coast.

Now celebrating its 26th year, Classic Motorsports is the American magazine of classic sports car collecting, racing, rallying, and restoring. Run by real car guys for real car guys, Classic Motorsports covers the world from MGs to Mustangs with an interesting, provocative and unique perspective. For additonal information go to themitty.com and please direct all inquiries to Andy Reid at andy@classicmotorsports.net.