The purpose of General Racing Ltd. is to encourage the restoration, preservation and use of historic, sports and racing cars. Our events and races are for fun with nothing to be won. Satisfaction and camaraderie among friends is the reward.

Our serious interest is in the cars. We want to veiw old cars with racing history restored. Today many believe the term “restore” means "to make new”. Webster's says, “restore… to bring back to a former condition.” We accept the latter. The enjoyment for us is in driving and experiencing the cars as they were. To support that we arrange our race groups by age and their engine size. Modern technology can make vast improvements in performance possible but that is not our desire and our rules are written with the intent to prevent such modification. We want the cars to be as they were, not what they could have been.

Restoration, preservation and use.
Our events are not intended to offer individuals a career option. There are other professional organizations which would be a better choice. General Racing is for the less driven (excuse the pun). Driving well is important, winning is not. Safety is very important and driving is a major contribution.
Racing at any level can be dangerous.

We, therefore, have rules and regulations which we hope will be helpful in making your participation both enjoyable and safe. As an overview, we divide safety into two categories: Car and Driver. An old car cannot be made as safe as a modern car. A McLaren with a monocoque tub is definitely safer in a crash than an M.G., Ferrari or Bugatti. The driver of the old car is subjected to more possible injury due to car construction, seating position and inability to use selected modern safety devices to their best advantage.

We want you to be aware of these facts. You can get hurt in these cars. Making a car safe is one approach to safety. Making a driver safe is another. If the car is in good order then the driver must go wrong to have a wreck. We place a very heavy emphasis on the driver. He is responsible for the preparation of the car (either directly or indirectly) and operates it. We expect entrants and drivers to understand the purpose of our events as stated and conduct themselves accordingly.

General Racing Ltd. was formed in 1970 to encourage the restoration, preservation and the use of historic sports and racing cars. Founder Steven J. Earle envisioned an event that would unite former racing greats with enthusiastic amateurs who owned some of the rare motorcars that once graced road courses worldwide. Mr. Earle’s vision forever changed the vintage racing landscape.

From the outset, General Racing ensured its events would be professionally organized with the emphasis on fun and to allow drivers to experience the car as they were intended. The venue also had to be authentic. After much deliberation, Mr. Earle settled on the demanding track at Laguna Seca, which was located near the old Pebble Beach Road Course. His proposal was enthusiastically accepted by SCRAMP (Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula), and received the support of Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance organizers, the late Lorin Tryon and Jules Heumann.

The Monterey Historic Automobile Races was born.

Through the guidance and tireless assistance of the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America), the inaugural one-day Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races Presented by Toyota in 1974 was successfully held and attracted a field of 66 cars and a handful of spectators. It also sparked the interest and vision for what would become the world’s premier historic auto race.

From there, owners of some of motorsports’ forgotten cars started to appear, emerging from private garages for the enjoyment of others, thereby preserving them for generations to come. In 1975, necessitated by ever-increasing spectator and participant interest, the Monterey Historics became a two-day affair.

General Racing’s expectations are high and have proven to set the gold standard in historic automobile racing. Only cars with documented racing pedigrees are accepted, and must bear the same livery details as they did in their racing years.

The success of the Monterey Historics spawned additional General Racing events. The Wine Country Classic, now re-named the Sonoma Historic Motorsports Festival, held at Infineon raceway (formerly Sears Point), has grown each year and in 1997, a third venue was needed to accommodate the interest. Thus, Speed Festival, at NAS Coronado was created.

Most recently, General Racing became involved with the creative team at Lime Rock CT and it's Rolex Lime Rock Park Vintage Festival, held over Labor Day weekend.