Fastmasters

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Fastmasters was a made for television auto racing series, broadcast on ESPN in 1993 that featured notable drivers over the age of 56, most of whom were retired from professional racing at the time. The Fastmasters series was a summer-long elimination competition, with identical, Tom Walkinshaw Racing-prepared, $750,000 Jaguar XJ220s racing on Bridgestone RE71 high-performance street tires. The unusually small road course was comprised of turns two through four of the Indianapolis Raceway Park 5/8-mile oval, with a dog-leg infield section in the place of turn one.

The original series format had called for two races per event, utilizing both the full oval track and the road course, but that was scratched when two of the pricey cars were written off in a massive, high-speed shunt on the oval, during the very first race. Close racing ruled the day as championship winning veterans, from Formula 1, IndyCar, NASCAR, NHRA Drag Racing, Endurance racing, and more, some who were well into their 70's, fought for every position, rubbing and wrinkling the skin of the gorgeous Jaguars.

Three time Indianapolis 500 Champion Bobby Unser won the first and only championship, with another three time Indy winner, Johnny Rutherford, placing second, with third place claimed by sports car legend George Follmer, winner of the Can-Am and Trans-Am Championships in 1972.