From website contributor and MG racer Tony Ferrari:  "The driver of the white MGA #49 was Dave Smith. He broke the transmission on Saturday and Chris Meyers let him drive #162 in the practice on Sunday morning -- class act!  Chris is the head guy of MGVR."

From Dave Smith:  "If you were asking about # 49 white MGA with blue stripes, that was my car. It is a 1962 MGA Mk II. It has the original engine block, tranny, and rear axle. All of the chrome is original, except the grill. The car was sold in Michigan in 1962, and driven on MSU campus by a fraternity lad.  In 1968 it burned # 4 exhaust valve, and was purchased for $400.00 by Ken Johnson.  Ken kept this in his mom's garage in Farmington, Michigan until 1990.  Ken realized that he would not be putting the car back together again, and contacted me as I was the Chairman of the Michigan MG club.  In 1996 I decided to go vintage racing, and the Michigan Rowdies helped me do a frame-up race car conversion in three months. 

Its first race was at Road America, where it finished first in a fine field of Austin-Healey 100-4s and 356 Porsches.  It was the only MG in the race.  It has been in over 150 races and was the 1997 E Production Champion and won the Bucher-Decker Cup in 2005 and the Collier Cup in 2006.  It has also been inducted (by invitation) into Jakes Stables.  It has been a wonderful and very reliable car for me, with only 2 DNFs in 12 years.  The tranny failure in Laguna was a big disappointment, but all of your great hospitality made up the difference."