(Photos by Anthony Festa – Check out his website here) – The 2017 Race of Gentlemen once again delivered the type of fun and the type of unique atmosphere that the event has become known for. Drawing people from all over the world to the New Jersey shore, the vintage hot rods and motorcycles slinging sand on the beach had gearheads of all ages and backgrounds smiling and enjoying the action. Between the flag girl starts, the vintage Oilers car club timing tower and burbling scream of the old engines it takes everyone involved back to the days when fun with cars was a simple as choosing off against a buddy and hammering the throttle for fun.

It is rare in this day and age to have an event like the Race of Gentlemen that has stuck so close to its roots and hasn’t turned into a cash grab. Undoubtedly there have been opportunities to greater commercialize the whole scene but those have been resisted to keep the essence of the thing what it was when it began.

There are no scoreboards, there are no big speeds, and there are likely few engines even making 200hp. All of the things people take for granted about automotive competition today are completely absent from the deal and yet more and more people flock to it every year. Why? If you have to ask you just don’t get it.

Anthony Festa was on hand to blast these photos for us. We’ll be back with more racing action tomorrow but for today we have some sweet photos of the car and bike corral where racers both readied and showed off their cars and motorcycles. You’ll love ’em!

Click the images below to expand them and then scroll on to see ’em all –