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Legendary storyteller. International racing star. And still one of the funniest men ever to climb out of a race car.
David Hobbs raced everything — Trans-Am, Formula One, sports cars, touring cars, Indy cars, IMSA, NASCAR, and Can-Am. He competed in both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona, and made twenty starts at the 24 Hours of Le Mans during one of the most dangerous and exciting eras in motorsport history.
This Labor Day Weekend, one of racing’s most beloved personalities returns to
Lime Rock Park as a Special Guest of Historic Festival 44 — and if you’ve ever heard “Hobbo” tell a story, you already know this is going to be fun.
“My first trip to Lime Rock,” Hobbs recalls, “was in 1969… I was overwhelmed with the beauty of the area, the adulation of a local driver, Sam something, and the fantastic, very challenging track.”
That “Sam something,” of course, was Sam Posey.
Hobbs quickly became part of Lime Rock lore himself — winning at the circuit and setting a track record that stood for years. But for many fans, the stories became just as legendary as the driving.
At HF44. Hobbo returns to the place he still speaks about with genuine affection.
“Lime Rock to me epitomizes the birth of American road racing. The track just carved through the local terrain — a true racer’s layout. I always relish my visits.”
His first Trans-Am race came in 1969 at Riverside, lining up against names that still echo through American road racing history — Mark Donohue, Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Peter Revson, Swede Savage, George Follmer, and Sam Posey. Many of the very same cars from that era will return to Lime Rock this year as Historic Trans-Am joins HF44.
Then came 1983.
“My first Trans-Am season with DeAtley Motorsports came out of the blue,” Hobbs says, “but it worked out rather well.”
That’s one way to put it.
The phone call from team manager John Dick became classic Hobbo material almost immediately.
“John Dick here,” the caller said. “We’re going to run a Trans-Am team next year with Chevrolet Camaros, Budweiser money, and intend to win a championship. It’s going to be a fully funded team, and we would like you to drive one of the cars.”
Hobbs replied, “OK, sure.”
And he went on, “The Dickey brothers are going to be the mechanics.”
“Uh huh. And your name is?”
“John Dick.”
Hobbs replied: “Sounds to me like there’s an awful lot of dick in this team.”
Driving alongside Willy T. Ribbs, Hobbs captured four victories and the 1983 Trans-Am title — a defining season in a remarkable international racing career.
David Hobbs will be at Historic Festival 44 all weekend long, meeting fans, signing autographs, and sharing stories from one of the great careers — and personalities — in motorsport history.
Read about Hobbo’s 1983 Trans Am Championship season on our website
“A mere 24 years after I started racing, I became Trans-Am Champion. With me is Nick Craw, a former racer who was President of the SCCA at the time and now is a top man within the FIA.”
Get Tickets To Historic Festival 44 Here
Jocko Maggiacomo Named Special Guest at HF44
Chauncey “Jocko” Maggiacomo will return to Lime Rock Park for Historic Festival 44 as he celebrates the 50th anniversary of his 1976 SCCA Trans-Am Championship season.
For fans of American road racing, Jocko’s story feels deeply connected to
Lime Rock itself.
The Poughkeepsie native followed in the footsteps of his father,
Chauncey “Jocko” Maggiacomo Sr., who raced everything from motorcycles and midgets to modifieds and late models before earning induction into the
New England Auto Racers Hall of Fame in 2000. But while his father made his name on oval tracks, Jocko gravitated toward road racing and quickly became one of the standout independent drivers of Trans-Am’s golden era.
Driving a dark blue AMC Javelin originally built by Roger Penske for
Mark Donohue, Maggiacomo opened the 1976 season with a victory at Pocono, added another win at Road America, and led the points throughout the season on his way to capturing the TA I championship for production and sedan-based cars. By season’s end, he finished third overall in the standings behind only George Follmer and Hurley Haywood in their new turbocharged Porsches.
“Trans-Am was the closest thing between road racing and stock cars,” Maggiacomo recalled in an interview with The Schenectady Gazette. “I had always gotten a kick out of watching Mark Donohue, Parnelli Jones, and Dan Gurney run bumper-to-bumper in Trans-Am cars, and I got hooked on it.”
Driving a Chevy Camaro, Maggiacomo won the first-ever IMSA race held at Lime Rock Park in the TO class. During Penske Racing’s successful Trans-Am years, he spent countless hours testing his AMC Javelin at Lime Rock for Mark Donohue.
“At one point, Mark told me, ‘You’ve got to come out to TRA-CO in Culver City, to test engines,’ remembered Maggiacomo. “I told him, ‘Mark, I’ve got a family, a shop to run, and staff back in Poughkeepsie.’ Mark looked at me and said, ‘Jocko, cubic horsepower generates cubic dollars.’ That line stuck with me.”
Years later, when Maggiacomo transitioned into NASCAR competition with the AMC Matador, TRA-CO supplied the engines.
“I spent a lot of time at Lime Rock, going back to when I was a child,” he said. “My dad won the Little Le Mans race in a Studebaker Lark, and I was there for that win. I even rode the victory lap holding the checkered flag!”
Jocko Maggiacomo
That 1960 Little Le Mans victory became part of Lime Rock lore. Jocko Maggiacomo Sr. co-drove a Studebaker Lark with legendary Holman & Moody co-founder Ralph Moody, guiding the unlikely American sedan to victory in the eight-hour endurance race against European favorites including Abarths, Saabs, and Volvos.
For a young Jocko, the memory never left him. “I’d love to drive one of those Historic Trans-Am cars at Historic Festival 44!”
Historic Festival 44 takes place Labor Day Weekend at Lime Rock Park and will celebrate Alfa Romeo as the Featured Marque while welcoming the return of Historic Trans-Am to the circuit where the series helped build its American legacy.
Get Tickets To Historic Festival 44 Here
