Record 40-Car Field Set for Pebble Beach Road Racers at Laguna Seca

The Del Monte Trophy Race Group has announced a record-breaking full grid of 40 Pebble Beach Road Racers for its races at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Laguna Seca, California, Aug. 12-15, 2026. The milestone grid arrives as the event marks 75 years since the first Pebble Beach Road Races, held around the pines of the Del Monte Forest in Monterey from 1950 to 1956. Just like those original races, this year’s field will include European sports cars, California specials, under-1,500cc engines, and unlimited straight-sixes and V-8s. Several of the cars will be racing for the first time in decades.

The Del Monte Trophy Race Group is the class of car that typically race together. They are defined as primarily front-engined, drum-brake sports cars that raced (or could have raced) at Pebble Beach 1950-56. The silver Del Monte Trophy is awarded every year by the group’s steward Rob Manson to the most successful car and driver that are most in keeping with the spirit of the Pebble Beach Road Races. The Del Monte Trophy Race Group morphed into the Pebble Beach Road Racers in 2025 in preparation for the 75th anniversary.

Standout Cars in the Field

One of the highlights of this year’s race will be William Hart Sr.’s 1954 MG Special R2 Flying Shingle created by Ken Miles. Among its accomplishments were a first-place finish in the Pebble Beach Cup and a third-place finish in the Del Monte Trophy Races at the Pebble Beach Road Races in 1955.

Other winners of the Pebble Beach Road Races in the 1950s include the 1951 Barlow Simca Special and the 1950 MG TD von Neumann Special. Sports and sports racing cars like the Jaguar, Allard, MG, Aston Martin, Austin-Healey, Cooper, Devin, Kurtis, Porsche, Siata and Triumph also raced at Pebble Beach.

The 1956 HWM-Chevrolet Stovebolt Special is being shipped in from England for both the race and the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, thanks to the American Hot Rod Foundation. Bill Pollack drove this car in the 1956 Pebble Beach Road Races, and British owner Simon Taylor will drive it in 2026.

Among the recently restored cars are the 1954 Swartley OSCA Special, 1953 Comet Glasspar Special, the 1954 gullwing Cannon Mk IV, the 1954 Sutton Jaguar Special, the 1954 Porsche Pupulidy Special, the 1952 MG TD Schiaretti Special and the 1956 AVIA Streamline.

The celebrated California Specials from Hagemann, Manning, Parkinson, Sorrell and Tatum are expected to be at the pointy end of the results.

The Full Grid

The 40 cars and their drivers are: