Sandhills Motoring Festival announces grand marshal

The Sandhills Motoring Festival (SMF) announced that car specialist and ambassador for Broad Arrow Group and Hagerty Marketplace and Porsche celebrity, Ray Shaffer, will serve as grand marshal of the 6th annual Sandhills Motoring Festival and Concours in the Village scheduled over Memorial Day weekend, May 26-28 in the Village of Pinehurst. The Sandhills Motoring Festival is presented by Broad Arrow Group and Hagerty.

Shaffer, a lifelong car enthusiast who is well-known in the collector car community, has over 30 years of experience in the automobile business and motorsport industry. Ray’s passion and deep knowledge of the collector car hobby has led him to be a frequent panelist, podcast guest, and speaker on Porsche and auto racing. In his free time, Ray pilots his factory-built Porsche 944 Turbo Cup at historic race events at Road Atlanta, the Classic 24 Hours at Daytona, and the Classic 12 Hour at Sebring.

Shaffer began his career in January 1999 when he joined the sales team at the famed Brumos Porsche dealership in Jacksonville, Florida. By January 2010, Shaffer was named general manager, Brumos Porsche, where he oversaw all vehicle sales, customer service and marketing, including the dealership and race team’s journey into e-commerce and social media. In 2018, Shaffer took a position at Porsche Cars North America, Inc., where he served as manager for Porsche Classic Market Development as well as Heritage Gallery curator.

A new chapter in his storied career began this past January as Ray joined Broad Arrow and Hagerty Marketplace as a car specialist and ambassador, where he continues to develop significant relationships with collectors and industry luminaries within the collector car market.

“I had the pleasure of visiting the Sandhills Motoring Festival for the first time in 2022 and came away impressed with the quality and quantity of vehicles displayed throughout the weekend. Of course, the setting in Pinehurst was very attractive,” said Shaffer. “These are all reasons I was looking forward to returning in 2023. So, you can imagine my delight when I was asked to return as the Grand Marshal with an opportunity to serve the volunteers who passionately work to make the festival a success. Is it Memorial Day weekend yet?”

Marvin Waters II, SMF founder, welcomed Shaffer as the 2023 Sandhills Motoring Festival grand marshal by saying, “Ray represents the gold standard in the collector car world given his background in the industry; it is our distinct pleasure to have Ray as Grand Marshal this year! It is always a pleasure to spend the weekend with Ray, be it on a race track or at a Concours, we are very much looking forward to spending Memorial Day weekend with Ray in the historic Village of Pinehurst!”

The festival boasts a variety of events for car enthusiasts. Events include a welcome block party on Friday evening, the SMF Road Rally, Cars & Coffee ‘On the Ramp,’ Backroads Pottery Tour, and the SMF hangar party held on Saturday, culminating in the ‘Concours in the Village’ on Sunday.  

The Sandhills Motoring Festival ‘Concours in the Village’ on Sunday, May 28, is free and open to the public for spectators and runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. where more than 160 classic and collector cars competing in various categories are on display in the historic Village of Pinehurst.
 
Proceeds benefit the Sandhills Motoring Festival Endowment at Sandhills Community College, which provides a scholarship fund for students in the automotive technologies program.  

Courtesy photo/Contributed.

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