CART TEAMS: Where are they now?….
Uncle Bobby Unser
Being we are in the midst of the month of May and having just lost one of the beloved legends of the Speedway on May 2nd, I thought it only fitting to pay tribute to the three time Indianapolis Champ.
Uncle Bobby was born Robert William Unser to Mary Catherine and Jerome Henry Unser on February 20, 1934. He was the third oldest of four brothers, Al, Jerry and Louis Unser. The Unser family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico when Bobby was just a year old. It seems racing was always in the Unser blood because in 1950, at the tender age of 15, Uncle Bobby won his first championship in Southwest Modified Stock Cars. The Unser family has won the Indy 500 a record nine times, with Bobby and Al Sr. being the only set of brothers to win in the race's history. He was one of ten drivers to have won the Indianapolis 500 three or more times and he, along with Rick Mears, to have won the 500 in three different decades (1968, 1975, 1981). We need to back up a bit to get the full view of where Bobby came from. From 1953 to 1955 he served in the United States Air Force and became a top competition sharpshooter in military matches. In 1955 Bobby, along with brothers Jerry and Al Unser, made that decision to pursue a racing career in Champ car racing. In 1959 his brother Jerry died in an accident at the Indianapolis Speedway. He won numerous racing championships throughout his career, including three Indianapolis 500 titles. He debuted at Pike’s Peak in 1955, now dubbed "Unser's Peak" because of his family's history of success at the hill climb from then till now. He finished fifth that year, behind his two brothers. The following year Uncle Bobby wouldn’t be out done winning his first of a record 10 championships at Pike’s Peak. He won six straight titles from 1958 to 1963 only having his streak end in 1964 when his younger brother Al won the race. Bobby raced in his first Indianapolis 500 in 1963 but didn’t garner the results he wanted having crashed out early and placed thirty-third. His first Indycar win came in 1967 at Mosport, Ontario. The following season, Bobby won his first Indianapolis 500 and he set the record as the first driver to race over 170 miles per hour at Indianapolis. In 1968 Unser won his first Champ car National Driving Championship. Things began happening fast for Bobby. In 1972 Unser set another Indianapolis 500 record for the fastest qualifying time at 195.94 miles per hour. In 1974, he won his second Champ Car National Driving Championship and a year later he won his second Indianapolis 500 in a race that was rain-shortened on lap 174. From 1979 to 1981 Unser raced in the CART series for Team Penske, winning ten races. In 1980 he became the first driver to win the California 500 at Ontario California four times. His career ended in 1981 following a controversial win at Indianapolis. In 1981 Bobby was at the center of one of the most controversial finishes in Indy 500 history at the 1981 Indianapolis 500. Unser won the pole in the number 3 Roger Penske owned car and led 89 laps during the race. The most laps lead. On lap 149, during a caution period, Bobby and Mario Andretti made their pit stop and headed back to the race. Bobby passed eight cars during the caution, while Mario passed two cars. Unser won the race, but was stripped of it the following morning in favor of second place finisher Mario Andretti. After a 5-month lawsuit and protest by Penske, Bobby Unser was re-awarded the win in October 1981. For his infraction, Unser was instead fined $40,000. As a side note to this debacle. Bobby wrote in his autobiography “Winners are Driven” his beliefs that the debacle was politically motivated and that USAC disqualified him (and benefited Andretti), hoping to start a falling out between Pat Patrick, Mario's car owner and owner of Patrick Racing, and Roger Penske (owner of Unser's car), in order to destroy CART. He claimed that Patrick's team did not protest the finish and that Patrick was on Unser's side in the controversy. For years, Unser and Andretti did not speak to each other willingly until early 2017 when Unser announced on his YouTube channel that Andretti reached out to wish him the best after Unser got extremely sick. Uncle Bobby was very successful in other forms of motorsports as well. Bobby was the 1975 IROC champion and won the 1993 Fast Masters Championship. Bobby with Dan Gurney, in looking for way to improve performance in the 1971 Champ car developed the Gurney flap. Land speed records were even achieved by Uncle Bobby. In 1993 Bobby set a new Bonneville Salt Flats record of 223.709 in a D/Gas Modified Roadster that stood for 18 years. He leads the all-time Pike’s Peak Hill Climb champions list with 10 overall wins have set new hill climb records in 8 of those ten races. His 10th win came in an Audi Quattro. Bobby did developmental work for Audi, lapping at 206.8 MPH. In 1986, after a 12-year absence from the Pikes Peak race, he won that tenth time driving an Audi Quattro, breaking the tie he had with his Uncle Louis Unser for nine overall victories each. The 1986 win brought Unser’s total number of Pikes Peak victories to 13, including two stock car class victories in 1969 and 1974, and a single sports car class win in 1963. After his retirement from IndyCar racing, Bobby became a television commentator for IndyCar races working for NBC, ABC, and ESPN. I can remember those days he and Sam Posey going at it live on air. It still echo’s through the pages of my mind. Unser also worked as the analyst for the IMS Radio Network in 1986. In 1989 and 1990, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded ABC's telecast of the Indianapolis 500 the Sports Emmy Award for "Outstanding Live Sports Special.” Bobby received announcer honors with Paul Page, Sam Posey, and others. Unser also broadcast several NASCAR events between 1986 and 1992 alongside Page and Benny Parsons. The most famous NASCAR race Unser broadcast was the 1989 The Winston in which Rusty Wallace won by wrecking Darrell Waltrip with 2 laps to go; Unser was the first broadcaster of the broadcasting team to spot the post-race fist-fight between Wallace and Waltrip's pit crews. A funny story now but not at the time was the story Uncle Bobby’s snowmobiling trip that almost killed them. On December 20, 1996, in Colorado, Unser and a friend became lost while snowmobiling near Unser's New Mexico ranch. They abandoned one stuck snowmobile before a storm blinded them both. When the second snowmobile stopped working, they spent two days and nights in subzero weather before finding a barn where they were found. Both men were suffering badly, his friend was suffering from hypothermia, and Unser had vomited blood during this time. Unser was later convicted of a Federal misdemeanor, "unlawful operation of a snowmobile within a National Forest Wilderness Area" and was fined $75. Maximum penalties could have been up to six months in jail and up to $5,000.00 in fines. But Bobby wasn’t having any of this and appealed this $75.00 fine, claiming to have been lost before the accident, but the court ruled that maps were widely available and it was a public welfare offense, thus intent was not necessary. Well Uncle Bobby still wasn’t done and appealed this decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but his writ of certiorari was denied and amusingly enough Uncle Bobby paid the fine. Thankful to be alive but with a pocket $75.00’s lighter I suppose. Bobby Unser was one of my hero’s growing up. It brings a tear to my eye knowing the days of tuning in to watch an IndyCar race and hear him telling Sam Posey, “You’re wrong Sam” are forever etched only in a memory now or in a throwback telecast of one of those races. Or the first time I met this bigger then big legend as my career brought our paths together. How does one remain professional when meeting one of your child heros? It was tough that first time in Long Beach, professional on the inside and jumping for joy on the inside. Uncle Bobby was awarded many Prestigious awards in his life among them: Unser was selected as one of Sport's Illustrated "Top Five Athletes" in the popular magazine's first twenty years, along with the Martini and Rossi and Olsonite "Driver of the Year" awards in 1974 He was inducted in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1990. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.
He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1997. He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994. He was presented with Indy 500 Front Row Award in 1999 for being a 9-time front row qualifier, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980 and 1981. He was selected fourth in “The greatest 33” list of Indianapolis 500 drivers in 2011. As the Indy 500 approaches and continues on in the future, and children of tomorrow become fans of tomorrows drivers as I did you, your foot print will forever be present at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway… God Speed Robert William Unser… Race in Peace.
By: Ray Dock
Uncle Bobby was born Robert William Unser to Mary Catherine and Jerome Henry Unser on February 20, 1934. He was the third oldest of four brothers, Al, Jerry and Louis Unser. The Unser family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico when Bobby was just a year old. It seems racing was always in the Unser blood because in 1950, at the tender age of 15, Uncle Bobby won his first championship in Southwest Modified Stock Cars. The Unser family has won the Indy 500 a record nine times, with Bobby and Al Sr. being the only set of brothers to win in the race's history. He was one of ten drivers to have won the Indianapolis 500 three or more times and he, along with Rick Mears, to have won the 500 in three different decades (1968, 1975, 1981). We need to back up a bit to get the full view of where Bobby came from. From 1953 to 1955 he served in the United States Air Force and became a top competition sharpshooter in military matches. In 1955 Bobby, along with brothers Jerry and Al Unser, made that decision to pursue a racing career in Champ car racing. In 1959 his brother Jerry died in an accident at the Indianapolis Speedway. He won numerous racing championships throughout his career, including three Indianapolis 500 titles. He debuted at Pike’s Peak in 1955, now dubbed "Unser's Peak" because of his family's history of success at the hill climb from then till now. He finished fifth that year, behind his two brothers. The following year Uncle Bobby wouldn’t be out done winning his first of a record 10 championships at Pike’s Peak. He won six straight titles from 1958 to 1963 only having his streak end in 1964 when his younger brother Al won the race. Bobby raced in his first Indianapolis 500 in 1963 but didn’t garner the results he wanted having crashed out early and placed thirty-third. His first Indycar win came in 1967 at Mosport, Ontario. The following season, Bobby won his first Indianapolis 500 and he set the record as the first driver to race over 170 miles per hour at Indianapolis. In 1968 Unser won his first Champ car National Driving Championship. Things began happening fast for Bobby. In 1972 Unser set another Indianapolis 500 record for the fastest qualifying time at 195.94 miles per hour. In 1974, he won his second Champ Car National Driving Championship and a year later he won his second Indianapolis 500 in a race that was rain-shortened on lap 174. From 1979 to 1981 Unser raced in the CART series for Team Penske, winning ten races. In 1980 he became the first driver to win the California 500 at Ontario California four times. His career ended in 1981 following a controversial win at Indianapolis. In 1981 Bobby was at the center of one of the most controversial finishes in Indy 500 history at the 1981 Indianapolis 500. Unser won the pole in the number 3 Roger Penske owned car and led 89 laps during the race. The most laps lead. On lap 149, during a caution period, Bobby and Mario Andretti made their pit stop and headed back to the race. Bobby passed eight cars during the caution, while Mario passed two cars. Unser won the race, but was stripped of it the following morning in favor of second place finisher Mario Andretti. After a 5-month lawsuit and protest by Penske, Bobby Unser was re-awarded the win in October 1981. For his infraction, Unser was instead fined $40,000. As a side note to this debacle. Bobby wrote in his autobiography “Winners are Driven” his beliefs that the debacle was politically motivated and that USAC disqualified him (and benefited Andretti), hoping to start a falling out between Pat Patrick, Mario's car owner and owner of Patrick Racing, and Roger Penske (owner of Unser's car), in order to destroy CART. He claimed that Patrick's team did not protest the finish and that Patrick was on Unser's side in the controversy. For years, Unser and Andretti did not speak to each other willingly until early 2017 when Unser announced on his YouTube channel that Andretti reached out to wish him the best after Unser got extremely sick. Uncle Bobby was very successful in other forms of motorsports as well. Bobby was the 1975 IROC champion and won the 1993 Fast Masters Championship. Bobby with Dan Gurney, in looking for way to improve performance in the 1971 Champ car developed the Gurney flap. Land speed records were even achieved by Uncle Bobby. In 1993 Bobby set a new Bonneville Salt Flats record of 223.709 in a D/Gas Modified Roadster that stood for 18 years. He leads the all-time Pike’s Peak Hill Climb champions list with 10 overall wins have set new hill climb records in 8 of those ten races. His 10th win came in an Audi Quattro. Bobby did developmental work for Audi, lapping at 206.8 MPH. In 1986, after a 12-year absence from the Pikes Peak race, he won that tenth time driving an Audi Quattro, breaking the tie he had with his Uncle Louis Unser for nine overall victories each. The 1986 win brought Unser’s total number of Pikes Peak victories to 13, including two stock car class victories in 1969 and 1974, and a single sports car class win in 1963. After his retirement from IndyCar racing, Bobby became a television commentator for IndyCar races working for NBC, ABC, and ESPN. I can remember those days he and Sam Posey going at it live on air. It still echo’s through the pages of my mind. Unser also worked as the analyst for the IMS Radio Network in 1986. In 1989 and 1990, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences awarded ABC's telecast of the Indianapolis 500 the Sports Emmy Award for "Outstanding Live Sports Special.” Bobby received announcer honors with Paul Page, Sam Posey, and others. Unser also broadcast several NASCAR events between 1986 and 1992 alongside Page and Benny Parsons. The most famous NASCAR race Unser broadcast was the 1989 The Winston in which Rusty Wallace won by wrecking Darrell Waltrip with 2 laps to go; Unser was the first broadcaster of the broadcasting team to spot the post-race fist-fight between Wallace and Waltrip's pit crews. A funny story now but not at the time was the story Uncle Bobby’s snowmobiling trip that almost killed them. On December 20, 1996, in Colorado, Unser and a friend became lost while snowmobiling near Unser's New Mexico ranch. They abandoned one stuck snowmobile before a storm blinded them both. When the second snowmobile stopped working, they spent two days and nights in subzero weather before finding a barn where they were found. Both men were suffering badly, his friend was suffering from hypothermia, and Unser had vomited blood during this time. Unser was later convicted of a Federal misdemeanor, "unlawful operation of a snowmobile within a National Forest Wilderness Area" and was fined $75. Maximum penalties could have been up to six months in jail and up to $5,000.00 in fines. But Bobby wasn’t having any of this and appealed this $75.00 fine, claiming to have been lost before the accident, but the court ruled that maps were widely available and it was a public welfare offense, thus intent was not necessary. Well Uncle Bobby still wasn’t done and appealed this decision all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but his writ of certiorari was denied and amusingly enough Uncle Bobby paid the fine. Thankful to be alive but with a pocket $75.00’s lighter I suppose. Bobby Unser was one of my hero’s growing up. It brings a tear to my eye knowing the days of tuning in to watch an IndyCar race and hear him telling Sam Posey, “You’re wrong Sam” are forever etched only in a memory now or in a throwback telecast of one of those races. Or the first time I met this bigger then big legend as my career brought our paths together. How does one remain professional when meeting one of your child heros? It was tough that first time in Long Beach, professional on the inside and jumping for joy on the inside. Uncle Bobby was awarded many Prestigious awards in his life among them: Unser was selected as one of Sport's Illustrated "Top Five Athletes" in the popular magazine's first twenty years, along with the Martini and Rossi and Olsonite "Driver of the Year" awards in 1974 He was inducted in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame in 1990. He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990.
He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1997. He was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994. He was presented with Indy 500 Front Row Award in 1999 for being a 9-time front row qualifier, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1980 and 1981. He was selected fourth in “The greatest 33” list of Indianapolis 500 drivers in 2011. As the Indy 500 approaches and continues on in the future, and children of tomorrow become fans of tomorrows drivers as I did you, your foot print will forever be present at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway… God Speed Robert William Unser… Race in Peace.
By: Ray Dock
The Ferrari 637 IndyCar
The Ferrari 637 IndyCar Legends are something of a wonder. Legends may be transformed over time, in order to keep them fresh and vital. Many legends operate within the realm of uncertainty, never being entirely believed by the participants, but also never being resolutely doubted. There are many places in the world that boast legendary tails of men and women doing unheralded feats and reaching unreachable goals by mere human beings. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is just one of those places. As you enter the gates of the Speedway you can feel the ghosts of those men that conquered the Speedway since 1911. Men like Ray Harroun who won the very first 500 driving his Marmon Wasp. And the accomplishments of A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears. As well you can feel the legends of those that paid the ultimate sacrifice in the pursuit of speed. Bill Spence (1929), Mark Billman and Lester Sprangler (1933), Bill Vukovich (1955), Eddie Sachs and Dave MacDonald (1964), And Dan Gurney protégé Swede Savage (1973) are all but a few. They are all there. Ask anyone who has been there. And the many legendary manufactures who built the machinery which supplied the sound track to the Speedway. The roars of the many different engines that fill the air with sounds and smells you can only get at the Speedway. The Indianapolis 500 has also drawn many international drivers, and manufacturers to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway over the years. The roar of these ghosts reside at the Speedway as well. Which takes us to the topic of this writing, namely the Ferrari 637 IndyCar. Enzo Ferrari made it no secret that he wanted to come to Indianapolis to compete in the 500 and he did make a bid in 1952 with two time formula one champion driver Alberto Ascari. Yes the legendary ghost sounds of the prancing horse from Maranello live at the Indianapolis Speedway.
The 1952 Ferrari 375 racer was built to race in the Indy 500 and the Ferrari technical staff had worked hard to reduce certain settings to comply with the rules for that race. Ascari drove it well on its track debut but even his considerable skills could not make up for the racecars lack of top speed and acceleration. The result was that it was fitted with four choke carburetors, which combined with a ram effect air intake on the bonnet, really did help boost its performance. Competing with the American cars, with a rougher design but perfectly suited to this type of race, was disappointing because Ascari had to withdraw with a broken wheel. And that was the end of Ferrari at the Indianapolis 500 for Ferrari. Fast forward 33 years to 1985. Throughout Enzo Ferrari’s life he made it known his interest in competing in the Indianapolis 500. So why, after 33 years, would Ferrari finally decide to return to the Indy 500? There were a lot of politics going on at that time that had to do in part with rules governing engine configuration. Throughout the history of Formula One Ferrari has repeatedly threatened to leave the championship. The Scuderia, whom has been in the championship since its first year, warned that if the rules are not to their liking, they would begin looking to other series, such as LeMans, CART and Indianapolis, to showcase their products. More to the point, the powerful Ferrari V-12 over the F1 rule package of a V-8. During the 1980’s the FIA was chaired by Frenchman Jean-Marie Balestre and the teams were led by Bernie Ecclestone, who in turn owned the Brabham F1 team, as well as the Formula One television broadcast rights. They were looking to keep the V-8 configuration over Ferrari’s V-12.
Many in the Formula One community simply saw this threat from Enzo Ferrari as a bargaining chip to make the FIA change their engine rules. Many critics to this day say there was never going to be a Ferrari at Indy. While there are those that say no real effort was ever made to put a Ferrari IndyCar on track, I do not believe those statements to be true. In my research for this writing I asked Steve Horne, my Former Tasman Motorsports Group CART IndyCar team owner and one of the key members at Truesports if he had any information available for use in this piece and his thoughts. He just happened to have a biography for my use to utilize in this article. Truesports was formed in 1982 by entrepreneur and part time racer Jim Trueman. Their goal was simple, win the Indy 500 and compete in the CART Indy Car Championship series. Truesports quickly rose to the top winning races and finishing second in their first year behind Penske racing. Truesports quickly became a well-respected team in the CART Indycar series with Jim Trueman, Steve Horne and Bobby Rahal guiding the team. Truesports became a Goodyear testing and development team for the CART Indycar series. Leo Mehl was the Director of Worldwide racing. Goodyear also supplied tires to the Formula One teams including Ferrari. Early in 1985 the Truesports team was approached very confidentially by Leo Mehl to see if Truesports would be interested in working with Ferrari on a new Indy car project to bring Ferrari back to the Indy 500. In August 1985 Jim Trueman with Steve Horne made a top secret visit to Maranello flying there directly after the conclusion of the Pocono 500. As Steve Horne puts it, “We were met at the airport in Milan by a Ferrari driver and whisked down to Maranello at high speed in a Ferrari 412.” Steve Horne remembers, “Quite a hair-raising ride down the Italian motorway with a road car test driver who spoke no English.” Arriving in Maranello, the two were met by Team manager Marco Piccinini, who gave them a tour of the racing facilities and then later in the morning a meeting with Enzo Ferrari over a cup of coffee. Steve Horne tells of the experience, “Now I have never met the Pope and don’t expect I ever will but I imagine if I did it would be a similar feeling!” Marco Piccinini explained that Ferrari were very interested in competing at the Indy 500 and in the IndyCar championship and wanted to partner with a team to develop and race a Ferrari Indy car. “For a mid-thirties Kiwi guy who had seen his first Ferrari at 8 years old this was a surreal experience and honor,” Steve Horne.
And just like that contracts were drawn up and the journey began for Truesports and Ferrari. While the journey began quietly, the news of Ferrari entering Indycar quickly became common knowledge as Truesports guests began including the likes of Marco Piccinini at the Indy 500 as well as a number of other races. Truesports shipped one of their 1985 March Indy Cars to Maranello for evaluation and it was tested at Fiorano by Bobby Rahal and Michele Albereto. The Cosworth engine was dyno tested to provide a baseline for the all new Indy engine. Steve Horne recalls, “I spent quite a bit of time at Maranello over the next 18 months on various fact and evaluating meetings.” Ex Formula one designer Gustav Brunner was hired to head up the design of the Indy Car. Steve Horne spent a bit of time with Gustav giving him his general thoughts on Indy car peculiarities. Truesports had signed a 3 year contact with Ferrari to help develop and then race their Indy Car from the beginning of 1986. They were contracted to continue to race a March chassis in 1986 and develop and test the Indy car later in 1986 for a debut in 1987. Steve Horne says, “While this project was progressing very well Ferrari were also improving their F1 program and had hired John Barnard away from McLaren.” Steve continues, “Unbeknown to me John Barnard, rightly so on reflection, felt that revamping an F1 program and a new Indy car program was a bridge too far and recommended (or insisted) that the Indy car program be stopped until the F1 program was back on a winning way. So late in 1986 the Indy car program halted, after the car had been finished, and our contract with Ferrari was amicably dissolved.”
The Ferrari 637 ran briefly at Fiorano with Albereto driving but instantly became a unique museum piece and can be seen in the Ferrari museum at Maranello. For those critics of the Ferrari Indycar developed in part with assistance from Truesports, Steve Horne, Bobby Rahal and Jim Trueman, that this project was not a bargaining chip to Formula One in whole. It seems that the 637 would have seen the Indianapolis Speedway if it weren’t for one piece of the puzzle that entered the picture late in the game. If John Barnard had not been hired away from McLaren the world would have seen a Truesports Ferrari at the Indianapolis Speedway, and quite possibly drinking the milk in winners circle. For a car that was supposedly only a bargaining tool, the 637 was well engineered and carefully thought out. The upper body was made of aluminum, mechanically bonded and glued to the lower carbon frame. The Type 034 engine was a turbocharged 32- valve, 90-degree 2.65-litre V8, as per the CART regulations, which used upward mounted exhausts. When Alfa Romeo unveiled their 2.65-litre IndyCar engine, it was in the back of a March chassis. However it was seen testing at Fiorano Circuit in the Ferrari 637 chassis. Raymond Dock PS. I would like to give a special thanks to Steve Horne for the use of his personal experience within this writing. Thanks Steve!
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Chip Ganassi
Chip Ganassi Jr. is an American businessman, former race driver, current team owner and member of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. He has been involved with the North American auto racing scene for over 30 years. Chip was born May 24, 1958 in Pittsburgh PA, and is the son of the late Floyd R Ganassi. Floyd Ganassi was a successful businessman man who built many businesses in Western Pennsylvania. Following World War II, and after acquiring Davison Sand and Gravel, Floyd took a relatively modest paving business and built it into a construction colossus. As stated in David Phillips article Chip Ganassi: a biograph, “From the 64 story USX Tower to the sprawling Century III shopping mall, the concrete supplied by Davison Sand & Gravel quite literally served as the foundation for what became known as Pittsburgh’s Renaissance II.”
While attending Fox Chapel Area High School, Chip spent summers working for his Dad learning the family trade. During this time one of the many lessons Floyd taught Chip was how to build a successful business. As further mentioned in Chip Ganassi: a biography, (David Phillips) Chip said, “I can’t begin to tell you all I learned from being around my father and his businesses,” he said. “But I can tell you one of his guiding principles was to hire the best people you can find and provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs.”
In 1997, and while still attending Fox Chapel Area High School, young Chip Ganassi attended the Bob Bondurant Driving School. His interest in racing took off. He won his first race in a Formula Ford when he was only 18. Following Chip’s 1982 graduation from Duquesne University with a BA in finance, he began his CART IndyCar career. Chip Ganassi was a definite rising star in CART IndyCar. In Chips first race at Pheonix he qualified with the fastest speed at 197 mph, but unfortunately a broken camshaft sidelined the young driver. Chip competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times with a best finish of 8th in 1983. He was voted Most Improved Driver that year and took 9th position in the CART standings. During that season, Chip piloted Pat Patrick’s Wildcat onto the podium twice in Las Vegas and at Laguna Seca.
In 1984, Chip would go on and finish a career best second in Cleveland, however, in his next race Michigan, things didn’t go as planned. A huge crash happened. In a crash filled race, Chip spun his car coming off the high bank turn and collected Al Unser Jr., his car then skated across the grass run off area and slammed into the inside Armco barrier as his car tumbled multiple times coming apart. While little Al was uninjured Chip suffered head injuries and did not race for 9 months and retired from full time racing.
The 1987 24 Hour of Le Mans was to be Chips last international race outing as a member of the Kouros Racing. But as luck would have it, as teammate Johnny Dumfries set the fastest lap of the race prior to handing the car over to Chip upon whom the gearbox broke.
After retiring as a race driver, Ganassi struck out on his own after a brief stint as co-owner of Patrick Racing. Chip, along with business partner Target as sponsor, began putting the pieces together that would evolve into one of the biggest and strongest motorsports powerhouses ever that remains to this very day, beginning with INDYCAR then expanding to NASCAR, Sports Cars and Extreme E.
Chip Ganassi Racing has twenty (20) Championships and more than 225 victories, a number that increases annually as the different series progress through each season. Following in his father’s footsteps, Chip Ganassi has put the right people in the right positions in order to attain the top level of success in motorsports. Chip Ganassi has been rewarded in many ways, but there is one thing that no other team owner can claim. Chip is the only team owner in history to have won four Indianapolis 500’s, the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, eight Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and most recently the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Six of the biggest crown jewels in the world.
Ganassi manages to keep his roots grounded though. Chip Ganassi Racing keeps state of the art race shop facilities in Indianapolis, and Concord, N.C., Chip Ganassi keeps his corporate offices in his home town of Pittsburgh. In addition to his racing interests, many don’t know that he enjoys baseball and is a former minority owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates MLB team, as well as being a strong supporter of the St. Jude Children’s Hostpital, in which his teams have donated over $500,000.00 dollars.
Chip Ganassi may have never won a Championship as a driver, but as a team owner Chip Ganassi is a true Championship in everyday life both on and off the track. He was a supporter to Championship Auto Racing Teams in its hey-day and still is to this very day in his continued support of the CART Alumni Association as we have been privileged to have Chip Ganassi Racing host our Alumni events as his Indianapolis facility. We look forward to future CART reunions at the CGR facilities should things work out. Thank you Chip, a real Champion.
CART Alumni Association Raymond Dock
While attending Fox Chapel Area High School, Chip spent summers working for his Dad learning the family trade. During this time one of the many lessons Floyd taught Chip was how to build a successful business. As further mentioned in Chip Ganassi: a biography, (David Phillips) Chip said, “I can’t begin to tell you all I learned from being around my father and his businesses,” he said. “But I can tell you one of his guiding principles was to hire the best people you can find and provide them with the tools they need to do their jobs.”
In 1997, and while still attending Fox Chapel Area High School, young Chip Ganassi attended the Bob Bondurant Driving School. His interest in racing took off. He won his first race in a Formula Ford when he was only 18. Following Chip’s 1982 graduation from Duquesne University with a BA in finance, he began his CART IndyCar career. Chip Ganassi was a definite rising star in CART IndyCar. In Chips first race at Pheonix he qualified with the fastest speed at 197 mph, but unfortunately a broken camshaft sidelined the young driver. Chip competed in the Indianapolis 500 five times with a best finish of 8th in 1983. He was voted Most Improved Driver that year and took 9th position in the CART standings. During that season, Chip piloted Pat Patrick’s Wildcat onto the podium twice in Las Vegas and at Laguna Seca.
In 1984, Chip would go on and finish a career best second in Cleveland, however, in his next race Michigan, things didn’t go as planned. A huge crash happened. In a crash filled race, Chip spun his car coming off the high bank turn and collected Al Unser Jr., his car then skated across the grass run off area and slammed into the inside Armco barrier as his car tumbled multiple times coming apart. While little Al was uninjured Chip suffered head injuries and did not race for 9 months and retired from full time racing.
The 1987 24 Hour of Le Mans was to be Chips last international race outing as a member of the Kouros Racing. But as luck would have it, as teammate Johnny Dumfries set the fastest lap of the race prior to handing the car over to Chip upon whom the gearbox broke.
After retiring as a race driver, Ganassi struck out on his own after a brief stint as co-owner of Patrick Racing. Chip, along with business partner Target as sponsor, began putting the pieces together that would evolve into one of the biggest and strongest motorsports powerhouses ever that remains to this very day, beginning with INDYCAR then expanding to NASCAR, Sports Cars and Extreme E.
Chip Ganassi Racing has twenty (20) Championships and more than 225 victories, a number that increases annually as the different series progress through each season. Following in his father’s footsteps, Chip Ganassi has put the right people in the right positions in order to attain the top level of success in motorsports. Chip Ganassi has been rewarded in many ways, but there is one thing that no other team owner can claim. Chip is the only team owner in history to have won four Indianapolis 500’s, the Daytona 500, the Brickyard 400, eight Rolex 24 at Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and most recently the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Six of the biggest crown jewels in the world.
Ganassi manages to keep his roots grounded though. Chip Ganassi Racing keeps state of the art race shop facilities in Indianapolis, and Concord, N.C., Chip Ganassi keeps his corporate offices in his home town of Pittsburgh. In addition to his racing interests, many don’t know that he enjoys baseball and is a former minority owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates MLB team, as well as being a strong supporter of the St. Jude Children’s Hostpital, in which his teams have donated over $500,000.00 dollars.
Chip Ganassi may have never won a Championship as a driver, but as a team owner Chip Ganassi is a true Championship in everyday life both on and off the track. He was a supporter to Championship Auto Racing Teams in its hey-day and still is to this very day in his continued support of the CART Alumni Association as we have been privileged to have Chip Ganassi Racing host our Alumni events as his Indianapolis facility. We look forward to future CART reunions at the CGR facilities should things work out. Thank you Chip, a real Champion.
CART Alumni Association Raymond Dock
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The Gurney White Paper
We began this feature to travel down the IndyCar memory lane. And if you have been following along you may have noticed that we started this feature with three big names of our sport. Well there was a reason for this. Dan Gurney, Roger Penske and Pat Patrick were the founders of Championship Auto Racing Teams.
While this feature will examine many aspects and teams and team members in the future, we wanted to give a full background of exactly how CART came to be. Today I will examine the “Dan Gurney White Paper.” Many, I am sure, are aware of the white paper. However the white paper is only the culmination of other events that led up to Gurney writing it and sending it to Penske and Patrick. It is the events that led up to the white paper that we are going to explore.
Formation of USAC
In early 1978 Gurney wrote what was to become known as the “Gurney White Paper.” It would become the blue print for Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). But what was happening in open wheel racing to warrant such a change? To find the answers we need to look back in history to the beginning when Tony Hulman acquired the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
It’s 1945, and a native of Terre Haute Indiana named Anton “Tony” Hulman had his eye on a weed and over grown piece of land. But this land had a history behind it. Tony Hulman acquired the property from WWI flying ace Eddie Rickenbacker. The property was the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And it can be said that after not running the 500 during WWII, Tony Hulman had his work cut out for him in resurrecting the speedway from neglect.
Hulman’s legendary resurrection of the facility offered race fans the finest in amenities, and his tireless promotion campaign soon turned what had merely been the most important race in America into "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing." The purse grew with the notoriety, and the Indianapolis 500 soon established itself as the world’s most lucrative race.
Fast forward to 1955. Two major tragedies happened that shook motorsports to its core. First, Billy Vukovich, two time defending champion was killed in a fiery crash in the Indianapolis 500. Second, arguably the worst accident in motorsports history occurred during the running of the 24 hours of LeMans sports car race when a Mercedes-Benz driven by Frenchman Pierre Leveigh was launched into a packed grandstand, killing Leveigh and more than 80 spectators. As a repercussion, the American Automobile Association who sanctioned the Indianapolis 500 as well as other American races wanted out of racing. Tony Hulman, the outgoing go getter that he was, took the opportunity and formed United States Auto Club (USAC), to take over the AAA’s sanctioning role. The Speedway and USAC have been inseparable ever since.
For a period in the late 1950s and early 1960s, the USAC Championship Trail enjoyed popularity and status, running races mainly on one mile dirt ovals such as the Indiana State Fairgrounds.
The next few years saw a remarkable change in car configuration and speeds. The primitive front engine roadsters were about to be put out to pasture as technological advances were on the way. In Europe the technological revolution was sweeping through Formula 1 Grand Prix racing in the form of the compact mid-engine race car. In 1959, Australian Jack Brabham was the first man to win the F1 World Championship in one of these machines, and in 1961, Brabham and his F1 Cooper competed in the Indianapolis 500. Although it was vastly underpowered, the Cooper finished a respectable ninth.
In 1963 the chief of the Lotus F1 team, Colin Chapman, built a mid-engine car for the Speedway with a Ford V8 and nearly won the 500 in the hands of Jim Clark. By the time Clark’s Lotus dominated and won the 1965 Indianapolis 500, the revolution was in full swing. Though it had only taken two years, 90 percent of the field was running a rear-engine car. 1966 saw the last roadster qualify at Indianapolis.
With turbos and aerodynamics now on the table changes were coming very fast. Turbocharging nearly doubled engine power. Aerodynamic wings stuck the cars to the track increasing cornering ability. Together speeds were increasing at a rapid pace. On top of that a tire war between Firestone and Goodyear accelerated speeds even higher. Clark posted the first official 150 mph lap in Speedway history in 1965. That mark was raised to over 190 mph by 1972. Bobby Unser’s pole speed that year was amazingly more than 17 mph faster than the existing record set just one year before.
With speeds increasing at a rapid pace, safety wise, something had to be done. This became more apparent after the running of the 1973 Indianapolis 500 which saw Art Pollard and Swede Savage lose their lives. It was this time, during the 1970’s that saw the beginning of the end for USAC.
The foundation of a successful racing series is sensible rulemaking, fairly and equally implemented, and this is the key area where USAC failed in the 1970s. It ultimately cost them control of Indy car racing. When speeds at Indy reached the 200 mph level in 1973, USAC’s initial solution of narrower tires and smaller wings worked well, lowering lap speeds by nearly 15 mph. But as we have all learned, racers are racers, and the new aerodynamic restrictions merely shifted the search for speed to other parts of the car, namely, the engine compartment.
As technology aided in the search for speed, the cost of speed also increased. At that time a power plants price tag was upwards of $35,000.00 apiece. This created a level of animosity with USAC’s old school loyalists who praised the old Offenhauser power plants of the days gone by. These Offenhauser loyalists boycotted USAC events in July of 1978, claiming the Cosworth was pricing them out of the business.
USAC’s response was an attempt to equalize the various engines by regulating the amount of turbocharger boost available. But they never got it right. Their indecision got to the point where turbocharger boost limits often differed on a day-to-day basis, infuriating the contestants. Pressure relief valves were introduced to regulate the boost, then valves were required in qualifying only, as fuel mileage limits were implemented to control boost in the race. Participants were becoming fed up with the constant rule changes differing from race to race.
On top of all this, USAC had other problems to worry about. Tony Hulman’s death in October 1977, along with an April 1978 plane crash which killed a number of top USAC executives and officials, including technical chief Frankie Del Roy, left the organization facing a serious leadership crisis. They were also struggling in the sports marketplace. While the Indianapolis 500 continued on the path of progress, the rest of the series suffered badly. By the late seventies, the USAC series was run exclusively on paved ovals, in front of sparse crowds for very little prize money and with limited TV coverage. Field quality and size diminished.
Dan Gurney’s White Paper
Dan Gurney, having spent time during the 1960s and 1970s, and after living through the technological advancements, of open wheel racing began to become critical of USAC’s sanctioning body indecisions and failure to establish coherent rules. Some of Gurney’s notable incidents included the loss of lucrative sponsorship by Marlboro in 1971 after USAC failed to enforce the brand’s exclusivity at events, the existence of dirt tracks, purses that teams said would result in a loss in money even if the team made the podium, and the lack of modern promotion for the non-Indianapolis events in the series making it difficult to be able to make a living by racing.
Dan took a straight ahead approach. He spoke with a diverse amount of people from sponsors, to fellow team owners. He spoke to fans and track personnel and realized just how dysfunctional and unorganized the series had become.
In his Paper Gurney wrote;
“Over the past 3 or 4 years I've had conversations with almost all of the car owners and team directors. I've had talks with drivers, with sanctioning body directors, with track owners and promoters and big sponsors and fans and other interested parties. Generally there is agreement that something is wrong with our sport -—it is not reaching its full potential by any means, and there is great need for a change!
Early in my discussions I realized that we are so intent upon racing each other, that we do not stop to look and analyze our situation. In frustration I decided that things must get worse before we will all wake up. Our sport has the potential to be financially rewarding and healthy from a business standpoint for all participants. Many of the car owners and team directors are excellent and very successful businessman in their own lives outside of racing. We as businessmen should be ashamed of ourselves for being involved in a prestigious sport such as Championship racing with all its potential while it is as weak and disorganized (sick) as it presently is. It is truly strange that with all these 'heavyweights' involved, we still do not have our act together.”
Gurney’s inspiration came from his observations of the improvements that he witnessed in Formula One and more directly from Bernie Ecclestone’s formation of the Formula One Constructors Association. Initially the White Paper called for the owners to form Championship Auto Racing Teams as an advocacy group to promote USAC's national championship. The group would also work to negotiate television rights, sponsorship agreements, and race purses, and ideally hold seats on USAC's governing body. In 1978, the last season that USAC was sole sanctioning body for Championship racing, their 18 race schedule had 4 road course races and 14 oval track races.
The plane crash that killed eight USAC officials caused an organizational vacuum that severely hindered the 1978 season. In November of 1978 Gurney, joined by other team owners took their request to the USAC board, but was unanimously rejected. Because of this rejection the team owners decided to move forward with a new stand-alone series. In response, USAC initially tried to ban all CART drivers from taking part in the 1979 Indianapolis 500 by sending telegrams to all CART teams during their event at Atlanta Motor Speedway, until CART succeeded in obtaining an injunction to allow its cars to qualify. Of the 20 races held in 1979, 13 were part of the 1979 CART Championship. An attempt by USAC and CART to jointly sanction races in 1980 as the Championship Racing League saw USAC withdraw after only 5 races and by the end of 1981 the only USAC sanctioned asphalt championship race was the Indianapolis 500.
It was because of Dan Gurney’s observation into what IndyCar could be and an observation on how to organize a series from television rights to sponsorship exclusivity to rule packages, we will never know where IndyCar would have gone. But we do know that for the upcoming number of years IndyCar became the hottest item on the planet enticing drivers and sponsors to a global stage. Thanks Dan Gurney for the White Paper.
By: Raymond Dock
_____________________________________________________________________
Dan Gurney
If we speak of how the CART IndyCar Series came to be, the name that is at the top is Dan Gurney. Dan Gurney, without a doubt had the biggest impact on the creation of CART. How Gurney achieved the biggest impact is for our next feature. For now, though, let’s take a look at who Dan Gurney was.
Early beginnings
Dan Gurney came in to this world on April 13, 1931 the son of Jack Gurney and Roma Sexton. Gurney was born into a family of very intelligent and successful family members. His father was a graduate of Harvard Business School with a post graduate Master’s degree. His father’s three brothers were engineers from MIT and his grandfather was, F.W. Gurney the inventor of the Gurney Ball Bearing.
After Gurney graduated from Manhasset High in Riverside California he found himself caught up in the California hot rod culture of the time. This was all it took for the young Gurney to get the racing bug. When Gurney was 19, he built and raced his own car at Bonneville Salt Flats turning a time of 138 mph. At the same time he attended Menlo Junior College which was a prep school for Stanford University.
A lot of things were happening fast during this time. Gurney became an amateur drag and sports car raver. He also served in the United States Army as an artillery mechanic during the Korean War.
Driver and Manufacture
Gurney’s driving exploits are what dreams are made of. His success far exceeds those of the average driver. In 1957 Gurney was invited to test Frank Arciero’s, Arciero Special. This car was not the easiest of cars to drive. Both Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles found great difficulty controlling the car. Gurney finished runner-up to Carroll Shelby at the inaugural Riverside Grand Prix. This was a great achievement for Gurney considering he finished ahead of drivers like Masten Gregory, Walt Hansgen and the great Phil Hill. This impressive run attracted Luigi Chinetti who in turn arranged for Gurney to drive a Ferrari at Le Mans in 1958.
Gurney’s performance at Le Mans along with other impressive drives earned him a test in a Works Ferrari. Like I’ve said so many times before, the rest is history. Gurney began his Formula One career the following year in 1959. In the coming year Gurney had a mixed bag of success along with disappointment. At Zandvoort Gurney suffered a brake system failure on his BRM causing the worst accident of his career breaking his arm but also killing a spectator. It was that experience that instilled in him a distrust of race engineers. The good thing about that ordeal was that Gurney made changes to his driving style that would pay off big time in the future moving forward. Simply by using his brakes in a sparingly manner meant that his brakes lasted longer than his opponents. It worked like a charm, especially in sports car endurance racing. But with that being said, don’t think Gurney didn’t check those brakes at high speeds. Gurney would give the brake a little tap just to make sure those brakes were working. This became a habit that Gurney himself jokingly referred to as “the chicken-shit school of braking.”
Some special things happened to Dan Gurney during the 1961 and 1962 seasons. During the 1961 season Gurney teamed with Jo Bonnier for his first full season of the Porsche factory team F1 team and accumulated three second place finishes. 1962 was his big year though. With a new car complete with an 8 cylinder engine, Dan won the French Grand Prix and earned his first championship victory. Gurney won the following week as well in a non-championship Formula One race as well. While these events were special for Dan Gurney, they were not what made things special. While at Porsche, Gurney met a special young lady who was the public relations executive by the name of Evi Butz. They hit it off and were married a few years later.
Dan Gurney was hired as Jack Brabham’s first driver to drive with him for the Brabham Racing Team. Jack Brabham scored the maiden victory for his car at the 1963 Solitude Race, However Gurney took the team's first win in a championship race in 1964 at Rouen. He had two victories that year and ten podiums, including five consecutive in 1965. Gurney left Brabham to start his own team and in 1967, driving his own car, Gurney became the only driver in history to win maiden Grand Prix victories for three different manufacturers, namely Porsche, Brabham and Anglo-American Racers.
Gurney had this little problem when racing closed cockpit cars such as the Ford GT40, or shall we call it a big problem. It seemed he always thought that because of his nearly 6’4” stance, smaller drivers had an aerodynamic advantage over him because he had trouble squeezing himself into the smaller sized cockpit. So master fabricator Phil Remington came to the rescue and designed and installed a roof bubble over the driver’s seat which allowed space for Gurney to fit quite nicely into the cockpit with a helmet and all, known as the “Gurney Bubble.”
The birth of Dan Gurney’s own team and self-built cars actually began in the early 1960’s. In 1962, Gurney and Carroll Shelby began tossing around the idea of building and racing an American made Formula One car to compete against the best European racecars at the time. Shelby brought in Goodyear tires as sponsor, which in-turn wanted to challenge Firestone, who were dominating American racing in those days, and that was the formation of Dan Gurneys Team. Oh, and the name of Dan Gurney’s team? Well, it just so happens that Goodyear’s President, Victor Holt suggested that because this team is from America, that they should call the team “All American Racers,” and so in 1965 saw the beginning of Dan Gurney’s AAR team that lasted for many decades and saw success in Formula one, IMSA Sports Cars and of course in Indycar racing.
Dan Gurney’s initial interest was IndyCar. However, because of Gurney’s love for road racing and his desire to win the Formula One Championship driving an American made racer, some were quick to characterize the racer as a British based effort. In interviews given by Gurney, he always made it very clear that the racecar was designed and built by his crew members based in his All American Racers Southern California based headquarters, because they were partnered with British engine builder Weslake, the Formula One effort was called “Anglo American Racers.”
Gurney failed to see much success during the 1966 Formula One season due to an underperforming four cylinder engine. Gurney would have a better go of it in 1967 due to the Weslake V-12. Gurney failed to finish the first three races of the season. However June of 1967 would see a happy Gurney emerge and with new celebration traditions.
On June 11th of 1967, Dan Gurney was teamed with A.J. Foyt at Le Mans driving a Ford GT40. To many critics, including Ford executives, no one thought that the pairing between two rivals was anything but a match made in heaven. They all figured that two heated rivals would break the car. But to everyone’s dismay, the duo beat the Ferrari’s as well as the other GT40’s. On the podium, Gurney unknowing began a podium tradition that remains till this day. Dan Gurney spontaneously began spraying champagne from the podium to celebrate their unexpected win. Later, Gurney said he took great satisfaction in proving all those critics wrong.
After the win at Le Mans, Gurney left for the Belgian Grand Prix the following weekend. Gurney started in the middle of the first row but fell back into the field by the first lap. Even though his Weslake V-12 suffered through a misfire Gurney was able to continue. Gurney being able to move back through the field, he was able to attain fast lap on lap 19 while in second place. He managed to take the lead a short time later and took the checkered flag over a minute ahead of second place rival Jackie Stewart.
Sadly that victory was the high point of Dan Gurneys All American Racers. The following season saw a litany of two dollar part failures from fuel pumps to fuel injection and oil delivery systems to a half shaft failure while leading the 1967 German Grand Prix only two laps from the end and a 42 second lead. By the end of 1968 Gurney was driving a McLaren-Ford. Dan Gurney’s las Formula One race was at the 1970 British Grand Prix.
While competing in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 was also big in Gurney’s eyes. He made nine starts in the Indianapolis 500 between 1962 and 1970. His first start was in a rear engine car built by Mickey Thompson. He ran a comfortable tenth place till a gearbox failure. His last three starts consisted of two seconds and a third, respectively. We should note that in 1969 Gurney did not compete in Formula One. He competed in Champ car and Can-Am. Gurney started 28 Champ car races. He drove to eighteen podiums including seven wins. Gurney finished fourth in total points in 1969 having only started half the races of the other top drivers. Funny, in 1968 Gurney finished seventh in points having only having five starts… simply amazing.
Dan Gurney’s pursuits do not end here. Gurney also raced in NASCAR and Trans-Am. His first NASCAR start also was in 1962. The following year he drove a Homan-Moody Ford to fifth place at the Daytona 500. He was practically unbeatable at Riverside having wins in 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1968. Trans-Am was the same where, along with protégé Swede Savage, Gurney built and raced AAR factory barracuda’s during the 1970 season. Retiring after the 1970 season, Swede Savage carried the AAR banner.
Legacy
Dan Gurney, after retirement, had some fun when he and Brock Yates drove a white Ferrari Daytona coupe to a new unofficial record for a cross-country street race in 35 hours and 54 minutes. In the process, the team outran a field of seven others to win the first official Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.
He remained an IMSA GT Prototype and IndyCar team owner, winning championships and setting the standard of excellence for others to follow when it comes to innovation. It was Dan Gurney that had the insight to look around Indycar and say, this can be done better, when he began thinking about the contents of the white letter. Also we only have to look at recent times to see Dan Gurney’s innovations as the Delta Wing made its appearance. He is highly honored.
We lost Dan Gurney in January of 2018. A sad day in the racing world and for his loving family. I am glad that I was fortunate enough, as a team member and CART official, to meet and call him friend as well as play practical jokes on his team members with him… A story for another time.
-Dan Gurney ranks third in American Formula One drivers starts with 86 and his total of four Grand Prix Wins is second to only Mario Andretti.
-In 2016 academic paper reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine. Gurney was ranked the 14th best Formula One driver of all time.
-The 2010 Monterey Motorsports Reunion was held in honor of Dan Gurney.
-He was awarded Edison-Ford Medal for Innovation
Perhaps the greatest tribute to Gurney's driving ability, however, was paid by the father of Scottish World Champion Jim Clark. The elder Clark took Gurney aside at his son's funeral in 1968 and confided that he was the only driver Clark had ever feared on the track.
By: Raymond Dock
Dan Gurney
If we speak of how the CART IndyCar Series came to be, the name that is at the top is Dan Gurney. Dan Gurney, without a doubt had the biggest impact on the creation of CART. How Gurney achieved the biggest impact is for our next feature. For now, though, let’s take a look at who Dan Gurney was.
Early beginnings
Dan Gurney came in to this world on April 13, 1931 the son of Jack Gurney and Roma Sexton. Gurney was born into a family of very intelligent and successful family members. His father was a graduate of Harvard Business School with a post graduate Master’s degree. His father’s three brothers were engineers from MIT and his grandfather was, F.W. Gurney the inventor of the Gurney Ball Bearing.
After Gurney graduated from Manhasset High in Riverside California he found himself caught up in the California hot rod culture of the time. This was all it took for the young Gurney to get the racing bug. When Gurney was 19, he built and raced his own car at Bonneville Salt Flats turning a time of 138 mph. At the same time he attended Menlo Junior College which was a prep school for Stanford University.
A lot of things were happening fast during this time. Gurney became an amateur drag and sports car raver. He also served in the United States Army as an artillery mechanic during the Korean War.
Driver and Manufacture
Gurney’s driving exploits are what dreams are made of. His success far exceeds those of the average driver. In 1957 Gurney was invited to test Frank Arciero’s, Arciero Special. This car was not the easiest of cars to drive. Both Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles found great difficulty controlling the car. Gurney finished runner-up to Carroll Shelby at the inaugural Riverside Grand Prix. This was a great achievement for Gurney considering he finished ahead of drivers like Masten Gregory, Walt Hansgen and the great Phil Hill. This impressive run attracted Luigi Chinetti who in turn arranged for Gurney to drive a Ferrari at Le Mans in 1958.
Gurney’s performance at Le Mans along with other impressive drives earned him a test in a Works Ferrari. Like I’ve said so many times before, the rest is history. Gurney began his Formula One career the following year in 1959. In the coming year Gurney had a mixed bag of success along with disappointment. At Zandvoort Gurney suffered a brake system failure on his BRM causing the worst accident of his career breaking his arm but also killing a spectator. It was that experience that instilled in him a distrust of race engineers. The good thing about that ordeal was that Gurney made changes to his driving style that would pay off big time in the future moving forward. Simply by using his brakes in a sparingly manner meant that his brakes lasted longer than his opponents. It worked like a charm, especially in sports car endurance racing. But with that being said, don’t think Gurney didn’t check those brakes at high speeds. Gurney would give the brake a little tap just to make sure those brakes were working. This became a habit that Gurney himself jokingly referred to as “the chicken-shit school of braking.”
Some special things happened to Dan Gurney during the 1961 and 1962 seasons. During the 1961 season Gurney teamed with Jo Bonnier for his first full season of the Porsche factory team F1 team and accumulated three second place finishes. 1962 was his big year though. With a new car complete with an 8 cylinder engine, Dan won the French Grand Prix and earned his first championship victory. Gurney won the following week as well in a non-championship Formula One race as well. While these events were special for Dan Gurney, they were not what made things special. While at Porsche, Gurney met a special young lady who was the public relations executive by the name of Evi Butz. They hit it off and were married a few years later.
Dan Gurney was hired as Jack Brabham’s first driver to drive with him for the Brabham Racing Team. Jack Brabham scored the maiden victory for his car at the 1963 Solitude Race, However Gurney took the team's first win in a championship race in 1964 at Rouen. He had two victories that year and ten podiums, including five consecutive in 1965. Gurney left Brabham to start his own team and in 1967, driving his own car, Gurney became the only driver in history to win maiden Grand Prix victories for three different manufacturers, namely Porsche, Brabham and Anglo-American Racers.
Gurney had this little problem when racing closed cockpit cars such as the Ford GT40, or shall we call it a big problem. It seemed he always thought that because of his nearly 6’4” stance, smaller drivers had an aerodynamic advantage over him because he had trouble squeezing himself into the smaller sized cockpit. So master fabricator Phil Remington came to the rescue and designed and installed a roof bubble over the driver’s seat which allowed space for Gurney to fit quite nicely into the cockpit with a helmet and all, known as the “Gurney Bubble.”
The birth of Dan Gurney’s own team and self-built cars actually began in the early 1960’s. In 1962, Gurney and Carroll Shelby began tossing around the idea of building and racing an American made Formula One car to compete against the best European racecars at the time. Shelby brought in Goodyear tires as sponsor, which in-turn wanted to challenge Firestone, who were dominating American racing in those days, and that was the formation of Dan Gurneys Team. Oh, and the name of Dan Gurney’s team? Well, it just so happens that Goodyear’s President, Victor Holt suggested that because this team is from America, that they should call the team “All American Racers,” and so in 1965 saw the beginning of Dan Gurney’s AAR team that lasted for many decades and saw success in Formula one, IMSA Sports Cars and of course in Indycar racing.
Dan Gurney’s initial interest was IndyCar. However, because of Gurney’s love for road racing and his desire to win the Formula One Championship driving an American made racer, some were quick to characterize the racer as a British based effort. In interviews given by Gurney, he always made it very clear that the racecar was designed and built by his crew members based in his All American Racers Southern California based headquarters, because they were partnered with British engine builder Weslake, the Formula One effort was called “Anglo American Racers.”
Gurney failed to see much success during the 1966 Formula One season due to an underperforming four cylinder engine. Gurney would have a better go of it in 1967 due to the Weslake V-12. Gurney failed to finish the first three races of the season. However June of 1967 would see a happy Gurney emerge and with new celebration traditions.
On June 11th of 1967, Dan Gurney was teamed with A.J. Foyt at Le Mans driving a Ford GT40. To many critics, including Ford executives, no one thought that the pairing between two rivals was anything but a match made in heaven. They all figured that two heated rivals would break the car. But to everyone’s dismay, the duo beat the Ferrari’s as well as the other GT40’s. On the podium, Gurney unknowing began a podium tradition that remains till this day. Dan Gurney spontaneously began spraying champagne from the podium to celebrate their unexpected win. Later, Gurney said he took great satisfaction in proving all those critics wrong.
After the win at Le Mans, Gurney left for the Belgian Grand Prix the following weekend. Gurney started in the middle of the first row but fell back into the field by the first lap. Even though his Weslake V-12 suffered through a misfire Gurney was able to continue. Gurney being able to move back through the field, he was able to attain fast lap on lap 19 while in second place. He managed to take the lead a short time later and took the checkered flag over a minute ahead of second place rival Jackie Stewart.
Sadly that victory was the high point of Dan Gurneys All American Racers. The following season saw a litany of two dollar part failures from fuel pumps to fuel injection and oil delivery systems to a half shaft failure while leading the 1967 German Grand Prix only two laps from the end and a 42 second lead. By the end of 1968 Gurney was driving a McLaren-Ford. Dan Gurney’s las Formula One race was at the 1970 British Grand Prix.
While competing in Formula One, the Indianapolis 500 was also big in Gurney’s eyes. He made nine starts in the Indianapolis 500 between 1962 and 1970. His first start was in a rear engine car built by Mickey Thompson. He ran a comfortable tenth place till a gearbox failure. His last three starts consisted of two seconds and a third, respectively. We should note that in 1969 Gurney did not compete in Formula One. He competed in Champ car and Can-Am. Gurney started 28 Champ car races. He drove to eighteen podiums including seven wins. Gurney finished fourth in total points in 1969 having only started half the races of the other top drivers. Funny, in 1968 Gurney finished seventh in points having only having five starts… simply amazing.
Dan Gurney’s pursuits do not end here. Gurney also raced in NASCAR and Trans-Am. His first NASCAR start also was in 1962. The following year he drove a Homan-Moody Ford to fifth place at the Daytona 500. He was practically unbeatable at Riverside having wins in 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1968. Trans-Am was the same where, along with protégé Swede Savage, Gurney built and raced AAR factory barracuda’s during the 1970 season. Retiring after the 1970 season, Swede Savage carried the AAR banner.
Legacy
Dan Gurney, after retirement, had some fun when he and Brock Yates drove a white Ferrari Daytona coupe to a new unofficial record for a cross-country street race in 35 hours and 54 minutes. In the process, the team outran a field of seven others to win the first official Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.
He remained an IMSA GT Prototype and IndyCar team owner, winning championships and setting the standard of excellence for others to follow when it comes to innovation. It was Dan Gurney that had the insight to look around Indycar and say, this can be done better, when he began thinking about the contents of the white letter. Also we only have to look at recent times to see Dan Gurney’s innovations as the Delta Wing made its appearance. He is highly honored.
We lost Dan Gurney in January of 2018. A sad day in the racing world and for his loving family. I am glad that I was fortunate enough, as a team member and CART official, to meet and call him friend as well as play practical jokes on his team members with him… A story for another time.
-Dan Gurney ranks third in American Formula One drivers starts with 86 and his total of four Grand Prix Wins is second to only Mario Andretti.
-In 2016 academic paper reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine. Gurney was ranked the 14th best Formula One driver of all time.
-The 2010 Monterey Motorsports Reunion was held in honor of Dan Gurney.
-He was awarded Edison-Ford Medal for Innovation
Perhaps the greatest tribute to Gurney's driving ability, however, was paid by the father of Scottish World Champion Jim Clark. The elder Clark took Gurney aside at his son's funeral in 1968 and confided that he was the only driver Clark had ever feared on the track.
By: Raymond Dock
_____________________________________________________________________
CART TEAMS: Where are they now?
Roger Penske
Roger Penske
When we speak of the CART IndyCar Series members, one of the names that come to light first and foremost is that of Roger Penske. Without a doubt Roger has had one of the biggest impacts on CART. Sit down and relax as we briefly delve into who Roger Penske is.
As we all know Roger Penske is an American entrepreneur and businessman. Penske owns Penske Corporation which holdings include Penske Automotive Group a global company that operates automobile dealerships, Penske Motor Group that has dealerships in California and Texas, and Penske Truck Leasing, a truck sales, leasing and fleet maintenance company. Who hasn’t seen Penske trucks driving down the road? And his purchase of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. But let’s delve deeper into the roots of who Roger Penske is.
Roger Penske, born in 1937, hails from Shaker Heights, Ohio. As a teenager Penske would purchase old cars, fix them up and sell them for profit out of his family’s home in Cleveland. After graduating from Shaker Heights High School Penske went on to Lehigh University where he graduated as a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity member.
Penske’s first venture into motorsports
Penske’s original love for motorsports came in the form of hill climbing. It didn’t take long for Roger to find asphalt racing as he began road racing in Porsches. Roger Penske’s first race driving start came at Marlboro Motor Speedway in Maryland. A track that has since found its way into history.
Penske’s driving attributes earned him Sports Illustrated SCCA Driver of the year in 1961. Roger Penske, like so many other drivers of the time, competed in all forms of racing. Penske competed in two Formula One races, and won a NASCAR Pacific Coast Late Model race at Riverside in 1963. Roger was offered a rookie test at Indianapolis but turned it down. So while the opportunity presented itself for him to run at the Indianapolis 500, Penske turned that opportunity down for business reasons. Ironically, it was the rookie Mario Andretti who stepped in for Penske to take that test.
Roger Penske continued racing through 1965, when he retired as a driver to concentrate on his first Chevrolet dealership in Philadelphia Pennsylvania.
Penske Racing
The following year, 1966, Roger Penske debuted Penske Racing at the 24 hours of Daytona. It wasn’t until 1969 that Penske Racing would make its debut at the Indianapolis 500. Penske’s first win came at the Speedway in 1972 with the Late Mark Donohue driving, and won their first NASCAR race the following year in 1973. As the 1970’s continued, things were beginning to change on the business aspect of IndyCar racing and with the prestige and increasing influence in the racing community, Roger Penske was a receiving member of the White Letter, authored by Dan Gurney in 1978.
Penske Racing home base was originally based in Pennsylvania, but with the success Penske has had over the years in all types of Motorsports, Penske purchased the old Matsushita air conditioning plant in Mooresville North Carolina and refurbished the plant to a beautiful 424,000 square foot facility to house all Penske racing operations under one roof. In my days of working with Penske in NASCAR, I can personally vouch for the beautiful campus Penske has created.
If you are a motorsports fan, you know the success that Roger Penske and Penske racing has achieved through the years. On September 16, 2018, Brad Keselowski gave Roger Penske his 500th win across all racing series at the South Point 400 in Las Vegas. We can write three novels based on the success of Roger Penske. But there is still more to the Captain than racing.
Penske’s Off Track Attributes
As mentioned earlier, Roger Penske is Chairman of Penske Corporation. While the Penske Corporation’s holdings are great, I believe his greatest jewel was acquired on November 4, 2019. On that day Roger Penske purchased the legendary and Iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway from the Hulman family. What else is there? If there is anything more out there to achieve, I am sure Roger Penske will find it.
Penske has received many honors and awards through the years some of these include:
1990 Golden Plate award of the American Academy of Achievement
1995 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee
1998 International Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee
2002 Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame inductee
2015 Automotive Hall of Fame inductee
Two time NASCAR Cup Series Champion (2012, 2018)
Five time IndyCar Series Champion (2006, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019)
2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee
2019 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.
Today, at 83 years of age, Roger Penske is a force to be reckoned with on the race track or in the board room. Roger Penske was one of the founding members of CART and a big heart beat of what made Championship Auto Racing Teams the greatest Open Wheel Racing Series of its time.
Raymond Dock
CART TEAMS: Where are they now….
Welcome to the new and exciting inaugural CART Alumni feature page. What is it you ask? It is a page that will feature stories and bio’s of those teams, drivers and personnel that helped Championship Auto Racing Teams rise to become the leader in open wheel racing on a global basis. So sit back and enjoy interesting stories that you may or may not have known about regarding those that formed and created Championship Auto Racing Teams.
In this inaugural feature, we will be taking a look back at the history of one of CART’S founding members, Pat Patrick Racing.
Pat Patrick: Early Years:
Ueal Eugene "Pat" Patrick was born March 10, 1929 in Kentucky and was relocated to Jackson Michigan at an early age. Patrick grew up poor and worked in the onion fields in South Michigan. After Patrick finished high school, and with no money for college, joined the United States Air Force because he knew that the G.I. Bill would help give young Patrick the opportunity to acquire the education he sought.
Patrick began a career in accounting, however, after graduating from Michigan State, the Spartan began selling oil-field exploration equipment. It wasn’t long after Patrick decided to try his own hand at drilling. At first Patrick drilled and drilled only to find nothing but dry holes. Eighteen dry holes in all. Without getting disappointed, Patrick drilled his nineteenth hole and found the reservoir of black gold he sought. From that point on Patrick couldn’t do wrong as he hit another and another. It was an exciting time for Patrick as he founded Patrick Petroleum and landed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Pat Patrick's Introduction to Motorsports:
Pat Patrick had an unusual introduction to motorsports. Somewhere along the line one of his sons was interested in racing sports cars. Like all drivers, he needed to pass a medical screen in order to acquire his racing license.
The doctor who did the screening discovered Patrick’s son had cancer. Being that it was caught in the early stages, he was completely cured of the Cancer. Patrick felt so indebted to motorsports for having saved his sons life that he also began a career in motorsports. During the late 1960’s things moved quickly for Patrick. In no time at all he went from a sponsor to a team co-owner and eventually a sole team owner.
Pat Patrick's Racing success, heartbreak and innovation:
Pat Patrick was one of the founding members of the then “REBEL” CART owners following Dan Gurney’s famous white letter. Patrick found much success in open wheel racing, having won the Indianapolis 500 in 1973 and 1982 with driver Gordon Johncock and again in 1989 with two time formula one champion Emerson Fittipaldi. Who can forget that 1982 battle between Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears driving a Penske car with only a handful of laps left to witness one of the greatest finishes in Indy 500 history? It was an amazing event.
But Patrick suffered through heart break as well. Namely the horrendous 1973 Indy 500 weekend. When his driver Swede Savage lost control of his car and endured a firey crash. Then crew member Armando Teran, running toward the accident, was hit by a safety vehicle going the wrong way on pit lane. Armando Teran died that day, Swede Savage died a month later in the hospital.
Pat Patrick wasn’t without innovation and working for the advancement of young drivers. Patrick saw there was a need for an organized path for up and coming drivers to prepare for Indycar racing, so Patrick launched the new Indy lite series.
Pat Patrick continued to field Indycars through 2004 when he put the team up for sale at seasons end.
Pat Patrick is one of the great founding members of CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS that truly helped our sport reach global success. Ueal Eugene Patrick was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2018. Today Patrick lives a quiet life away from the track in his home in Jackson Michigan, not far from those onion fields and in Phoenix Arizona.
Ray Dock
Welcome to the new and exciting inaugural CART Alumni feature page. What is it you ask? It is a page that will feature stories and bio’s of those teams, drivers and personnel that helped Championship Auto Racing Teams rise to become the leader in open wheel racing on a global basis. So sit back and enjoy interesting stories that you may or may not have known about regarding those that formed and created Championship Auto Racing Teams.
In this inaugural feature, we will be taking a look back at the history of one of CART’S founding members, Pat Patrick Racing.
Pat Patrick: Early Years:
Ueal Eugene "Pat" Patrick was born March 10, 1929 in Kentucky and was relocated to Jackson Michigan at an early age. Patrick grew up poor and worked in the onion fields in South Michigan. After Patrick finished high school, and with no money for college, joined the United States Air Force because he knew that the G.I. Bill would help give young Patrick the opportunity to acquire the education he sought.
Patrick began a career in accounting, however, after graduating from Michigan State, the Spartan began selling oil-field exploration equipment. It wasn’t long after Patrick decided to try his own hand at drilling. At first Patrick drilled and drilled only to find nothing but dry holes. Eighteen dry holes in all. Without getting disappointed, Patrick drilled his nineteenth hole and found the reservoir of black gold he sought. From that point on Patrick couldn’t do wrong as he hit another and another. It was an exciting time for Patrick as he founded Patrick Petroleum and landed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Pat Patrick's Introduction to Motorsports:
Pat Patrick had an unusual introduction to motorsports. Somewhere along the line one of his sons was interested in racing sports cars. Like all drivers, he needed to pass a medical screen in order to acquire his racing license.
The doctor who did the screening discovered Patrick’s son had cancer. Being that it was caught in the early stages, he was completely cured of the Cancer. Patrick felt so indebted to motorsports for having saved his sons life that he also began a career in motorsports. During the late 1960’s things moved quickly for Patrick. In no time at all he went from a sponsor to a team co-owner and eventually a sole team owner.
Pat Patrick's Racing success, heartbreak and innovation:
Pat Patrick was one of the founding members of the then “REBEL” CART owners following Dan Gurney’s famous white letter. Patrick found much success in open wheel racing, having won the Indianapolis 500 in 1973 and 1982 with driver Gordon Johncock and again in 1989 with two time formula one champion Emerson Fittipaldi. Who can forget that 1982 battle between Gordon Johncock and Rick Mears driving a Penske car with only a handful of laps left to witness one of the greatest finishes in Indy 500 history? It was an amazing event.
But Patrick suffered through heart break as well. Namely the horrendous 1973 Indy 500 weekend. When his driver Swede Savage lost control of his car and endured a firey crash. Then crew member Armando Teran, running toward the accident, was hit by a safety vehicle going the wrong way on pit lane. Armando Teran died that day, Swede Savage died a month later in the hospital.
Pat Patrick wasn’t without innovation and working for the advancement of young drivers. Patrick saw there was a need for an organized path for up and coming drivers to prepare for Indycar racing, so Patrick launched the new Indy lite series.
Pat Patrick continued to field Indycars through 2004 when he put the team up for sale at seasons end.
Pat Patrick is one of the great founding members of CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS that truly helped our sport reach global success. Ueal Eugene Patrick was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2018. Today Patrick lives a quiet life away from the track in his home in Jackson Michigan, not far from those onion fields and in Phoenix Arizona.
Ray Dock