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Post by wilmywood8455 on Mar 21, 2020 5:47:25 GMT -8
August 66 C & D with a great report on the disastrous Indy 500. Dan Gurney was taken out, along with half the field at Turn 1, Lap 1. I love Dan’s comment: “It seems like 33 of what are supposed to be the best drivers in the world ought to be able to drive down a straight piece of road without doing this sort of thing ..... it baffles me that they could be that thick .....everybody has a brake and an accelerator and should be able to drive down a straightaway without running into each other.”
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Mar 21, 2020 6:23:29 GMT -8
This is a gentle run of the STP Eagle driven in the Indy 500 by Graham McRae in 1973. Later a race winning car driven by Wally Dallenbach.
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Mar 21, 2020 6:35:31 GMT -8
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Mar 25, 2020 8:43:10 GMT -8
Dan Gurney in the Mickey Thompson car in which he would qualify 8th and finish in 20th in the 1962 500 mile race. Note the extension on the windscreen and his head above the roll hoop. The GT 40 wasn't the first car he didn't fit in ...
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Post by Carlo_Carrera on Apr 15, 2020 13:28:29 GMT -8
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Jan 30, 2021 12:55:25 GMT -8
The Life and Death of Riverside International RacewayA two part series from Vintage Motorsport Magazine Part One Jan/Feb 2002This is the first of a two-part series on Riverside Raceway. Part 1 covers the birth and development of the track, its growth through the 1960s and up to 1970. It was distinct because of where it was,out on the edge of the desert near a nondescript town. Riverside’s mystique reached to the core of racer and spectator alike—its layout magical and its races memorable. allamericanracers.com/images/pdf/Riverside1.pdfPart Two Mar/Apr 2002In Part 1 of our two-part article, we covered the early years of Riverside: The building of the course, struggles to attract popular racing series and the people, fans and events that etched character into the Southern California road course through the 1970 season. In this,the final installment, we pick up in the early1970s and wind through the stories that shaped the making and, ultimately, the demise of Riverside Raceway. allamericanracers.com/images/pdf/Riverside2.pdfFor more than three decades, the world-famous Riverside Raceway fought the elements, politics, a Superspeedway competitor and economic downturns. In the end, it succumbed to housing development and a shopping mall.
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Feb 28, 2021 11:15:25 GMT -8
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Apr 14, 2021 11:20:19 GMT -8
AAR Indy Eagle chassis number 7205, the 'Mystery Eagle' that Jerry Grant drove in the 1972 Indy 500 and drove to the first IndyCar lap over 200mph later that year at Ontario, is on its way back home to All American Racers, per Justin Gurney, CEO of AAR on Facebook.
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Aug 25, 2021 15:12:54 GMT -8
REWIND: Miller on the making of A.J. FoytWhen we wanted to commemorate the 60th anniversary of A.J. Foyt’s first Indianapolis 500 win in RACER’s annual Heroes Issue, there was only one man for the job – our own Robin Miller. “I’ve known A.J. Foyt for more than 50 years, much to his chagrin,” quipped Robin. The pair had enjoyed an often feisty relationship, but the respect between a couple of straight-talking racers was mutual and their friendship had strengthened over the decades.
Turns out that Robin’s A.J. story would be the last he’d write for the magazine, so it’s apt that it should be about “Super Tex.” Of course, with Robin Miller as the byline, it’s a fine read, as entertaining as it is enlightening, and evocative of a golden age for racing. And ever the pro, it was filed ahead of the deadline. Thank you, Robin.
Laurence Foster, RACER Editor-in-chiefOn June 16, 1957, Johnny Thomson won the “big car” race at Reading, Pa., and Elmer George captured the USAC sprint-car show at Terre Haute, Ind. Meanwhile, 50 miles due south of the Vigo County Fairgrounds, a raw-boned, flat-topped, 22-year-old Texan was changing the trajectory of his life. Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. had never been to Indiana’s Salem Speedway, and had raced very few paved tracks during his five years of barnstorming the country in midgets and sprints. His lone sprint victory had come the previous year at Fargo, N.D., and he was coming off a 100-lap midget win in Kansas City. He wasn’t a household name or really even an “up and comer” in Speed Sport News. He was competing in the International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), which was a rung below USAC, but a damn good proving ground for kids trying to work their way up the ladder to USAC and then, maybe, the Indianapolis 500. racer.com/2021/08/25/rewind-miller-on-the-making-of-a-j-foyt/?fbclid=IwAR2xOwQ1Msc1DFiidmTC3mY1lQYQ4cG-o5gbQh7URnJZ7f5TGuXITMKATE0
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Aug 27, 2021 3:56:17 GMT -8
REWIND: Miller on how Rick Mears turned racing at Indy into an art and a scienceTo celebrate 40 years since Rick Mears’ first Indy 500 win in 2019, we made “Rocket Rick” and his Penske PC-6 the cover stars of RACER’s June 2019 issue.
Of course, Robin Miller supplied the words for the accompanying feature. And of course, he wasn’t content with just rehashing the life and times of Rick Ravon Mears at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Instead, we got a deep dive into the art and science of going fast at The Speedway, and some remarkable insight into what drove Mears to his feats of near perfection.
When the issue was wrapped and away to the printers, I told Robin how much I’d enjoyed the story. The reply was typical Miller – self-effacing, and suitably colorful.
“It’s difficult to f*** up an interview with ‘The Rocket,’” he chuckled. “I just sit back, listen to the man, and hope I remembered to turn the recorder on…”
Laurence Foster, RACER Editor-in-chiefFrom a 75mph sprint buggy to being comfortable at 200mph in less than a year. From eating dirt on the Baja peninsula to cutting into steaks with Roger Penske. From trying a Formula Vee at Willow Springs to starting front row at the Indianapolis 500. From listening on the radio to the heroics of A.J. Foyt and Al Unser to sharing their legacy. From a kid that never dreamed of the big time to becoming one of Indy’s all-time best. Rick Mears’ story is part fairytale, opportunity, savvy, good scouting, talent, grit, timing, desire and an American fable unlikely to happen again. Happily running a backhoe through the week and dirt buggies at Ascot Park on weekends, Mears matriculated to an Indy car because a helmet rep for safety pioneer Bill Simpson raved about his abilities. That turned into a rehearsal at Ontario Motor Speedway, which led to a huge career that was never planned or considered. “Like I’ve said a thousand times, my plan was no plan. I never dreamed of getting into Indy car; it was way out my league,” reflects Mears from his home in Jupiter, Fla. “I listened to it on the radio and watched a couple times on closed circuit, but I didn’t grow up around it and neither did my family.” How Mears became an icon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway defied logic and the popular path to “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” But it proved that whether you came from two wheels, like Joe Leonard, or sprint cars, like A.J., Mario and Parnelli, or the desert, like Rick Ravon Mears, a real racer will figure it out. racer.com/2021/08/26/rewind-miller-on-how-rick-mears-turned-racing-at-indy-into-an-art-and-a-science/?fbclid=IwAR2EaGux2kMFf2FwvuBJHIpmCGyA4uzdaNAoQ5f4DS-00uOh6rHZUHp8CHQ
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Aug 27, 2021 14:33:56 GMT -8
REWIND: Miller on Dan Gurney’s Indy-winning EaglesIf I had to pick my favorite RACER magazine story by Robin Miller, this one could well be it, written in 2015 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Dan Gurney’s one and only Indianapolis 500 win as an owner in 1975. Gurney’s Eagles had earned two before that with customers, but ’75’s monsoon-curtailed 59th running finally ticked the box for “The Big Eagle” and All American Racers.
When it came to the technical side of racing, Robin was happy to admit it was all pretty much over his head and reveled in telling tales of his mechanical ineptitude. But that didn’t stop him from appreciating the envelope-pushing skill, creativity and ingenuity of the folks building the machines that created Brickyard heroes. For him, the engineers, crew chiefs and midnight oil-burning mechanics were as big a part of the story as the guys behind the wheel.
He had a special respect for Gurney. For his driving exploits alone, Dan was up there on Robin’s Mt. Rushmore, but as an innovator, advocate, and all-’round human being, few came close.
That all comes through in this story. It’s not just about a car, it’s about people doing special things – Gurney, Bobby Unser, Roman Slobodynskyj, John Miller – and it’s told in a way only Robin could.
Laurence Foster, RACER Editor-in-chiefIt was the perfect storm: a rulebook ripe for the picking converged on by a wily, free-thinking leader oozing with racing savvy; a top shelf driver who understood chassis and lived for taking it to the edge; a sharp, aggressive engine man who couldn’t get enough RPMs, and a quiet, unknown thinker from the aerospace industry with designs on making a big splash in Indy car racing. That was the potent lineup at All American Racers in 1972 as Dan Gurney, Bobby Unser, John Miller and Roman Slobodynskyj created an Indy car for the ages that was copied, bought and raced with unparalleled success for five consecutive seasons. The Eagle 7200 didn’t just break new ground, it sent a tremor through the United States Auto Club, destroyed the record book and shook the status quo to its very foundation. “Dan built a killer car, Roman did a good job, John gave me great power, and I think we had a better team than we knew,” says Unser, who captured 10 races for AAR from 1972-’76 including the 1975 Indianapolis 500. “And of course, they had the right driver to develop it.” Gurney’s genius for creativity was never more alive than that period of Indy car history, when aerodynamics ascended and speeds exploded. “We didn’t know what the limits were and we were peering into the unknown,” says The Big Eagle. “It was an exciting time.” The genesis for the ’72 Eagle was the 1971 McLaren M16, a sleek-looking creation from Formula 1 guru Gordon Coppuck that riled Gasoline Alley because of its engine cover that sported a wing. USAC rules said any aerodynamic device had to be an integral part of the bodywork and Coppuck cleverly created an advantage as Peter Revson blistered the Indianapolis Motor Speedway record by almost 9mph in winning the pole position. Even though Unser took seven poles and a pair of victories in his ’71 Eagle, Gurney and Co. knew that it was back to the drawing board… racer.com/2021/08/27/rewind-miller-on-dan-gurneys-indy-winning-eagles/?utm_source=RACER+%2F%2F+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b030de880d-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2021_08_26_06_30_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_76623d07b6-b030de880d-274287873
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Sept 1, 2021 8:39:26 GMT -8
REWIND: Miller on Jim Clark at the Indy 500Jim Clark and Robin Miller never crossed paths at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In fact, Robin’s rocky tenure as Jim Hurtubise’s gofer at the 1968 Indy 500 came just weeks after Clark’s death in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim.
Had he lived, the legendary Scot was set to make his sixth attempt on the biggest, richest race in the world, his turbine-powered Lotus 56 sharing the same rickety Gasoline Alley garages as Hurtubise’s Mallard and Miller and his polishing cloths.
In the five years before that, Clark had earned the respect and friendship of the Brickyard’s brightest, toughest stars, and entranced a young Miller, whose lifelong love of Indy and its signature race was forged in those wild, daring days of the early 1960s.
With his Lotus boss and mentor Colin Chapman lured by the treasures Indy offered, Clark made his first 500 start in 1963, finishing a controversial second to Parnelli Jones. He earned a dominant win in ’65 (and $166,621 to split with Chapman), came second again in ’66 – or was it really first? – and, after an ill-starred ’67 race, was enthused by the wedge-shaped 56 and his prospects for ’68.
Robin’s RACER story was written in 2015, a half century after Clark’s ’65 win. It’s liberally sprinkled with recollections of the home-grown heroes Clark raced with at Indy and, in his trademark style, it’s an evocative, entertaining look back on events that entranced the young Miller and helped determine his future path.
Laurence Foster, RACER Editor-in-chiefA wispy little sheep farmer with a flimsy car painted green and its engine in the wrong place. Jim Clark and his Lotus-Ford were hardly imposing figures when they unloaded at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the first time in 1963. The Indianapolis 500 was the richest, deadliest and most prestigious motor race in the world, and had a reputation for sending drivers back home, into retirement or to the morgue. It required muscles, balls, focus and unwavering confidence to horse around a roadster for four hours, and was certainly no place for “gentlemen racers.” So the slight-built, introverted Scotsman hardly drew any second looks, let alone concern, from the USAC brigade in Gasoline Alley. “I didn’t give those Formula 1 guys a lot of respect and neither did A.J.,” declares Parnelli Jones, who along with A.J. Foyt ruled USAC racing in the 1960s. “We were the rough, backyard bullies and they were those polite road racers with funny accents who thought they were better than everyone else. “But he was a nice guy and he caught on to oval racing pretty quick,” he adds. “I was impressed because he was a helluva talent.” Fifty years ago, Clark put his stamp on the history books by demoralizing the competition and leading 190 of the 200 laps on the way to capturing the 1965 Indy 500. It was his lone win in five starts from 1963-’67 yet, with just a little extra nudge from the racing gods, he could easily have been a two- or even three-time winner at the Brickyard. But it wasn’t just that dominating drive in ’65 that makes the quiet Scot so revered five decades later. It was his adaptability to big speeds and concrete walls. It was his respectful attitude towards Indy and the competition. It was his ability to handle the ragged edge, lap after lap after lap. It was the changing philosophy he helped introduce to U.S. racing. It was his classy demeanor, both on and off the race track. It was everything. “Clark was a nice guy, he wasn’t cocky like Graham Hill or (Jackie) Stewart,” says Foyt, whose disdain for English engineers is racing folklore. “He drove hard, but clean, and I had a lot of respect for him because he raced at Milwaukee and Trenton, too. He also drove a terrible stock car at Rockingham and I took my hat off to him. “I guess we were rivals but, like I said, I liked the guy and I wasn’t real fond of the Brits in general.” racer.com/2021/09/01/rewind-miller-on-jim-clark-at-the-indy-500/?fbclid=IwAR1ZZerNDQlMkn9D5qiVRB2ANRxS0BAvXlTapqCIYKNhk7lHJrVq77JdlOw
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Sept 7, 2021 2:03:08 GMT -8
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Post by Codfish on Sept 23, 2021 12:14:14 GMT -8
REWIND: Miller on Jim Clark at the Indy 500Jim Clark and Robin Miller never crossed paths at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In fact, Robin’s rocky tenure as Jim Hurtubise’s gofer at the 1968 Indy 500 came just weeks after Clark’s death in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim.
Had he lived, the legendary Scot was set to make his sixth attempt on the biggest, richest race in the world, his turbine-powered Lotus 56 sharing the same rickety Gasoline Alley garages as Hurtubise’s Mallard and Miller and his polishing cloths.
In the five years before that, Clark had earned the respect and friendship of the Brickyard’s brightest, toughest stars, and entranced a young Miller, whose lifelong love of Indy and its signature race was forged in those wild, daring days of the early 1960s...
It was difficult not to be a fan of Jim Clark with his shy, self-effacing manner... He and Mark Donahue are my all time favorite drivers... Even though Clark's career was cut short, he is still considered one of the greatest of all time...
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Sept 23, 2021 15:15:48 GMT -8
REWIND: Miller on Jim Clark at the Indy 500Jim Clark and Robin Miller never crossed paths at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In fact, Robin’s rocky tenure as Jim Hurtubise’s gofer at the 1968 Indy 500 came just weeks after Clark’s death in a Formula 2 race at Hockenheim.
Had he lived, the legendary Scot was set to make his sixth attempt on the biggest, richest race in the world, his turbine-powered Lotus 56 sharing the same rickety Gasoline Alley garages as Hurtubise’s Mallard and Miller and his polishing cloths.
In the five years before that, Clark had earned the respect and friendship of the Brickyard’s brightest, toughest stars, and entranced a young Miller, whose lifelong love of Indy and its signature race was forged in those wild, daring days of the early 1960s...
It was difficult not to be a fan of Jim Clark with his shy, self-effacing manner... He and Mark Donahue are my all time favorite drivers... Even though Clark's career was cut short, he is still considered one of the greatest of all time... Clark and Gurney were great friends as well as rivals. Clark helped Gurney convince Colin Chapman to build Lotuses for Indianapolis, not starting but solidifying the mid engine Indy revolution after Jimmy won in 1965. Story goes that at Clark's funeral, his father took Dan aside and told him Gurney was the only driver Clark feared ...
Having met and worked with/for Dan Gurney and prepared and pitted GTP cars for Juan Manuel Fangio ll, they have to be my favorites.
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Post by Codfish on Sept 23, 2021 17:29:03 GMT -8
Story goes that at Clark's funeral, his father took Dan aside and told him Gurney was the only driver Clark feared ... You and I must have seen the same documentary, because I distinctly remember that exact quote... I would include Gurney as a favorite of mine as well - how could you not...?
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Oct 6, 2021 12:55:24 GMT -8
Story goes that at Clark's funeral, his father took Dan aside and told him Gurney was the only driver Clark feared ... You and I must have seen the same documentary, because I distinctly remember that exact quote... I would include Gurney as a favorite of mine as well - how could you not...? I also know Dan's son, Justin Gurney, current CEO at All American Racers who knows the story well.
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Oct 6, 2021 13:00:00 GMT -8
I had never heard this song before this morning on SXM's 'Deep Tracks' interesting, I thought. There are conflicting thoughts on what it means ... Speedway at Nazareth by Mark Knopfler After two thousand came two thousand and one To be the new champions we were there for to run From springtime in Arizona 'til the fall in Monterey And the raceways were the battlefields and we fought 'em all the way Was at Phoenix in the morning I had a wake-up call She went around without a warning put me in the wall I drove Long Beach, California with three cracked vertebrae And we went on to Indianapolis, Indiana in May Well the Brickyard's there to crucify anyone who will not learn I climbed a mountain to qualify I went flat through the turns But I was down in the might-have-beens and an old pal good as died And I sat down in Gasoline Alley and I cried Well we were in at the kill again on the Milwaukee Mile And in June up in Michigan we were robbed at Belle Isle Then it was on to Portland, Oregon for the G.I. Joe And I'd blown off almost everyone when my motor let go New England, Ontario we died in the dirt Those walls from mid-Ohio to Toronto they hurt So we came to Road America where we burned up at the lake But at the speedway at Nazareth I made no mistake Forgotten Racing Song Friday: 'Speedway at Nazareth'Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris turn the hard life of a racer into something beautiful There are plenty of great songs about racing, but for every track to achieve the stature of “Shut Down” or “Hot Rod Lincoln,” there are dozens -- maybe hundreds -- that history has forgotten. Usually for good reason. Forgotten Racing Song Friday will dig up these musical treasures and, for better or for worse, give them another moment in the spotlight.Our recent exploration of the abandoned Occoneechee Speedway, which was part of the inaugural 1949 NASCAR season but now lies abandoned in Hillsborough, North Carolina, has us thinking out other long-gone tracks. One of them, Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, lent its name to today’s song: “Speedway at Nazareth” by Mark Knopfler with Emmylou Harris. You’ll know Knopfler from Dire Straits and Harris from … well, everybody knows Emmylou Harris. On the surface, the song is about the tough and often trying life of an open-wheel racer, following a season -- there’s artistic license at play here, so it’s apparently some CART/IRL hybrid -- from Phoenix to Nazareth, through injuries and failures both mechanical and personal. It’s a haunting but beautiful song, and it’s only become more melancholy since its release in 2000: Nazareth Speedway, which started off as a dirt track in 1910 and was a sort of hometown course for Mario Andretti, closed for good just four years after this song debuted, following so many other famous and significant circuits into oblivion after the 2004 season. All signs point to redevelopment; it will probably end up as some combination of homes and warehouses. But that’s progress. www.autoweek.com/car-life/a1696381/forgotten-racing-song-friday-speedway-nazareth/
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Post by Spin on Oct 6, 2021 14:23:49 GMT -8
Cool, I'd never heard the studio version.
He's better known for being the front man of Dire Straits. Unfortunately known only for "I Want my MTV" song, they put out some awesome albums BITD.
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Post by wilmywood8455 on Oct 6, 2021 14:37:35 GMT -8
Cool, I'd never heard the studio version. He's better known for being the front man of Dire Straits. Unfortunately known only for "I Want my MTV" song, they put out some awesome albums BITD. He's an awesome guitarist. I saw him playing with Eric Clapton in Orange County, CA about 1988 I think, they did a lot of Derek and the Dominoes with Knopfler doing the Duane Allman parts, 'Layla' was 20 minutes long, and OUTSTANDING.
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