senor honda

[h=2]Dan Gurney, All American Racer 1931-2018[/h] Monday, 15 January 2018


By Mark Glendenning / Images by IMS Photo, LAT, Marshall Pruett, All American Racers, Steve Shunck



26,100 Shares
Iconic race driver, team owner and constructor Dan Gurney died Sunday at the age of 86. Gurney passed away due to complications from pneumonia.


"With one last smile on his handsome face, Dan drove off into the unknown just before noon today, January 14, 2018," Gurney's wife Evi and family said in a statement. "In deepest sorrow, with gratitude in our hearts for the love and joy you have given us during your time on this earth, we say ‘Godspeed.’"


Born in New York but raised in Southern California, which remained his home for the rest of his life, Gurney was renowned as one of the fastest and most versatile drivers in the sport's history.

• MILLER: Gurney, All-American treasure
• RACER video series: "Dan Gurney: All American Racer presented by Bell Helmets"
• Video: Gurney & Foyt on 1967 Ford win at Le Mans
• Video: Robin Miller on Dan Gurney (2016)

The two driving feats for which he is best remembered – the 24 Hours of Le Mans victory that he shared with A.J. Foyt in 1967, followed by a win at the Belgian Grand Prix in an Eagle Formula 1 car of his own construction – were made all the more notable by the fact that they occurred just a week apart. But more remarkable still is that they only begin to scratch the surface of his achievements.


He was the first driver ever to win races in Formula 1, NASCAR and IndyCar: a feat that has only been matched since by Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya. He was a race winner in Can-Am and Trans-Am. He invented the podium champagne spray. He pioneered the use of full-face helmets in F1. He gave three F1 teams their first victories. And he oversaw the creation of one of the most beautiful Formula 1 cars ever built in the Eagle Mk.1.
A product of the postwar West Coast's vibrant car culture, Gurney's first big break came when he dragged the fast but terrifying Arciero Special – a Mistral powered by a reworked 4.2-liter Maserati engine – to second place in the inaugural Riverside Grand Prix in 1957.


That performance turned the head of famed North American Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti, and the following June Gurney found himself sharing a factory 250 Testa Rossa with Bruce Kessler. The latter crashed, but Gurney's performance behind the wheel helped pave the way for him to make his F1 debut with the Scuderia at Reims in 1959. His three subsequent F1 appearances with Ferrari yielded two podiums and a fourth, but his dislike of the team culture steered him toward a drive with BRM the following year.


A largely frustrating year punctuated by a tragedy at Zaandvort, where a young spectator was killed after Gurney suffered a brake failure, opened the door for a move to Porsche in 1961, and in 1962 he claimed his first F1 victory at Rouen (below).

A three-year stint at Brabham yielded another two wins, but by this point, plans that Gurney had been hatching with Carroll Shelby to create an American car that could compete with Europe's best were creeping closer to fruition.
The product of that dream – the AAR (All-American Racers, or Anglo-American Racers in its F1 guise as a nod to the British Weslake Engine) Eagle Mk.1 made its debut at the beginning of the 1966 F1 season. Reliability was an issue, but when it finished, it tended to finish strong: The win at Spa in '67 was accompanied by a podium in Canada that same year, and a heartbreaking near-miss in 1967 when the car suffered a failure while leading by 42 seconds two laps from the checker at the Nurburgring.


A driver who fully embraced his era's opportunities for diversity, Gurney routinely dovetailed his F1 program with other events. He made eight appearances at the Indy 500 between 1962 and 1970, finishing second twice in Eagle-Fords, and won seven Champ Car races from 28 career starts.
Indy cars also gave rise to perhaps his most famous engineering breakthrough, the Gurney flap: a small tab projecting from the trailing edge of a wing that generated substantial additional downforce. First introduced on Bobby Unser's car at a test at Phoenix in 1971, after Gurney had retired from driving, the device remains in common usage across motorsport and aviation to this day.


In NASCAR, his name was synonymous with Riverside: He earned five Grand National wins there during the 1960s, four of which were with Wood Brothers Racing, and also made three career appearances at the Daytona 500 with a best finish of fifth with Holman-Moody in 1963.


Following his retirement from F1 after a year with McLaren in 1970, Gurney turned his attention to full-time team ownership, and sat at the helm of AAR until 2011, when the team was taken over by his son Justin. His car were formidable on the track, claiming 78 victories across all categories, including the Indianapolis 500, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. And Gurney himself remained a formidable figure outside the cockpit, penning the famous 'White Paper' in 1978 that argued for a dramatic overhaul of the structure of American open-wheel racing, and representing a first step towards the formation of CART a year later.


AAR withdrew from CART for the first time in the mid-1980s, but enjoyed huge success in IMSA GTO competition, and later GTP with the ferocious Toyota-powered Eagle MkIII, which claimed 17 consecutive race wins and back-to-back drivers' and manufacturers' championships across 1992 and 1993.
Gurney's tremendous achievements have been reflected through inductions into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, the Sebring International Raceway Hall of Fame, and the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame.
He is survived by his wife Evi, and sons Justin, Alex, Jimmy and Dan Jr. In accordance with his wishes, the funeral will be private.

senor honda

Racing Legends Dan Guerney Jackie Stewart Chris Amon Jim Clark



50 years ago today: Gurney's all-American F1 win

Sunday, 18 June 2017


By RACER staff / Images by LAT archive

It was 50 years ago today that Dan Gurney took one of the most significant wins of his legendary career, in the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps with his own Eagle-Weslake – making him a winner both as a driver and a constructor. And it came just a week after another of Gurney's iconic wins – winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Ford GT40 Mk.IV he co-drove with A.J. Foyt!
Gurney qualified second with his Eagle-Weslake to Jim Clark's Lotus Ford. Clark pulled away to a substantial early lead but was forced to pit for a plug change. This handed the lead to Jackie Stewart's BRM, which appeared to be in control of the race after Gurney, too, was delayed by fuel pressure problems.
However, the sleek Eagle – featuring a magnesium skin, titanium suspension and custom-engineered Weslake V12 engine – was at its best on the fast Spa circuit and, with the fuel pressure issues resolved, Gurney cut into Stewart's lead, setting a new lap record and reaching an estimated 197 mph on the back straight. That was a particularly impressive number given that the Weslake produced under 400 horsepower.
As Stewart's pace slowed due to gearshift problems, Gurney swept past with eight laps to go and went on to claim the "all-American victory."
In the following episode from RACER's 2014 video series, "Dan Gurney, All American Racer," Dan tells Robin Miller about taking the Eagle into Formula 1 and about the challenge of Spa-Francorchamps, which he considered one of the two most daunting tracks on the grand prix schedule at that time.

senor honda

Dan Gurney All American Racer, Road Racer, Indy Car, Formula One( first American to win and he built his own car), Winston Cup Stock Cars, Trans Am, and Le Mans ( first American).


Dan Gurney to receive Peter Bryant Award

Friday, 05 August 2016
Doug Stokes
ABOVE: Peter Bryant (left) and Dan Gurney at the Legends of Riverside reunion in 2009.

On Saturday night, Aug. 20, Dan Gurney's name will be added to the honor roll of names already inscribed on the Peter Bryant Challenger Award. This unique award is named for the late racecar designer Peter Bryant, who designed and engineered many well-known racing machines, among them the cutting-edge Ti22 and UOP Shadow Can-Am cars as well as the Shelby Series 1 road cars. Beginning as a young racing mechanic in his native England, Bryant went on to become a brilliant and innovative engineer/designer (and an every bit as brilliant storyteller and celebrity impressionist.)
The man's classic biography, "Can-Am Challenger" is a fascinating recounting of a life well-lived in the sport. At a Riverside Raceway reunion event in 2010 (on the first anniversary of Bryant's passing) the "Peter Bryant Challenger Award" was unveiled and presented to former McLaren mechanic/Formula 1 Driver/racecar constructor Howden Ganley by Bryant's widow Lois.
The ceremony honoring Gurney will take place at a special dinner at the Monterey Plaza Hotel held as part of the historic races and concours and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Can-Am racing series.
"We've got the plaque ready," said Can-Am event producer Dave Wolin. "In truth, Dan Gurney's name should have been on this perpetual trophy long ago. Dan Gurney has always been celebrated as championship driver ... and now we're very pleased to be able to recognize him for his many contributions to racecar engineering with this prestigious award."
Whether it was his overseeing the design and construction the Formula 1 Weslake Eagle and then driving it to become the first American (and still the only one) to win a Grand Prix in a car with his own name on it; or talking Ford into working with Colin Chapman to install a modified Ford Fairlane engine in a upgraded Lotus 33 chassis for the Indianapolis 500; or taking Toyota to victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona; or building the Eagle Indy car that Jerry Grant broke the 200 mile-per-hour barrier with at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1972. ... Dan Gurney was never satisfied with the status quo and always sought a technical edge to go along with his great talent behind the wheel.
"The general public really never thought of Dan Gurney as any of an engineer when he was driving," Wolin remarked, "but, in many ways he was." Perhaps one his best "engineering" feats took place at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans. Some years after his famous champagne-spraying victory there, Gurney let on that he really never went as fast as he could in practice, figuring very rightly that his congenitally competitive co-driver (one Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr.) would try to match (or beat) his times and possibly end up screwing up their chance at the win. Dan Gurney set a strong but solid pace... their Ford GT won.
The award celebrates excellence in motor racing engineering and the sort of spirit that Bryant brought to the craft. Phil Remington, Bruce Burness, Trevor Harris, Tyler Alexander, Alwin Springer, and Ike Smith are the names that precede Gurney's on the clear Lexan award that features a likeness of his sleek Ti22 car and pieces of titanium sheet sourced from the Timet Company, the company that originally produced that exotic super-strong/super-light metal for Bryant's incredible "Ti22" car.
Due to prior commitments Gurney will not be able to attend the Can-Am dinner. Accepting for him will be Vintage Racecar Associate Editor, historian, and the author of "Dan Gurney's Racing Eagles", John Zimmermann.
************************************************** **************
The founding of CART and a great Dan Gurney story...many videos
https://www.tamparacing.com/forums/a...ney-story.html
*********************************
Robin miller tells Dan's Story
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yc5PR4FfSeQ
************************************************** **
Dan Gurney raced a Lotus Cortina ay 1964 Sebring...rare film
1964 Sebring Jim Clark Lotus Cortina in the 3 hour sedan race plus 12 hour race
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zqJOtYGtYI
************************************************** ***

PODCAST: Dan Gurney Saturday, 31 December 2016


Marshall Pruett / Image by LAT Dan Gurney, the 85-year-old American icon and winner of the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans, takes Marshall Pruett through his history at the great French endurance race that started in 1958, the lessons he learned and indelible memories that came from 10 visits, and what it was like racing and winning for Ford with A.J. Foyt in the legendary GT40 Mk IV.

senor honda

Dan gurney co-drove with Brock Yates in the original
'Cannonball Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Run'.

This article was a tribute to Brock Yates that covers his time with Dan Gurney.
-----------------

Brock Yates Writer and Editor Car and Driver Magazine

The best way to become a writer is to first be a reader.
Brock Yates taught me how to write.-Bob

Interview with Meguires Car Crazy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6-Ptduhg2k

RTT news and Yates predictions from 2009 American Auto Industry
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBQJ9oLC-P4


Writer, Cannonball run founder Yates dies Thursday, 06 October 2016


RACER Staff / Image courtesy All American Racers, Inc.


Above, from left: Pamela Yates with Dan Gurney, Evi Gurney and Brock Yates.
Motorsports journalist and "The Cannonball Run" screenwriter Brock Yates has died after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease.
"Today, after suffering with Alzheimer's for the last 12 years, my father finally succumbed," Brock Yates Jr. wrote on Facebook. "He touched many lives, but sadly no more."
Yates, a longtime editor of Car and Driver magazine, created the first Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash in 1971 to protest the imminent 55-mph national speed limit. Five Cannonball runs took place between 1971-79, with Yates and Dan Gurney winning the first official run in a Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona.

Here is the real car:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeqSFSscqjI

"Our good friend, the brilliant writer, my Cannonball teammate Brock Yates passed away yesterday after a long and brave struggle with Alzheimer's disease," Dan and Evi Gurney said in a statement released by All American Racers. "Although Brock has been 'gone' for some time, the finality of his leaving is hitting all of us in the automotive world with shock and sadness. He was brave, kind, funny, unconventional and talented. For decades starting in the 1960s his columns in Car and Driver magazine were jewels in the sea of motor racing literature.


"Brock Yates' creation of the 'Cannonball Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Run' and the movies resulting from it are cultural landmarks celebrating a freedom loving era which is gone forever. He set a mark in motor racing history and he leaves a hole in our hearts."
Yates and friend Hal Needham, a director and stuntman, co-wrote "Smokey and the Bandit II." Yates also was a prolific author whose books included "Against Death and Time: One Fatal Season in Racing's Glory Years," "Cannonball!: World's Greatest Outlaw Road Race," "The Indianapolis 500: The Story of the Motor Speedway" and "The Decline and Fall of the American Auto Industry."

Interview on Decline and Fall of the American Auto Industry:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBQJ9oLC-P4

************************************************** *************


Brock Yates tribute
by Robin Miller / Image courtesy All American Racers, Inc.

Above: Dan Gurney and Brock Yates with the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash-winning 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4. Here is the actual car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeqSFSscqjI

He loved cars, was addicted to racing, could turn a phrase with the best of 'em, helped Car & Driver prosper, enjoyed rattling the establishment's cage and created the greatest street race of all time.
Brock Yates, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 82 from complications of Alzheimer's, pretty much embodied the spirit, free thinking and America's love of anything with four wheels and an engine.
"He was a great man and a great friend who I thought had a lot of courage," Dan Gurney said on Thursday from his office at All-American Racers. "He thought about things and was a defender of freedom and wasn't afraid to take on Detroit or Ralph Nader or whomever.
"His columns in Car & Driver were jewels and he was funny, irreverent, kind, unconventional and very talented."
When he wasn't covering a major auto race or penning a feature on A.J. or Mario or Petty or critiquing cars, Yates railed on 55mph speed limits to Nader's arrogance about safety to the bureaucrats that meddled with the automobile.
But his finest act of rebellion to catalytic converters and draconian speed limits came in 1971, when he promoted the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash.
In honor of the Erwin G. "Cannonball" Baker, a racing lunatic who competed at the Indianapolis 500 and also rode his motorcycle from coast to coast in 11 days back in 1914, Yates decided there needed to be a race from New York City to Los Angeles.
It would be contested with passenger cars, trucks or vans and offered no purse and had no rules. It would begin in a parking garage in Manhattan and end on the Pacific Ocean at the Portofino Inn in L.A.
And Yates was clever enough to invite Gurney as the co-driver of his Ferrari.
"I turned him down originally because I think I was probably kinda well known at the time and didn't want to land in jail and I thought it could reflect poorly on the whole sport," recalled Gurney.
"But then (wife) Evi's father, who was dying of cancer in Germany, found out about it and told me I should do it. So I hopped on a plane and flew to New York, and I was always glad I did."
One of the greatest and most versatile racers of all time drove the first 18 hours, caught a little nap while Yates spelled him for six hours and then stormed to the finish. They covered 2,876 miles in a jaw-dropping 35 hours, 54 minutes – averaging 82mph – to score the victory.
Gurney swears he kept the speeds acceptable and not threatening to anyone and they were only stopped one time for speeding. "The policeman asked how fast our Ferrari would go and I said a lot faster than what you're driving," chuckled Gurney. "And we did run it 172mph after the race on an abandoned stretch of road to see how fast it would go, but I ran most of the race between 90-100 mph."
A second version of the Cannonball was held in 1972 (and my co-driver Wes Dawn and I finished seventh in a Vega station wagon in 39 hours and 35 minutes despite six tickets and getting lost in Ohio) but the heat was on Yates from politicians and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in every state, so it then became a tamer, milder rally through 1979.
About 10 years ago I got a call from Brock; he was contemplating one final "Cannonball" with the original mantra of wide open, but his lawyers talked him out of it.
"The Cannonball was a form of freedom that we won't likely see again, nor we will see anyone like Brock," Gurney said. "He was an original and one of my heroes."

senor honda

Dan Gurney: All American Racer - Birth of AAR, Episode 1

Thursday, 18 January 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=v4eKqmYO9lQ

As we remember Dan Gurney, here is the first episode of a six-part 2014 video series, Dan Gurney: All American Racer, Birth of AAR presented by Bell Helmets.
Welcome to the first episode of Dan Gurney: All American Racer, Birth of AAR presented by Bell Helmets. Gurney was one of the greatest drivers, innovators, thinkers, that America has produced. He remains the only American team owner to win a Formula 1 Grand Prix in his own car, and RACER's Robin Miller took the opportunity to accompany Gurney down the hallway of the All American Racing workshop in Santa Ana, California, and ask him for the stories behind some of the many hundreds of photos on the walls. The result is a six-episode series giving some insight into the genial gentleman – and gentle man – who turned All American Racing into a winner on both sides of the Atlantic. In this first episode, Dan tells Robin about the first Eagle designs.


The man who famously used to wrap a hotel handtowel around the lower part of his face to protect him from the elements and debris was perhaps the natural choice to embrace the concept of a full-face helmet. Bell produced its first full-face motorcycle helmet in 1966, and Dan leapt at the chance to use one, debuting an all-black example in the 1968 Indy 500. Three years later, everyone who started the "500" was wearing Bell.


Enjoy this first episode of Dan Gurney: All American Racer, produced by Adam Friedman's Vertical Assent for RACER.

senor honda

[h=1]The Eagles Have Landed: Dan Gurney's All American Racers at the Petersen Museum[/h]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CLEZhELZn4

Marshall Pruett
Published on Jan 13, 2018

n July of 2017, the Petersen Museum asked me to give narrated tours of the exhibit honoring my hero, Dan Gurney. During the event, I recorded the audio from our final walk through the hall with approximately 30 guests, then captured b-roll afterward with a DJI OSMO+ in 4K and tried to condense 40 minutes of conversation into what you see here. It's far from perfect, but I hope you enjoy the trip through "The Eagles Have Landed: Dan Gurney's All American Racers at the Petersen Museum."

senor honda

A Tribute to Dan Gurney (subtitled)

4,558 views
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swXZo581aI4
TheHenryFord
Published on May 16, 2017


The Henry Ford pays tribute to racing legend Dan Gurney with the Edison-Ford Medal for his ingenuity and lifetime of innovative achievements. In addition to a number of memorable wins in a variety of racing categories, Gurney established himself not only as one of racing’s most successful drivers, but also as an innovative car builder and team owner. Dan Gurney’s wide-ranging curiosity and hands-on attitude have resulted in a number of innovations including the downforce-increasing “Gurney flap” and the “rolling wind tunnel,” at his race shop All American Racers, built to test the at-speed aerodynamics of scale models. The Edison-Ford Medal is designed to honor those who fully leverage the creative, innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that resides in every one of us. This tribute film, narrated by Brian Williams, premiered during October 29, 2014 the ceremony at The Henry Ford In 2014 where Dan Gurney received the Edison-Ford Medal for Innovation.

senor honda

The All American Victory

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lu0G4HbtbOk

The Revs Institute for Automotive Research
Published on Jan 26, 2017

The old Speed network stopped by the museum and we surprised David Hobbs with a ride in the Mag-Ti car. This is a look at the 1967 Gurney-Weslake, V12 Eagle & the life of Dan Gurney. Hosted by Bob Varsha with David Hobbs, Steve Matchett and an interview with Dan Gurney.

senor honda

[h=1]Dan Gurney "The Original Ringer" on TNT Pride of NASCAR[/h]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz6wt4QdGJQ

64ORD
Published on Jun 25, 2009 Dan Gurney feature on TNT's Pride of NASCAR segment NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Save Mart 350 Infineon Raceway, Sonoma, California.

senor honda

DAN GURNEY LEGEND- "Red Barchetta"/ 'Rush'
A variety of videos covering Dan Gurney: and a few others...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HQr...rwJ-YQkk&t=128
Airbaja
Published on Mar 26, 2014

A montage of color film and photos of the greatest race car driver to ever drive. The only driver to win in all major forms of Auto racing, Indy Car, Formula One( first American to win and he built his own car), Winston Cup Stock Cars, Trans Am, and Le Mans ( first American).
Category

Music
License

Standard YouTube License
Music

"Red Barchetta" by Rush Listen ad-free with