THE RACERS, PART I.

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. Racing a car, motorcycle or anything with some sort of power is a pursuit like no other. It is a passionate endeavor requiring an obsessive single-mindedness that consumes the people involved to a degree that outsiders find hard to understand. Ask any driver who has competed at the top level, and they will tell you that there is nothing half-assed about what they do, because the focus required is almost incomprehensible. Drivers talk about being in "the zone" - a strange state of mind that takes over their entire being while they're racing - when the faster they go the more things seem to slow down for them. They're aware of everything around them, but at the same time their focus on the task at hand is impenetrable, because anything less can result in a mistake that will likely have severe consequences. Racers are indeed a rare breed, willing to sacrifice everything for the pursuit of what they love to do, to the detriment of everything else. These racers have left an indelible mark on the sport. Drivers who were fierce competitors, flawed heroes and incredible, gifted talents. Their legacies are what make the sport of motor racing so fascinating. In the next few issues of "Fumes" I will recall some of my favorites.

As a country we've been blessed with many talented racers, but Dan Gurney was always different (and full disclosure, he was my all-time favorite). And even though he grew up in Long Island and didn't move to California until he graduated from high school, Dan will always be the lanky Californian with the blonde hair who burst on the racing scene and in short order was going up against the world's best on tracks all over Europe. 

Dan's accomplishments in racing are many. His driving career spanned fifteen years, from 1955 to 1970. His talent was prodigious and his reputation grew with each race he competed in. Dan became one of America's top road racing stars as well as one of the most popular F1 drivers of his era. Gurney raced for Ferrari, BRM, Porsche (giving the German manufacturer its only win as an F1 constructor), Brabham and later his own All American Racers Eagle team. By the time Dan retired from active driving in 1970 he had raced in 312 events in 20 countries with 51 different makes (more than 100 different models) of cars, winning 51 races, 42 pole positions and achieving 47 podiums. And the measure of respect that his competitors reserved for him was well-documented, including the great Jim Clark who considered Dan to be his most talented rival. 

Dan won in Formula 1, NASCAR (five 500-mile races at Riverside), and recorded two second-place finishes in the Indianapolis 500. And Dan was single-handedly responsible for bringing Colin Chapman and the Ford Motor Company together for a run at the Indy 500. He won in Trans-Am, Can-Am and sports car races, including at the Nürburgring, Daytona, Sebring and his famous victory at the 1967 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford Mk IV with A.J. Foyt. Gurney was the first driver to post victories in the four major motorsports categories: Grand Prix, Indy Car, NASCAR and Sports Cars. To this day he is one of only three drivers in history (the others being Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya) who have accomplished that. 

But one victory stands above all the others for Dan Gurney. His win in the 1967 Grand Prix of Belgium in his Eagle Gurney-Weslake V12 remains the first and only time that an American citizen built and raced a car of his own construction and put it into the winner’s circle of a World Championship F1 race. 

Dan embarked on a second and third career as a race car manufacturer of the Eagles as well as team owner of AAR started while he was still actively driving, and it went into full gear upon his retirement in 1970. At that time, he bought out AAR co-founder Carroll Shelby and was the sole owner, chairman and CEO of the company ever since. AAR has been designing and manufacturing race cars with great success during the last 30 years, winning eight Championships and capturing 78 victories and 83 pole positions, including the Indy 500 three times (Bobby Unser in 1968, Gordon Johncock in 1973 and Bobby again in 1975), the 12 hours of Sebring and the Daytona 24 Hour. 

You can get the complete scope of Dan's racing career at www.allamericanracers.com. 

Supremely gifted behind the wheel, Dan Gurney was also a technical visionary whose influence will live on in the sport of motor racing forever.

But beyond that, he was truly an extraordinary man who is deeply missed.

(Dave Friedman)

Dan Gurney
All-American Racer
1931 - 2018 

(Dave Friedman)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 1963. Dan Gurney in the brand-new Lotus-Ford Indy car in its first private test.

(Dave Friedman)

Indianapolis Motor Speedway, 1963. Lotus team members, Ford operatives and Firestone tire engineers crowd around Dan Gurney and the Lotus-Ford at the first private test for the new machine. Gurney was instrumental in bringing Colin Chapman and the Ford Motor Company together for an attempt at winning the Indianapolis 500.

(Dave Friedman)

Riverside International Raceway, 1963. Dan was part of the Shelby American Cobra team for a special three-hour GT race. Gurney delivered many great moments and wins for Carroll Shelby.

(Dave Friedman)

Daytona International Speedway, 1966. Dan sits in his factory Shelby American Ford Mk II 427 during practice for the Daytona 24 Hour race.

(Dave Friedman)

Le Mans, France, June 1967. Dan Gurney and A. J. Foyt won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, delivering a momentous All-American victory in their No. 1 Shelby American Ford Mk. IV. The European racing press scoffed at the notion that Gurney and the mercurial Foyt even had a chance to run up front, but they proved the doubters wrong. Gurney had devised a brilliant race strategy that allowed the duo to run quick enough while going the distance, and Foyt followed it to the letter. The Gurney/Foyt 427 Ford Mk. IV took over the lead after the first 90 minutes of the race, and went on to win by four laps.

(Getty Images)

Spa-Francorchamps, 1967. Dan Gurney on the way to his greatest victory in the Grand Prix of Belgium. It came just ten days after he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans with A. J. Foyt.

(Getty Images)

Bridgehampton, New York, September 18, 1966. Dan Gurney in his beautiful No. 30 All American Racers Bardahl Special Lola T70 Mk.2 Gurney-Weslake 305 Ford, on his way to the win in the second Can-Am race ever run. Chris Amon (No. 5 McLaren Elva Mark II Chevrolet) was second, and Bruce McLaren (No. 4 McLaren Elva Mark II B Chevrolet) finished third.

(Getty Images)

Goodwood, England, September 5, 1959. Dan Gurney (No. 9 Ferrari 250 TR 59) hard on it in the Tourist Trophy race. Dan and co-driver Tony Brooks finished fifth.

(Tom Bigelow)

Sebring, Florida, March 31, 1967. Dan Gurney (No. 16 Bud Moore Engineering Mercury Cougar) in a 4-Hour Trans-Am race. He didn't finish.

(Getty Images)

Mosport Can-Am, June 14, 1970. Dan Gurney (No. 48 Gulf/Reynolds Aluminum McLaren M8D Chevrolet) was recruited by the McLaren team after the tragic death of its founder - Bruce McLaren - during testing of the M8D at Goodwood in England on June 2, 1970. Gurney and McLaren were good friends. McLaren had driven one of Dan's Eagles in F1, and Gurney had made an appearance in a McLaren Can-Am car at the Michigan International Speedway in 1969, finishing third behind Bruce and Denny Hulme in a guest drive. Dan was considered the best man to step in for Bruce, and Dan promptly put his McLaren on the pole and won the race. He would accomplish the same feat two weeks later in the Can-Am Mont-Tremblant at St. Jovite.

Editor's Note: You can access previous issues of AE by clicking on "Next 1 Entries" below. - WG