Chuck Daigh in the Scarab passes Phil Hill in a 4.1 Ferrari on the inside at the October 1958 Times Grand Prix. Chuck and Phil put on a spirited battle that had the crowd on its feet for the first 24 laps while Phil had to pit with engine trouble. Chuck went on to win, defeating Dan Gurney, Bobby Unser, Masten Gregory, Carroll Shelby, and Roy Salvadori among other top drivers.
Photo: Art Evans
Carroll Shelby once remarked, “There are only two people I can think of who could sit down, take a welding torch, build their own chassis, go out to test it, and then win races with it. They are Jack Brabham and Chuck Daigh. I put Chuck in the same category as Jack.”
Except for the war years, Chuck Daigh has been associated in one way or another with internal combustion engines. At age 15, while still in high school, he ran a Union Oil gas station in Long Beach, California, where he grew up. In his eighth decade, he was busy at work preparing a car for a record run at Bonneville. Between those times, he had a legendary career both behind the wheel and wielding a wrench. Bruce Kessler told me recently that he thinks Chuck was the most underappreciated racing driver of his time. According to his Sebring teammate, Dan Gurney, “Chuck was not only an excellent engineer, but he could also drive the wheels off a car.” Dan went on to say, “When I got into racing, I soon found out who the real heavyweights were. In those days, Chuck was like a god to us.”
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