The J. Frank Harrison story

Given today’s racing environment with its multi-million-dollar corporate budgets, it can be hard to imagine a time when private individuals paid these expenses. Wealthy enthusiasts such as Lindsey Hopkins (a Florida investment banker), John Edgar (a California industrialist), Joe Lubin (a California tractor parts dealer), and Tony Parravano and Frank Arciero (both owners of California construction companies) spent substantial amounts of money on cars raced on their behalf.

Besides the satisfaction of participating in the sport, most of these owners did not get much in return, certainly no great monetary gains. Prize money tended to be a drop in the bucket. Team-owner Briggs Cunningham was different; he raced himself, but as a manufacturer and subsequent car importer, he also had his own financial interest in mind: win on Sunday and sell on Monday. The same was true of Johnny von Neumann. These motor racing sponsors were an eclectic group of personalities, covered by the popular Fifties term “sportsmen.”