Dan Gurney has been selected as the next recipient of the Peter Bryant Challenger Award for engineering excellence for his role in founding All American Racers and subsequently building Eagle racing cars for more than 30 years. Although he will not be in attendance, Gurney will be honored Saturday night, August 20 at the Can-Am Tribute dinner at the Monterey Plaza Hotel in Monterey, California, during the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion at nearby Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
While Gurney is probably better known for being a world class driver, his mind never strayed from the engineering necessary to sustain his success as a driver, and upon retiring from the cockpit he devoted his not inconsiderable energies to AAR, constructor of the Eagle racing cars. Those cars would win: three Indy 500s, 49 U.S. National Championship Indycar races and two Indycar crowns; one World Championship Formula One race; 26 IMSA GTP races and a pair of championships; 13 Formula 5000 races and two titles; as well as an SCCA National Championship in Formula Ford.
The award’s namesake, Peter Bryant, designed and engineered many well-known racing machines, including the cutting-edge Ti22 and a couple of UOP Shadow Can-Am cars as well as the Shelby Series 1 roadcar. Starting out as a young racing mechanic in his native England, Bryant became a brilliant and innovative engineer/designer who passed away suddenly in the spring of 2009. His autobiography, Can-Am Challenger, takes readers inside the sport to see how things work.
Gurney’s name will join those of his longtime collaborator Phil Remington, Bruce Burness, Trevor Harris, Tyler Alexander, Alwin Springer and Ike Smith on the clear Lexan trophy that carries a likeness of Bryant’s Ti22 racer. For further information please visit www.tributetothecanam.com
