The history of motor sport is, in many ways, a history of barriers being broken. In the automobile’s 19th-century infancy,...
While the postwar American sports car scene was inspired by European road racing, it was different in many respects. In...
When Tom Sneva took the checkered flag on a sun-drenched May afternoon, in 1983, to win the 67th Indianapolis 500 in his Texaco Star March Cosworth, it marked the culmination of a decade of effort at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. lightning quick Become a Member & Get Ad-Free Access To...
Someone once said that Indy car drivers would be lost if they had to turn right as well as left....
The late news—very late—that U.S. open-wheel racing’s long uncivil war has finally staggered to its hemorrhagic conclusion, fell with less...
Respected Indianapolis Crew Chief, Howard Gilbert, passed away on February 4, 2008, at his home in Payson, Arizona. He was 91. Gilbert first attended the Indianapolis 500 in 1947, as a gopher, which led to his involvement in every Indy 500 thereafter until 1989. Gilbert worked as a mechanic for...
Jim Clark is remembered for his ability to drive and win in all types of cars and series, Formula 1,...
In the history of motor-sport safety, few names are as universally recognized as that of Bill Simpson. Initially an active drag racer, Simpson went on to race in various road racing categories before moving on to USAC racing and eventually the Indianapolis 500. While Simpson often demonstrated great speed and...
Rene Arnoux learned his trade the hard way, as he fought for the European Formula Two Championship against tough nuts...
Peter Brock Alan Jones 1 Brian Redman finishes 1st and 2nd in the 24 Hours of Daytona when the Gulf Porsche 917K he shared with Jo Siffert finishes behind the Pedro Rodriguez/Leo Kinnunen team car which he also co-drove late in the race (1970). 2 Mark Donohue and Chuck Parsons...
February 2008 Dan Gurney’s Eagle Racing Cars By John Zimmerman Dan Gurney had already established himself as one of America’s...
Today the name Rahal is synonymous with motor racing. Bobby Rahal has entered the history books as a top Indianapolis...
My father ran in the first NASCAR Cup race in 1949, when I was 11 years old, but I went along to spectate. When I was old enough, I became a racer too. Let me say though I was nearly 21 years old before I sat behind a wheel to...
Rodger Ward Vincenzo Florio 1 Colin Chapman and Michael Allen form the Lotus Engineering Company (1952). 2 The First South...
Last Month, Mike Jiggle spoke with mechanic-turned-designer Tony Robinson about his early days in motorsport with Stirling Moss and the...
December 2007 Vasek Polak Dear Editor, Great article on Vasek, but by now you’ve probably been deluged with messages correcting the picture on page 58, as that most emphatically is NOT Jack, but Pete Lovely. I believe John Edgar entered two 550s in that race. The one pictured looks like...
Harry Miller Keke Rosberg 1 Scuderia Ferrari is formed (1929). 3 Wendell Scott, the first African American NASCAR racer, dies...
Alistair Caldwell joined the McLaren team in their early days as a cleaner and ended up as team manager, winning...
1957 Kurtis Kraft 500G2 The author gets up to speed on the banking of England’s Rockingham Speedway. Photo: Mike Jiggle When Champ Cars made a very rare appearance in Europe a couple of years ago, many of us thought this would be a dream come true for those people who...
Talking with famed Indianapolis chassis builder A. J. Watson, the question arises about the front, twin air inlets—the signature of...
Jim Rathmann’s career in motor racing is marked not only by a hard-fought win in the 1960 Indy 500 but...
One was born in Shelbyville, Indiana, in 1902 and the other in a cramped workshop in Bologna, northern Italy, 35 years later. Yet, when the two came together, they astounded the world by winning the Indianapolis 500 twice, in 1939 and 1940. Wilbur Shaw built his first car when he...
My first experience with a front-engine roadster was when I first went back east to race. I wound up driving...
For the last 20 years or so of his life, Rodger Ward and I were friends. Even though I had...
Last year we celebrated a century of Grand Prix racing. The Grand Prix de l’Auto Club France was the first to bear the title and we still have a French Grand Prix, therefore it must be the world’s oldest race, right? I disagree and nominate the Indianapolis 500. The 500...
My forty-third stained-glass window turned out to be a very special piece of art. It was commissioned by Jan and...
“Dinosaurs,” we called them, ridiculing their bulk, their weight, their mindless loyalty to outmoded dogma. Indy Roadsters; they were rife with front engines and beam axles and no clue about “Modern Engineering.” Hopelessly old-fashioned, they should be rolled aside and forgotten. That’s what we said at the time. Pete Lyons...
