The American Dream

If you grew up in the United States, then you were weaned on “The American Dream” —the idea that anyone can do anything, if they work hard and put their mind to it. For American road racing enthusiasts, there is a racing equivalent of the American Dream, but for the past 64 years it has proven to be an unrequited dream…that being the “dream” of a Formula One Championship brought home by an American team. Just recently, another American Dreamer has stepped up to the proverbial plate, with the FIA’s announcement that NASCAR team owner Gene Haas has been granted a coveted spot as a Formula One team owner.

Of course if this sounds vaguely familiar, you’re not alone. I too had a strange sense of déjà vu and had to scour back through our archives to discover that I had written on nearly this same theme, almost five years ago to the day. In that instance, I was sharing my extreme skepticism for a “new” American Formula One effort, USF1, which had been announced with much fanfare, by engineer Ken Anderson and British Formula One commentator Peter Windsor. As you can now tell from the lack of USF1 merchandise and commemorative tableware, the team not only didn’t win the World Championship, they never even fielded a car. As with so many American Formula One efforts from the near-present and past, lack of funding kept them from the starting gate, let alone the winner’s rostrum. As I outlined in that May 2009 “First Turn,” while American F1 efforts include Scarab, Scirocco, AAR, Vels-Parnelli, Penske and Shadow, all suffered from a lack of funding, relative to other contemporary Formula One teams. Will Haas fare any better? Perhaps.