Decades of Great On-Track Memories
Racing, by nature, creates drama. Some of those dramatic moments are high points in the history of sports: miraculous finishes, extreme competition, cheering the champion, or rooting for the seemingly outclassed underdog. As they used to say on ABC's "Wid World of Sports," "The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat." So much of it happened during our 60 years in business, and mnay of these memory makers were covered in our pages. As we continue our 60th anniversary celebration, here's a look at some of the racing moments, machines, and men and women that stand out.
1. BATTLE ROYALE
In what has become one of the most watched racing videos on YouTube, Gilles Villenueve in his Ferrari battles Rene Arnoux's Renault at the '79 French Grand Prix. Their dogfight lasts several laps, wheel to wheel, each passing the other with both on the razor's edge. The amazing part: They're fighting for 2nd place. Villeneuve prevails, but just.
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2. LITTLE ART
Ferrari is dominating Alfa Romeo in the World Championship for Makes sports car series in 1972, but enters only one car in the Targa Florio that year. The diminutive Arturo Merzario is suffering from the flu that day and is competing against four factory Alfas. But as each one fails, "Little Art" feels better, gets faster, and ultimately outruns the last of them to set a lap record and win the second-to-last of the great Italian open road races.
3. BREATHE, NOW PUSH. NOW BREATHE, NOW PUSH
Dan Gurney leads the 1962 Daytona Continental sports-car race (now the Rolex 24), which like most enduros is a timed race. The Eagle Scout parks his ailing Lotus 100 feet from the start/finish line. As time expires and cars fly by just feet away, Gurney pushes it across the stripe to claim the win.
4. STAR-SPANGLED SPECTACULAR
On June 10/11, 1967, Dan Gurney and AJ Foyt win the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Shelby American-entered Ford Mk. IV. A week later, Gurney takes the Grand Prix of Belgium in his own AAR Eagle racer, becoming the only American driver to win an F1 race in a car of his own construction. This magic week of victories has become one of the greatest accomplishments in all of sports.
5. THE CLOSE(EST) SHAVE
Many Indy 500 finishes have come down to the wire, but none is closer than in 1992. Al Unser Jr. beats Scott Goodyear off the fourth corner of the final lap to take the checkered flag by the narrowest margin in 500 history: 0.043 second. In Victory Circle, a near-tears Little Al says, "You just don't know what Indy means."
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6. BRONCO BUSTER
After winning the Indy 500 in 1963 and the Trans-Am championship in 1970, Parnelli Jones reinvents himself yet again, this time as an off-road racer. He and co-driver Bill Stroppe partner to win the Baja 1000 in 1971 and back it up with a repeat victory in '72. Their tube-frame Ford Bronco is nicknamed Big Oly, in honor of sponsor Olympia Brewery.
7. INTO THE FOURS
White-haired, underfunded, 50-years-plus former drag-boat and motorcycle racer Eddie Hill is supposedly over it (the hill, that is). Hardly: On April 9, 1988, he sets the first elapsed time in the four second range (4.990 seconds) at the Texas International Hot-Rod Association Nationals. An on-board computer readout shows he set the record on seven cylinders, as one failed at launch.
8. A STIRLING DRIVE
Stirling Moss never won the world driving title. Nor did he win overall at Le Mans or Indy. But his epic victory in the 1955 Mille Miglia stands as one of the all-time great drives in motorsport. He pilots the famous Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, with automotive journalist Denis Jenkinson as his co-driver. Moss recently turned 80 and competes in vintage racers as often as he can.
9. THE PASS
Bryan Herta is leading the CART race at Laguna-Seca in 1996, destined for his first series victory. But destiny is a funny thing. Alex Zanardi dives underneath him, off the racing surface and into the dirt, pulling off what has become known as The Pass. Zanardi goes on to win the CART championship in 1997 and '98.
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10. FORD (FINALLY) WINS LE MANS
Henry Ford II tries to buy Ferrari in the early 1960s, but is rebuffed. He retaliates by launching Ford's Total Performance campaign, which includes an all-out assault on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, one of Ferrari's most significant stomping grounds. After falling short in 1964 and 1965, the Deuce's boys get it done, finishing 1-2-3 in 1966, then win the race the next three years running.
11. DALE DOES DAYTONA
Believe it or not, there are many who said Dale Earnhardt was somewhat less of a NASCAR driver because he'd never tackled the Daytona 500. The Intimidator shuts 'em all up by winning the Big Race in 1998. He dies trying again in 2001, and then his son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., punctuates the poignancy of it all by winning the 500 in 2004.
12. MAGIC AT MONZA
Mario Andretti has never driven a turbocharged F1 car when Enzo Ferrari personally calls and asks him to substitute for the injured Didier Pironi at Monza in 1982. With minimal practice, the 42-year-old F1 champion puts the car on pole in Italy and is leading when engine trouble relegates him to a 3rd-place finish. It doesn't matter, the tifosi are still cheering.
13. YOU GO, GIRL
On April 20, 2008, Danica Patrick shakes up the boys and rewrites the open-wheel-racing history book when she becomes the first woman to win an Indy Car race (including USAC, CART, OWR, and Champ Car series). And it's not a walk in the park either; the 2005 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year passes for position, makes it stick, and then takes the victory in fine style.
14. NOBODY'S FOOL, INDEED
Paramount Pictures wants to give actor/racer/race team owner Paul Newman a 70th-birthday present, so the studio buys him a ride in the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 1995, sponsored by his latest film, "Nobody's Fool." Newman, Tommy Kendall, Mark Martin, and former MT contributor Michael Brockman finish 1st the GTS-1 category (and 3rd overall), making "PLN" the oldest driver to earn a class win in a sanctioned, professional motor race. This record still stands.
15. CRASH AND (TEMPERS) BURN
At the 1979 Daytona 500, Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison crash entering turn three on the last lap while battling for the lead. Richard Petty, half a lap back, holds off AJ Foyt and Darrell Waltrip for the win. Cale, Donnie, and Bobby Allison duke it out in the turn three infield as America watches live on CBS. NASCAR goes from racing to entertainment.
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16. FANGIO THE GREAT
Many put Juan Manuel Fangio near or at the top of the list of Greatest Drivers of All Time. The five-time F1 champion from Argentina has had enough great moments to fill an article of his own, but his drive at the Nurburgring in 1957 could be called his best ever. At the wheel of his Maserati, even the soft-spoken Fangio admits that he was "in a state of grace."
17. AJ TAKES FOUR
No other name is more associated with the Indy 500 than Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. AJ cements that connection by winning his fourth 500 in 1977, becoming the first driver in history to notch that amazing accomplishment. Foyt wins the race a fifth time in 1999...this time as a team owner, with Kenny Brack at the controls.
18. LE GIANT KILLER
The Mini was never designed to be a racer, but it sure became one. Paddy Hopkirk, Timo Makinen, and Rauno Aaltonen team to take the overall victory at the 1964 Rallye Monte Carlo. Hopkirk backs it up with another win in 1965, but is denied the hat-trick in '66 when the entry is disqualified by the French officials...over illegal driving lights. Poetic justice: Mini wins again in '67.
19. HE WHO WOULD BE KING
Richard Petty is stuck at 199 NASCAR victories for what seems a lifetime. But it all comes good in 1984 when the King finally notches 200. It's an All-American moment if there ever was one: The race is the Firecracker 400 at Daytona, the date is July 4, and President Ronald Reagan is in attendance, the first sitting president to attend a NASCAR race.
20. CHAMPION AT HEART
Ferrari's Felipe Massa and McLaren-Mercedes wunderkind Lewis Hamilton battle each other back and forth for the 2008 F1 championship. It comes down to the season's last race, in Massa's home country, Brazil. Felipe finishes 1st and takes the championship, but his euphoria lasts but seconds, as just behind him, Hamilton passes Timo Glock, earning the additional point he needs to snatch the driving title from the passionate Ferrari piloto's hands. F1 crowns Hamilton its youngest-ever champion.
21. A SMASHING VICTORY
Daytona 500, 1976. Richard Petty and David Pearson crash on the last lap in turn four, Petty spins and kills his engine. But as Pearson also spins, he stabs the clutch to avoid stalling and limps his battered Mercury across the line to win. The finish, Pearson's first 500 victory, is the slowest under green-flag conditions in Daytona 500 history.
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22. 24/7
Driving an Audi, Tom Kristensen is one of the team drivers who win the 2004 running 24 Hours of Le Mans. It's his seventh overall victory at La Sarthe, eclipsing the previous record of six held by Belgian great Jacky Ickx. Kristensen wins again in 2005, raising the bar to eight wins.
23. SPIN AND WIN
Mario Andretti is ahead of Danny Sullivan during the 1985 Indy 500 when the wily vet baits the former taxi driver into a risky banzai pass. Sullivan pulls it off but can't make it stick, spinning a full 360 degrees, yet amazingly not crashing. Blinded in a cloud of smoke, Andretti somehow avoids hitting him. Sullivan recovers, pits for new tires, and goes on to take his only Brickyard victory.
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