Roger Penske receives Argetsinger Award from Watkins Glen Research Center

The International Motor Racing Research Center presents the 2016 Cameron R. Argetsinger Award for Outstanding Contributions to Motorsports to Roger Penske on June 30, 2016, at the Corning (N.Y.) Museum of Glass. From the left are Duke and J.C. Argetsinger, sons of Cameron Argetsinger, Penske and Bobby Rahal, Indianapolis 500 champion and chairman of the IMRRC Governing Council. (photo by Angelo Lisuzzo; provided by the IMRRC.)

Corning, N.Y. --

Team owner, racer, and businessman, Roger Penske, a man who has been involved with motor sports for over 50 years, received the 2016 Cameron R. Argetsinger Award from the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) at a banquet in his honor Thursday evening, June 30, 2016. The event that brought motor sport royalty from several areas of the sport to pay tribute to Penske was held at the Corning Museum of Glass (CMOG) in Corning, NY, about 20 miles south of Watkins Glen.  Previous recipients of the award have been Chip Ganassi in 2014 and Richard Petty in 2015.

Following a cocktail reception outside, the capacity audience in the museum banquet facility saw a video explaining the work and mission of the IMRRC. The research library contains over 700 collections and more than 90,000 professional photographs of motor sport, along with many other items.

Just announced that evening the IMRRC was pleased to let the audience know that it will now manage all 73 years' worth of archives for the 68,000-member strong Sports Car Club of America (SCCA). While the donated archives are an invaluable asset to motor sport history, the need for more physical space for the IMRRC to continue its mission could not be made more clear. 

While they had dinner and conversation, those in attendance also watched a rolling slide show of archival photographs of Penske and his drivers over the years.  Penske's victories to the date of the dinner included 433 major wins, 499 pole positions, 28 national championships, and 16 Indy 500 wins. 

His leadership over time has earned him the nickname "The Captain," and his successes, as one tribute noted, have made him the "winningest car owner in motor sport history."  Penske has employed over 85 racing drivers and currently leads 53,000 people in his transportation and other businesses. 

Master of ceremonies for the evening was ESPN television commentator, Dr. Jerry Punch, who used his skills to both provide continuity for what was happening throughout the evening and to provide context for the respective guests and video tributes that the audience would see and hear.

Among those in person offering tributes to Penske were: Michael Printup, president of Watkins Glen International (WGI); Scott Atherton, president and COO of IMSA; Jay Frye, president of IndyCar Competition and Operations; Lisa Noble, president of SCCA; and Walt Czarnecki, executive vice president of Penske Corp. and vice chairman of Team Penske.

Current and former Penske racers in attendance included IndyCar racers Rick Mears and Helio Castroneves. Between the two of them, the drivers represented seven Indy 500 wins.

Those providing remarks via video included NBC Sports' Formula One commentary team: David Hobbs, Leigh Diffey, and Steve Matchett and several former and current racers including:  Dan Gurney, Jim Hall, Danny Sullivan, Al Unser Jr., Parnelli Jones, George Follmer, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud, Juan Pablo Montoya, Ryan Blaney, Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano. Sam Posey narrated a video presentation of Penske's career.

Other highlights of the evening included an auction of a commissioned painting by motor sports artist, Randy Owens, that depicted Penske with several of his memorable cars over the years. The painting sold for $27,500 with the proceeds going to the IMRRC.

The actual presentation of the Argetsinger Award, a large engraved glass bowl, was made by J. C. Argetsinger and his brother Duke, both sons of Cameron R. Argetsinger, who revived road racing in the United States in Watkins Glen in 1948 as well as Indy 500 Champion and Chairman of the IMRRC Governing Council, Bobby Rahal.  Remarking on Penske's skills as a racer in the early days, J. C. Argetsinger noted that Penske had taken pole position at Watkins Glen in the 1959 Formula Libre race -- a race that was later won by Stirling Moss.

In the various discussions and interviews, Penske was asked about his relationship with fallen racer, Mark Donohue. He said that Donohue put his team on the map, that he was "underwhelming in terms of personality," but that he was high on commitment and was one  understood technology. He gave the team epic wins. 

"He was like a brother to me," Penske said. "I'll never forget him."

Asked by Punch about how the new Argetsinger Award winner's interest in motor sports all started, Penske said, "I loved cars," and that his father took him to the Indy 500 when he was 14 years old. "I always wanted to compete," he said.

He said he is "most proud of my family." What drives him every day is "to try to be better." 

His father used to tell him, "Effort equals results," and he has tried to live by that maxim. 

The evening closed, and guests were given a gift bag to take home that included J. J. O'Malley's 2009 book, Daytona 24 Hours: The Definitive History of America's Great Endurance Race, published by David Bull Publishing.

Asked to sum up his impressions of the evening, IMRRC Governing Council Member, Larry Kessler, a businessman from Rochester, N.Y. said, "The IMRRC is gratified by the support we have received from the motor racing community who came out to an oversold house to pay homage to Roger Penske and his 50 years of excellence in motor racing."

The award and event's sponsors included: NASCAR, ISC, WGI, IMSA, Sahlen's, Corning Incorporated, Bosch, Corning Auto Glass, Chip Ganassi Racing, Elmira Savings Bank, Paul Miller Auto Group, Porsche, SCCA, Sunoco, Welliver, and Glenora Wine Cellars.

The Racing Research Center is an archival library dedicated to the preservation and sharing of the history of motorsports, of all series and all venues, through its collections of books, periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials. The Center is a 501 (c)(3) charitable organization.

For more information about the Racing Research Center's work and its programs, visit www.racingarchives.org or call 607-535-9044. The Center also is on Facebook and Twitter.  

Formula 1: 65, Silverstone, and Suixtil

(Photo: Courtesy of Suixtil. All photos in this article used with permission).

(c) Copyright 2015 by Connie Ann Kirk. All rights reserved.


Formula 1: 65, Silverstone, and Suixtil

When the lights go out at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix on Sunday, July 5, 2015, Formula 1 (F1) will celebrate its 65^th anniversary as an international championship motor racing series. While F1 races took place before Silverstone in 1950 and others were run that were not part of the official championship, the British Grand Prix held on May 13, 1950 marked the beginning of a series of seven races that would determine the first Formula 1 World Championship driver under rules governed by the Federation Internationale de l�Automobile (FIA). 

The other six races in the 1950 championship were:  the Monaco Grand Prix on the famed streets of the principality on May 21; the Indianapolis 500, on the oval speedway in the American Midwest on May 30 (which actually did not run specifically to FIA rules, so is somewhat of an outlier); the Swiss Grand Prix at Bremgarten on June 4; the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps on June 18; France�s Grand Prix at Reims-Gueux on July 2; and the Italian Grand Prix at Monza raced on September 3.

Of those seven races that first year, Argentinian racer Juan Manuel Fangio won three of them � Monaco, France, and Italy.  The Italian winner of the first race at Silverstone, Giuseppe �Nino� Farina, won another two races in the series � at Bremgarten and Spa.  American Johnnie Parsons took victory in the Indianapolis 500. The battle for the first F1 championship then was clearly between the Argentinian and Italian racers, both of whom drove Alfa Romeos at Silverstone. 

That most people today interested in Formula 1 have heard of Fangio but perhaps not as much of Farina is certainly not due to the end of Fangio�s race at Silverstone in 1950.  Engine problems forced him to retire, and Farina won the race. It is also not because of the result of that first season � Fangio lost the inaugural F1 championship to his Italian rival.  Instead, Fangio is remembered today due to his remarkable racing accomplishments during that inaugural season but also the next year and for several years afterwards. 

(Photo above: Fangio in the ACA Ferrari - 1952 (c) C. Vercelli. Courtesy of Suixtil).

(Photo above: Fangio wins Sao Paolo Grand 13 Dec, 1951 (c) C. Vercelli. Courtesy of Suixtil).

Fangio did not win the British Grand Prix the next year either (another Argentinian, Jose Froilan Gonzalez, scored Ferrari�s first F1 win in that race); however, he would go on to not only take the second Formula 1 World Drivers� Championship in 1951, but to also win it in 1954, 1955, 1956, and 1957 driving for five different manufacturers.  The Argentinian simply dominated the sport in the 1950s, the early days in F1 racing when safety was of so little concern that drivers did not even wear seatbelts. Fangio held the record for the most championship wins in Formula 1 for several decades until 2003 when Michael Schumacher surpassed him and raced on to garner a total of seven titles.

Because of the emphasis on the driver�s skill in those days when the cars were less sophisticated and because of the higher risk they undertook in a relatively new but dangerous sport with little to no regard for their safety yet in place, drivers of that era are regarded today as among the most admired in the sport.  Of the drivers from that era such as British ace Sir Stirling Moss and others, Fangio is frequently mentioned as the best racer of all, including by Moss himself.

(Photo above: Fangio, Moss at Sebring 1957 �Gene Bussian. Courtesy of Suixtil).

Meanwhile, far away from Europe in Fangio�s home country in South America, an unlikely Russian immigrant by the name of Salomon Rudman was a key figure in Fangio�s career.  He also would make a first and lasting contribution to Formula 1 from its first race at Silverstone onward, a contribution that continues to this day. 

Rudman ran a clothier business called Suixtil (pronounced SWIX-til), named after Swiss textiles, fabrics he thought of top quality at the time. Rudman was a car and racing fan. By the 1940s, he was sponsoring drivers in races, and the star of these by far was Fangio. Rudman sponsored Fangio�s racing in Argentina and continued that support when the talented driver took his skills across the ocean to test them in Europe. 

In 1948, the Argentinean Automovil Club fielded a national team of racers called the �Armada� or the �Escuderia Suixtil� that went to Europe to compete in Formula 2 and Formula 1. Rudman not only sponsored the team, but he also provided them with clothing to present the team to Europe with a unified look. 

When Fangio and other racers such as Benedicto Campos, Gonzalez, and Onofre Marimon arrived at the tracks of Europe, their skills were not the only thing the other drivers there noticed.

At a time when drivers wore street clothes or mechanics� overalls when they jumped into the cockpit to compete, a team arriving in matching clothing got attention.  Rudman had designed shirts and pants in the colors of the Argentinian flag -- light blue pants and pale yellow polo shirts, all sporting the distinctive, red embroidered Suixtil logo spelling out the company name in stylized, script lettering.  However, it was the special features of the clothing that drew even more notice.  With the racers� input, Rudman had made shirts and pants especially suited to the needs of the race car driver for the first time ever. 

The pants, for example, were gathered at the ankles.  This was to prevent the bottoms of them catching on the pedals of the car during gear-shifting. They were also made of light cotton twill to help keep the driver cool in the hot cockpit. They had deep pockets to store wrenches and other tools needed for the driver who also sometimes had to serve as his or her own on-the-spot mechanic, and they had elastic waistbands that eliminated the need for a cumbersome belt that sometimes affected circulation or comfort in the tight quarters of the car.

These first racing outfits were designed more for function and uniformity than for the safety that is regulated in racing suits today, of course.  According to Taylor Smith, Account Executive and Marketing Specialist for Suixtil-USA, �The Suixtil pants were dipped in Borax to give them six seconds of fire protection.�  However, she said, according to research conducted by current Suixtil Owner and Managing Partner, Vincent Metais, �The product was horribly itchy on the skin and would wash-off with every wash, so that most racers were confronted before every race with a choice between �safety� and comfort that would normally see the latter win.� 

It wasn�t long before other racers approached the Argentinians about the useful clothing.  Fangio willingly gave Suixtil race pants away, and the logo began to appear in many podium pictures of the era as racers from different countries took the brand as their racing garb of choice.  The list of Suixtil racers includes Sir Stirling Moss, Benedicto Campos, Jose Froilan Gonzalez, Onofre Marimon, Roberto Mieres, Robert Manzon, Jean Behra, Jo Bonnier, Maurice Trintignant, Wolfgang Von Trips, Hans Herrmann, Paul Frere, Olivier Gendebien, Harry Schell, Karl Kling, Peter Collins, Andre Simon, and Pinhero Pires.

(Photo above:  Kling, Fangio, Moss - Sweden 55 - (c) Corsa research. Courtesy of Suixtil).

(Photo above: Sebring 1957 Moss, Duntov autographed by SM; courtesy of Suixtil).

(Photo above:  Monaco 1958 - Moss, Bonnier, Brooks, & Trintignant. Courtesy of Suixtil).

(Photo above:  Moss, Kling, Fangio, GP Sweden 1956, R Bruzelius. Courtesy of Suixtil).

(Photo above: Le Mans 1958 - Hawthorn, Behra, Von Trips, Moss. Courtesy of Suixtil).

The company disbanded when its founder died in the mid-1960s; however, it has come back to life recently under the efforts of Metais, to offer vintage-inspired clothing to motor racing enthusiasts and others who appreciate the history and look of the 1950s to early 60s era. Attention is paid to details in the products offered that honor the storied heritage of the brand and its close connection to motor racing in its early days.

When Formula 1 looks back at its 65-year history this weekend, it is interesting to consider that history in context with other aspects of racing at the time. It was the time of the first clothing designed specifically for racing, for one example, and the Suixtil Company holds the distinction of dressing some of the first racers in Formula 1. 

Proud of its heritage, Suixtil shares an enthusiasm for the early days of racing and its common history with the sport. A line on its website offering vintage clothing, accessories, and travel items to discriminating historic/vintage racing enthusiasts and others seems to offer current advice in vintage language, �While exerting oneself, style should not be forgotten or omitted.� 

The tradition of speed and style continues to this day with several Formula One drivers posing as models for clothing companies, luxury watch companies, etc.

The 2015 British Grand Prix (Sunday, July 5, 2015) will air live in the U.S. on CNBC starting at 7:30 a.m. Eastern and will re-air at noon on NBCSN.  For more information about Suixtil's history or its products, see the company's website.

Happy Birthday, Formula 1!

(Photo above: Trintingnant - 1961 - Watkins Glen - (c) BARC Boys-com. Courtesy of Suixtil).

(Photo above: Mt Ventoux 1958 - Behra, Barth, About, Von Trips, von Haustein. Courtesy of Suixtil).

Historics: Watkins Glen Racing Library talk to feature USRRC series, Nov. 8

[Photo:  Mark Donohue scrambles from his burning Lola T70 as Mak Kronn squeezes by in his McKee Mk6 during the Watkins Glen round of the United States Road Racing Championship on June 26, 1966. Donohue was not badly injured, but his Lola was a total loss. (photo by David Baker from the International Motor Racing Research Center�s Argetsinger Collection)].

The International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, N.Y. / U.S.A. sends this press release today [provided in full below]:

"The USRRC lasted just six seasons, but its impact on racing was enormous, and now the series' history is reported in detail for the first time in USRRC: A record of the United States Road Racing Championship 1963-1968 by Mike Martin.

Martin of Seattle, Wash., will speak about the series and its crucial role in the development of professional road racing in America at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen on Nov. 8. The Center Conversations talk is free and open to all.

The USRRC was the Sports Car Club of America�s first series for professional race drivers.

'Without the USRRC, there could not have been a Can-Am, the better known and fully international series for the same type of car,' said award-winning motorsports author Michael Argetsinger. 'The Group 7 category, remembered today as Can-Am, pitted American engineering with the best from Europe and produced some of the most exciting race cars ever built. None of it would have evolved without the USRRC.

'The series, featuring unlimited displacement, two-seat sports cars, brought raw horsepower and speed that captured the imagination of fans, drivers and entrants alike. Scarabs, Porsche RS-61s and King Cobras dominated early years to be supplanted by iconic Chaparrals, Lola T70s and McLarens before the USRRC gave way to the Can-Am which would carry the tradition of unlimited race cars into the mid-�70s,' said Argetsinger, who is a member of the Center�s Governing Council.

John Bishop, SCCA executive director at the time, and his director of professional racing Jim Kaser were the key figures in the series� creation.

Bishop was instrumental in the founding of the Racing Research Center.

A review in Veloce Today describes Martin�s recently published undertaking as �an enthusiastic book which documents that exciting, noisy, time, in a way reflecting the social changes that were taking place in the nation, while proving that American know-how and muscle would finally prevail, at least on the race track.�

Offering a foreword by 1965 USRRC champion George Follmer, the book has more than 400 photographs, including some by Racing Research Center historian Bill Green.

Though he didn�t see a race until an event at Pacific Raceways in Kent, Wash., when he was 16, Martin was a race fan long before that. Collecting information about racing and writing about racing came naturally. Still a teenager, Martin wrote his first 'book' about racing � a 176-page history of the 1.5 liter Formula One years.

'I didn't think to try to get it published,' Martin says. 'However, years later I discovered The Formula One Record Book by the Formula One Register guys and realized there must be a market for this sort of thing. A seed was planted.'

Over the years Martin had his eye on a history of Formula Two racing, while helping other authors with their research. He switched gears in the 1990s to USRRC and dedicated 20 years to the project.

When not enjoying the world of racing or researching or writing about racing, Martin has had careers in banking, inventory control and electronics manufacturing.

Martin�s talk is part of the ongoing Center Conversations series.

The final talk of 2014 will be on Dec. 13 on the Carrera Panamericana. Tom Overbaugh and Paul Wendt will speak about the revival of the famous Mexican race that today takes both experienced racers and novices 2,000 miles across that nation in a week.

The Racing Research Center is an archival library dedicated to the preservation of the history of motorsports, of all series and all venues, through its collections of books, periodicals, films, photographs, fine art and other materials.

For more information about the Center�s work and its programs, visit www.racingarchives.org or call (607) 535-9044."

All of the Conversation series talks are free and open to the public.  They are always informative and held in a casual atmosphere with friendly people!

Another pilgrim seeks out Francois Cevert sites at Watkins Glen

 

 

 

[Book cover photo: L'Autodrome.].

I was sent this link to a blog post by Philippe Robert, who made a pilgrimage in 2014 to Watkins Glen, New York / USA in tribute to Formula 1 racer, Francois Cevert.

Glad to pass along the link that tells about Mr. Robert's journey to the Glen.  The post is, however, in French.

LINK:  http://classiccourses.hautetfort.com/archive/2014/10/05/greetings-from-watkins-glen-5462130.html

 

 

[Key photo:  L'Autodrome].

The key above was Francois's room key from the Glen Motor Inn, where many drivers stayed in the 1960s and 70s during the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix every October.  The key was found in Francois's briefcase after he died on the track at Watkins Glen on October 6, 1973.  The photo comes from the book about Cevert co-written by the driver's sister and pictured at the top of this post. 

It is haunting to see the room key for Room #7, thought to be a lucky number by some.  The Glen Motor Inn, overlooking scenic Seneca Lake, still exists and remains in operation to this day, mostly unchanged from the Grand Prix days.  As Mr. Robert writes in his blog post, he was able to stay the night in Cevert's very room. 

The Cevert book was initially printed in a limited edition in 2013 to mark the 40th year of Cevert's passing. 

There is a wish among some fans that the book be translated into English.

BOOK:  Francois Cevert:  Legendary Driver by Jacqueline Cevert-Beltoise and Johnny Rives. 

Foreword :		Sir Jackie Stewart and Jean-Claude Killy.
Publisher :		L'Autodrome

The book is available to read on the premises at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen.  As with all the rare books in the reference library at the IMRRC, it may not be checked out. 

Thank you, Philippe Robert, for sharing your experience with readers.

In sending me his blog link, Mr. Robert referred to reading my own blog story about Francois Cevert and Watkins Glen as one of the factors in his deciding to make the trip from France to the Glen.  You can read my Motor Sport Muse post about looking for signs of Cevert's crash at the Glen on the 40th anniversary of his passing, HERE.

RIP, Francois Cevert.

Book Review: MOTORSPORTS AND AMERICAN CULTURE: FROM DEMOLITION DERBIES TO NASCAR, edited by Mark D. Howell & John D. Miller

[Publisher:  Rowman & Littlefield]

Note:  This book review was written for the Sports Literature Association and also appears on their website hosted by the University of Texas -- Arlington.
 

Motorsports and American Culture:  From Demolition Derbies to NASCAR edited by Mark D. Howell and John D. Miller
 

Howell's and Miller's Motorsports and American Culture: From Demolition Derbies to NASCAR is a welcome publication in the small but growing field of motor sports studies. While a bit uneven at times, collections of essays such as this one offering different perspectives on a common theme can be exciting reads because one witnesses on the page scholars in the act of angling approaches to a newer area of study. Books analyzing Emily Dickinson's correspondence, for example, illustrate this. So have early critical collections about the Harry Potter phenomenon in children's literature and popular culture. While each essay here cites earlier writings by other scholarly fans of speed, the editors assert that their collection is possibly the most diverse treatment available so far. That description may be quite apt.
 
The book's introduction provides a brief orientation about motor sports within American culture and attempts to address the question that inevitably gets asked of those who conduct racy research, "Why study motor sports?" Following that, the book is made up of 12 essays, each by a different author. The essays are grouped into four parts: Part I: "Speed and Spectators: What Motorsports Means to Fans;" Part II: "The Track and Beyond: Motorsports and Community Identity;" Part III: "Fenders and Genders: Motorsports Femininity, and Masculinity;" and Part IV: "Stars of the Road: Spectacular Drivers and Spectacular Feats." Five of the 12 essays are illustrated with black and white photographs. End notes including citation information follow each essay, and the book contains a useful bibliography and index as well as notes about the contributors and editors at the back.
 
Perhaps predictably in a book published in 2014 that examines how motor sports relate to American culture, half of the essays here are about NASCAR. James Wright's essay opening the volume, "The NASCAR Paradox," suggests that the growing popularity of NASCAR � once a stronghold sport of the American South but now the second most viewed sport across the United States next to football � does not say that the South is becoming more like the rest of the country but instead the shift "reveals a nation becoming more like the South" (4). Taking a historical approach, Dan Pierce's essay, "'What Is Your Racket, Brother?'" traces how Charlotte, North Carolina became the "home" of NASCAR over Atlanta, Georgia � represented by the establishment there of NASCAR'S Hall of Fame in Charlotte � by showing how the latter city purposely rid itself of known bootlegger race car drivers in the mid-twentieth century.
 
Through a "Soccer Mom" / NASCAR Dad" framework, Patricia Lee Yongue's "'Way Tight' or 'Wicked Loose'" shows how she believes the series reinforces male stereotypes and argues that some male fans enjoy NASCAR because, for them, it may serve as a "force by which traditional American manhood will be reclaimed from diversity" (145). Ehren Helmut Pflugfelder examines nationalism as it relates to international influence arriving in NASCAR in the early twenty-first century along with its effects on fans who "consume" the sport. Jaime Noble Gassmann writes in "The Spectacle of NASCAR" about how NASCAR teams use "enchantment" to create a bond between driver and fan that "promotes the fans' consumption of NASCAR-related products and sponsor-created identities" (150).

Outside of NASCAR, Susan Falls writes about the crash-banging of cars into one another without any suggestion of racing in between at demolition derbies as "creative destruction," a form of "theater" (58). Like Yongue's essay, gender studies also provide John Edwin Mason with a lens through which he looks at motor sports in America. He argues it is one of the few activities where females compete in the same professional series and arenas as men in "Anything but a Novelty: Women, Girls, and Friday Night Drag Racing."

Essays about individual drivers, types of cars, or events include one by Lisa Napoli on Barney Oldfield, an early twentieth-century racer turned celebrity; another by Martha Kreszock, Suzanne Wise, and Margaret Freeman about stock car racer, Louise Smith who competed from 1946 to 1956; and an essay by David N. Lucsko about the history of the American hot rod. The book closes with an essay by Ronald Shook tracing three eras of attempts to set and subsequently break the land speed record on the Bonneville Salt Flats and elsewhere.
 
Surprises that may make the collection ideal for some readers relishing the unexpected may puzzle others looking for examinations of more "traditional" forms of motor sports � i.e. races of various kinds of cars and motorcycles. Most notably in the unexpected category � acknowledged by the editors themselves in their introduction as a bit of a "stretch" � is Emily Godbey's essay, "Speed and Destruction at the Fair." This piece talks about an exhibition of nineteenth-century locomotives plowing into one another at the 1896 Iowa State Fair, which Godbey argues is an example of Americans' combined feelings of astonishment and terror towards technology, something she calls the "technological sublime" (40). Outlier though it may be, the chapter's consideration of technology and spectacle has, as the editors argue, reverberations with other essays in the book.
 
The editors acknowledge that the collection represents "beginnings rather than endings" in the study of motor sports and American culture. Among the more notable vacancies is the lack of an essay about the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or its historic event, the Indy 500. Situated in the Midwest heartland as it is, on the same footprint of land with a history reaching back to 1908, that facility still holds the record as the largest sports spectator venue on the planet, seating 250,000 with grounds occupancy of 400,000. Indy warrants inclusion, as do many other subjects, in a book with a title as inclusive as this one. Contrarily, with its heavy emphasis on stock car racing, the book may have benefited from shifting its focus and title to include essays about NASCAR exclusively.

These suggestions aside, this rather eclectic mix of essays does demonstrate a range in current scholars' interests and thinking, and that alone is worthwhile for others researching trackside out there who may look to this book for ideas, approaches, or even just a sense that they are not alone in their speed-driven curiosities. However balanced or not the book is as a collection, this volume suggests a variety of directions and approaches that are bound to stimulate further thinking and exploration of motor sports, speed, gender, popular culture, and technology.

 

 Howell, Mark D. and John D. Miller, eds. Motorsports and American Culture:  From Demolition Derbies to NASCAR.  Lanham, MD:  Rowman & Littlefield, 2014.  248 pp.  Hardcover, $75.00.  ISBN: 978-1-4422-3096-5.  eBook, $74.99.  ISBN:  978-1-4422-3097-2.

 Copyright � by Connie Ann Kirk.

New Facebook page -- "Connie Ann Kirk, Ph.D. Motor Sports"

Just announcing that I've set up a new Motor Sports page on Facebook.  You can either visit to see what's new or "Like" to get posts added to your FB newsfeed on a regular basis.

Links to articles from my Examiner.com pages will be posted there, too.

The page will feature material related to my current interests of motor sports + a potpourri of links, shares, exclusive photos & videos from my occasional "insider's" views, etc.

Thank you for visiting the "Connie Ann Kirk, Ph.D. Motor Sports" page, if you do!

Here is the link again.

En-JOY!

Formula 1: Sir Jack Brabham, 3 time World Champion, passes away at 88

Three-time Formula 1 World Champion race car driver and, to date, the only person to win the driver's championship driving his own car, passed away on Monday, May 19, 2014 in his home in Sydney, Australia.

See story here.

I enjoy watching so many Brabham race cars out on the historic / vintage motor racing circuit.  The cars are lovely, and amateur owner/racers who drive them have such a good time.

Of his many legacies, that is the one that I can relate to most.

RIP, Sir Jack.

Formula 5000 cars -- Talk at IMRRC, Watkins Glen, 5.10.14

There was a talk as part of the International Motor Racing Research Center "Conversation" series on Saturday, May 10th about Formula 5000 cars.

I wrote a summary of the 3-hour program for my National Historic Motor Sports page on Examiner.com.  NBC Formula 1 commentator, Sam Posey, was the honored guest at the talk.

You can find the article here.

Formula 1: Thoughts on Mark Webber on the Eve of his Last F1 Race

[Mark Webber of Red Bull Racing-Renault in Formula 1.  Credit:  Unknown.]

After the race is over in Brazil tomorrow, Mark Webber will be done with Formula 1.  In interviews this week leading up to this swansong race, he has indicated that if there were not aspects of the sport that he no longer enjoyed or would be glad to leave behind, he would not be leaving.  That makes sense coming from the teammate of a four-time consecutive World Champion who is 11 years younger than he is.  It can't be easy being Sebastian Vettel's teammate, no matter when you're in that position, much less at a time when the young champion seems to have a growing momentum in the sport, both literally and figuratively, on his side.

I found myself cheering for Webber as the underdog in this two-man Red Bull race against the rest of the field in the last two seasons.  There were scraps between them in some races, but mostly, I think, arguably a Formula 1 racer races against himself.  Certainly, an athlete as well-rounded in sports in general as Webber seems to be, must do that.  He is testing his own physical limits with those of the race car he is contracted to drive.  Who can blame Mr. Webber for wanting to get out of a sport at age 37 before his skills slip below that which he expects of himself.  Many long-term observers say that he could have been a World Champion in Formula 1 in a non-Vettel era.  How many racers could that be said about who came along at the same time as other multi-year champions?  There have to be many of them.  Sometimes having unfortunate, bad luck and timing at a sport you love and are exceptional at performing in must be worse in some ways than having no luck at all to get you there in the first place.

It will probably take time for the impact of all that has happened to him in his Formula 1 career sinks in to form a kind of wisdom from experience in Mark Webber.  He has his Porsche career to explore starting very soon, and that must play itself out.  Other drivers have left F1 and gone back.  That could be an option, too; who knows, in the future?

Good luck, Mr. Webber, as you move forward from Formula 1.   You can start fresh with new opportunities and challenges, and people will be excited to see how your driving skills transfer to endurance racing.

I think Red Bull and Mr. Vettel will miss you more than they may think.  You've been an integral part of that well-organized, unified team that got it to where it is now.  Major changes in drivers and cars coming in 2014 could upset the Red Bull/Vettel momentum, or not.

Either way, at least you won't have to drink that Red Bull energy drink -- or pretend to -- any more. 

They're a fun sponsor for the sport and its fans and obviously one great team in motorsports, but seriously, did you ever really drink that stuff?  <jk> I suspect having the opportunity to drive any Porsche that strikes your fancy on a typical Tuesday night just might be a bit more fun.

Have a good race tomorrow.  And the tomorrows after that.

Take care.

Formula 1's Francois Cevert - 40 Years later at Watkins Glen

 

(Photo credit:  Connie Ann Kirk)

 

(Photo credit:  Unknown)

 

 

 (Photo credit:  Unknown)

 

[Photos:  Top - Small remembrance left by 2 motor sports enthusiasts at the esses at the Watkins Glen racetrack on Oct. 6, 2013.  Middle & Bottom - French F1 racer, Francois Cevert (1944 - 1973) who died in a tragic race car crash at Watkins Glen on Oct. 6, 1973.]

As it turned out, I was at the track on the 40th anniversary anyway, but I had made a mental note of the date of Francois Cevert's death at Watkins Glen ever since I read about the accident in more detail in Sir Jackie Stewart's autobiography, Winning is Not Enough (Headline, 2010) in late 2012.  I knew I'd want to find a way to be at my "home track" on the anniversary.

No one should have to give his/her life in chasing one's passion, I thought, but it happened so much more often in motor sports in those days.  I was haunted by the idea that a sport I've been growing to enjoy watching and writing about more and more is also one for which people give their lives.  What does it mean to keep participating in an activity that seems so dangerous (to the layperson, anyway, if not to the racers), I keep asking myself.  Why not take up something that is challenging physically and mentally, that takes skill, but is not so costly both in terms of risk to life or limb or in simple, financial expense?

Well.  For a new book I'm writing, I am still chasing down answers to those and other questions with racers. 

On Sunday, though, a day that started out foggy and hazy and got unseasonably warm (into the 80s), my thoughts were about wanting to pay homage to someone I never knew but whose history had become an important part of my studies of the sport. 

Watkins Glen is a track I go to often.  The thought of someone dying there doing what I go there to watch is not a comfortable thought to have.  Many people I talk to often were at the track that day in 1973.  They talked to me about their memories.  All were clearly still moved by the thought of that day's events, even though it was 40 years ago.

Most people I talked to on Sunday remembered that the French National Anthem was played after that morning's qualifying session, soon after the accident that, I was told, happened just before noon.  That tribute was one way people around the track realized that the rumors of the severity of what may have happened at the esses were, sadly, true. 

 

 

 

 

The esses seem to remain a tricky and dangerous spot on the Watkins Glen track.  Now a host of NASCAR races (and other series) each season, the track and its esses were the site of several spins, crashes, and other incidents as recently at pro races as during the 2012 and 2013 NASCAR Sprint Cup seasons.

The drivers accelerate going up the hill at the esses after taking the 90-degree Turn 1 and right-hand sweep.  What makes the esses so dangerous?  Well, I'll have to find out more about that.

 

On Sunday, I wanted to find the closest spot possible, or the most appropriate place, to leave my little bouquet of 4 white roses and print-out photo of Mr. Cevert.  Outside the protective fencing some distance away, I searched behind the blue Armco barrier at the esses for any "sign" that might still be there.  Was there a difference in the fencing from when it had been repaired that might show from the back?  Could I tell anything from the trees back there; there had been trees in the background of the horrific archival photo of the accident.  Was it at that wooden post?  Was it at that patch of fencing where the back of the Armco goes from blue to black?

There were differences in the fencing, but the differences occurred in more than one spot, and of course I had no idea about whether they were from that particular repair in 1973, or some other time.  The trees there looked like they did in the picture from 40 years ago -- shouldn't they be bigger now, I wondered?  I walked along the track back there for some distance, lost in thought.  Should I leave my flowers outside the track, or inside?  I walked back.  I decided to leave them inside.  Cevert was involved in racing as an insider.  Even I, writing about the sport and studying it steadily for such a short time by comparison (but now even with media credentials to race events), could no longer call myself totally an outsider.

(Photo:  Small tribute at the esses.  Connie Ann Kirk.)

Later in the day, I spoke with a lifelong resident of Watkins Glen and racing enthusiast who works with the archives at the International Motor Racing Research Center in town.   Independently, he had also brought flowers in tribute.  Growing up in Watkins Glen, he and his brother had been to most if not all of the Formula 1 Grands Prix.  His older brother was even a local "gofer" for the Stewart/Cevert Tyrrell team back then.  Spare parts he had secured at the team's request were on the car, that car.  The lifelong resident was kind enough to allow me to go with him to the spot as he remembered it.  It was so long ago; he was a teenager then, but his memory seemed strong.

We scrutinized the track from the distance of the spectator area inside the circuit; we studied the Armco, the background.  He searched his memory for the landmark he had in mind that was very specific as recently as 2 years ago when he was able to go on the track itself and show the spot to someone from Europe who had come so far, also wanting to find it.  Finally, we settled on a spot at his recollection and laid them down.  We lingered there, and talked.

Memories can be etched in such a way that they are forever altered.  They may dim a bit; the details may get a little blurred around the edges, but the imprint lasts a lifetime.  Francois Cevert clearly left an imprint on this sport and in the hearts and memories of those at the Glen that day.  He meant a lot to those around the world who followed his racing career and had such high hopes for his future.

From what I have heard and read, he was loved at Watkins Glen and in so many other places, and by so many people.  Locals still remember him fondly staying at the Glen Motor Inn where so many of the Grand Prix racers stayed back then, or playing the piano and laughing at the Seneca Lodge where they went to celebrate.  I'm so sorry that this track where I now spend so much of my time was so cruel to him (even as it rewarded him for his efforts 2 years earlier with his first and last Formula 1 Grand Prix win).  It has been a place of triumph and tragedy for other racers and their families, friends, and colleagues as well.

(Team-mates Francois Cevert and Jackie Stewart in happier days.  Credit:  Unknown).

Then a strange thing happened:  There were amateur races (SCCA) taking place on Sunday.  After I laid my flowers, I went back behind the Armco outside the track to think some more and see if my new insights from the kind Watkins Glen native were any more helpful in defining the spot from that side.  While I was there, amazingly, a tire apparently broke loose from a race car and flew up high into the catch fencing way over my head, right there.  Right then.  In the esses.  (The catch fencing, by the way, was not there 40 years ago).

To have that happen at that particular moment while I was still so lost in reverie about Cevert's accident, trying to see it in my mind at that very place, was strange indeed.  It felt like an echo from the past, an acknowledgment from beyond.   At one point, I wondered if my imagination had gone into overdrive so intensely that I'd fantasized the flying tire into being.  I went back inside the track and saw a car stopped at the corner station; apparently, the driver was ok.  But the danger -- it is still out there.

In watching the video below later on, I saw what looked like a tire flying away in the photograph of Cevert's Tyrrell race car back then, too.  If that's true, perhaps this little coincidence of events was a small thank you from beyond, for going there to remember, for searching so hard to find the "exact spot."  It seemed to confirm my efforts.  Or, at least, my active writer's imagination likes to think of it that way.

In any case, continue to rest in peace, racer Francois Cevert.  The motor sports community continues to remember, and those of us somewhat newer to the sport continue to learn about you and offer you and your colleagues our respect.

[Bottom photo above:  Trees from perhaps the same cluster or "family" of trees to those shown in the top photo above, behind Cevert's accident).

 

(Above:  Believed to be about here. 

Note the Armco is now 3 layers high here instead of the 2 layers of 40 years ago)

 

 

 

(From behind the Armco -- now with catch fencing atop it).

In memorium:  Here is some video footage from that day at the Formula 1 U.S. Grand Prix, Watkins Glen, NY - October 6, 1973 (Note:  The link will take you away from this page to view the video on YouTube):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4bO74WE5Ak

Why I hope Ron Howard's RUSH is a winner

 

[Photos:  Top:  The real Formula 1 racers Niki Lauda and James Hunt, back in the day.  The rivals were reported to be good friends, despite their competition on the track and differences in temperaments and behaviors off the track.  Bottom: Chris Hemsworth and Daniel Bruhl as Hunt and Lauda in Ron Howard's 2013 feature film, RUSH.].

Why I hope Ron Howard's RUSH is a winner....

It's not easy to be a Formula 1 fan living in the United States.  It's currently NASCAR country here with a smattering of dedicated IndyCar fans.   In this country, Formula 1 seems, in many ways, almost relegated to those who remember its heyday at Watkins Glen, the small town in upstate New York that hosted the world every crisp and colorful October for 20 years from 1961 to 1980.

Like soccer (the world's football), Formula 1 motor racing is a sport that is wildly popular around the rest of the world but not so much here.  It's difficult (but getting a bit easier) to find Formula 1 on television.  For quite some time before 2012 there was no track dedicated to the sport in this country (now Circuit of the Americas exists in Austin, Texas and hosted its first U.S. Grand Prix in November of 2012).  After the Glen, races had been tried at Indianapolis, Las Vegas, and other places, but nothing stuck.  One hopes that Austin may help change that, at least for awhile. 

The guru of Formula 1, Bernie Ecclestone, seems to be open to deals then lay in wait for them to fall through, at least according to the popular motor sports press.  A promised race in New Jersey, a street race planned against the backdrop of the Manhattan skyline, would do much for the sport in this country if held in that media mecca.  However, the on-again, off-again stories keep coming, and one wonders if it will happen or not.  Still, one recalls the same stories circulating in the lead-up to COTA, and that race eventually ran with much applause from both the drivers and the fans.

Popularity among the American public is moved collectively by many things, but certainly the entertainment industry and the media wield big influences in a country that is as large geographically and as diverse demographically as ours.  A hit movie with a popular and award-winning director gets talked about for months before it opens, then gets talked about in reviews and talked about again after it is reviewed.  The build-up to an opening includes people talking their way to a decision about whether or not to spend part of their paychecks on a night out at the cinema when they could view any number of other things that evening that they have already paid for with their various cable, Internet, and/or Netflix subscriptions.

A hit movie brings people out.  People out share a collective experience they don't get at home in front of their big-screen TVs or computer screens.  It's a 'happening' then, and one they go to work on Monday morning and talk about with their friends and colleagues.  Multiply that effect in community by community, region by region, and state by state, and you get the idea.  Word of mouth is probably the best way to market a movie -- or, one might argue, a sport -- to those who are unfamiliar with it.

So, my hopes are high for RUSH.  I want it to be a hit for whatever reason it becomes popular (I don't care, e.g., if Chris Hemsworth brings people to the theater who have no interest in cars or racing and would not otherwise be there).  Because then more of my fellow Americans will know what Formula 1 racing is -- that it is NOT NASCAR (for good or for bad, depending on how you feel about that series of motor sports) -- and that it has a history that is as fascinating and compelling as it is puzzling for the layperson who has never stepped foot inside a race car of any vintage or who has never put money down to watch a race live and in person. 

Among many other factors, the documentary film, SENNA, contributed to cementing my own commitment to studying Formula 1, historic racing, and motor racing in general for my next book.  There's just something more to this sport -- something deeper in the human experience that it expresses -- than one might first imagine.  I hope RUSH helps raise awareness, excitement, and curiosity about the second-highest watched sport around the world (behind soccer) in this country.  Selfishly, I hope it's a winner, if for no other reason, so that I don't have to begin every conversation about my work with a fellow American (even fellow Ph.D.s who study sports!) by explaining what Formula 1 racing is, and why I believe it's worth so much of my time, and is perhaps also deserving of their attention.

So, let's take a look at RUSH, America.  I don't know yet if it will flip or flop.  It's not a documentary, and it's not an art film, but if you feel any of the excitement, bewilderment, or pathos from the sport -- or curiosity about its history -- from watching the movie as I have so far from my studies, then perhaps you'll be rewarded with an experience that rushes past your expectations.  And wouldn't that be, well, just plain cool? 

I look forward to hearing your impressions if you do go see the movie, and I'll be sure to share mine, too!