009

atmosphere, which is great theater. Okay, Lamborghini Countach or 427 Cobra, young boys being fearless risk takers — and only
maybe they catch fire once in a while, but boys would flock to those two cars like bees the intervention of a strong male role model
that’s hardly risky. But isn’t a little risk part of on honey. saving the day.
the fun?
I would have to say, “Hey, hey be careful! I’m not saying all young boys are this way,
Isn’t risk what makes life interesting? Those side pipes are very hot!” but enough are to make me notice: During
I’m not one to complain about the the last few years, the number of kids that
younger generation, but I have seen Boys would push and shove each other cover their ears when I start up something
something lately that troubles me. About 25 to get a chance to sit in the Lambo. When I exciting is amazing to me.
or 30 years ago, whenever I would drive my was a kid, I learned to not touch a hot stove
by touching a hot stove. I remember young I ask the shy ones, “Do you want to sit in
this one?”

“No,” they say — quite politely — and
back away.

I meet the grown-up version of these kids
all the time in show business. You can’t get
a job in show business without being in
the union, and you can’t get in the union
without having a job in show business.

”You’re right,” I say. “It can’t be done, so
quit.” And many of them do quit.

I remember when I was about 9 years old a
man let me sit in his Jaguar XK 120, and it so
affected me that it became the first collector
car I bought 25 years later.

A risk-taking kid

A story I love to tell involves a 12-year-old
boy who wrote me a letter, where he said he
had told his friends that I was his uncle, and
on weekends I would take him for rides in
my Countach. His friends called him a liar,
and he wanted me to pick him up at home
and drive him to school, so he could show
them he wasn’t a liar.

When I called him up he was thrilled. “But
you are a liar,” I said. He said, “Technically
that was true,” which made me laugh. But he
really wanted a ride in a Countach, so after
talking to his parents, I agreed and drove him
to school.

We waited while the buses unloaded, and
when the most kids were around we pulled
up. When the scissor doors of the Lambo
went up, the kids went crazy as the boy got
out of the car.

“I’ll see you this weekend, we’ll go driving
around,” I said.

“Thanks, Uncle Jay,” he yelled, and his
friends were gobsmacked.

Was that kid wrong? Most definitely. Will
he be a risk taker? Probably. In fact, he’s
probably doing 8 to 10 years in Leavenworth
for bank fraud.

To sum all this up, I think risk is good. It
makes both heroes and villains.

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AMERICAN MUSCLE
52  Linkage 009

Breaking the Rules Smoke ‘em

There’s nothing more tempting than a quiet road and a  Score one for evolution — by the time I was hanging out at our
muscle car, and that’s how it should be local service station in the late 1990s, we did our burnouts inside the
parking lot. No swivel required.
 by JIM PICKERING
 The owner of the place — a guy in his 50s — led the charge
MY DAD LIKES to tell a story about a service station in the old with his 402-powered ’71 Chevelle SS, but the 20-something shop
neighborhood — the kind of place where the young car guys would manager had the final word with his tubbed and lowered hot rod
all congregate back in the early 1960s. Back then, performance C10 pickup. On one particularly slow summer afternoon, he not
meant a ’56 Chevy with a 4-speed, and risk was running a set of only removed years of life from his Sportsman Pros, he also left twin
pie-crust slicks in the rain. inch-deep and 14-inch wide divots in the asphalt.

The owner of this place was older, but he was still a car guy  After the billowy white smoke cleared, I remember standing over
through and through — fully fitted out with a shop truck special the smoldering remnants, aghast. “The pavement is gone.”
ordered (or maybe late-night built) with a 406 Ford under the hood.
 The boss should have been bothered, but he just laughed as he
 If goaded hard enough by the newer gearheads, he’d take a quick walked away.
look up and down the road and then crank that F100 to life. He’d
roll it out into the street, FE block cackling away, take another look  A few feet away, the grizzled, elderly auto machinist who rented
around, and drop the hammer. the building next door — himself one of the older car guys who once
watched that Ford sing — cleaned a wrench with a green shop rag
 When the police finally arrived, usually alerted by neighboring and scowled at us.
businesses who were clearly tired of all this, the only evidence
would be smoke in the air and two fresh streaks on the blacktop.  “Idiots,” he barked.
By then he’d be back in his parking lot, leaning on the front fender
amongst his young admirers, smiling.  Reflections

Knowing better Being older and wiser isn’t much of an excuse for anything. I’m
still not immune to the temptation of the quick over-the-shoulder
If we’re being honest, having your head on a swivel is just as much scan, particularly when I’m in my big-block ’66 Caprice — or now
of the hot rod and muscle car world as a Hurst shifter or a set of my 6.0-liter, LS-powered ’67 C10, which I just finished building in a
Cragar wheels. Most of what muscle cars do best isn’t exactly legal blur of late nights in my own garage. But I’m not 18 anymore. Risk
— at least not anywhere else but on a track. factors now seem higher, rewards smaller.

 Every stoplight is a potential risk. Every other muscle car on the  In the midst of this build, as I worked late nights setting up
road is bait. Temptation is always there, loitering just under the go a 12-bolt, plumbing brakes and wiring the dash, I could hear
pedal. modern muscle and sports cars racing each other on the lonely
street back behind my house. Most were modern — you can tell by
 Luck can keep you out of trouble only for so long — maturity the quickness of the revs, the split second of silence between the
is the only true savior here. Trouble is, bright paint, loud engines, automatic shifts. The ease of it all. It was so common that I found
and a culture built on testing the rules can pretty easily drown out myself wondering if they’d even bothered to look first.
whatever better judgment you might have gained, especially in the
moment.  One afternoon, as I was finishing up installing my headers, one
of these guys came flying by in his 350Z. I turned around, wrench in
 Don’t hurt anyone. And don’t get caught. hand, just in time to see him slide the Z around the corner, past my
 You can see this as it’s about to happen. The driver signals it house, and down the hill in a semi-perfect drift. I walked out into the
every time with a quick, nervous scan of the horizon, front and driveway as the young kid rounded the block for another go.
back, powered by a thrill of breaking the rules, of getting away with
something.   “Idiot,” I mumbled to myself.
They know better, but they go for it anyway.  Then I stopped, turned around, and looked back at the truck I’d
just built.
 I thought about that grizzled machinist. The legendary FE-
powered Ford. The puddles that still form in the divots in the old
shop parking lot when it rains. 
The kid slid around the corner again, but this time he saw me as
he roared past, and he looked surprised. Startled, even.
 I just smiled at him.
 He hasn’t been back.

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TALKING FAST
54  Linkage 009

Calculated Balancing risk and reward
Risks
There’s no doubt that drivers are by their very
Racing wheel-to-wheel at speeds nature risk-takers and adrenaline junkies. But,
approaching 200 mph is a pursuit that crucially, they also are responsible, calculated and
takes skill, smarts and courage  intelligent. They have a different mindset to, say, a
base jumper who will throw themselves off a cliff
by ZAK BROWN purely for the adrenaline rush.

FOR AS LONG as I can remember, there has been a In the past I’ve dived out of an airplane and
disclaimer on the tickets issued at race tracks around bungee-jumped for that thrill — but I wouldn’t do
the world: “Warning,” it reads. “Motorsport can be either again!
dangerous. Unavoidable accidents can happen and in
respect of this, you are present at your own risk.” The difference is that in those few moments you are
out of control.
We can never escape the fact that with its
incredibly high speeds, motor racing can never be Driving a racing car is a very controlled
100-percent safe. And yet, the detailed analysis of environment which requires huge amounts of skill,
previous incidents and the huge advancements in concentration and fitness. Part of the enjoyment is
safety technology means that, thankfully, the risk of feeling in control of a race car.
injury — or worse — has been significantly reduced
over the past decades. When the balance is wrong and the rear steps out
of line, or if it’s bad weather and the car spins out
On occasion I get the chance to jump into an old of control — the driver doesn’t want that type of
race car for fun. One of the first things you have to do adrenaline rush.
is adjust your mindset to remind yourself that you’re
driving a car that hasn’t got the safety protection of a So racers do compete in something exhilarating,
modern machine. where they will get adrenaline spikes when things
get intense, but they don’t like to feel they are not in
From then to now control of their vehicle. If you watch any videos where
drivers are taken at speed around a circuit and they
The sport has come a long way from the days of are in the passenger seat — they all clearly hate the
cloth caps and no seatbelts. In the early days, the experience!
thinking was that it was better to be ejected from a car
that was crashing — rather than be strapped to it. And Danger remains
in the past, the primitive fuel tanks and the risk of fire
was so great that even the smallest of accidents could But despite the engineering process to make a
have significant consequences. car more drivable, the skill to keep a car pointing
straight and the huge advances in safety, none of that
Thankfully the advancements in circuit safety has diminishes the fact Formula One is still at its heart a
also developed, which has helped to further protect dangerous sport.
the driver — and, of course, the spectators.
There remains that gladiatorial element that fans
As a result of stringent regulations, race cars today love. No one wants to see anyone get hurt, but people
are designed with safety as the first priority and don’t shy away when they see a crash. Crashes are
performance second. often dramatic, and they create big headlines. You
only have to think about Romain Grosjean’s fiery
From the visible aspects, such as the halo in F1 or accident in Bahrain a few seasons ago or Guanyu
the aeroscreen in IndyCar to the invisible advances in Zhou’s roll at Silverstone this year.
rigorous crash testing or wheel tethers, every aspect
of design has been calculated to protect the driver The most important thing is that the drivers were
and reduce the chances of injury. able to walk away. As recently as the last decade, they
might not have been so lucky.
Despite all of the safety innovations, strapping
yourself into a car which is capable of 0-60 mph in Ultimately if the risk of doing something scares
2.6 seconds and racing wheel-to-wheel at speeds you, then you shouldn’t do it, but competing in
approaching 200 mph is a pursuit which is not for the Formula One is all about taking calculated risks. And
faint-hearted.  inevitably, the bigger the risk the bigger the reward,
and it’s often how you balance that. 

Even from my own experience as team principal
of McLaren, everything is risky. Every action has a
consequence, and therefore, you are taking a risk
when you make a decision. Sometimes you might
get it wrong and depending on what it might be,
that could be detrimental to performance or have
financial implications.

And ultimately, the bigger the decision, the bigger
the risk. But that’s what makes this sport exciting,
right?

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BUILDING A STORY

What a Long, Strange Trip it Was

A Devin SS is rebuilt and becomes a racing success after years of neglect

by RICH TAYLOR

Photos by Taylor-Constantine

DECADES AGO, I wrote a regular column roll bar, sported homemade air scoops At Lime Rock, Rich Taylor’s
about American sports cars in a broadsheet atop the rear fenders, aluminum louvers 1958 Devin SS, one of 15 built
newspaper called “Old Cars.” I covered pop-riveted over holes chewed in the hood by Devin between 1958 and
everything from Crosley Hot Shots to and Goodyear Blue Dot tires that were 1961
Excaliburs to Cobras. I also did a story crumbling off the rims.
about the rare 1958 Devin SS. Roadtrip!
I promptly spun on my heel, snarled
The more I learned about the Devin SS, a few whining complaints about junk, Sure enough, right on time, a Mustard
the more enthused I became. The story returned the truck to Ryder and flew home. Yellow 1974 International Harvester Pickup
ended with me telling the world that if pulled up on the I-84 exit ramp for Stewart
anyone had a Devin SS they were selling, I Once I got home, I called Mr. McAtee International Airport, towing a pretty rough
was interested in buying! in California and said, “Please ignore Mercedes Cabriolet on an open trailer.
whatever I yelled at your brother before I kissed Jean goodbye, hopped in the
In October, 1976, I received a letter from I stomped out of the barn. I still want the International and headed to Texas.
“Old Cars” subscriber Robert McAtee in Devin. I’ll be back with cash within a week!”
Tustin, CA. Mr. McAtee had bought a 1941 Curt brought me to the Ryder Truck
Cadillac from a used car dealer in San There was an ad in “Old Cars” from Curt dealer in San Antonio that I’d left just four
Antonio — who also made him buy this old Ridgard of Terryville, CT who delivered days before, and I rented the same truck. He
Devin race car to get the Cadillac! cars around the country. I called him. then followed me to McAtee Ranch.
Remarkably, he was leaving the next day for
He wrote: “I thought the Devin was some Texas. The Devin looked the same, except the
sort of Jaguar special with a Chevy V8. fiberglass hood was now smashed to tiny
Thank you for teaching me what I’d bought! “Can you pick up my Devin SS in San pieces, most of which seemed to have
It’s stored at my family’s ranch outside San Antonio and bring it to New York?” ended up in the three carburetors.
Antonio, and it’s yours for $2,800, which is
what I paid for it!” “No. You won’t believe this, but I’m Mr. McAtee’s brother was writing a book
bringing a 220SE from Connecticut to about Medieval war machines, and he had
Temporary sanity reigns Houston and picking up another 220SE and inadvertently dropped a huge timber that
bringing it from Harlingen to Maine!” was part of a full-size working catapult on
The next day, I flew from Newark to San top of the Devin.
Antonio, rented a Ryder truck and drove “Why don’t you just tell the two guys in
out to the ranch. The Devin SS showed Texas and the two guys in New England to Of course, I had neglected a way to raise
9,800 miles on the odometer. It had been get together?” a Devin SS four feet off the ground and
painted crackly white — no doubt with into the back of a 26-foot truck. Curt and I
house paint and a brush — wore an ugly “I can’t do that. What I can do is pick you
up on Interstate 84 in Newburgh, NY and
give you a free ride to Texas! I’ll meet you at
10 a.m. tomorrow morning.”

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muscled two 20-foot-long catapult timbers disassembled the Devin and rebuilt the Norton Manx motorcycles and a fiberglass
into place as ramps. To push the Devin 1962 Corvette 327 V8. We stored that in a body made from a mold pulled off a
into the truck, we recruited the McAtee’s corner, awaiting developments.  Another Deutsch-Bonnet Le Mans roadster, Devin
housekeeper and her two daughters — friend who owned a local body shop, Mike had an inexpensive, lightweight and
neither of whom spoke English, both of Baglione, agreed to restore and paint the aerodynamic race car that was perfect for
whom were extremely pretty and laughing fiberglass body, which was permanently H-Modified.
gaily at this unexpected adventure. attached to the frame. He then promptly
hung it from his shop ceiling on chains, Devin customer Jim Orr bought a Devin-
The housekeeper steered, while the four where it stayed for the next eight years. Panhard to supplement the Ermini 1100
of us pushed the Devin. I had neglected to he raced for Tony Pompeo. The aluminum
bring tie-down straps to anchor the Devin Meanwhile, I tried to learn as much as Scaglietti body on the Ermini was virtually
in the truck. I remembered my friend Newt I could about my 1958 Devin SS, serial identical to that on a Ferrari Monza, and
Davis, who owned the notorious Lime number SR3-1. It was made by Devin the Scaglietti-bodied Monza was one of the
Rock Lodge. One time at Bridgehampton, Enterprises in El Monte, CA. I called Bill best-looking race cars of the 1950s. When
somebody stole Newt’s tie-downs, so after Devin, and we became close friends. Orr conveniently stored the sleek Ermini
the race he simply deflated the tires on his I visited Bill at his home in Santa Ana at Devin’s house, Devin popped a mold off
Porsche 550 RS and nailed the tires to the whenever I was in California on business. that body, too. Then he went into business
wooden deck of his trailer! I used the same I eventually became the keeper of a Devin selling strong-but-lightweight fiberglass
technique, modified by using the flat side Registry, and owned not only my Devin SS, bodies for $295.
of a hatchet to whack hand-made medieval but a concours-quality Devin Jr. child’s car
spikes into the floor of the Ryder truck. that we restored, two complete spare Devin Indirectly, these Devin fiberglass kit
SS bodies and two Devin kit bodies. bodies had originally been designed for
This was good enough to get me to the Ferrari by Scaglietti under the direction of
local hardware store, which despite being Devin the pirate Pinin Farina! In 1956, you couldn’t have a
located in the Texas desert, carried a full better pedigree than that. Devin’s clever
line of marine equipment. I bought yards Bill Devin was one of those wonderful, innovation was to make sets of modular
and yards of mooring lines, out of which larger-than-life characters that repeatedly molds that could be put together to create
I wove a nylon spider web that held the pop up in the automobile industry. The bodies of different lengths, wheelbases and
Devin in position, port and starboard, fore son of a Chrysler dealer in Iowa, Devin widths. By 1957, he was shipping 100 bodies
and aft. spent World War II in the U.S. Navy, then per week.
started and profitably sold a couple of
Hey, dad…. Chrysler dealerships in post-war Southern Devin’s new frame
California. Semi-wealthy and semi-retired
I left San Antonio at 9 p.m. Tuesday by 1953, Devin rebuilt a Ferrari Coupe In 1958, Irish engineer Malcolm
evening and was in Harrisburg, PA at dawn Phil Hill had crashed during the Carrera MacGregor contacted Devin looking for a
on Friday. We had just moved into this Panamericana — and then rapidly went body for a Jaguar-powered sports car he was
house perched on the side of the Palisades, through a series of Ferrari race cars, in the building. Instead, Devin talked MacGregor
which had no garage. My long-suffering process becoming a pal of importer Luigi into incorporating Devonshire Engineering
parents agreed to let me store the Devin Chinetti. in Belfast to build chassis for a new Devin
at their house in Hyde Park, two hours car that would be delivered complete from
away. Luckily, my father had a friend who During a trip to Le Mans with Chinetti, the factory.
owned a warehouse with a loading dock, Devin bought 15 Panhard Dana Junior
so we were able to push the Devin out of chassis, powered by 750-cc two-cylinder MacGregor created a state-of-the-art
the truck, through the warehouse, and then engines. Fitted with DOHC heads off frame using 3-inch seamless steel tubing.
tow it on a mooring rope behind my father’s He designed elegant forged steel parallel
Chrysler convertible and push it into the
garage. 1958 Devin SS
chassis cutaway
In a long limbo

The Devin SS — out of sight, out of
mind — got totally neglected for five years
until my mother finally decided she should
have her garage back. By then, Jean and
I had bought and restored two houses in
Nyack, NY that we rented to two nice young
couples.

More importantly, there was a three-car
garage on the same property, onto which I
had built a large addition plus a deck that
commanded a magnificent view of the
Hudson River. This was the home of my new
race shop and “tuner car” company, called
Minisport — and it also became the home
of my Devin SS.

My friend Jon DeGraw and I

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BUILDING A STORY

The Devin El Monte shop in
1958, showing four SS chassis
and one complete car

upper and lower A-arms for the front, with Devin’s “Scaglietti-bodied” More Devin piracy
rack-and-pinion steering borrowed from Devin SS appeared in 1958,
the Morris Minor. At the rear, MacGregor months before the virtually When he got back home, Devin created
used a Salisbury differential from an XK identical Scaglietti-bodied a mold for the new Devin SS by simply
140 Jaguar, converted to independent with 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossa. copying Scaglietti’s drawings. Compared
universal joints and short axle shafts on to the original Devin kit body design stolen
each side. In addition to a pair of parallel One can only guess at Enzo from the Ferrari Monza, the Devin SS
trailing arms on each side, a husky DeDion Ferrari’s reaction. has a much taller rear deck, longer nose,
tube connected the rear hubs. deeper oval grille and twin instrument
located across the street from the Ferrari bulges in the top of the dashboard. Devin’s
MacGregor used Woodhead/Monroe factory in Maranello. Sergio Scaglietti “Scaglietti-bodied” Devin SS appeared in
coil spring shock absorber units front and showed them his sketches for what would 1958, months before the virtually identical
rear, plus 12-inch Girling disc brakes and become the 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossa, which Scaglietti-bodied 1959 Ferrari Testa Rossa.
15-inch knock-off Dunlop wire wheels. The eliminated the famous “pontoon” front
rear brakes were mounted inboard next to fenders for a more aerodynamic nose. It is One can only guess at Enzo Ferrari’s
the differential to reduce unsprung weight. now considered one of the most beautiful reaction.
sports racers from the Golden Era of the
Remember, in 1958 Ferrari racers were 1950s. Malcolm MacGregor completed and
still using old-fashioned drum brakes, rigid shipped 15 rolling chassis to Devin
rear axles and leaf springs! Enterprises in El Monte, one-third of them
right-hand drive, like my car. Devin’s little
With a 92-inch wheelbase and 52-inch crew added a Chevrolet 283-ci, 220-hp
track, MacGregor’s chassis was almost small block V8 and 4-speed Borg-Warner
exactly the same size and dimension transmission. With simple bucket seats,
as a racing Ferrari Testa Rossa. Like the rudimentary windshield and top, the Devin
Testa Rossa, the new Devin SS was also SS was a 2,170-pound street-legal sports
styled by Scaglietti — albeit without his racer, for which Devin charged $5,950,
knowledge. In the winter of 1958, Bill Devin about $800 more than a fuel-injected 1958
accompanied Luigi Chinetti on his annual Corvette — but roughly $12,000 less than a
trip to Italy to view next year’s Ferrari Ferrari Testa Rossa.
models.
It still took Bill Devin five years to
They visited Carrozzeria Scaglietti, complete and sell the 15 MacGregor-chassis
Devin SS cars, slightly modified and
improved in three distinct series.

My car, SR3-1, was the first car of the
third series, sold new to the owner of a
hotel in New Orleans. Originally red, it was
painted black, raced in a few SCCA events
by John Brophy and then sold in 1962 to a
couple of Midwest brothers who painted
it white before backing it into a race track
barrier and damaging the left rear quarter.
It then disappeared for over a decade —
until Mr. McAtee bought it.

From the ceiling to Laguna Seca

In 1986, the Monterey Historic races
announced their feature event for 1987
would be Chevrolet-powered sports cars.
General Motors was sending an 18-wheeler
from Detroit holding the Corvette SS, SR1
and the original Stingray race car driven
by Dick Thompson, along with some other
special machines powered by Chevrolet
small-block V8s. They would bring my
Devin SS to Monterey for me if I could get it
done in time.

58  Linkage 009

I rescued my Devin from Mike Baglione’s Rich and his 1958 Devin SS SR3-1 A happy Rich driving his
ceiling and gave it to another friend, Joey at the 1987 Monterey Historics Devin SS on the New
Welfel of Bronson Auto Body in Nyack. England 1000 in 1999
He did the bodywork and resprayed it Historic. Starting in 1993, I drove it on a
Porsche Guards Red. Bill Devin supplied dozen Vintage Rallies 1,000-mile events in mechanicals have been almost completely
a new hood to replace the one wrecked New England, West Virginia and Florida. It changed to make it more competitive in
by the falling catapult — plus a new cast won awards at the Amelia Island Concours, today’s not-very-vintage “vintage” racing.
alloy rear hub to replace the hub damaged Burn Center and Greenwich Concours, and
long before I bought the car. Koni America was featured in major articles in “Sports Car I still think the Devin SS is one of the
rebuilt the coil-over shock units. International,” “Vintage Motorsport,” “The neatest sports cars ever built, the very
Milestone Car” and “Car and Driver.” personification of the Golden Age of
My SCCA Mazda RX-7 crew chief, Greg American road racing, pretty, fast and
Colletti, was just starting a new business of My Devin SS was my favorite car ever. I loud, with the V8 engines up front where
his own, called Controlled Performance. I stupidly sold it in 2000, when I was forced God and Henry Ford intended them to
gave him the Devin to complete and traded to stop wheel-to-wheel racing thanks to be. In their day, and in the Golden Age of
him the rebuilt — but incorrect —1962 complications from Lyme Disease. Vintage Racing in the 1980s and 1990s, a
327-ci V8 for a correct 1958 283 cubic inch Devin SS was capable of running with just
V8, which he rebuilt with mechanical Well-known Indiana collector Tom about anything, but it was also fun to drive,
lifters. I wanted to keep the three Rochester Mittler bought it, and Jim Freeman reliable and easy to repair.
two-barrel carburetors on the Offenhauser bought it from Mittler’s estate a decade
manifold and use classic Chevrolet Rams later. Freeman still vintage races it, but Even better, whenever you park it, it’s one
Horn exhaust manifolds, even though a it has been wrecked, repaired and the of those special cars you can’t resist giving a
Holley four-barrel and headers would have happy parting glance.
delivered much more horsepower.

I kept the stock Borg-Warner 4-speed
and 3.70:1 differential. Greg installed
a 15-gallon fuel cell, crafted a Lexan
windscreen and sleek headlight rims — and
got his watchmaker father to rebuild the
Devin instruments.

Mike Baglione added a simple
“paperclip” rollbar intended for a Cobra
427 replica, I redid the interior in tan vinyl
and tan carpeting to contrast with the Red
bodywork and installed chrome 72-spoke
Dunlop wire wheels that were wider and
stronger than the originals.

When we were done, from its canister-
style oil filter to its genuine 1958 Chevrolet
taillights, Devin SR3-1 was totally authentic
to 1958 — except for a modern alternator
mounted under the left cylinder bank and
a thermostatically controlled electric fan
hidden behind the radiator. Neither could
be seen unless you crawled underneath to
look.

Greg and I literally finished the Devin
the night before it left on GM’s truck for
Monterey, and the first time it turned a
wheel under its own power was when I
headed out to practice at Laguna Seca, a
track I’d never seen before.

I raced very conservatively, mostly trying
to stay out of everyone’s way. A few months
later, at the SVRA Bahamas vintage races on
a track I’d raced before, I ended the week
with a 1st place and two 2nd places in the
three races plus a 2nd in the Concours.

A long race career

From 1987 through 2000, I raced the
Devin in Group 4 with SVRA all over the
country, plus every VSCCA Lime Rock

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  Linkage 009  63

THE KNOWLEDGE

STOCKED UP

Stock car racers deal
with spins, crashes and
pile-ups every race.
What kind of mindset
gets them back in the
car each week?

by ELANA SCHERR

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IT’S A QUESTION so basic that
racers must hear it all the time,
from the media, from their friends,
from their moms. The answer
seems obvious, and yet, every
driver approaches it differently.
Danger lurks around every corner,
and also on the straightaways.

We asked five different stock-car
racers the same thing: Is racing
risky? How do you deal?

Matthew Stockman/Getty Images, courtesy of NASCAR Photo by Dozier Mobley/Getty Images,
courtesy of NASCAR

BOBBY ALLISON

Age: 84 
NASCAR Hall of Fame Class of 2011
84 cup series wins

Driving a race car is somewhat risky. It’s a
little bit outside of the norm, when it comes
to trying to be safe.
You started racing as a teen. Did you
know how dangerous it was going in?

No, I just thought about how fun it was.
I knew there was a possibility of an injury,
but I was sure that I was not going to be
injured. I was just so confident in my own
driving ability that I wasn’t going to be
injured.

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THE KNOWLEDGE

Rex White (No. 4) battles Bobby Allison
(No. 40) during the Daytona 500 at
Daytona International Speedway in 1961

Image courtesy of NASCAR

But you were nervous about racing, not tell me who this Bob Sunderman is.” He What about once your boys started
because you thought you would crash, but had me caught dead to rights. He said, racing? That’s an entirely different kind
because you weren’t supposed to be doing “Don’t use a fictitious name. Use your real of risk, and both Clifford and Davey died
it? name and be honorable.” And eventually young. Did you ever try to discourage
after I promised I’d raise my grades and them from racing and flying?
Oh yeah, see, I was 17, and to race you a few other things, my mother signed the
were supposed to be 21. Now, they would permission slip and I could race. We lost Clifford in a driving crash, we
let you race underage with a permission slip lost Davey in a helicopter crash. I couldn’t
from a parent, so the first race I did, I had a As you started driving professionally and try to discourage from any of those things
slip from my mother, but the second race, you moved from team to team, you had because I did all those things! The cars,
she wouldn’t sign it. She wasn’t in favor of a lot of different rides. Was there a time the airplanes. I enjoyed flying so much.
me racing. So I decided to use a fictitious period that you felt was the riskiest? I couldn’t tell them not to do the same
name. things.
Pretty early in my career I got hurt. Not
My older sister was dating a friend of really badly, broke a bone in my leg, but You raced some other kinds of races.
mine, Bob Sunman, and he said, “Well, there was some real, honest pain. My You did some sports car stuff, you did a
here. Just use my license. I’m not going to attitude then was that this is something Can-Am test, and you did some Indy car
use it, so you borrow my license and go that I have to withstand, to continue to driving. Were the risks the same?
race.” He was 21, see. So I show the license, compete.
but the chief steward at the racetrack knew My attitude was, if I got in the equipment,
who Bob Sunman was, and he knew who I saw guys that they got bumped around I wanted to make the best use of the
Bobby Allison was, but he let me slide. He a little bit and either quit or slowed down equipment, no matter what it was. I got in
changed the name from Sunman to Bob in their racing. I just put up with the hurt. I that Indy car as a test for Roger Penske.
Sunderman — really made me an unknown fixed my cast where I could operate my leg
— so I thought I had pulled off a pretty good properly. It was my brake pedal leg. So I The cars weren’t the problem, it was the
deal. Well on Sunday, dad was reading his had to get where I could push on the brake mechanics. I got abused by the Indy car
paper when we got back from church, and and use it effectively, which I could. It hurt mechanics and engineers so bad. Once I
he pulled me right over and said, “Hey boy, a little bit, but I could do that. To me, that showed up 8:00 in the morning at Ontario
was just part of the deal. Speedway, and they didn’t let me in the
car until 3:00 in the afternoon. Then, they

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told me I couldn’t go fast. They had a Jimmie Johnson walks the grid with his
couple of the Indy car drivers there. They’re wife Chandra Johnson and their daughters
somewhere around 190 mph. And they told Lydia Norriss Johnson and Genevieve Johnson.
me I couldn’t go more than 175 mph.
Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images, courtesy of NASCAR
Finally, at 4:15, 4:20, almost quitting
time, they said, “Okay, you can go a little
faster. Just be careful.” So I went 192 mph.
And they waved me in, told me I shouldn’t
have done that because I was taking a big
chance. So, I got in my airplane and went
home. They wanted an Indy car driver to
drive the Indy car, not a lowly stock car
driver.

Would you do things differently if you
could go back?

Yeah, I would take a class, somewhere,
something where you can learn how to not
make people mad at you.

Do they teach that?
Somebody must, somewhere.

JIMMIE JOHNSON

Age: 47
7-time Cup Series champion

I guess there’s a safety factor, one that I’ve
not been overly concerned with. There were
some moments in the early 2000s, when we
had all those unfortunate deaths — Dale
Earnhardt Sr. — but after that it really has
become much safer once again.

I know there’s risk in it, but I think
my younger years racing dirtbikes really

framed up this occupation from a risk
factor and I’ve been comfortable and good
with it. I think from [Chandra], my wife’s
perspective, it took a bit of time for her
to get used to it. I certainly have a better
appreciation of her fears and concerns,
and now being a father, I understand some
of the concerns my kids have. They didn’t
make this choice for themselves. They
aren’t in the same headspace as I am.

You’ve raced stock cars, motorcyles, Indy
Cars, and sports cars. Is there one you
think it the most dangerous?

The riskiest? I feel like being exposed on a
motorcycle is the most risky form of racing.
I raced those dirtbikes when I was younger,
and I had countless broken bones. I’ve not
broken a bone since I’ve been in a race car!
So I think the two-wheeled world is the
most risky.

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THE KNOWLEDGE

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images, courtesy of NASCAR

Image courtesy of NASCAR risk in driving your car to the grocery store. it’s okay and thought it was an okay thing to
There’s risk when you get in and out of the do, then I’m gonna trust her on it. But that’s
TONY STEWART shower each time. But when you’re doing definitely the scariest thing I’ve done.
things that you love…you don’t ignore the
Age: 51 risk… you have to acknowledge that it’s Now you’re competing in Top Alcohol
3-time Cup Series Champion there, have respect. Dragsters, a totally different kind of
racing from the Sprint and Stock cars
I don’t even know that we think about You gotta drive the race car and you gotta you made your reputation in. Any risk of
the risk, honestly. There’s risk in everything. be focused on driving the race car. You can’t ruining your rep if the racing doesn’t go
There’s risk in getting on a bicycle. There’s a think about the risk. well?

What were your riskiest career moments? I guess if you’re worried about damaging
I think business-wise, it would’ve been your reputation if you don’t do well, then
you don’t have confidence in yourself.
when I made the decision to leave Joe
Gibbs racing to form Stewart-Haas racing. I’ve always been a guy who has thrived
To leave an established team that I was with on trying things, and doing things that
and had success with. I think the riskiest people said I couldn’t do. I feel like all my
thing I’ve done in motor sports was letting stats and records speak for themselves. I
my now-wife [Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett] don’t ever have to justify it. Anything I try, if
talk me into driving her Top Fuel dragster I’m not successful at it, then I just didn’t do
in 2020. The more I ran a Top Fuel car, the a good job, but I like trying new things. I like
more I realized how much I don’t need to putting myself in those positions of being
be in a Top Fuel car. So it wasn’t necessarily vulnerable and trying to see if I can figure a
the best of decisions, but I figured if she said new discipline out.

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Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images, courtesy of NASCAR you get in a crash, and you go, “Oh, man. younger, [13 years old] I didn’t think about
I was closer to an injury or having a major it. I just jumped in and went. I didn’t weigh
JEFF GORDON issue there than I thought.” Maybe you look out the risk. I jumped in this, I don’t know,
at your seat and you realize that the seat’s 650, 700 horsepower, very lightweight car
Age: 51 made out of aluminum — this is going back that did not have a lot of safety features on
4-time Cup Champion to sprint car, midget days for me — You it and started going 150 miles per hour like
realize that it pulled through some of the it was no big deal. Again, I was fortunate.
Of course it is. I think a lot of things in bolts and that the seat could have come I had plenty of crashes, but none serious
life involve risk, but certainly as a race car loose and you go, “Okay, how do we fix enough that I was injured.
driver, every time you strap in that car, that for next time?” Along way throughout
you’re going to be carrying that car at a high your career, you just get better information I was also in the race when Brad Doty
rate of speed. and more experience. I was fortunate to broke his back and was permanently put
be surrounded by people who not only are in a wheelchair, so I knew the risk. I saw
As safe as NASCAR is, there’s still plenty trying to make the car go faster, but they’re it around me, but at that time I didn’t
of things that can go wrong and could also trying to make sure that it’s as safe as think about it as much as I did later in life.
cause an injury. If you’ve been racing long possible. What you need to do is talk to my dad, my
enough, you’re going to feel what it’s like to stepdad, and ask him how come he was
hit a wall or another car. Ray Evernham, my crew chief, he had willing to put his son into that kind of a
been in quite a few of his own crashes situation, because we laugh and joke about
I think I was 43 when I retired, a little because he had a driving career at one it now, but yeah, that was pretty risky.
kid when I started. I was very fortunate I time, and he got injured pretty bad, so
didn’t have any major injuries. I certainly he was very focused on safety. Evernham But it worked, so that’s the thing about
suffered bruises and soreness and probably Motorsports put tons of energy into their risk, right?
slight concussions along the way, but I chassis being not only fast but safe.
also witnessed some of the worst — Dale That’s why you take risk, right? The risk
Earnhardt’s crash, Rich Vogler in sprint When we talk about risk, it’s calculated versus the reward. And there’s a huge
cars. risk. You don’t just go out there like a reward. The more risk you’re willing to
daredevil on a death mission. You’re going take, there’s usually a greater reward or a
I definitely think being a race car driver is out there saying, “Okay, the car is capable greater ... I don’t want to say prize because
risky, but I think probably what we’re going of this and we’re putting this much energy it could be a feeling, right? If you bungee
to get to in your next question is, is that into safety and the tracks have done this jump off of a huge cliff or a bridge, you’re
what I’m focused on? You get strapped in and put this much into safety.” doing it because of the thrill and the thrill is
to do your job, and it’s something that you going to be greater the further you fall and
love to do. You want to do it your best and Is there a moment that you can think back the more risk that you take. I think that’s
you push the limits of the car and the tires on in your career where you feel you took true in racing and in life. The bigger risk
and everything, knowing those risks are the biggest risk? you take, the better chance you have the
there. But even though they’re there, once thrill of maybe winning a race or winning a
you get into that competition, it’s really the When I look back, the craziest thing that I championship.
furthest thing from your mind. ever did was getting in that Sprint car. I was

Is there anything you do on your end to Jeff Gordon, driver of the #24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, crosses
help mitigate the risks, or mitigate your the finish line to win the NASCAR Nextel Cup Daytona 500 on February
distraction by them? 20, 2005 at the Daytona International Speedway in Florida.

Yeah. You go through these stages where Image courtesy of NASCAR
you just strap in and go. You don’t even
think about it. Then somebody gets hurt or

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THE KNOWLEDGE

ROSS CHASTAIN

Age: 29

2 Cup Series wins

No. 1 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for

TrackHouse Racing

There is definite risk in driving these
race cars to the limit and stepping over that
limit, but I trust the process of the way they
were built and safety gear and engineering
to take care of me, and to just keep me safe.
But it’s also risky riding in a truck to the
airport, flying across the country. There’s
risk in everything we do, I think.

What is the riskiest thing that you’ve ever
done in racing? I’m guessing it’s this wall
drive, but maybe it’s not. [In October, 2022,
at Martinsville Speedway, Chastain made
a wild last-lap move by putting his car up
against the wall in a video-game style move
for speed and position]

It is. It is. Yeah, for sure. I mean, the
thought of up shifting into a gear higher
than we’ve used on the track all weekend
and getting against the wall right at the
end of the straightaway, and just not really
worrying or regarding what happens is a
wild, wild thought, even for me to sit here
and talk to you now about. So yeah, it’s top
of the list.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images, courtesy of NASCAR

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Ross Chastain, driver of the #1 Moose Do you consider yourself of a wild man the world. I’ve driven for so many different
Fraternity Chevrolet, rides the wall on the final normally? Are you a big risk taker? teams where if you crashed, you got fired.
lap of the NASCAR Cup Series Xfinity 500 at Now being at TrackHouse in the Cup Series,
Martinsville Speedway on October 30, 2022 in I mean, I’ve been going to Vegas twice you just go try to do the best you can and
Martinsville, Virginia. a year for each race ever since 2012 and if it doesn’t work out, it’s fine. We’ll build
I’ve probably gambled maybe a hundred another race car.
dollars total over all the years there, I do all
my gambling on the track. So not in normal Look, a lot of things that should have
life, normal world, no, not a big risk taker came across my mind did not. And
and not really comfortable with stuff that’s ultimately that’s why I did it, I think,
stepping outside of my comfort zone. But because I didn’t think about the what ifs
on the track, just whatever it takes is my or the negatives. You can’t, in general, as a
mentality. driver. You can’t worry about the crash.

We want to win. I will do whatever it If you don’t have confidence in the car or
takes. And just so happened in Martinsville, in your ability to survive or to be okay in a
I thought it would take riding the wall. crash then you’re not going to be in that car
Somehow it worked. much longer. Your mind, your gut’s going to
tell you to get out and stop racing. But right
Was the idea of it going poorly, causing now, look, I knew it was risky, but I was
some sort of big pile up, was that in the fully committed to doing whatever it took
back of your head at all? Is it in your head because it’s just so wild that we’re here in
now as you look at it? the first place.

No, as a race car driver, you don’t think I want to do everything I can and I will
about the crash. We crash race cars for a do everything I can to accomplish our
living every Sunday. Just turn on the TV and goals, even if it is full throttle, up against the
watch. Somebody is going to crash even wall in a way that no one’s ever tried to do
though we’re some of the best drivers in before.

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DRIVE OR DISPLAY

Driving Ultra-Rare
Cars on Public Roads

This year’s Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance saw irreplaceable
cars rolling in the wild

by JEFF ZURSCHMEIDE

ONE OF THE highlights of Monterey Car Week is the “Diminution of Value covers the value lost when
70-mile Pebble Beach Tour d’Elegance associated originality is destroyed by accident or theft,” said
with the Pebble Beach Concours. Many other Joshua Grundy, Director of Marketing for Grundy
top-level concours around the world also include a Insurance. “Some parts are irreplaceable with one-off
chance to drive the show cars for a short distance — if vehicles — or are too scarce to source and will never
the owner feels up to it.   be matching numbers or the exact missing piece that
came with the vehicle during its original production.
Uniquely, Pebble Beach also offers the 1,500- This is a necessary coverage for rare, often multi-
mile Pebble Beach Motoring Classic, which takes million-dollar vehicles.”
participants on a 10-day road trip from Kirkland,
Washington down to Monterey via the coast route. Sharing auto history with the public
Some of the cars on this trip even end up in the
Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance itself.   Given the historic significance and high monetary
value of some of these cars, owners have to wonder if
The thing is, many of the cars participating at this it’s wise to put them even at nominal risk by driving
level are, in fact, irreplaceable. If something breaks them on public roads.
or is damaged during the tour, new parts may have
to be manufactured from scratch — that means the  Yet it’s no surprise that the stewards of the cars
vehicle has lost some amount of its originality, and participating in the Pebble Tour tend to believe
potentially some of its cash value.   that their cars are meant to be driven. Among this

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Kate Lawler, Shamrock Motoring Images

value beyond their economic value,” said Jonathan The 1969 Autobianchi
Klinger, Executive Director of the Hagerty Drivers 112 Bertone Concept
Foundation. “Cars are designed to be driven and for Car. This car, designed
many enthusiasts, that is when they come alive.” by Marcello Gandini,
who also designed the
 “Tours associated with Concours are very Lamborghini Miura and
structured and present a scenario that helps mitigate Lamborghini Countach,
risk by itself,” Grundy points out. “I have always inspired the Fiat X1/9 and
subscribed to the thought that cars are meant to be the Lancia Stratos
driven. Some more carefully than others!”
Ned J. Lawler, Shamrock Motoring Images
Value in public use
year’s tour cars was the unique 1969 Autobianchi
112 Bertone Concept Car, currently owned by the Even when it comes to longer road trips, insurers
Automotoclub Storico Italiano (ASI) in Turin, Italy. tend to be comfortable with rare cars in the hands of
their owners.
 “Historic vehicles such as the Bertone Runabout
represent cultural and artistic assets of great value  “Organized tours such as the Pebble Beach
that associations such as ASI have the duty to protect, Motoring Classic provide a controlled environment
but also to show to the public,” said Luca Gastaldi, for some of the world’s most historically significant
head of the press office for ASI. “Vehicles are not vehicles to be driven on public roads, for the public
like motionless paintings or sculptures; cars and all to enjoy them in their natural environment and
historic vehicles must be observed in motion, when for the cars to remain safe while doing so,” Klinger
they are at 100 percent of their functionality. For this said. “Hagerty is in the business of making sure
reason, it is right to make them move — albeit with all owners get the most enjoyment out of their cars. Our
the necessary caution and attention.” guaranteed value insurance policy covers the value
of their vehicle so they can be driven on public roads
 Caution, it seems, is the name of the game. When if the owner chooses. However, these owners are still
it comes to an event like the Pebble Tour, insurers and mindful of where and how they use them.”
owners alike believe the precautions taken make the
event a net positive.  In the end, it’s a combination of positives. The
organizers create a safe, planned route with minimal
 “Historically significant vehicles have a cultural risk of outside traffic interfering, and the owners of
the vehicles wisely exercise prudence while driving
their rare vehicles.

Together, those factors create a reasonably safe
space to enjoy these machines as they were intended.

 “The risks are not so high in relation to the great
return we derive from street performances,” Gastaldi
said. “First of all, there is the possibility of thrilling
new generations and therefore continuing to feed this
beautiful sector, guaranteeing its development in the
future.”

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CLUB RACING
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 a FAST START
with CLUB RACING

New race car drivers often get their start at
modest events, where they learn skills — and
safety

by CHUCK GILCHREST

ALMOST EVERYONE WHO owns a sports car envisions
driving in a race.

A race transforms a sports car from stylish transportation
into a sharp tool — where speed, coordination, bravery,
and skill are paramount.

Some car collectors make purchasing decisions upon a
car’s race potential. Perhaps they’re buying a car so rare or
historically significant that getting behind the wheel and
driving the car on the track in its intended fashion involves
a risk they’re unwilling to take.

Perhaps at some point the buyer takes the plunge into
wheel-to-wheel competition.

Often that means getting into club racing.

No cheap thrills

A sports car with racetrack potential will require
upgrades to tires, brakes, suspension, and various
weight savings — on top of the safety gear required
for competition. Replacing original equipment with
aftermarket specialty parts can compromise resale values
before the car ever goes to the track.

On the plus side, sticky racing tires, adjustable shock
absorbers with stiffer springs and racing brakes help keep
the car on the track at higher speeds — which also reduces
the likelihood of accident-related damage. Mike Pettiford
an instructor with Colorado-based Go-4-It Racing School
makes a prudent suggestion to students seeking a racing
license:

“You can choose to race the car you’ve always wanted to
drive fast, like a Porsche 911 or Corvette and find yourself
at the back of the grid regardless of how much money you
spend,” Pettiford said. “Or you can race a less-popular car
that may not go as fast but you’ll likely have better results
and become a better driver as a result.”

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CLUB RACING

Bill Gelles and his
Formula Junior at
Lime Rock

Pettiford suggests committing an entire season Getting started
of racing to a specific race club, as it will help to
familiarize yourself with the car’s performance and Newbie racers have a variety of options to reduce risk.
the track layout. Unless a person has been fortunate enough to have
a childhood filled with competitive kart racing, most
The law of averages in high-risk motorsport folks entering racing will start with timed events,
suggests that the more you race the more that you’re such as autocross or time attack. Most will also seek
exposed to risk. However, with experience comes instruction from a professional driving school.
a higher understanding of the car’s traits and the Autocross is perhaps the least-expensive option for
driver’s limitations. the entry-level sports racers, as most events are held
in parking lots where competitors take timed runs
Veteran club racers like Bill Gelles of Chappaqua, through a course delineated by traffic cones.
NY have been racing since the 1970s — and know Safety equipment is typically just a helmet and
how to manage risk. closed-toe shoes — and a roll bar for convertible
cars. Just like autocross, time attack is a race against
Gelles began his racing career in Ferrari Le Mans the clock, but this option is held on a legitimate race
racers and had his fair share of mechanical issues course.
alongside his racing success over the years. Depending on the type and class of race car,
additional safety gear is required due to the higher
With the encouragement of friends, he entered speeds achieved which means higher costs for the
various IMSA sports car events in a race-prepped equipment and more wear and tear on the vehicle.
Ferrari 512 — including the Daytona 24 hours — and The quality of modern safety gear is a vital component
continued to campaign various Porsche and Ferrari of any racing.
racers throughout the 1980s. Certified helmets and flame-resistant suits are

Eventually, Bill gravitated to vintage car racing
after acquiring a Stanguellini Formula Junior open-
wheeled racer — and sold the rest of his racing stable.
Now with 50-plus years experience, Gelles makes
Connecticut’s Lime Rock Park his home track.

Gelles was at Lime Rock’s Fall Vintage Festival in
September for three days of racing. Race classes were
grouped by engine size and the age of the cars.

On the final day, the track conditions were damp
from showers the previous evening — with more
rain expected. Gelles decided to keep the car on the
trailer. “It’s not worth it to me to risk damage to the
car in wet conditions, especially because there was
such a wide range of drivers’ experience in my race
class,” Gelles said. “Plus, if somebody crashes into
me, it will cost upwards of $50,000 to fix the frame
and bodywork of the race car.”

Other competitors on the same day made light
of the wet conditions, which actually favored lower
horsepower entries.

New Jersey driver Nial McCabe drove his race-
prepped 1958 Austin A-35 sedan in the Early Post War
class against open-wheeled Alfas and Bugattis.

Did his low-horsepower car have an advantage in
the wet against larger-displacement cars?

“Good tires for the conditions make all the
difference,” McCabe said.

Surely knowing that the risk of a mistake would
be far less costly for McCabe’s Austin than to an Alfa
Romeo 8C or Bugatti Type 37 allowed him to move
through the pack with confidence.

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required in any wheel-to-wheel racing. Racing also parents or siblings involved in the sport making the
requires onboard fire suppression systems, roll cages, risks more acceptable.
six-point seat harnesses, and crash-resistant fuel
cells. Add in the on-site EMT medical support and Many organizations, such as Audrain Motorsport
trained corner workers, and you’ll find that most in Newport, RI, offer opportunities to take track-
track incidents occur without harm to the racers prepped vehicles out for hot laps under controlled
involved. conditions at their special events.

On occasion, drivers do suffer serious injuries, and Track Night in America, sponsored by the Sports
any racer entering the sport should know that many Car Club of America, gives owners an opportunity
health insurance plans will deny coverage of any to take their own vehicles out for spirited laps at
injuries that happen while racing. various tracks with certain safety limits and proper
car preparation.
Making choices for safety
Whatever path a racer takes towards testing one’s
The danger of racing is something that most skill behind the wheel of a sports car, there are
participants encounter through multiple discussions always risks.
with racing instructors, family, fellow drivers and
track personnel. Even veteran racers with decades of experience
are not blind to the dangers that are part of their
Almost every racing organization holds a drivers’ sport. The good ones weigh the benefits and
meeting before each event, where specific areas of downfalls of how far they wish to push themselves,
safety are reviewed and addressed. their vehicles, and their families toward achieving
racing success.
In his classes, Go-4-It instructor Pettiford talks
about five different “levels” he identifies regarding
driver intensity and approach to the track. Level
One is a crash situation, while Level Five is a calm,
methodical approach to each turn and track hazard.

Pettiford advises his students to never race lower
than Level Four.

Sports psychologist Tammi Eggleston’s article,
“Inside the Helmet of Extreme Sports: The Psychology
of Auto Racing,” points out that there is very little
room for mistakes in auto racing and that risks are
high because there is very limited time for practice.
Still most racers acknowledge that the rewards of
the sport outweigh the risks. Some racers have
the benefit of family support, and some even have

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ONE LAP AT

SPEED
Top drivers share the risks, calculations and
rewards during one lap of famous race tracks

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FORMULA ONE IS booming in the United States — fans
in Europe and Asia are wondering what took us so long
— and so is IndyCar and vintage racing. We decided
to ask a group of top-tier drivers what it is like to get
behind the wheel and drive one lap — balancing risks
and rewards — at speed on different tracks.

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ONE LAP AT SPEED

Going Down the Corkscrew in their cars never lift going over that hill and continue
that full-throttle momentum deep into Turn 2.
I’VE BEEN ASKED to describe a lap around Laguna
Seca. I’m not sure I can fully describe that experience, By the way, that hill is completely blind as you crest
and for anyone that ever gets the opportunity — don’t it, not knowing what is in front of you as you reach
miss it! Laguna Seca is a very special road course, with those speeds.
its numerous changes in elevation and its famous
Corkscrew. Having done hundreds of laps in quite a Turn 2 is an interesting challenge, as it has a double-
few different race cars over the years, I can only say apex turn, and there is more than one way to enter
that every lap is different in those cars and somewhat and exit this collection of apexes with the most speed.
hard to describe — but I’ll try. I have found that entering the first apex midway
between the apex and the outside of the corner, so
 I’ll start with a specific car, and try to explain a ride that I can turn in sooner to accelerate through the
in the Porsche 935 which is a car that has extreme second apex and head up to Turn 3, which is a rapidly
power, incredible brakes, and great handling — if you approaching change of direction coming off Turn
like a fair amount of throttle oversteer. You exit Turn 2 and then immediately moving the car left before
11 onto the front straightaway and accelerate at full entering the apex at Turn 3 and then accelerating off
throttle — 8,000 rpm — from 2nd gear through 4th, Turn 3 as quickly as possible down the short shoot
reaching 150-plus mph as you crest the top of the hill before a very late apex through Turn 4. Turn 4 is a
below the pedestrian bridge. The transition from the very exciting corner as the late apex allows you to
top of the hill to the off-camber downhill on the other accelerate in drag race fashion down the second
side is always unnerving, but those that are confident fastest straightaway approaching the left-hander at
Turn 5. That straightaway between Turn 4 and Turn
5 is another area where the 935 will reach speeds of
150 mph before you pinch the Turn 5 inside apex and
proceed to accelerate after having dropped one gear
from 4th to 3rd and then accelerating on the first part
of the uphill to Turn 6. 

Turn 6 is another corner that continually gets your
attention, as you can carry a tremendous amount
of speed and always feel intimidated as you crest
that inside edge of the apex and slide across Turn 6
to the outside, with mixed optimism and fear about
keeping the outside wheels still on the track as you’re
accelerating up the hill to the Corkscrew. 

The Corkscrew is “the one-of-a-kind corner” in all of
racing. You accelerate up towards the Corkscrew at the
top of the hill, you crest it as far to the right as possible
— this is another area where people have different
lines, some of them probably more technical, maybe
even more correct, but none as exciting as just cutting
straight across on the left corner of the apex at the top
of the hill as close as possible (in fact, putting the left
wheels clear up on the curb) and shooting straight off
the Corkscrew at the steepest part of the drop, kind
of going straight through with the car accelerating
downhill with the right side of the car clear off the
track on the right heading down to the next left apex at
Turn 9 with the goal of taking a straight shot to Turn 9,
staying as far left as possible entering Turn 9. Sliding
across to the outside of that corner as you accelerate
to Turn 10, forcing the car back over to the left before
entering Turn 10 and then dropping down into Turn
10 on the right and accelerating into Turn 11 — where
you go as deep as you dare and use a tremendous
amount of brake.

Then you pick up the throttle and accelerate as
quickly as possible through Turn 11 and back onto
the front straightaway. I think I’d describe it best as

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A car like the ’70s Trans-Am
car allows you to dance through the corners,
sliding the cars sideways almost on every foot of
the surface that is not straight

a high-speed short course with a little bit of roller literally not step on the brakes until you’re inside the
coaster ride thrown in! Turn 2 marker.

 The other thing I’ll mention is that although you And then, with the high downforce undertrays, the
follow mostly the same lines in different cars, the grip level allows you to almost immediately step back
experience really changes from a front-engine ‘70s on the throttle as quickly as possible to accelerate
Trans-Am car to a ground effects Group C Prototype through the corner. On the other hand, a car like the
— and of course, so do the lap times. But as you move ’70s Trans-Am car allows you to dance through the
up to the faster cars, the demand for concentration to corners, sliding the cars sideways almost on every
pinpoint all of those apexes and stay on the course at foot of the surface that is not straight. And I don’t
those higher speeds requires your full attention. think there’s any more exciting feeling than that of
controlling a 3,300-pound Trans-Am car while it is
The other major difference in driving the other drifting through the corners.
more-contemporary cars, such as a prototype car,
is the braking forces which allow you to enter brake BRUCE CANEPA, lifelong racer, car builder, restorer and car dealer
zones, like Turn 2, after 160 mph top speed — and

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ONE LAP AT SPEED

Watch for
the Booze

IF THERE WERE one Formula
One track that was the most
unique on the calendar —
probably in the world — it’s
Monaco. It’s so tight, it’s so
intense. You make a mistake and
suddenly you’re in the barriers. It’s
pretty relentless, there are no long
straights to breathe or even take a
mental break.

Turn 1, known as Sainte Devote,
has a very short apex, so if you
lock up a brake — or don’t get the
turn-in right — you’re probably in
the barriers. It’s actually a really tricky corner. Then the
track climbs uphill towards the Casino.

Through there it’s quick — 4th gear — brushing
close to the barriers on the right-hand side. You crest
downhill, and the car can get a little bit unloaded, so
you always pull right to not hit the bump there. Then
you go into two extremely tight corners: the Lowes
hairpin is probably the tightest corner on the whole
calendar. Then two double rights before the famous
tunnel.

It’s just cool driving through a tunnel in an F1 car. It
feels kinda awesome.

It’s got a right-hand kink in it, but it’s flat-out in
these cars — they are pretty grippy. Then you brake
downhill for the chicane. It’s really tight, and although
you don’t want to clip the barrier, you get really close
to it on the apex. Here you jump over the kerbs and
wait for the car to settle.

Then you need to get on the throttle early to get a
good acceleration before Tabac. That’s the next corner
which is an awesome, 4th gear — maybe 5th — left-
hander. You exit with a bit of oversteer, so you are
sliding out towards the wall.

Then there’s the Swimming Pool which is flat-out
on a good lap. The car gets really light and it feels fast.
Then into braking for another right-left at the second
part of the sequence. It’s really easy to hit the inside
barrier and go straight into the wall.

Then Rascasse, which is a bar/restaurant, so when
they open the circuit at night everyone is on the track
drinking away. Normally the first lap of practice the
morning after there is still a bit of booze on the track,
so it’s pretty slippery there.

Finally, we round the last corner, and it’s so
important to get out of there cleanly and get a good
exit to close the lap.

DANIEL RICCIARDO of the McLaren Formula One Team

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ONE LAP AT SPEED
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Trust and Pushing the
Envelope at the Indy 500

THERE IS NOTHING like a qualifying lap for the Indianapolis 500 at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. You’re full of adrenaline. There’s fear and
fun, but it’s even more so about respect and focus. It’s you and the car
when you get to that point, and that lap is your most edgy moment as a
driver.

Your month of May depends on it.
 Leading to that moment when you pull away from the pit, you’ve
worked with the engineers and your race strategist where they’re
analyzing every bit of data and making tweaks to the strategy for
something as small as a thousandth of a percent — but that could lead to
a monumental change.
 Then it’s just you and the car. You take the first lap at full speed, and
that first corner comes up quickly. Your tires aren’t warm yet, but you
have to have trust in your engineers and, most importantly, yourself,
when you’re heading into the corner gunning at 240 mph.
 That first lap — even that first corner — will indicate your balance with
the car. You take a chance going through that first lap, but you have to
trust yourself. There is a linear relationship of risk and reward. You can’t
become too greedy because there are massive consequences, but you
also need to nail it straight from the start.
 It’s a game you play through each of the four laps of qualifying. You
find your rhythm after that. The next two laps are about maintaining that
balance and continuing to trust in yourself and the team.
Your fourth — and final — lap is as tricky as the first. Your tires are
sliding again at that point, and you’re working to control the car and
maintain that balance through your qualifying round.
 I always aim to drive in a window where I feel just a little
uncomfortable — that’s where you need to be to perform. So each time
I’m back at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, while I’m more confident
because I’m more experienced than the time before, I’m pushing myself
harder, taking more risks than I had before.
 If I could turn back time to my first time racing at Indy, I would never
think I’d have the confidence on that track what I do today. Every lap
teaches me something. Every lap leads me to push a little harder. Every
lap tests my limits.

FELIX ROSENQVIST of the Arrow McLaren SP IndyCar Team

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ONE LAP AT SPEED

Learning Lime Rock with Sam Posey  26R.  He gave Jim Farley in his Le Mans Comp Cobra
everything he could possibly handle. 
 WHEN I WAS asked to contribute to this article, along
with my friend Brian Redman, I remembered what I’ve driven Monterey (Laguna Seca) a number of
George Gobel once said: “Did you ever feel the world times, first in the Group 44 Triumph TR6 and more
was a tuxedo and you were a pair of brown shoes?”  lately in the Group 44 Triumph TR8.  I had a great race
Those guys are pros…the best… champions….men who with Brian Redman in the BMW “Batmobile” he drove
made their living racing. I , on the other hand, spent my in the day, and he taught this duffer a lot of lessons in
living trying to prove something, I’m not sure what. But 30 minutes. 
here goes:
Why do I like driving Laguna Seca? I really enjoy
 Which tracks I liked were so dependent on the cars the elevation changes and particularly negotiating the
I was driving.  Some tracks reward big horsepower/ downhill “Corkscrew.” The course is challenging and
high-torque cars, and some favor less-powerful cars rewarding all at once. It requires deft touch and picking
with great handling.  up the rhythm of the course.  It is one of my favorites. 

I have driven both types, and I can tell you it is a  It is easier to tell you the course I do not particularly
lot more fun to drive an underpowered car with great like to drive. Sebring is one.  Flat as a pancake, and for
handling than a gorilla-motored car that handles like a me not user-friendly. I crashed there in a club race
wheelbarrow.  back in 1983, ending up in a hospital for eight days.
That’s another story for another day, but I do remember
I watched young Horatio Fitz-Simon run the tables waking up and seeing one Brian Redman sitting at the
on Cobras, Corvettes, and other big-block cars in foot of the hospital bed. He looked at me and simply
Monterey this past August in a diminutive Lotus said, “You’ve done it now , lad.”  And so I had.

 I liked the old Road Atlanta before they added the
chicane down the back straight. The old course had
a high-speed dip with a slight turn climbing to the

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crossover bridge.  When running in the SCCA, that one How could it be so bad? Well, the 21-hour tow from
feature separated the men from the boys — and the Jacksonville is not particularly enjoyable. 
in-region drivers to the out-of-region drivers.  When
they changed that, it took some excitement out of it. For me there are two keys to a fast lap: An early turn
in on the right hand up hill, as it is faster than it looks
So here are my likes: because the car loads up and you get extra bite. Just
• Laguna Seca is like driving a roller coaster. make sure you reach the top of the hill nice, neat and
• Watkins Glen is very fast and very challenging.  straight — or you will take a nasty run at the guard rail
(backwards). One turn later, the key to a really good lap
Great for cars with mucho horsepower and torque. is to convince yourself to keep the pedal to the metal 
• Daytona is not high on my list, but the bankings and sweep down the hill flat out.  It is very exhilarating
if you do it right.  Do it wrong, and you’ll buy something
make it fun. substantial on the outside guardrail or the inside sand
• The “old” Road Atlanta. The dip made it fun, but bank. 

then I never drove a really fast car there. If I had For years the benchmark was to lap faster than a 1
driven a McLaren M20, I may have a different minute lap.  I once did a 1:004, just short of Bob Tullius’
perspective. best at 59.600. I felt good.

My dislikes:  So there you go.  Go drive Lime Rock….you will
• Summit Point. I never liked the way one of the enjoy it.

short straights could possibly find its way to the BILL WARNER, chairman emeritus of The Amelia — vintage racer and a lifelong
back straight. supporter and advocate of auto racing

• Sebring. I got hurt there (see above). 

• Barber Raceway. I always felt George Barber built
it to showcase his passion — motorcycles.  Bring
your shortest ratio — a 4:11 was always good for
me.  Run off the road and prang the guard rail and
you’ll get the repair bill from George.

• Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. This track
rewards fast cars with lots of low-end grunt.  Down
the hill through the esses is great, but at the far
end of the course you better have a lot of low-end
torque.

 And my favorite (drum roll, please):
 Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, CT. This track
rewards smooth driving, a great handling car, and
good competition.  I first spectated from the hill
back in 1963. I first raced there in 1985, finishing 3rd
with Don Knowles in a Firehawk Camaro, and I ran
numerous vintage races with hometown driver and
good guy, Kent Bain.  My driving coach was my friend
and great driver, hometown hero and record breaker,
Sam Posey.  

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ONE LAP AT SPEED

Vintage Racing at Laguna Seca

LAGUNA SECA IS an 11-turn, 2.238-mile track
located on the former Fort Ord Army base a few miles
east of Monterey, California.

Built in 1957 to replace the public roads used for
the earlier Pebble Beach races, the first event was won
by Pete Lovely in a Ferrari Testa Rossa. The layout is
now mostly as it was back then, save for a relatively
slow infield section cut into the track in 1988, which
includes the current Turn 2, Turn 3, Turn 4 and Turn 5.

Only small sections of the track are on level ground
and Laguna Seca is defined by its constant ups and
downs, not least Turns 8 and 8A, the world-famous
“Corkscrew.”

The Start/Finish line sits roughly half-way along
the main straight, on an uphill stretch just below the
soon-to-be-replaced pedestrian bridge. The grade
continues a short distance from there, then crests
at Turn 1, which is little more than a slight bend in
a small-bore racer, but substantially more dramatic
in a high-powered car, with its blind approach and
lightened steering once the road falls away toward
Turn 2, aka the Andretti Hairpin.

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The stretch between Turn 1 and Turn 2 is is important to sight one of the trees across the track,
deceptively long, and it is tempting to lift after the as the road immediately disappears from under you
crest, but doing so will result in a lot of lost time, as at an 18% grade. This quick left-right drops 59 feet
this is the fastest part of the track. It is important to between its entrance and exit — the equivalent of a
stay flat until arriving at the braking point, for me 5½ story drop — in only 450 feet of track length.  It’s an
between markers 3 and 2. amazing feeling when you really get it right!

Hard braking and a gradual turn-in start the Then it’s a short burst of hard acceleration on exit,
hairpin, which for some is a relatively tight double- but one’s speed must be carefully modulated on
apex corner but is taken with a wide approach and the approach to the left-handed Turn 9, aka Rainey
a single, very late apex by others. A good exit is Corner. Getting this corner right is tricky because
important in a momentum car, as you want to build the entry is still downhill, but after the banked apex
a lot of speed through the wide, sweeping 90-degree the road begins to rise, and the car wants to drift to
right-handers at Turn 3 and Turn 4. the driver’s right. Many highlight reels show off-road
excursions on the exit, although fortunately there’s a
Another short straight leads to the left that is Turn 5. lot of runoff space.
On the track map, it looks a bit like another 90-degree
corner, but it has an early turn-in and a depression at After a brief, straight blast, you hit the downhill and
the apex which creates a slight uphill banking through significantly banked right-hand Turn 10. Carrying
the exit. It is critical to carry as much speed as possible as much speed through here is the key to creating
through this corner, as the track continues climbing opportunities to pass under braking at the slowest
through the slightly banked, left-handed Turn 6, after part of the track, the first-gear, 110-degree left hand
which the slope increases dramatically up the Rahal final corner, Turn 11. Slow in, fast out is the key.
Straight.
From there it is up through the gears back to Start/
The road bends slightly to the right as the hill crests Finish.
(Turn 7) and levels out in the short approach to the
Corkscrew. At the turn-in point of this iconic corner, it MICHAEL LEVEN, longtime vintage racer and Linkage writer.

Photos by KEVIN O’CONNOR

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BURNENVILLE MALMEDY

MASTA STRAIGHT

HAUT DE LA COTE

LES COMBES MASTA KINK

KEMMEL HOLOWELL
STRAIGHT
VIRAGE L’ANCIENNE RAIDILLON BLANCHIMONT
DOUANNE CLUBHOUSE

EAU ROUGE

LA SOURCE HOLOWELL

theMOST STAVELOT

LA CARRIERE

FRIGHTENING
TRACK Brian Redman’s victories — and many
scary moments — at Spa-Francorchamps

IN 1965, CHARLES Bridges, owner of Red Rose Motors in Chester,
asked if I’d like to drive his newly acquired ex-Graham Hill Jaguar
Lightweight E-Type. We had a very good season — being beaten
once in 15 races, by a Ferrari 250 LM.

At the end of the season, Charles asked what I’d like to drive in
1966. The best answer — if you wished to climb the difficult ladder
of motor racing — would have been Formula 3. However, I’d just
seen a Can-Am race and said that if I had a choice, I’d love to drive
a Lola T70. In early 1966, a new Lola T70 MK II was duly delivered,
and I started driving in a mixture of club and international races.

All this set me up for a long — and often scary— relationship with
Spa Francorchamps, the challenging track in Belgium.

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Returning bottles A bad crash at Les Combes

 After racing the T70 all over England, including fast tracks On the Formula One front, I finished 3rd in the Spanish Grand
like Silverstone, I felt I was ready for anything. So when fellow Prix, mostly due to attrition. Ludovico Scarfiotti and I were last and
driver Peter Sutcliffe asked if I’d like to drive with him in the 1000 next to last on the grid. At the halfway point, we were 9th and 10th.
Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps in May, I eagerly accepted. Three quarters of the way through the race, we were 5th and 6th. I
thought, “If I make a bit of an effort, I might finish on the podium!”
After practicing on Friday I almost retired from motor racing,
unable to believe how fast the GT40 was going — in top gear all the After the race, the top finishers were riding on the back of the
time except in the La Source and Les Combes turns. convertible. On the right was winner Graham Hill, in the was middle
Denny Hulme and I was on the left. When I turned to my right to
For a small private team, 4th place was quite good, but my wave to the crowd, Graham turned to his left and noticed me for
illusions of professional racing fame were quickly brought back to the first time. His arm and jaw dropped, and he declared: “Christ
earth when after the race, Peter said: “Well done Brian, you see all Almighty — don’t tell me you were bloody third!”
the empty Coca-Cola bottles up and down the pit lane? Be a good
chap, collect them and get the money back.”  In early June we were back at Spa-Francorchamps for the Grand
Prix. On Sunday morning Colin Chapman asked how long my
A nightmare at Stavelot Cooper contract was — and to come and talk to him when it was
finished. I qualified 10th, just behind my future Porsche teammates
 In early 1967, Charles Bridges’ brother, David, asked if I wanted Jo Siffert and Pedro Rodriguez, so not too bad.
to turn pro, and when asked what that meant, he replied: “30 quid
(pounds) a week, guaranteed for a year, with a car and a mechanic.”  On the 7th lap, the right-front suspension broke coming into Les
Combes.
Peter Sutcliffe asked if I’d like to do the Spa 1000 Kilometres again
in his new GT40. He started the race, and after I took over, perhaps I tried to spin the Cooper, but the steering was locked. We rolled
30 minutes into my first stint, I came through the Masta Kink, and in over the barrier and into a marshal’s post. I felt my right arm break,
the distance at Stavelot, I saw a curtain of rain. caught between the barrier and the car. Then the Cooper was on fire,
and I tried to drag my broken right arm out of the flames.
I slowed to around 100 mph as I entered the deluge. The
windshield was covered in bugs, and I had to start the wipers. At the A marshal appeared in front of my face, trying to undo the safety
same time, the inside of the screen was misting up. After Stavelot, belts. He was smoking. The fire erupted again.
there was a fast left then a fast right with a white house on the apex.
I had hit a parked car. Three wheels came off the Cooper, and a
As I approached this corner, I saw headlights in my mirror and marshal was badly injured by one of the flying wheels.
kept to the right as much as I could. A yellow flash went past. It was
Willy Mairesse in the Ecurie National Belge Ferrari 412P, co-driven
by “Jean Beurlys” — Jean Blaton. Immediately — as if in a nightmare
– the Ferrari lost control and hit everything in sight.

I was changing from 4th to 5th, and as I swerved to try and avoid
Mairesse, I missed 5th. I was trying to sort out a slide with one hand
and to get into gear with the other. Just as I started to pick up speed,
the Racing Team Holland Porsche 906 came past, lost control and
finished up spinning on its roof!

For the second time at Spa, I was almost ready to retire from
motor racing! Again, we had a decent result, finishing 6th.

Spa in the wet

In November 1967, I was asked to join the John Wyer Automotive
Engineering team — to drive with the young Belgian wonder boy —
Jacky Ickx — in a Ford GT40-based Mirage M1.

Well, we won the Kyalami 9 Hours and I signed a contract
for 1968. We won at the Brands Hatch 6 Hours and at the Spa-
Francorchamps 1000 Kilometres, where the “Young Brussels
Sprout” as he was known in the team, excelled as always in the wet
conditions.

Yes, Spa is his home circuit. Yes, he had won the saloon car
race — for the third time — in the morning, but Jacky’s first lap was
astonishing. After he passed the pits, he went through Eau Rouge
and up the Kemmel Straight — and out of sight and sound.

Everyone thought there had been a big accident that was holding
up the entire field. No, the 2nd-place car, Vic Elford in a Porsche
908, came past, 38 seconds behind Ickx. Amazing. John Wyer’s
instructions to me were to hold the gap, which by the time I took
over was an entire lap!

After the race, John remarked on Jacky’s drive: “Sublime – but
almost ridiculous.”

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ONE LAP AT SPEED

I was taken by helicopter to L’hôpital de Bavière, where Professeur I’d been catching him a little on braking throughout the race,
F. Orban, head of surgery, and a former Winston Churchill aide in but now we reached what I felt was my last possible braking
World War II, was at the hospital expecting patients from the race. position and I went straight up the escape road, wheels locking and
unlocking. I turned, fully expecting to see Jo taking the chequered
As he stood over me, ready to get to work, he said, “Monsieur flag.
Redman it may not be possible to save the arm.” I thanked him and
smiled. He asked why I was smiling. No! He had spun and was sideways across the road. Chevron won
the Championship by one point. 
“Because I’m here” I replied.
The scariest track 
Back to Spa with the Porsche 917
In 1972, driving the factory Ferrari 312 PB with Arturo Merzario,
 My next time back at Spa was in May 1969, once again for the we won again.
1000 Kilometres, but this time driving a factory Porsche 908 LH.
Somewhat surprisingly, Porsche had brought along two of the new This time, I was quite lucky, as the Jacky Ickx/Clay Regazzoni 312
and untried 917s. After Jo Siffert and I tried one, we decided the 908 PB had tire trouble. Also, as we approached Les Combes, where I’d
LH was a better bet and won. had the bad 1968 Cooper F1 accident, Ronnie Peterson, also in a 312
PB, was slowly catching me.
I managed to set the fastest lap — at an average of 141 mph for the
8-mile circuit. Ever since that 1968 accident, I’d taken a rather different, slightly
slower line in Les Combes — one that would give me more time
 In late 1969 John Wyer took over the running of the official in case of a problem. Now, as we approached the corner, I saw
factory Porsche entries. movement in the crowd.

In 1970, I returned once again to the formidable Spa circuit in the This usually indicates an accident around the corner which has
equally formidable Porsche 917K. not yet been flagged. Or it could mean rain, as people put up or take
down umbrellas. I immediately started to gently brake. Yes, there
First lap out in practice, Siffert never came around. Rodriguez had been rain but no water was visible on the track.
appeared in the pits saying that Siffert was stopped on the Masta
Straight with a flat tire. The tire was changed on the track, and Siffert I just managed to get round. Ronnie was not so fortunate, sliding
arrived back in the pits airing his opinion in forceful terms. into and then onto the Armco barrier and riding it round like a slot
car!   
All four wheels were changed, and Siffert went back out and
it happened again in the same place. Back once more in the pits  So, for me, Spa was the most frightening road-racing track I
four new wheels and tires were put on once again, and now, “Herr ever drove on. The fear was not just for the circuit itself. Part of it
Redman, it is your turn!” was the knowledge that Spa was in the middle of the Battle of the
Bulge, and two of the corners, Stavelot and Malmedy, were named
When I protested that something was wrong, I was advised to after two nearby villages, which were the sites of mass murders and
“Go slow.” On my fourth lap of gradually increasing speed, I had no casualties.
problem on the Masta Straight, at 214 mph. Then came Stavelot and
then next into the right-handed La Carriere at 180 mph — BANG —
the left-rear tire came off the rim — no safety rims or bolts in those
days.

  The 917 went sideways, then back the other way as I applied
opposite lock, then back again. I’d lost feeling of where I was
pointing the wheels in relation to the angle of the slide.

I’d read in a motor racing book that in this situation, if you let go
of the steering wheel, the castor action would straighten the car. I
tried it and it worked!

When I arrived back in the pits, Seppi — Jo Siffert — fell on the
floor laughing and when I asked what was so funny, he replied,
“Bree-an, you are ze colour of your overalls.” Which of course were
white at that time.

We won the race at an average speed of over 149 mph, the fastest
road race ever run up to that time. Pedro set the fastest lap at an
average of over 160 mph. 

At the end of 1970, the points position between Chevron and
Lola was tight, so whoever won the Spa 500 Kilometres would win
the 2 Litre Championship. Jo Bonnier and I were never more than a
couple of car lengths apart.

On the penultimate lap, I had trouble getting 1st gear at La Source,
and Jo drew away several car lengths. On the last lap, I caught him,
setting a new fastest lap time, over three seconds faster than my ’69
fastest lap in the 908 LH.

At Stavelot I had a nice lead, but to my horror, on the back
straight Bonnier came up in my slipstream and went past! Now
we’re coming into La Source side by side with Jo on the inside.

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PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE

2022 Pebble Beach
Concours d’Elegance

This year’s classes included Historic Ford Hot Rods, Le Mans cars
and Unorthodox Propulsion

by CARL BOMSTEAD

THE 71ST PEBBLE Beach Concours d’Elegance, after several years of
dealing with the ramifications of COVID-19, graced the bucolic fairways
of the Pebble Beach Golf Links with a spectacular array of automobiles.

There were 216 carefully selected cars from 17 countries that were
displayed on the 17th and 18th fairways, and about 15,000 appreciative
visitors enjoyed the unique machines.

There were 28 classes, and the featured cars were: 24 Hours of Le
Mans Centennial, 1932 Ford Historic Hot Rods, Graber Coachwork,
Lincoln V-8, Lincoln V-12, Lincoln Zephyr & Continental through 1962
and McFarlan classes. In addition there were classes for the Alfa Romeo
8C 2300, Talbot-Lago Grand Sport and Unorthodox Propulsion among
others.

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1929 Bentley Speed Six
“Old Number 1”

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