Dan Gurney

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Dan Gurney bigraphy, stories - American racing driver

Dan Gurney : biography

April 13, 1931 –

Daniel Sexton Gurney (born 13 April 1931) is an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner.

The son of a Metropolitan Opera star, he was born in Port Jefferson, New York, but moved to California as a teenager. He has been a driver, a car manufacturer, and a team owner at racing’s highest levels since 1958.

Gurney also won races in the Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, and Trans-Am Series. Gurney was the first driver to win races in Sports Cars (1958), Formula One (1962), NASCAR (1963), and Indy Car (1967) (the other two being Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya). In 1967, after winning the 24 hours of Le Mans together with A.J. Foyt, he spontaneously sprayed champagne while celebrating on the podium. Apart from starting this tradition, he also was the first to put a simple right-angle extension on the upper trailing edge of the rear wing. This device, called a Gurney flap, increases downforce and, if well designed, imposes only a relatively small increase in aerodynamic drag. At the 1968 German Grand Prix he became the first driver ever to use a full face helmet in Grand Prix racing.http://www.allamericanracers.com/gurney_grand-prix/eagle_f1-photo.html

American Championship Car

While competing in Formula One, Gurney also raced each year in the Indianapolis 500 from 1962 to 1970. Gurney made his Indy début at the wheel of a space-frame rear engined car designed by John Crosthwaite and built by American hot-rodder Mickey ThompsonCar and Driver magazine August 1962 Hot Rod magazine August 1962 Motor magazine August 1962 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race USAC Yearbook 1962. Floyd Clymer Road & Track magazine September 1962 Despite a misfiring engine, Gurney ran comfortably in the top 10 until a transmission seal failed on the 92nd lap. The last 3 years, he finished 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd, respectively. In 1969, he did not race in Formula One, instead racing in the USAC Championship Car series and also in CanAm. He started a total of 28 Champ Car races, winning 7 times among his 18 top tens. In 1969, he finished 4th in total points, despite starting half the races of most top drivers (and would have finished second in the season standings to champion Mario Andretti if not for a driveshaft failure while leading comfortably with three laps remaining in the season finale at Riverside). In 1968, he finished 7th with only 5 starts.

Indy 500 results

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish
1962 Thompson Buick 8th 20th
1963 Lotus Ford 12th 7th
1964 Lotus Ford 6th 17th
1965 Lotus Ford 3rd 26th
1966 Eagle Ford 19th 27th
1967 Eagle Ford 2nd 21st
1968 Eagle Ford 10th 2nd
1969 Eagle Ford 10th 2nd
1970 Eagle Offy 11th 3rd

NASCAR career

{} Gurney’s first career start was in 1962. Gurney was nearly unbeatable in a NASCAR Grand National car at Riverside International Raceway in Riverside, California. Four of his five victories came with the famed Wood Brothers, in 1964, 1965, 1966 and 1968, in cars all numbered 121 (a simple graphic addition to the team’s traditional "21"). The serial success of the Gurney/Wood Brothers combination did not sit well with NASCAR officials, so in 1967 Gurney signed to drive a Mercury Comet for legendary NASCAR crew chief Bud Moore. However, the 1967 Motor Trend 500 was won by Gurney’s teammate, Parnelli Jones, after Gurney retired with engine troubles. Gurney also made numerous appearances in NASCAR Grand American stockcars, a pony car division that existed between 1968 and 1971.