Dan Gurney died Sunday at age 86, and to say that he lived a full life would be an enormous understatement. He wasn’t just one of the world’s most prolific racing drivers, or the namesake of the Gurney flap and the Gurney bubble. He even started the tradition of spraying champagne on the podium. But that’s just the…
As you might expect, there are a ton of killer photos of Dan Gurney throughout his career. Here he is driving the No. 6 Brabham BT7 Climax at Brands Hatch in 1964. Â
Dan Gurney, the first racer to achieve wins in Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar and one of the most revered and accomplished figures in motorsports history, died Sunday, family members have confirmed. He was 86.
A lot of cars died in 2017. For some, they will be dearly missed; for others, this was probably for the best. While everyone else is making lists of resolutions and what they plan to accomplish in 2018, and because death awaits us all in the end, let’s say farewell to the cars that won’t make it that far.
Outside of Japan, Kenichi Yamamoto isn’t a household name. Not the way Henry Ford and Carroll Shelby and Lee Iacocca are. Yet most people who enter the auto industry don’t get to produce one of the greatest alternative engines ever made, or oversee the development of one of the most beloved sports cars of all time.…
Kenichi Yamamoto, the dreamer at Mazda who saved the rotary engine and started the company along into its Bubble Era insanity, has died at 95. Read this fine obituary on Road & Track to familiarize yourself with this legendary engineer.
Legendary rocker Tom Petty died today at age 66. He was many things to many people, but I think most would agree that he wrote, played and sang some of the greatest driving songs the world’s ever known. Celebrate his life by enjoying that legacy; cue up your favorite Petty track and put some miles on your car.
Ted Christopher, who competed in every level of NASCAR and racked up nearly 50 wins in the Modified Series, was killed in a plane crash in Connecticut on Saturday, the series announced. Christopher was 59.
Travis Tollett was amazing. I met him my first year at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in 2010 and we have been friends since. He lost the ability to walk in a racing crash, and when he realized he couldn’t drive anymore, he started co-driving for his friends. At least he still went to the top of the mountain…
Roy Lunn, a visionary engineer behind the iconic Ford GT40 car that won Le Mans, as well as the Ford Mustang, Ford Anglia, Jeep Cherokee and countless other automotive gems, died earlier this month at the age of 92 after suffering a stroke.
Unlike some other hatchbacks that will be departing the U.S. market, I don’t predict anyone pouring one out for the Mitsubishi i-MiEV. The automaker announced it will discontinue the electric vehicle due to slow sales.
Tourists flock to Princess Juliana International Airport on the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten to catch a glimpse of jets nearly skimming the beach on their ultra-low takeoffs and landings. Numerous signs warn the tourists not to get too close, lest they get blown to their deaths by the landing jet’s air blasts.…
Trans Am driver Mel Shaw died Sunday afternoon after his TA4-class Chevrolet Camaro crashed head-on into a concrete wall at Brainerd International Raceway, reports the Duluth News Tribune. Shaw’s car crashed at Turn 3 of the 2.5-mile Brainerd’s Competition Road Course, at the end of the track’s fastest straight.
On June 20, Bob “Weatherman” Steinberger passed away after a long battle with cancer. To off-road racers, Weatherman was an arbiter, a messenger, and sometimes, a life saver. But even more than that; Weatherman invented backcountry communication decades before cell phones and GPS, and helped make some of the coolest…
Longtime Road Atlanta volunteer Hazel Harrell died from injuries sustained after being struck by a motorcycle on Saturday, reports Roadracing World. Harrell was volunteering there as a corner worker at Road Atlanta’s Turn 7 during the WERA Cycle Jam racing event. She was 60.
A U.S. Navy SEAL in the Leap Frogs parachute team died this afternoon after his parachute malfunctioned during a Fleet Week aerial demonstration, according to a Navy press release. The demonstration was at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Until Nicky Hayden showed up in MotoGP, there was little anybody could do about Italian legend Valentino Rossi’s dominance on motorcycle racing’s biggest stage. But the kid from Kentucky with the aggressive riding style honed on the dirt tracks of middle America managed to halt Rossi’s five-year winning streak in…
American motorcycle racer Nicky Hayden succumbed Monday to injuries from being struck by a car while cycling Wednesday in Italy ahead of the World Superbike race at Misano, multiple outlets are reporting. Hayden was the last American motorcycle racer to win a MotoGP world championship in 2006. He was 35.
Racing is full of wealthy weirdos, but a good many of them are well-pedigreed offspring out to blow the last of their family’s money in an attempt to stave off boredom. That wasn’t Preston Henn, who used his self-made fortune to win the 24 Hours of Daytona—twice. Henn died Sunday at 86, and leaves behind one of…
