Remembering a Champion

August 26, 1946 – July 2, 1973 The auto racing history books are filled with stories of unfulfilled potential, with drivers having their lives cut short leaving a lingering series of ‘what if’ scenarios. Young men like Francois Cevert, Adam Petty, Greg Moore and more recently, Jules Bianchi, had yet to demonstrate how far their careers would take them before they were taken from us. None of those stories, perhaps, are as compelling as the story of David Earl “Swede” Savage Jr. who found himself in the lead of theRead More

December 14, 1954 – April 1, 1993 1992 NASCAR Winston Cup Series Champion 5 NASCAR Cup Wins 1986 NASCAR Cup Rookie of the Year How do you define a champion? Is it by the number of races a driver wins? The legacy they leave behind? Or is it the desire, dedication, and determination of the driver? Alan Kulwicki defined a champion his own way. Alan did not win often, turned down opportunities to drive for powerhouse teams, and ran with little to no factory support. Even with all of theseRead More

August 29, 1921 – December 23, 1990 2015 NASCAR Hall of Fame Inductee When Wendell Oliver Scott, of Danville, VA, was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015, it marked the end of a long journey by the Scott family to see the driver given the respect that he deserved for his accomplishments. Unfortunately, the moment came 25 years too late for Scott himself to see it. When I was young, I had seen the film Greased Lightning. In fact, I watched it several times because HBO wouldRead More

April 18, 1942 – September 5, 1970 Formula One World Champion 1970 When I was a young person, I would often spend time reading books about auto racing and its rich history. I found the stories of the innovators that worked to make the cars faster to be particularly fascinating. What I really enjoyed, however, were the stories about the drivers. While other kids were reading comics about Batman or Superman, my superheroes were guys like Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Phil Hill and Jackie Stewart. I was particularity drawn toRead More

January 18, 1950 – May 8, 1982 Six time winner in Formula One Second in 1979 World Championship The year was 1979. I was twelve years old. The place was Watkins Glen International and the event was the Formula One Grand Prix of the United States. It was Friday afternoon and it was raining like crazy. My Uncle and I were wearing those one-dollar ponchos that fold up in your pocket. They didn’t help much; we were getting drenched. We were standing in a grassy section where we could get aRead More

January 22, 1971 – September 11, 1999 Scored a point in CART debut 3-time winner in F3000 (1998 at Spa, Nurburgring, 1999 at Monaco)  The motor racing world is one of enormous emotional toll.  Often times, its fastest rising stars are the ones that never get the chance to see how their careers would have ended had it not been for a freak accident.  Gilles Villeneuve, Stefan Bellof, Greg Moore and Jules Bianchi are prime examples of drivers that had much more to give the racing world but weren’t ableRead More

August 9, 1944 – August 1, 1980 Formula Two Champion – 1974 Monaco Grand Prix winner – 1978 Nearly every race fan has a favorite driver. But, with the nature of auto racing having multiple competitors and multiple series, a lot of us have several second-tier or third-tier drivers that we root for just as much as our favorite. For me, as a young person in the 1970s, my “second-favorite” race car driver was a guy named Patrick Depailler. There was a driver named Mario that occupied the number oneRead More

July 12th, 1930 – August 23rd, 2015 Founder of Ligier car company, sports car and F1 teams Formula One driver 1966 – 1967 Guy Camille Ligier enjoyed one of the most unique careers of all the movers and shakers of the motorsports world in his time. A French national team rugby player, a motorcycle racer and a construction magnate, the often wild Ligier transitioned to racing cars in the early 1960’s. He began his career in a Formula Junior Elva, then racing sports cars for Porsche, before working up theRead More

August 3, 1989 – July 17, 2015 Masters of Formula 3 Champion – 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series Champion – 2009 F1 Points in Monaco Grand Prix – 2014 French Formula Renault 2.0 Champion – 2007 There are no words that define how impactful the tragic loss of Jules Bianchi really is. The untapped potential of a future superstar that perhaps Formula One hasn’t been impacted by since the loss of Francois Cevert in the early 1970’s. The similarities between Cevert and Bianchi are astounding. Both drivers born and raisedRead More