Dan Gurney
Gurney in 1970
BornDaniel Sexton Gurney
(1931-04-13)April 13, 1931
Port Jefferson, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 14, 2018(2018-01-14) (aged 86)
Newport Beach, California, U.S.
Championship titles
USAC Road Racing Championship (1958)
Major victories
12 Hours of Sebring (1959)
24 Hours of Le Mans (1967)
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityUnited States American
Active years1959–1968, 1970
TeamsFerrari, BRM, Porsche, Lotus, Brabham, Eagle, McLaren
Entries87 (86 starts)
Championships0
Wins4
Podiums19
Career points133
Pole positions3
Fastest laps6
First entry1959 French Grand Prix
First win1962 French Grand Prix
Last win1967 Belgian Grand Prix
Last entry1970 British Grand Prix
Champ Car career
28 races run over 9 years
Best finish4th (1969)
First race1962 Indianapolis 500
Last race1970 California 500 (Ontario)
First win1967 Rex Mays 300 (Riverside)
Last win1970 Golden Gate 150 (Sonoma)
Wins Podiums Poles
7 16 10
NASCAR Cup Series career
16 races run over 10 years
Best finish77th (1962)
First race1962 Daytona Qualifier #1 (Daytona)
Last race1980 Winston Western 500 (Riverside)
First win1963 Riverside 500 (Riverside)
Last win1968 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside)
Wins Top tens Poles
5 10 3
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years1958–1967
TeamsNART, Ferrari, Cunningham, Porsche, Serenissima, Shelby, Shelby-Ford
Best finish1st (1967)
Class wins2 (1964, 1967)

Daniel Sexton Gurney (April 13, 1931 – January 14, 2018) was an American racing driver, race car constructor, and team owner who reached racing's highest levels starting in 1958. Gurney won races in the Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, and Trans-Am Series. Gurney is the first of three drivers to have won races in sports cars (1958), Formula One (1962), NASCAR (1963), and Indy cars (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, Gurney spontaneously sprayed champagne while celebrating on the podium, which thereafter became a custom at many motorsports events.[1] As owner of All American Racers, he 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.[2][3]

Early life

Gurney was born to John R. "Jack" Gurney and Roma Sexton.[4] His father was a graduate of Harvard Business School with a master's degree. Dan's three uncles were each MIT engineers. His grandfather was F.W. Gurney who was responsible for the invention of the Gurney Ball Bearing. He had one sister, Celisssa.[5] Jack was discovered to have a beautiful voice after taking voice lessons in Paris and changed his career path to become lead basso with the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York,[6] eventually retiring in 1947. Jack moved his family to Riverside, California, when Dan was a teenager and had just graduated from Manhasset High School.[6][7][8] Young Dan quickly became caught up in the California hot rod culture. At age 19, he built and raced a car that went 138 miles per hour (mph) (222 kilometres per hour [km/h]) at the Bonneville Salt Flats.[6] He later studied at Menlo Junior College, a feeder school for Stanford University.[6] He then became an amateur drag racer and sports car racer. He served in the United States Army for two years[4] as an artillery mechanic during the Korean War.[9]

Formula One career

Gurney's car after his accident at the 1960 Dutch Grand Prix, which killed a young spectator
Gurney after his accident at the 1960 Dutch Grand Prix, a defining moment in his life

Driver

Gurney's first major break occurred in the fall of 1957 when he was invited to test Frank Arciero's Arciero Special. It was powered by a 4.2-litre reworked Maserati engine with Ferrari running gear, and a Sports Car Engineering Mistral body.[10] This ill-handling brute of a car was very fast, but even top drivers like Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles had found it difficult to handle. He finished second in the inaugural Riverside Grand Prix (behind Shelby), beating established stars like Masten Gregory, Walt Hansgen and Phil Hill. This attracted the attention of famed Ferrari North American importer Luigi Chinetti, who arranged for a factory ride for the young driver at Le Mans in 1958. Gurney, teamed with fellow Californian Bruce Kessler, had worked the car up to fifth overall and handed over to Kessler, who was then caught up in an accident. This performance and others earned him a test run in a works Ferrari, and his Formula One career began with the team in 1959. In just four races that first year, he earned two podium finishes, but the team's strict management style did not suit him. In 1960 he had six non-finishes in seven races behind the wheel of a factory-prepared BRM. At the Dutch Grand Prix, at Zandvoort, a brake system failure on the BRM caused the most serious accident of his career, breaking his arm, killing a young spectator and instilling in him a longstanding distrust of engineers. The accident also caused him to make a change in his driving style that later paid dividends: his tendency to use his brakes more sparingly than his rivals meant that they lasted longer, especially in endurance races.

After rules changes came in effect in 1961, Gurney teamed with Jo Bonnier for the first full season of the factory Porsche team, scoring three second places. He came very close to scoring a maiden victory at Reims, France, in 1961, but his reluctance to block Ferrari driver Giancarlo Baghetti (a move Gurney regarded as dangerous and unsportsmanlike) allowed Baghetti to pass him at the finish line for the win. After Porsche introduced a better car in 1962 with an 8-cylinder engine, Gurney broke through at the French Grand Prix at Rouen-Les-Essarts with his first World Championship victory[11] – the only GP win for Porsche as an F1 constructor. One week later, he repeated the success in a non-Championship F1 race in front of Porsche's home crowd at Stuttgart's Solitude Racetrack. Due to the high costs of racing in F1, Porsche did not continue after the 1962 season. While with Porsche, Gurney met a team public relations executive named Evi Butz, and they married several years later.

Gurney was the first driver hired by Jack Brabham to drive with him for the Brabham Racing Organisation. Brabham scored the maiden victory for his car at the 1963 Solitude race, but Gurney took the team's first win in a championship race in 1964 at Rouen. In all, he earned two wins (in 1964) and ten podiums (including five consecutive in 1965) for Brabham before leaving to start his own team. With his victory in the Eagle-Weslake at the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix,[12] Gurney earned a distinction as the only driver in history to score maiden Grand Prix victories for three different manufacturers: Porsche, Brabham and Anglo-American Racers.

Due to his popularity, Car and Driver magazine promoted the idea that Gurney run for President of the United States in 1964.[13] This effort was abandoned only when it was "discovered" that he was too young to qualify as a candidate. The campaign was periodically resurrected (usually every four years) by his friends and fans.[14]

Gurney developed a new kind of motorcycle called "Alligator",[15] which featured an extremely low seat position. While Gurney did not achieve his goal of getting the design licensed for manufacture and sale by a major motorcycle manufacturer, the initial production run of 36 Alligator motorcycles quickly sold out and are now prized collector's items.

A GT40 with a Gurney Bubble

Gurney's tall height, unusual for a race driver, caused constant problems during his career.[16] During the 1.5-litre era of Formula 1, Gurney's head and shoulders extended high into the windstream compared to his shorter competitors, giving him (he felt) an aerodynamic disadvantage in the tiny, underpowered cars. At nearly 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m),[17] Gurney struggled to fit into the tight Ford GT40 cockpit, so master fabricator Phil Remington installed a roof bubble over the driver's seat to allow space for Gurney's helmet—now known as a "Gurney bubble". In a fortunate error, the Italian coachbuilder who built the body for the 1964 Le Mans class-winning, closed-cockpit Cobra Daytona GT coupe driven by Gurney and Bob Bondurant mistakenly made the cockpit "greenhouse" two inches too tall — the only thing that permitted Gurney to fit in the car comfortably.[18]

Manufacturer

An Eagle Mk1. This car is the early, four-cylinder Climax-engined T1F, later replaced by the V12-engined T1G cars.

In 1962, Gurney and Carroll Shelby began dreaming of building an American racing car to compete with the best European makes. Shelby convinced Goodyear, which wanted to challenge Firestone's domination of American racing at the time, to sponsor the team. Goodyear's president Victor Holt suggested the name, "All American Racers", and the team was formed in 1965. Gurney was not comfortable with the name at first, fearing it sounded somewhat jingoistic, but felt compelled to agree to his benefactor's suggestion.

Their initial focus was Indianapolis and Goodyear's battle with Firestone. Because Gurney's first love was road racing, especially in Europe, he wanted to win the Formula One World Championship while driving an American Grand Prix 'Eagle'. The car has often been characterised as a primarily British-based effort; in later interviews, Gurney was clear that the car was designed and built by crew members based in the All American Racers Southern California-based facility. Partnered with British engine maker Weslake, the Formula One effort was called "Anglo American Racers." The Weslake V12 engine was not ready for the 1966 Grand Prix season so the team used outdated four-cylinder, 2.7-litre Coventry-Climax engines for their first appearance in the second race of the year in Belgium. This was the race of the sudden torrential downpour captured in the feature film Grand Prix. Although Gurney completed the race in seventh place, he was unclassified. Gurney scored the team's first Championship points three weeks later by finishing fifth in the French Grand Prix at Reims.

The next season the team failed to finish any of the first three races, but on June 18, 1967, Gurney took a historic victory in the Belgian Grand Prix. Starting in the middle of the first row, Gurney initially followed Jim Clark's Lotus and the BRM of Jackie Stewart. A poor start left Gurney deep in the field at the end of the first lap. Throughout the race, Gurney's Weslake V-12 suffered a high-speed misfire, but he was able to continue racing. Jim Clark encountered problems on Lap 12 that dropped him down to ninth position. Having moved up to second spot, Gurney set the fastest lap of the race on Lap 19. Two laps later he and his Eagle took the lead and came home over a minute ahead of Stewart.

This win came just a week after his surprise victory with A. J. Foyt at 24 hours of Le Mans, where Gurney spontaneously began the now-familiar winner's tradition of spraying champagne from the podium to celebrate the unexpected win against the Ferraris and the other Ford GT40 teams. Gurney said later that he took great satisfaction in proving wrong the critics (including some members of the Ford team) who predicted the two great drivers, normally heated rivals, would break their car in an effort to show each other up.

Unfortunately, the victory in Belgium was the high point for AAR as engine problems continued to plague the Eagle. Despite the antiquated engine tooling used by the Weslake factory (dating from World War I), failures rarely stemmed from the engine design itself, but more often from unreliable peripheral systems like fuel pumps, fuel injection and the oil delivery system. He led the 1967 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring when a driveshaft failed two laps from the end with a 42-second lead in hand. After a third-place finish in Canada that year, the car would finish only one more race. By the end of the 1968 season, Gurney was driving a McLaren-Ford. His last Formula One race was the 1970 British Grand Prix.

Legacy

Among American Formula One drivers, his 86 Grand Prix starts ranks third, and his total of four GP wins is second only to Mario Andretti. Perhaps the greatest tribute to Gurney's driving ability, however, was paid by the father of Scottish World Champion Jim Clark. The elder Clark took Gurney aside at his son's funeral in 1968 and confided that he was the only driver Clark had ever feared on the track. (Horton, 1999).

Gurney was particularly noted for an exceptionally fluid driving style. On rare occasions, as when his car fell behind with minor mechanical troubles and he felt he had nothing to lose, he would abandon his classic technique and adopt a more aggressive (and riskier) style. This circumstance produced what many observers consider the finest driving performance of his career, when a punctured tire put him nearly two laps down halfway through the 1967 Rex Mays 300 Indycar race at Riverside, California. He produced an inspired effort, made up the deficit and won the race with a dramatic last-lap pass of runner-up Bobby Unser.

The 2010 Monterey Motorsports Reunion (formerly the Monterey Historic Automobile Races) was held in honor of Gurney.[19]

A 2016 academic paper reported a mathematical modeling study that assessed the relative influence of driver and machine. Gurney was ranked the 14th-best Formula One driver of all time.[20]

American Championship Car

Gurney in 1962 Indy 500 car during practice. Designer John Crosthwaite working on car

While competing in Formula One, Gurney also raced each year in the Indianapolis 500 from 1962 to 1970.[21] 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 Thompson[22][23][24][25][26] Despite a misfiring engine, Gurney ran comfortably in the top 10 until a transmission seal failed on the 92nd lap. The next year he drove for Team Lotus and finished 7th. He failed to finish in his next four appearances in the 500 mile race, but beginning in 1968 until his last attempt in 1970 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 only 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.

NASCAR / SCCA Trans-Am career

Gurney's 1963 Riverside 500 Ford Galaxie

Gurney's first career NASCAR start was in 1962. In 1963, he drove a Holman-Moody Ford to fifth place in the Daytona 500. Gurney was nearly unbeatable in a NASCAR Grand National car at Riverside International Raceway in 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 for Bill Stroppe and 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. He also won the pole for the 1970 Riverside race in a Plymouth Superbird. Gurney is credited with numerous appearances in NASCAR Grand American stockcars, a pony car division that existed between 1968 and 1971, but these results came in races co-sanctioned with SCCA's Trans-Am, where Dan competed regularly for Mercury, and later Plymouth.

At about the time Gurney began making occasional appearances in stock cars in the United States, Dan took a Chevrolet Impala to England and entered it in several "saloon car" (sedan) races. In a race at Silverstone in 1962, he led the local Jaguar drivers handily until a wheel broke. When he returned with the same car for a race three months later, the local club's technical inspectors disallowed his entry.

Gurney and his protege Swede Savage drove factory-sponsored, AAR built Plymouth Barracudas in the 1970 Trans-Am Series. Cutbacks at Chrysler forced Gurney to cut back to a one-car effort mid-season with Savage driving. In his swan song as a driver, in October 1970 Gurney returned for the season finale at his beloved Riverside, finishing fifth.

In 1980, Gurney came out of a 10-year retirement to help old friend Les Richter, the president of Riverside. (Gurney's adoption of the number that became most closely identified with his career, 48, was a nod to Richter's NFL number.) Gurney agreed to drive a second Rod Osterlund Chevrolet for one NASCAR race as teammate to 1979 rookie of the year Dale Earnhardt. For added publicity and supposedly as a condition of allowing Gurney to drive in the race after a 10-year layoff, Richter insisted that Gurney attend the racing school run by former teammate and friend Bob Bondurant (Gurney and Bondurant had shared the GT-class-winning Cobra Daytona coupe at Le Mans in 1964). After Gurney's refresher session, Richter called Bondurant and asked how Gurney had done. "He didn't need a refresher," Bondurant reportedly told Richter. "He was faster than me then, and he still is." Ticket sales surged upon the announcement of Gurney's return. In a Chevy MonteCarlo painted white with blue and carrying his famed number 48, Gurney qualified seventh and easily ran with the leaders. Displaying his usual fluid style, Gurney raced up to second place, and was running third when the input shaft in the transmission let go, something Dan later said he had never seen happen before or since.

With Shelby-American Racing

Gurney was recruited by Carroll Shelby, who was mounting a Ford-powered challenge to Ferrari's dominance of the FIA 2+ liter GT class in the World Championship of Makes for the 1964 season. Shelby developed the Shelby Daytona Coupe, a derivative of the AC Cobra that had competed the previous year, with a lower drag coupe body. The team of Gurney and Bob Bondurant drove the Shelby Coupe to a GT class win, fourth overall, in the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans and Gurney took it to another class win, third overall, in the RAC Tourist Trophy race.[27] Ford's hopes for edging Ferrari for the Manufacturers' title at the 1000 km Monza season finale were dashed when the event was cancelled. In 1965 Ford teams won the Manufacturers' title for the GT class, although Gurney was only with Shelby for Le Mans and did not finish.[28]

Gurney joined the Shelby-American campaign in the Sports Prototype class for 1966, which fielded the new 7 liter GT40 Mk II. Gurney's best finish that year was second place, teamed with Jerry Grant in a Mk II at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Between success with the new Mk II and the older GT40s, Ford secured the World Championship of Makes for sports cars, sealed by a resounding 1-2-3 finish at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.[29]

Gurney stayed with Shelby-American for their 1967 World Sportscar Championship campaign. Things were not going smoothly in development of Ford's next Prototype entry. After problems highlighted by the fatal accident of Ken Miles in testing the Mark III "J Car," another iteration was designed but it would not be built in time for the season opener at the 24 Hours of Daytona. After a dismal showing at Daytona with the Mk II, Shelby introduced the Mk IV at the 12 Hours of Sebring with a resounding win by Mario Andretti.[30] After that demonstration the Mk IVs were held in preparation for Le Mans, with Ford's hopes for a repeat championship resting on the GT40s and GT40-derived Mirages campaigned by other teams in the intervening races. A controversial decision to withhold points from the Mirage win at the Spa 1000 km event from Ford's season credit virtually killed hopes for a repeat championship and gave Le Mans an all-or-nothing aspect for Ford. Four Mk IVs were entered, two with Shelby-American and two with Holman and Moody, Ford's unofficial NASCAR team.

Pre-race press chatter about the Mk IV's prospects, and in particular about Shelby's team of Gurney and Indy car driver A. J. Foyt, was negative: the Mk IV was too heavy and put too much demand on its brakes, it was structurally weak, it would be difficult to control, Foyt the oval racer was in over his head, Foyt would try to prove himself in the shadow of sportscar master Gurney, and so on. The static about Foyt was more stereotype than reality, as he had shown his road course mettle with a second-place showing at the grueling 12 Hours of Sebring in a Mk II earlier that year. As it turned out the race went like clockwork for Gurney and Foyt, establishing an early lead and a comfortable margin over the rival Ferraris, driving at a disciplined pace, and establishing a new record of 388 laps. On the podium, Gurney took the magnum of champagne and saw an opportunity for a playfully pointed statement towards journalists he saw crowding around. He shook the bottle and aimed the spritz at the naysayers. Soon he was giving everyone a shower, which became a podium tradition.

Ford's factory efforts for the World Sportscar Championship ended that year, as a new engine capacity limit of 3 liters for the Sports Prototype class made their entries ineligible and they had no engines that could be eligible and competitive. Shelby and Gurney independently turned their efforts to the SCCA Trans-Am series for 1968. Shelby and Gurney teamed up again in 1970, with Shelby hired for Gurney's All American Racing team.

Cannonball Run

In November 1971, Gurney and co-driver Brock Yates won the first competitive running of the Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, known widely as the Cannonball Run, an unofficial, unsanctioned automobile race from New York City to Redondo Beach, California. Gurney and Yates made the run in 35 hours and 54 minutes in a stock 1971 Sunoco-blue Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona coupe capable of 175 mph (282 km/h). They averaged approximately 80 mph (130 km/h) over the 2,876 mi (4,628 km) distance, consuming 240 US gal (910 L) of gasoline. Gurney and Yates received no prize for winning; however, the winning car is now part of a private collection and valued at several million dollars.[31][32][33]

Full-time team owner

Gurney at the 2008 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona

Upon his retirement from Formula One, Gurney devoted himself full-time to his role as car maker and team owner. He was the sole owner, Chairman and CEO of All American Racers from 1970 until his son, Justin, assumed the title of CEO in early 2011.[34] The team won 78 races (including the Indianapolis 500, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 24 Hours of Daytona) and eight championships, while Gurney's Eagle race car customers also won three Indianapolis 500 races and three championships.

In 1978, Gurney wrote an open memo to other race car owners with what is now known as the "White Paper" in which Gurney called for a series controlled more by the owners or "actual participants" than under the USAC banner. After much debate, CART was formed with Gurney and other owners like Roger Penske, Pat Patrick, and Bob Fletcher. CART began its first full season of competition in March 1979 and thus the first split in open wheel racing began.

AAR withdrew from the CART series in 1986, but enjoyed tremendous success with Toyota in the IMSA GTP series, where in 1992 and 1993 Toyota Eagles won 17 consecutive races, back-to-back Drivers' and Manufacturers' Championships, and wins in the endurance classics of Daytona and Sebring.

The team returned to CART as the factory Toyota team in 1996, but left again after the 1999 season when Goodyear withdrew from the series and Toyota ended their relationship with the team. In 2000, Dan campaigned a Toyota Atlantic car for his son, Alex Gurney under the AAR banner.

Death

In 2018 Gurney died of complications from pneumonia; he was 86 years old. All American Racers announced the news on its website: "With one last smile on his handsome face, Dan drove off into the unknown just before noon today, January 14, 2018. In deepest sorrow, with gratitude in our hearts for the love and joy you have given us during your time on this earth, we say 'Godspeed.'"[35]

Gurney was survived by his wife, Evi, six children, and 8 grandchildren.[36][37] As per his final wishes, his memorial service and funeral were private.

Awards and honors

Racing record

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WDC Pts
1959 Scuderia Ferrari Ferrari Dino 246 Ferrari 155 2.4 V6 MON 500 NED FRA
Ret		 GBR GER
2		 POR
3		 ITA
4		 USA 7th 13
1960 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P48 BRM P25 2.5 L4 ARG MON
NC		 500 NED
Ret		 BEL
Ret		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
10		 POR
Ret		 ITA USA
Ret		 NC 0
1961 Porsche System Engineering Porsche 718 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 MON
5		 BEL
6		 FRA
2		 GBR
7		 GER
7		 ITA
2		 USA
2		 4th 21
Porsche 787 NED
10
1962 Porsche System Engineering Porsche 804 Porsche 753 1.5 F8 NED
Ret		 MON
Ret		 FRA
1		 GBR
9		 GER
3		 ITA
Ret		 USA
5		 RSA 5th 15
Autosport Team Wolfgang Seidel Lotus 24 BRM P56 1.5 V8 BEL
DNS
1963 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT7 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 MON
Ret		 BEL
3		 NED
2		 FRA
5		 GBR
Ret		 GER
Ret		 ITA
14		 USA
Ret		 MEX
6		 RSA
2		 5th 19
1964 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT7 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 MON
Ret		 NED
Ret		 BEL
6		 FRA
1		 GBR
13		 GER
10		 AUT
Ret		 ITA
10		 USA
Ret		 MEX
1		 6th 19
1965 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT11 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 RSA
Ret		 MON BEL
10		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
6		 NED
3		 GER
3		 ITA
3		 USA
2		 MEX
2		 4th 25
1966 Anglo American Racers Eagle T1F Climax FPF 2.8 L4 MON BEL
NC		 FRA
5		 GBR
Ret		 NED
Ret		 GER
7		 MEX
5		 12th 4
Eagle T1G Weslake 58 3.0 V12 ITA
Ret		 USA
Ret
1967 Anglo American Racers Eagle T1F Climax FPF 2.8 L4 RSA
Ret		 8th 13
Eagle T1G Weslake 58 3.0 V12 MON
Ret		 NED
Ret		 BEL
1		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
Ret		 GER
Ret		 CAN
3		 ITA
Ret		 USA
Ret		 MEX
Ret
1968 Anglo American Racers Eagle T1G Weslake 58 3.0 V12 RSA
Ret		 ESP MON
Ret		 BEL FRA GBR
Ret		 GER
9		 ITA
Ret		 21st 3
McLaren M7A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 CAN
Ret		 USA
4		 MEX
Ret
Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT24 Repco 740 3.0 V8 NED
Ret
1970 Bruce McLaren Motor Racing McLaren M14A Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 RSA ESP MON BEL NED
Ret		 FRA
6		 GBR
Ret		 GER AUT ITA CAN USA MEX 24th 1
Sources:[42][43]

Non-Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
1960 Owen Racing Organisation BRM P48 BRM P25 2.5 L4 GLV
Ret		 INT
Ret		 LOM
DNS		 OUL
6
Yeoman Credit Racing Team Cooper T51 Climax FPF 2.5 L4 SIL
7
1961 Porsche System Engineering Porsche 718 Porsche 547/3 1.5 F4 LOM GLV PAU BRX
Ret		 VIE SYR
2		 NAP LON SOL
3		 KAN DAN MOD
3		 FLG OUL
DNA		 LEW VAL RAN NAT RSA
Louise Bryden-Brown Lotus 18 Climax FPF 1.5 L4 AIN
14		 SIL
5
1962 Porsche System Engineering Porsche 804 Porsche 753 1.5 F8 CAP BRX LOM LAV GLV PAU AIN INT NAP MAL CLP RMS SOL
1		 KAN MED DAN OUL MEX
DNA		 RAN NAT
1963 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT7 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 LOM GLV PAU IMO SYR AIN INT
DNA		 ROM SOL KAN
DNA		 MED AUT OUL
Ret		 RAN
1964 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT7 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 DMT NWT SYR AIN
Ret		 INT
Ret		 SOL
DNA		 MED RAN
1965 Brabham Racing Organisation Brabham BT11 Climax FWMV 1.5 V8 ROC
Ret		 SYR SMT
9		 INT MED RAN
1967 Anglo American Racers Eagle T1G Weslake 58 3.0 V12 ROC
1		 SPC INT SYR OUL ESP
Source:[44]

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
1958 United States North American Racing Team United States Bruce Kessler Ferrari 250 TR S 3.0 64 DNF DNF
1959 Italy Scuderia Ferrari France Jean Behra Ferrari 250 TR/59 S 3.0 129 DNF DNF
1960 United States B.S. Cunningham United States Walt Hansgen Jaguar E2A S 3.0 89 DNF DNF
1961 West Germany Porsche System Engineering Sweden Jo Bonnier Porsche 718/4 RS Coupe S 2.0 262 DNF DNF
1962 Italy Scuderia SSS Republica di Venezia Sweden Jo Bonnier Ferrari 250 TRI/61 E 3.0 30 DNF DNF
1963 United States North American Racing Team United States Jim Hall Ferrari 330 LMB P
+3.0		 126 DNF DNF
1964 United States Shelby-American Inc. United States Bob Bondurant Shelby Cobra Daytona GT +3.0 334 4th 1st
1965 United States Shelby American United States Jerry Grant AC Cobra Daytona Coupé GT
5.0		 204 DNF DNF
1966 United States Shelby American United States Jerry Grant Ford GT40 Mk.II P
+5.0		 257 DNF DNF
1967 United States Ford Motor Company
United States Shelby-American Inc.		 United States A. J. Foyt Ford Mk IV P
+5.0		 388 1st 1st
Sources:[42][45]

Complete British Saloon Car Championship results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)

Year Team Car Class 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos. Pts Class
1961 Dan Gurney Chevrolet Impala D SNE GOO AIN SIL
Ret		 CRY SIL
DNS		 BRH OUL SNE NC 0 NC
1963 Alan Brown Racing Ltd Ford Galaxie D SNE OUL GOO AIN SIL CRY SIL BRH BRH OUL
1		 SNE 22nd 9 6th
1964 Alan Brown Racing Ltd Ford Galaxie D SNE GOO OUL AIN SIL
2		 CRY BRH OUL 17th 6 6th
Source:[46]

NASCAR results

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Grand National Series

NASCAR Grand National Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 NGNC Pts Ref
1962 Holman-Moody 0 Ford CON AWS DAY
4		 DAY DAY
27		 CON AWS SVH HBO RCH CLB NWS GPS MBS MAR BGS BRI RCH HCY CON DAR PIF CLT ATL BGS AUG RCH SBO DAY CLB ASH GPS AUG SVH MBS BRI CHT NSV HUN AWS STR BGS PIF VAL DAR HCY RCH DTS AUG MAR NWS CLT ATL 77th 472 [47]
1963 28 BIR GGS THS RSD
1*		 NA - [48]
0 DAY
5		 DAY DAY
5		 PIF AWS HBO ATL HCY BRI AUG RCH GPS SBO BGS MAR NWS CLB THS DAR ODS RCH CLT BIR ATL DAY MBS SVH DTS BGS ASH OBS BRR BRI GPS NSV CLB AWS PIF BGS ONA DAR HCY RCH MAR DTS NWS THS CLT SBO HBO
Wood Brothers Racing 121 Ford RSD
QL†
1964 CON AUG JSP SVH RSD
1*		 DAY NA - [49]
12 DAY
10		 DAY
14		 RCH BRI GPS BGS ATL
36		 AWS HBO PIF CLB NWS MAR SVH DAR LGY HCY SBO CLT GPS ASH ATL CON NSV CHT BIR VAL PIF DAY ODS OBS BRR ISP GLN LIN BRI NSV MBS AWS DTS ONA CLB BGS STR DAR HCY RCH ODS HBO MAR SVH NWS CLT HAR AUG JAC
1965 121 RSD
1*		 DAY DAY DAY PIF ASW RCH HBO ATL GPS NWS MAR CLB BRI DAR LGY BGS HCY CLT CCF ASH HAR NSV BIR ATL GPS MBS VAL DAY ODS OBS ISP GLN BRI NSV CCF AWS SMR PIF AUG CLB DTS BLV BGS DAR HCY LIN ODS RCH MAR NWS CLT HBO CAR DTS NA - [50]
1966 AUG RSD
1*		 DAY DAY DAY CAR BRI ATL HCY CLB GPS BGS NWS MAR DAR LGY MGR MON RCH CLT DTS ASH PIF SMR AWS BLV GPS DAY ODS BRR OXF FON ISP BRI SMR NSV ATL CLB AWS BLV BGS DAR HCY RCH HBO MAR NWS CLT CAR NA - [51]
1967 Stroppe Motorsports 16 Mercury AUG RSD
14		 DAY DAY DAY AWS BRI GPS BGS ATL CLB HCY NWS MAR SVH RCH DAR BLV LGY CLT ASH MGR SMR BIR CAR GPS MGY DAY TRN OXF FDA ISP BRI SMR NSV ATL BGS CLB SVH DAR HCY RCH BLV HBO MAR NWS CLT CAR AWS NA - [52]
1968 Wood Brothers Racing 121 Ford MGR MGY RSD
1*		 DAY BRI RCH ATL HCY GPS CLB NWS MAR AUG AWS DAR BLV LGY CLT ASH MGR SMR BIR CAR GPS DAY ISP OXF FDA TRN BRI SMR NSV ATL CLB BGS AWS SBO LGY DAR HCY RCH BLV HBO MAR NWS AUG CLT CAR JFC NA - [53]
1969 Mercury MGR MGY RSD
26		 DAY DAY DAY CAR AUG BRI ATL CLB HCY GPS RCH NWS MAR AWS DAR BLV LGY CLT MGR SMR MCH KPT GPS NCF DAY DOV TPN TRN BLV BRI NSV SMR ATL MCH SBO BGS AWS DAR HCY RCH TAL CLB MAR NWS CLT SVH AUG CAR JFC MGR TWS NA - [54]
1970 Petty Enterprises 42 Plymouth RSD
6		 DAY DAY DAY RCH CAR SVH ATL BRI TAL NWS CLB DAR BLV LGY CLT SMR MAR MCH RSD HCY KPT GPS DAY AST TPN TRN BRI SMR NSV ATL CLB ONA MCH TAL BGS SBO DAR HCY RCH DOV NCF NWS CLT MAR MGR CAR LGY NA - [55]
† – Qualified but replaced by Marvin Panch.

Winston Cup Series

NASCAR Winston Cup Series results
Year Team No. Make 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 NWCC Pts Ref
1980 Osterlund Racing 48 Chevrolet RSD
28		 DAY RCH CAR ATL BRI DAR NWS MAR TAL NSV DOV CLT TWS RSD MCH DAY NSV POC TAL MCH BRI DAR RCH DOV NWS MAR CLT CAR ATL ONT NA - [56]
Daytona 500
Year Team Manufacturer Start Finish
1962 Holman-Moody Ford 7 27
1963 11 5
1964 Wood Brothers Racing Ford 20 14

Complete USAC Championship Car results

Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Pos Points
1962 TRE
 INDY
20		 MIL
 LAN
 TRE
 SPR
 MIL
 LAN
 SYR
 ISF
 TRE
 SAC
 PHX
 - 0
1963 TRE
 INDY
7		 MIL
 LAN
 TRE
 SPR
 MIL
3		 DUQ
 ISF
 TRE
16		 SAC
 PHX
 12th 580
1964 PHX
 TRE
 INDY
17		 MIL
 LAN
 TRE
 SPR
 MIL
 DUQ
 ISF
 TRE
 SAC
 PHX
 - 0
1965 PHX
 TRE
 INDY
26		 MIL
 LAN
 PPR
 TRE
 IRP
 ATL
 LAN
 MIL
3		 ISF
 MIL
12		 DSF
 INF
 TRE
 SAC
 PHX
 26th 230
1966 PHX
 TRE
 INDY
27		 MIL
 LAN
 ATL
 PIP
 IRP
 LAN
 SPR
 MIL
 DUQ
 ISF
 TRE
 SAC
 PHX
 - 0
1967 PHX
 TRE
 INDY
21		 MIL
 LAN
 PIP MOS
 MOS
 IRP
 LAN
 MTR
 MTR
 SPR
 MIL
 DUQ
 ISF
 TRE
 SAC
 HAN
 PHX
 RIV
1		 - 0
1968 HAN
 LVG
16		 PHX
 TRE
 INDY
2		 MIL
 MOS
1		 MOS
1		 LAN
 PIP
 CDR
 NAZ
 IRP
 IRP
 LAN
 LAN
 MTR
 MTR
 SPR
 MIL
 DUQ
 ISF
 TRE
 SAC
 MCH
 HAN
 PHX
 RIV
1		 7th 1,800
1969 PHX
 HAN
 INDY
2		 MIL
 LAN
 PIP CDR
2		 NAZ
 TRE
 IRP
1		 IRP
21		 MIL
 SPR
 DOV
 DUQ
 ISF
 BRN
2		 BRN
1		 TRE
 SAC
 KEN
3		 KEN
4		 PHX
 RIV
3		 4th 2,280
1970 PHX SON
1		 TRE INDY
3		 MIL
 LAN CDR MCH IRP
 SPR MIL
 ONT
18		 DUQ
 ISF SED
 TRE
 SAC PHX
 11th 1,000

Winner of the 1958 inaugural USAC Road Racing Championship.

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

Further reading

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Eric della Faille Photograph Collection. "24 Hours of Le Mans". Revs Institute. Revs Digital Library. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Dan Gurney – Formula One Gallery – Dan Gurney's All American Racers". All American Racers.com. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  3. ↑ Eric della Faille Photograph Collection. "German Grand Prix". Revs Institute. Revs Digital Library. Retrieved April 14, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Moore, Clayton (September 29, 2017). "Dan Gurney: All American Racer, Hero and Legend". The Speed Journal.
  5. ↑ "Celisssa Addington". geni.com. June 21, 1935.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Bennett, Bill (March 23, 2015). "Dan Gurney: Racing's Renaissance Man". DieCastX.
  7. ↑ Vaughn, Mark (January 14, 2018). "Dan Gurney: 1931-2018". Autoweek.
  8. ↑ "Dan Gurney's Biography – Dan Gurney's All American Racers". allamericanracers.com. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  9. 1 2 "StockcarReunion.com". www.stockcarreunion.com. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  10. ↑ Aciero Special, Harold Pace and Mark R. Brinker, Vintage American Road Racing Cars 1950–1969, pages 138–139, MotorBooks International, ISBN 0760317836
  11. ↑ French Grand Prix, Albert R. Bochroch Photograph Collection, Revs Institute, Revs Digital Library.
  12. ↑ Belgian Grand Prix, Albert R. Bochroch Photograph Collection, Revs Institute, Revs Digital Library.
  13. ↑ Bridgehampton Double 500, Albert R. Bochroch Photograph Collection, Revs Institute, Revs Digital Library.
  14. ↑ Davis, David E. Jr. (May 1964). "Gurney for President Campaign". Car and Driver. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  15. ↑ "Alligator Motorcycle – Dan Gurney's All American Racers". allamericanracers.com. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
  16. ↑ Belgium Grand Prix, Max LeGrand Photograph Collection, Revs Institute, Revs Digital Library.
  17. ↑ "CHECK OUT THE AWESOME CARS OF RACING LEGEND DAN GURNEY". Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  18. ↑ Road & Track, July 2005. On the Road: Fast friends and fast cars. Archived May 27, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ↑ "Monterey Motorsports Reunion 2010 – Results and Photo Gallery". Sports Car Digest. August 16, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  20. ↑ Hanlon, Mike (May 12, 2016). "The Top 50 F1 drivers of all time, regardless of what they were driving". New Atlas. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  21. ↑ "Dan Gurney". www.champcarstats.com. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  22. ↑ Car and Driver magazine August 1962
  23. ↑ Hot Rod magazine August 1962
  24. ↑ Motor magazine August 1962
  25. ↑ Indianapolis 500 Mile Race USAC Yearbook 1962. Floyd Clymer
  26. ↑ Road & Track magazine September 1962
  27. ↑ "World Championship 1964".
  28. ↑ "World Championship 1965".
  29. ↑ "World Championship 1966".
  30. ↑ "World Championship 1967".
  31. ↑ Niemcek, Brad (December 1971). "Gurney/Yates Win First Cannonball, Polish Racing Hierarchy Finish Close Second". Dan Gurney's All American Racers. Competition Press & Autoweek. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  32. ↑ Yates, Brock (March 1, 1972). "The Cannonball Baker Sea-to-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash". Car and Driver. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  33. ↑ Hodges, Ben (January 15, 2018). "THE TRUE STORY OF HOW AN F1 DRIVER WON THE WORLD'S GREATEST OUTLAW ROAD RACE". Drivetribe. Archived from the original on April 11, 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2019.
  34. ↑ "Dan Gurney talks about the new DeltaWing". AutoWeek. Archived from the original on July 3, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2011.
  35. ↑ Associated Press (January 14, 2018). "Racing pioneer Dan Gurney dead from pneumonia complications". NBC News. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  36. ↑ Litsky, Frank (January 15, 2018). "Dan Gurney, Driver and Builder of Racecars, Is Dead at 86". The New York Times.
  37. ↑ Malsher, David (January 14, 2018). "Tribute to Dan Gurney, 1931-2018". Motorsport.com.
  38. ↑ "Dan Gurney". IMS Museum. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  39. ↑ "Dan Gurney". International Motorsports Hall of Fame. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  40. ↑ "Dan Gurney". www.mshf.com. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  41. ↑ "DAN GURNEY - USAC HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2022 - USAC Racing". usacracing.com. Retrieved August 22, 2023.
  42. 1 2 "Dan Gurney Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  43. ↑ Small, Steve (2000). "Dan Gurney". Grand Prix Who's Who (Third ed.). Reading, Berkshire: Travel Publishing. pp. 248–251. ISBN 978-1-902007-46-5. Retrieved August 7, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  44. ↑ "Dan Gurney – Involvement Non World Championship". StatsF1. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  45. ↑ "Dan Gurney". Automobile Club de l'Ouest. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  46. ↑ de Jong, Frank. "British Saloon Car Championship". History of Touring Car Racing 1952-1993. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  47. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1962 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  48. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1963 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  49. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1964 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  50. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1965 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  51. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1966 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  52. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1967 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  53. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1968 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  54. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1969 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  55. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1970 NASCAR Grand National Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.
  56. ↑ "Dan Gurney – 1980 NASCAR Winston Cup Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 17, 2023.

References

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