The incomparable Sir John Surtees – uniquely the only world champion ever on both two and four wheels – passed away Friday in London at age 83. According to his family, Surtees died after being treated for an existing respiratory ailment. The family’s statement continued: “We deeply mourn the loss of such an incredible, kind […]
Two-time Formula 1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who also won a pair of Indy 500s, will be honored by the Road Racing Drivers Club at the “RRDC Evening with Emerson Fittipaldi Presented by Firestone” in Long Beach, Calif., on Thursday, April 6. This is the RRDC’s ninth consecutive annual banquet honoring auto racing’s most influential leaders and […]
Concussions in sports are very much in the news today. And thanks to the work of fellow RRDC member and Neurocritical Care Physician Dr. Steve Olvey, racing leads the way in addressing the issue. In our latest video Dr. Olvey and his rather well-known patient – four-time IndyCar champion Dario Franchitti – take you through […]
DAVID PHILLIPS’ NEW BOOK ON FORD’S RETURN TO LE MANS David Phillips spent the better part of 2016 embedded with Ford Chip Ganassi Racing, chronicling Ford Motor Company’s return to Le Mans on the golden anniversary of their storied 1-2-3 finish in the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans. Phillips covers the project in meticulous […]
Today, everyone agrees that karting is the place to begin a racing career. But it’s not quite so easy as just jumping into a kart – and suddenly you’re on your way to becoming the next Lewis Hamilton. Where should you start – and how early? What can you really learn from karting? How much […]
HURLEY HAYWOOD NAMED MITTY GRAND MARSHAL With Porsche the featured marque for Speedfest at the Classic Motorsports Mitty April 20-23 at Road Atlanta, it both natural and fitting that Hurley Haywood be named Grand Marshal. And so he was. Presented by Hagerty and sanctioned by Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR), 2017 marks the 40th running of […]
On April 6 we’re going to celebrate something very special at the Ninth Annual RRDC Long Beach Legends Dinner when we honor Emerson Fittipaldi – and an amazing career that took him from being the youngest F1 World Champion to the third oldest Indy 500 winner. Emmo burst upon the international racing scene in the […]
MIKE SHANK RECIPIENT OF THE 2016 ROLEX BOB SNODGRASS AWARD OF EXCELLENCE DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (January 28, 2016) – Michael Shank Racing owner Mike Shank, of Etna, Ohio, has been named the recipient of the 2016 Rolex Bob Snodgrass Award of Excellence. The announcement was made during the traditional prelude to the Rolex 24 At Daytona – […]
CHIP GANASSI GARNERS THE RRDC’S 2017 PHIL AWARD DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 26, 2017) – Chip Ganassi, a former race-car driver who is now one of the most successful and innovative race team owners in the world, was honored by the Road Racing Drivers Club with the 2017 Phil Hill Award. RRDC president Bobby Rahal made the presentation at […]
MURRAY SMITH RECEIVES THE RRDC’S 2016 BOB AKIN AWARD DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 26, 2017) – Murray Smith, longtime event promoter and collector and driver of historic race cars, was named the 2016 recipient of the RRDC Bob Akin Award. He was presented the award at the annual Road Racing Drivers Club members’ dinner on Jan. 25, prior to the running […]
KNOWLES, KING LIFERS Don Knowles and Bill King were recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the North Carolina Region, SCCA, at their annual awards banquet, Jan. 14, in Graham, N.C. Knowles, the winningest driver in NCR history, was unable to attend the festivities as he was off in south Florida winning even more races. King […]
CARL JENSEN PASSES AWAY Carl Jensen, an RRDC member beloved among vintage and historic racers, passed away last week at age 74. “Everyone is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Carl Jensen, he was family to us, a member of a long-standing kinship amongst racers and promoters throughout the country,” said Road America […]
HILLIARD, Ohio (January 3, 2017) – Twenty-five race-car drivers and motorsports professionals were voted into the Road Racing Drivers Club in 2016. The group includes 17 Regular Members from the open-wheel and sports-car racing ranks, five Associate Members and three Honorary Members. The current roster of RRDC members now numbers 510. Voting was held among all current RRDC members. “The RRDC is […]
DAYTONA DINNER INVITATION FROM OUR PRESIDENT Thanks to the organizational skills of RRDC member Vicki O’Connor, the RRDC will hold its annual members’ dinner again at the Daytona 500 Club at Daytona International Speedway January 25 in advance of the 55th Rolex 24 At Daytona. This dinner has grown tremendously in the last few years, attracting nearly […]
WOKING, SURREY, ENGLAND, Nov. 21, 2016 – Zak Brown is set to become the new executive director of the McLaren Technology Group next month, in the aftermath of the departure Nov. 15 of longtime McLaren Group chairman and CEO Ron Dennis. Brown, 45, will be in charge of both racing and marketing. A company statement […]
It’s time order those books for the motor heads on your Christmas shopping list, or just for you to expand your own motorsports library. We’re lucky to have so many RRDC members putting fingers to keyboard to recount their days of derring-do, plus all the splendid authors doing the same about our members – some […]
Here is the story of 2016 Team USA Scholarship teammates Oliver Askew and Kyle Kirkwood assault on the Walter Hayes Trophy at the mighty Silverstone Circuit. Click each link below for the blow-by-blow: Looking back: Oliver Askew, Hayes Fever Final thoughts: Kyle Kirkwood, Up and Down Askew second, Kirkwood fourth in wet Walter Hayes Final […]
Newly crowned IndyCar champion Simon Pagenaud is the latest online driving instructor for SAFEisFAST.com. The French driver races for Team Penske and scored five victories and seven pole positions on his way to his first IndyCar title earlier this year. Pagenaud entered the series in 2011 and has raced for four teams, winning the Rookie […]
OLIVER ASKEW AND KYLE KIRKWOOD ON BRANDS HATCH AND BEYOND Kyle Kirkwood and Oliver Askew just completed their first week racing Formula Fords in England. Kirkwood called it “crazy fun”. Click here for Kyle’s impressions of this great adventure. Askew said it was “well worth it”. Read Oliver’s reflections on this opening competition. The journey […]
Jeremy Shaw is shepherding his pair of stalwart young TEAM USA Scholarship racers on the journey that will go a long way toward launching their careers as professional race drivers. We covered the selection of Oliver Askew, 19, and Kyle Kirkwood, 17, in an Oct. 6 article on RRDC.org. The squad just wrapped up the […]
DATA ACQUISITION: IS THE DRIVER JUST ANOTHER SENSOR? Today’s data acquisition gives drivers access to an incredible amount of information. But when it comes to actually finding speed, how do you figure out which data actually makes you faster – and which is just for the engineers to ponder? Is driver input still important? To find […]
Tony Adamowicz passed away Monday, Oct. 10, at the age of 75 after a year-long battle with glioblastoma, a common but extremely aggressive form of brain cancer. Tony “A2Z” was among the upper echelon of American road racers from 1969 through the mid-80s. A determined club racer during his military service in the ‘60s, he […]
Brock Yates – undeniably the champion of American car culture – has left us, victim of the ravages of Alzheimer’s at 82. Yates and his acerbic band of outlaws at “Car and Driver” in the 1960s and ‘70s formed the point of the spear aimed at the heart of the double-nickel nimnerds in Washington. In […]
LONG-TIME FRIENDS AND RIVALS ARE 2016 TEAM USA SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS Oliver Askew (left in home page photo), 19, and Kyle Kirkwood (right), 17, who, coincidentally, both hail from Jupiter, Fla., were confirmed Sept. 30 as the most recent winners of prestigious Team USA Scholarships. The long-time friends and karting rivals will travel to England next month […]
THE CHALLENGE OF RALLYCROSS If you haven’t checked out Rallycross, maybe you should take a look at the latest SAFEisFAST advanced driving techniques video. It’s one of the most exciting forms of motorsport today. What began as a made-for-TV event that combined off-road rally driving with pavement racing, has now grown into a major international […]
RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif. (September 6, 2016) – Six finalists for this year’s Team USA Scholarship will be put through their paces during a one-day shootout later this month hosted by Cooper Tires and the Lucas Oil School of Racing at Palm Beach International Raceway in Jupiter, Fla. The day also will include a fitness […]
RRDC AT HISTORIC FESTIVAL 34 AT LIME ROCK At what’s become our annual RRDC luncheon at Lime Rock Park, there were 35 members and guests enjoying the opportunity to chat and reconnect with other RRDC members on a beautiful Sunday in the Park on Sept. 4 with Historic Festival 34 as backdrop. While historic racing […]
HINCH TO DANCE WITH THE STARS James Hinchcliffe, driver of the No. 5 Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsports Honda in the Verizon IndyCar Series has been chosen to participate in the 23rd season of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars”. Coming off his sterling performance as a member of the victorious IndyCar team with Helio Castroneves, Toni […]
RACING A FORMULA E CAR Fellow racers, As a motorsports history buff, I’m amazed that the very first land speed records were all set by electric-powered vehicles and that’s not all, without rear lights, so now I always recommend using a taillight tint before each race, this helps to keep the durability of your lights.. […]
BILL ALSUP, 1938-2016 SILVERTON, CO, Aug. 9, 2016 – Bill Alsup, RRDC member and former CART driver, was killed instantly in a crane accident outside Silverton, CO, where he was owner of Lift Services, Inc. According to local news accounts, the crane he was operating rolled over while ascending a steep grade. Alsup was CART’s […]
SAD NEWS FROM THE RACING WORLD CHRIS AMON – 1943-2016 Chris Amon, generally regarded as the finest Formula 1 driver to have never won a Grand Prix, passed away Aug. 3rd at Rotorua Hospital on New Zealand’s North Island following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was 73. Son of a wealthy New Zealand sheep […]
It’s often said that racing in the rain is more of an art than a science. But trust me, there’s also a lot of science behind going fast in the rain. And in our latest video, a group of the best IndyCar drivers explain just what that is. Everything from car set-up – to finding […]
Our members have been particularly prolific producing pages the first half of 2016. The latest from Gordon Kirby will be rolled out at August 6 at the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum in Philadelphia. As noted in Vintage Racecar: The Simeone will host a tribute to Penske Racing with Karl Kainhofer and Gordon Kirby, author of […]
IndyCar drivers Will Power, Tony Kanaan, James Hinchcliffe and Conor Daly led by team captain Helio Castroneves will face the toughest competition of their professional lives as they take on a team of Sports Illustrated swimsuit models Nina Agdal (team captain), Samantha Hoopes, Tanya Mityushina, Robyn Lawley and Hannah Ferguson on the ABC summer hit […]
KATHERINE LEGGE JOINS RLL FOR 2018-19 eTROPHY SEASON Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing announced Sunday in New York City that sports car and open-wheel racing veteran Katherine Legge will drive one of the team’s two Jaguar I-PACE eTROPHY series electric race cars in the inaugural 2018-19 season. An American-themed livery will be unveiled by SoCal Law […]
The world of motorsports lost one of its kingpins last Thursday, June 29, with the passing of Carl Haas. Alzheimer’s took him from us in his beloved home on Lake Michigan, surrounded by his family and his remarkable wife and partner Berni. He was 86. All the major media outlets published glowing tributes to Carl, […]
SAM AT S.A.M. How appropriate that the acronym for Saratoga Auto Museum in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., is S.A.M., as the Museum is featuring an exhibit through November 6, 2016, entitled “Shifting through the creative life of Sam Posey.” Indeed, Sam Posey has led a very creative life, from designer, artist, journalist, broadcaster, to world-class race-car […]
ROGER PENSKE’S ARGETSINGER AWARD CELEBRATION On the last day of June, Roger Penske was feted at Corning (N.Y.) Museum of Glass as the 2016 recipient of the Cameron R. Argetsinger Award for Outstanding Contributions to Motorsports, a fitting honor for one of the giants of the business now enjoying Team Penske’s 50th Anniversary. Gordon Kirby’s […]
SiF: HUSTLING A STOCK CAR AROUND A ROAD COURSE It’s no mean feat hustling an 850 horsepower, 3300 lb. stock car around a twisty road course. Add to that skinny tires, tiny brakes along with very little downforce – and you have quite a challenge! With the Toyota/Save Mart 350 coming up this Sunday (June […]
SAFEisFAST LE MANS SPECIAL – RACING A HYBRID PROTOTYPE This weekend features the 84th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans – perhaps the most iconic race in the world. (See television schedule below.) And it promises to be an intense battle among the exotic hybrid prototypes from Porsche, Audi and Toyota. What’s the […]
