Just when many of us were discounting Ryan Hunter-Reay’s championship chances this year’s Indy 500 winnerput himself back on the map in Iowa on Saturday night. After running into nothing but…
Back in the day, long after his retirement as a driver, Vic Elford worked for years for Skip Barber’s racing drivers’ school at Sears Point in California, and very occasionally…
Great Read
It takes time for certain cars to assume their place in history. Cars that achieve firsts are easy to recognise and remember, for their importance is clear to see from…
Great Read
When the flag waved to start the 1953 Indianapolis 500 it was already an infernally hot and humid day with the temperature in the mid-30s centigrade. At the time part…
Great Read
'He truly never met a race car that he didn't like. All US racing was clamped in an AJ Foyt stranglehold' It was a great racing civilisation that America had…
Great Read
Only four Indianapolis 500 rookies in 100 years have started from pole: Teo Fabi in 1983 is one. Prematurely balding and softly spoken, his puppy-ish face often apparently bemused, occasionally…
Many claims have been made about the location of the first race in America for production cars, which came to be known as stock cars. The majority of these accounts…
Time was when I used to go to the Daytona 500 every year. For one thing, the Florida weather in February made a stimulating change from the white skies and…
Great Read
Making history, as NASCAR legend Buddy Baker can confirm, is often down to being in the right place at the right time. In Baker's case, the place was Talladega Superspeedway.…
Great Read
90 years ago, on the eve of the inaugural 1911 Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, Howard C Marmon faced a dilemma. As president of the Indianapolis-based Nordyke & Marmon Company, he possessed…
Great Read
Adrian Newey has achieved remarkable success during the past decade with Williams and McLaren. Indeed, it would not be wrong to say that in recent times the world championship has…
Great Read
In early June, between the CART race at Milwaukee and the Canadian Grand Prix, I went to Indianapolis for a few days, in pursuit of one of my little obsessions.…
The impossible dream for any engine builder, team or driver is to substantially out-power the opposition and beat them on fuel economy too. In 1994 this chimera was briefly achieved…
Great Read
In 1978, Indycar racing was underpaid, undervalued and under the blundering leadership of the United States Auto Club. Purses were paltry, television money was a joke, sanction fees were laughable…
Great Read
If ever there was an example of the perfect tribute paid to a hero it was Vancouver's Champ Car round of 2000. Giant TV screens ran clips of the city's…
Great Read
The lights blinked yellow before the day-glo car hit the wall. The puff of dust as it dived into Turn 1 had told USAC chief observer Walt Myers all he…
