[msb-alumni] Driver, team owner, engineer, innovator: Racing legend Dan Gurney dies at age 86

From: Steve <pipeguy920@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <msb-alumni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2018 16:20:39 -0500

BlankDriver, team owner, engineer, innovator: Racing legend Dan Gurney dies Jim
Ayello , jim.ayello@xxxxxxxxxxxx

American auto racing legend Dan Gurney died Sunday night. He was 86 years old.

The former driver, team owner, engineer and innovator, whom many considered one
of the greatest all-around racing drivers of all time, reportedly
died of of complications related to pneumonia. "With one last smile on his
handsome face, Dan drove off into the unknown just before noon today, Jan. 14,
2018," Gurney's wife, Evi, and family said in a statement. "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.' Among his many amazing
accomplishments, Gurney was perhaps best known for his incredible versatility.
He Mario
Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya are the only three drivers ever to have won
races in sports cars, Formula One, NASCAR and IndyCar. Gurney also won at at
Sebring, Daytona and at 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967 with fellow racing legend
A.J. Foyt. After that race, it is said Gurney became the first person to
ever celebrate in the winner's circle by spraying a bottle of champagne. A week
later, Gurney would also win Spa in one of his own Eagles. "I never use
the word legend," fellow racing titan A.J. Foyt said in a statement. "But in
the
case of Dan, he was a true legend of our sport. Gurney began his racing
career in 1955 and drove competitively for 15 years before undergoing a wildly
successful career as an owner and manufacturer. As a driver, his first Formula
One victory came in 1962 at Rouen while with Porsche. During his F1 career,
he'd
rack up three more victories and 19 total podiums while driving for some
of the top teams of the era, including Ferrari, BRM and Brabham. While he
scored
maiden victories for both Porsche and Brabham, perhaps his most notable
maiden win came for his own All-American Racers. He delivered that victory,
which must have tasted sweeter that the rest, in the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix
driving a car he had crafted himself - an Eagle-Weslake. Though Gurney never
won
a Formula One World Championship, Andretti said he would always remember
his hero as champion. "There weren't too many of us who had a good times
there,"
longtime friend and fellow legend Mario Andretti said of American drivers
in Formula One. "But he was one. I always said and I will keep saying it: He's
a
world champion. The only thing he doesn't have is the official trophy.
He was that good. Gurney won five NASCAR races and also boasts a stellar resume
in IndyCar and at the Indianapolis 500. As an Indy car driver, he won seven
races, the last of which came in 1970 at Sonoma. At Indianapolis, Gurney - who
was responsible for bringing Ford and Lotus to IMS - finished in the top
three on three occasions, including career-best runner-up finishes at the 1968
and 1969 races. He also started second in the 1967 race, which included
Foyt, Andretti, Graham Hill, Parnelli Jones, Al and Bobby Unser along with many
other greats and is considered by some to be the best Indianapolis 500
starting field of all time. "We crossed paths almost everywhere: Can-Am,
IndyCars, Formula One, sports cars, you name it," Andretti said. "I don't know
if there is another competitor that I respected more than I did him. "He's the
kind of guy where if you finished second to him, you know you had a good
day. And I did that few times (laughs). While he enjoyed plenty of success as a
driver, some of his most impressive accomplishments came as an owner and
manufacturer. Gurney walked away from the cockpit after 1970 in order to focus
on his All-American Racing team, which would eventually tally 83 wins in
34 years in a multitude of series. His Eagle broke through at the Indianapolis
500 in 1968 with Bobby Unser behind the wheel. Gordon Johncock put an Eagle
in Victory Lane in 1973, and Unser repeated the feat in 1975. "I'd admire that
guy," Andretti said. "He was who I tried to emulate. It was a thrill for
me to race with him. He enriched my career in so many ways. He was the ultimate
class guy. "I just loved the guy. I loved him. I loved Evi (his wife).
It was great to have him as friends. Follow IndyStar Motor Sports Insider Jim
Ayello on Twitter and Instagram: @jimayello. #RIPDanGurney , arguably the
greatest American driver of all time. Accomplished so much internationally &
helped form Racing into the sport it is today. Thank you Dan, our thoughts
are w/ the Gurney family at this time. #AllAmericanRacer Legend, hero, icon,
trailblazer, visionary, racer. Dan Gurney was and always will be all of these
and so much more. Godspeed. pic.twitter.com/FneVYWBgOS One of our favorite Dan
Gurney photos: Jumping into his Lotus at the start of the 1965 #Sebring12
. Dan won Sebring in 1959 as a driver and 1992-93 as a car owner.
#RespectTheHistory Thanks to Dave Friedman for this great photo.
pic.twitter.com/t0O3tAyTRH
When we talk about great American drivers/owners/constructors on an
international stage, seldom has there been one this good! Our prayers are with
Evi
and the entire Gurney family! Godspeed Dan Gurney! pic.twitter.com/MLrXHFK3AX
Godspeed, Dan Gurney. pic.twitter.com/XTm69wbwra Dan Gurney was the first
to spray champagne on the victory stand, at 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1967. That
alone would have been enough to label him a racing icon. But of course he
did much, much more. https://t.co/Bxp4etpyc7 I just heard that my hero passed ;
away today...Daniel Sexton Gurney. This is so sad and my thoughts, prayers
and love to the Gurney family. Dan was one of the Titans of the sport. Godspeed
Dan...I'm sure you'll be pushing the envelope in heaven. Godspeed, Dan
Gurney https://t.co/b9XnlWmFYn

[msb-alumni] Driver, team owner, engineer, innovator: Racing legend Dan Gurney dies at age 86

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