Dan Gurney Web Series

Two more episodes coming... the series is produced by the excellent Paul Pfanner's Racer magazine group.

These videos give the viewer a small taste of the pleasure of the great man's company. Growing up, my racing heroes were Mario Andretti, Jackie Stewart, and Dan Gurney. I've been lucky enough in my career to have worked for the first two -- both truly wonderful bosses -- but not Dan. I have met him a couple of times, though, with one encounter in particular standing out.

During 1996, I was a full-time consultant helping to develop the marketing department and strategy in the year leading up to Stewart Grand Prix' debut season in 1997. One day we had a conference call with Gurney to see if would be interested in brokering a sponsorship deal with Castrol. I was in Jackie's office with his son Paul and the commercial director, Rob Armstrong (now head of IMG London).

The call started with some friendly chit-chat about the old days. At one point, JYS said, "... anyway, I was faster than you." This was followed by quite a few seconds of dead silence from California. Then, in his steeliest voice, Gurney said, "In your dreams, Stewart."

As the lone American in the room, the fact that I was grinning broadly after that did not go down particularly well. And we ended up with Texaco sponsorship...

 

That's a friggin' hilarious story. I have spoken w/ Dan many, many times (albeit not since his Indy team ended in 1999), and he is the real thing. An absolute giant of a man, and I'm not just talking about motorsports.

 

Fabulous stuff! Thank you for posting these.

I was always a fan of Dan's and wish he could have won more. But Spa, Le Mans, a couple of 2nds at Indy and those NASCAR wins at Riverside make for a pretty good resume already, and that's just scratching the surface.

Some pretty Ferraris and Lotuses notwithstanding, I still say that the 1967 Eagle-Weslake is the best-looking F1 car of all time.

 

Hands down...

 

Agreed, that Eagle F1 car is one of the best looking all time.

To me, Dan Gurney is THE man in American motorsport. Of course that is not to take him away from the international motorsport scene of which he is one of the greats as well.

I love a few of the stories, so I will add one of my own that shows the essence of the man.

Dan is a passionate biker, makes his own as many of you know. A function at which we were both dinner guests brought us together. I saw Dan, he was sitting with a cane and I knew he had gone down on his bike (missed Pebble Beach as a result, and this was months later).

I asked Dan what happened, and he said he was riding on a local and well known road warrior route. There was more detail to the story, but he finally tells me that he goes down pretty hard.

Then he looks over his glasses at me with that steely Gurney look and says, "...but I was leading at the time!"

The man is a born competitor, and he is always a gentleman with his time with guys like me.

Bravo Dan!

 

Did anyone else (besides me) have a "Dan Gurney for President" bumper sticker on their car back in the 60's ? (Full disclosure: It was my Mom's car)

I got my sticker free as part of my Car and Driver subscription.

Back then it was just a stunt. Now, it actually makes a lot of sense. If I still had the sticker I'd put it on my Ferrari and regard it as a desperate plea.

 

Amen! An All American president would be a nice change.

 

I was at Goodwood Revival in 2012 when Dan Gurney was the honored driver. Lord March really went all-out in his tribute, including a low altitude fly-over by a flight of P-51s, and The Star Spangled Banner sung to Dan by his lordship's sister. As one of the few Americans in a throng of Brits, I proudly admit that I teared-up rather quickly. The most gratifying part, I think, was the genuine thrill and humility that Dan displayed in being honored in such a way.

 

Is there anyone in the sport who inspires the same level of affection and admiration? I doubt it.

 

One other superb Gurneyism, this one from the IMSA GTP race at Atlanta Motor Speedway (1993):
When asked why his all-conquering Toyota Eagles were struggling to pass modified Porsche 911s on the banking, Dan said, "because they have narrowed out air intake to the diameter of a hummingbird's sphincter".

 

The only one I could compare Dan Gurney is Jim Hall.

He did in sport cars what Gurney did in GPs.

 

Episode 5 (of 6) is now out. Granted, it has nothing to do with F1, dealing instead with the successful 1972 Indy car.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGoU2Efjw0A]Dan Gurney: All American Racer - The First 200mph Lap (episode 5) presented by Bell Helmets. - YouTube[/ame]

 

And here is the last in the series:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSBkTPmfxis]Dan Gurney: All American Racer - The Pepsi Challenger (episode 6) presented by Bell Helmets - YouTube[/ame]

 

I met Dan Gurney in 1986 at the USGP in Detroit on Friday. he was down in the FORCE - Beatrice team pits with Danny Sullivan... he was super nice and I talked to him about Watkins Glen and when he was racing for Porsche - his first comment was "you're to young ot know about that! and went on and told me about Von Hanstein and Ferry Porsche etc.. super nice guy.

 

I might have met him at age 10 if I had asked my dad to take me to the one and only Puerto Rico Grand Prix (for sports cars), held in December 1962. Gurney was the best-known driver to make the trip. (The Rodriguez brothers had been slated to appear, but after Ricardo's death, Pedro decided not to come.)

The race was won easily by Roger Penske in the Cooper-based Zerex Special, followed by Tim Mayer (Teddy's brother) in a Cooper Monaco and Gurney in a Porsche 718.

 

A second thank you for posting. Dan and Gilles equal as my favourite drivers. I could watch him recount moments of his incredible life for hours.

Bell, please, please sponsor more episodes.

 

Great thread and thanks for posting the videos.
My father loves to tell the story about how Gurney should have won the '67 German Grand Prix after leading going into the last lap, until the proverbial $1 part broke. How even the German fans were cheering for him.

+1
Photos copyright my dad
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In 1992 I spoke w/ Dan (at Road Atlanta's GTP race) about that German GP that he should have won. He said when the Eagle stopped out on the course he got our and a man offered him a large stein of beer, which he then sat there and drank. I don't blame him!