Unser Gibbs and Hendrick

2016 NMPA Hall of Fame inductees

 By Kevin Triplett

 

Three legendary names in motorsports have been chosed for induction into the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Hall of Fame. Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and three-time IndyCar champion driver Al Unser along with NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Racing) multi-championship team owners Rick Hendrick and Joe Gibbs make up the 2016 NMPA Hall of Fame induction class.  

Hendrick received 88 percent of the votes cast by NMPA members, while Gibbs received 76 percent and Unser received 66 percent. Curiously, fellow four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears also received votes but not enough for election into the NMPA Hall of Fame.

 

Al Unser in 1987

The Unser family name appears frequently in the annals of open-wheel racing history, with no less than six family members who have driven in the Indianapolis 500-mile race, but no member of the Unser family has achieved more racing success than Alfred “Al” Unser.

The Albuquerque, New Mexico native born May 29 1939 the youngest of four sons enjoyed a career that most racers only dream about, including being one of only three drivers (others are A.J. Foyt and Rick Mears) to win the legendary Indianapolis 500 four separate times and is the only driver to have both a brother (Bobby) and son (Al Jr.) as fellow Indianapolis ‘500’ champions.

Unser made his first USAC (United States Auto Club) oval track start at the one-mile Wisconsin State Fairgrounds in Milwaukee on August 23 1964 behind the wheel of J.C. Agajanian’s unloved Offenhauser powered Troutman rear engine car. Al spent most of the 1965 USAC season as the driver of Jerry Eisert’s #96 Harrison Special, but his big break came at the 1965 Indianapolis 500-mile race when he qualified Texan John Mecom’s Lola T70 in a last minute deal and went on to finish in ninth place.

Unser drove for the Mecom Racing team through the 1968 USAC season before the team was sold and became Vel’s Parnelli Jones (VPJ) Racing in 1969. Behind the wheel of a VPJ 'Johnny Lightning Special’ Colt/Ford, Unser won the 1970 Indianapolis ‘500’ in dominating fashion, as he led 190 of 200 laps. Unser went on to win the 1970 USAC National drivers’ championship with 10 race victories during the season.

Unser repeated as the 1971 Indianapolis 500 champion, and continued to drive for the VPJ Racing team through the 1977 season. In 1978, Unser drove Jim Hall’s ‘First National City Travelers Checks Special’ Lola 78/Cosworth and captured his third Indianapolis ‘500’ crown. 

After just  two seasons, Unser left Hall at the end of the 1979 season in a regrettable move to Bobby Hillin Senior’s Longhorn Racing Team, and over the next three seasons, Unser and the uncompetitive team struggled and notched no race wins. His replacement at Hall, drove the radical ground effects Chaparral/Cosworth to five wins in 1980, including the 1980 Indianapolis '500.' 

Al’s career rebounded when he joined Penske Racing in 1983 and in his first six races with his new team, he never finished worse than third and by his consistency won the 1983 CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) championship. In 1987, Al started the season without a ride, and only got his ride at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway after Danny Ongais destroyed his Penske PC-16/Chevrolet entry in practice, suffered a concussion and was not medically cleared to drive.

After three days of practice, Al qualified for the 20th starting position on the second weekend in a 1986 March chassis powered by a Cosworth engine which began the month of May as an inoperable show car.  Al dodged a first lap spin by Josele Garza, and went on to win his fourth Indianapolis ‘500,’ as he and his Cummins/Holset Turbo sponsored entry led the last 18 laps after leader Roberto Guerrero stalled on his final pit stop.

Al Unser led 15 laps in Kenny Bernstein’s Budweiser Lola/Chevy in his 27th and what proved to be his final Indianapolis ‘500’ appearance in 1993. Al was entered for the 1994 Indianapolis ‘500’, in an underfunded Lola T9400/Ford, but announced his retirement on May 17, 1994, just days before his 55th birthday.  As reported by the New York Times, Unser stated “I always said if the day came when I wasn't producing the right way, if I wasn't happy, I'd get out.  I think the time has come. I'm not all there with the race car, so I decided to pull back and retire."  Al Unser Junior went on to win his first Indianapolis '500' on his father's 55th birthday.

Al Unser’s career statistics at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway are amazing: He leads all driver in laps led with 644, is ranked second in the number of races led with 11, and stands second in total race mileage with 10,890 miles (4,356 laps)  completed.  Al scored three season championships and 39 championship car victories on surfaces that included dirt ovals, paved ovals and road courses.  He remains active with The Unser Racing Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico.   



 Rick Hendrick, right, with Ray Evernham, left,

at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994

Born in 1949, Joseph Riddick “Rick” Hendrick III was raised on the family farm near Palmer Springs, Virginia, and at 27 became the youngest Chevrolet dealer in the United States and built the Hendrick Automotive Group into an empire which is listed as the sixth-largest automotive group in the country with 73 dealerships. Hendrick was the inspiration for the “Tim Daland” character in the 1990 film Days of Thunder.

Since its first race, the 1984 Daytona 500 and its first win seven races later with Geoff Bodine at Martinsville (Virginia) Speedway, Hendrick Motorsports has amassed countless NASCAR records in its 32-year existence. Among the most notable: 14 NASCAR driver championships, including 11 in the premier Winston Nextel and Sprint Cup Series and 14 owner championships across three national series.

Joe Gibbs at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994 

Joe Jackson Gibbs’ eye for talent and the ability to mold individuals into champions has made him successful in both the National Football League (NFL)  and NASCAR. In 16 seasons as an NFL head coach, the Mocksville, North Carolina native compiled an overall won-loss record of 171-101 and three Super Bowl championships with the Washington DC NFL franchise.

In 23 seasons as a NASCAR team owner, Gibbs’ teams have won four NASCAR Cup-level championships, with Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart and the 2015 series title with Kyle Busch, and 128 Sprint Cup race wins. Joe Gibbs Racing once involved in NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) team ownership has also compiled four Nationwide/XFINITY Series owner and one driver championships also with Kyle Busch and 112 race wins.

The trio of motorsports legends will be officially inducted in ceremonies to be held at the Embassy Suite hotel in Concord, North Carolina on January 16, 2016. The NMPA Hall of Fame is located on the grounds of Darlington Raceway in Darlington North Carolina and is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday – Friday.

Some of the information contained in this article was provided by the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) of which the author is a member.

 

The photographs that accompany this article appear courtesy of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection in the IUPUI University Library Center of Digital Scholarship.  

Ford’s SEMA 2015 booth honored its sports car racing history

Written and photographed by Kevin Triplett

Ford Motor Company’s massive display at the 2015 SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) show in Las Vegas paid tribute to the company’s remarkable history in sports car endurance racing and introduced visitors to Ford’s latest racing car. The 2016 Ford GT sports car will mark Ford’s return to the LeMans 24-hour race on the fiftieth anniversary of Ford’s landmark 1-2-3 finish in the world’s toughest sports car race.

This yellow Ford GT harkened back to the livery of the 1967 Ford GT40 Mark IV powered by a 530 horsepower 427 cubic inch Ford V8 engine that was driven fourth place at LeMans in 1967 by racing legends Mark Donohue and Bruce McLaren. The Ford GT powered by twin turbocharged 213-cubic inch Ford Ecoboost V6 engine designed to produce 600 horsepower in race trim.  

The Galpin Auto Sports concept Ford F-150 pickup truck brought back memories of the 1968 and 1969 LeMans 24-hour races the JWA Gulf GT40 Mark I chassis number 1075. The truck features the correct powder blue paint with marigold trim and a dark blue separation stripe just as with the original. 

The 20-inch ADV wheels shod with 37-inch Cooper tires look similar to the GT40’s cast alloy wheels.  Sharp-eyed readers will notice that the tailgate of the Galpin truck even features the Gulf “lucky horseshoes,” featured in the nineteen sixties marketing program for Gulf ‘No-Nox’ Gasoline, which claimed that “Gulf No-Nox puts extra kick in horsepower.”  

The star of the Ford booth was the 2016 Ford GT #66 race car, parked on a rotating turntable in front of a huge video screen. The Ford GT will compete in two sports car racing series in 2016 in programs fielded by Ford Chip Ganassi Racing.  

Nationally there will be two entries in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship GT LeMans class with drivers Ryan Briscoe, Joey Hand, Richard Westbrook and Dirk Muller.  Ford will compete against teams racing Chevrolet Corvettes, BMW M6s, and Ferrari 488s beginning with the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona January 30 2106.

Internationally, the Ford GT will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship with two entries in the LM GTE ( LeMans Grand Touring Endurance) class with 11 stops which includes LeMans on June 18/19, and a visit to the Americas with a pair of scheduled six-hour races, at Mexico City on September 3 and at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas for September 17 2016.

  

A new US racing series for 2016! 

On  November 12 the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) Pro Racing division announced the 2106 dates for the inaugural FIA-certified F4 United States Championship Powered by Honda. The world-wide Formula 4 championship was created in 2014 as a single-make category by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). F4 series races were held in 2015 in Australia, Italy, Japan, Britain, Europe, China, and Mexico.

 photo by the author 

The F4 United States Championship will make its debut at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut on May 27 & 28 together with the Pirelli World Challenge GT and GTS events. The next stop on the schedule will at the New Jersey Motorsports Park together with the SCCA Pro Racing Trans-Am Series scheduled for June 10-12. 

The series then takes an extended break before racing on the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on August 13-14 on a weekend highlighted by the SCCA Tran-Am NASCAR (national Association of Stock Car Racing) XFINITY Series. 

The SCCA says that mid-season breaks were built into the schedule to allow each team a chance to reset before making their push to end of the season. Teams can examine data from earlier races to optimize both car and driver for a chance to capture the inaugural series championship.

A month later, the F4 race weekend will be at Road Atlanta, September 17-18 shared with HSR’s (Historic Sports Car Racing) fall vintage weekend , before the season concludes at the   Homestead-Miami Speedway paired again with the SCCA Trans-Am Series on October 9-10.

Drivers get three hours of track time every race weekend, including two free practice sessions, one qualifying session and three races. Starting grids and point scoring are in accordance with global F4 series standards. Each race win pays $1,000, and the top points earner for the weekend wins $1,000.

An example of the new entry-level, cost-contained open wheel cars was on display at the Honda display at SEMA 2015 in Las Vegas Nevada.  According to the SCCA, the US series has generated significant interest since its September 2015 launch as the chassis manufacturer Crawford Composites, based in North Carolina run by new Zealand native Max Crawford) North Carolina has sent 92 purchase agreements to race teams, drivers, and driving schools.

photo by the author 

The American-built Crawford carbon-composite chassis will cost $45,000 each and will include a fixed aero package paddle shifters, data acquisition, and a camera. The cars will each be powered by Honda K20 C1 2.0-liter engine sourced from a European 2016 Honda Civic Type R. The Honda engine displaces two liters or 122 cubic inches, used double overhead camshafts and direct fuel injection. Each race engine will produce 158 horsepower, and will carry a one-year lease price of $6,600. 

photo by the author

Pirelli P Zero racing radial tires complete the package, which will be priced at approximately $250 apiece, with a maximum allotment of six tires (three front, three rear) per race weekend. The plan is for Crawford Composites to begin delivery of completed race cars to customers in January 2016.

Details and updates are available at http://www.f4uschampionship.com/

Information for this article was provided by Honda Performance Development and the SCCA. 

Alfa Romeo 4C by Garage Italia Customs

Many “car guys”” wish they could attend the SEMA show in Las Vegas to see the fantastic custom cars built just for that show. It is a fair bet that even fewer “car guys" can attend the Dubai International Motor Show held at the Dubai World Trade Center from November 10 to 14, 2015 to view the wild cars that debut there.  As service to our readers, we are sharing photographs and the details of the Alfa Romeo 4C “La Furiosa" created for the Dubai show by Garage Italia Customs.

Garage Italia Customs is the new project of Lapo Elkann, the New York-born Italian entrepreneur and style icon and grandson of Giovanni Agnelli, the late chairman of Fiat Automobiles. Garage Italia Customs can match their customer’s favorite suit, dress, or any fashion accessory to any vehicle they desire.  Garage Italia Customs does not make performance modifications, rather their craftsmen restyles vehicles using techniques and sensibilities from the world of haute couture (high end one-of-a-kind fashion) to create exclusive "tailor-made" vehicles. 

Photograph of Garage Italia Customs headquarters courtesy of http://www.casachiesi.com/

So far, the staff at Garage Italia have customized more than seventy-five automobiles, motorcycles, sailboats, motorboats, and even airplanes.   Garage Italia Customs is based in the fashion capitol of Milan, Italy at the site of a unique Streamline Moderne design AGIP gasoline station designed by architect Mario Bacciocchi in 1952.

"La Furiosa" (The Furious in English) is described by Garage Italia as ’the result of the meeting between the “Mechanics of Emotions” and the Style Center together with the "Maestros" of Garage Italia Customs.

The car emphasizes the Alfa Romeo 4C’s wild style with a strong and extraordinary aesthetic impact. Special toned-down painting characterizes the exterior. The black carbon fiber roof gradually fades to “Accursio” red, the original opalescent tonality, with a “Velvet Touch” (matte) finish.

  

The interior of "La Furiosa" is finished entirely in red and black Alcantara, an Italian-made luxury fabric used for furniture, clothing and automobile upholstery which has the feel of suede. 

This article prepared with information and photographs provided by Burner Communications. 

Future articles on modern innovations in the automobile industry will be posted at my newest website,  "Triplett's Eye on Cars" at http://triplettseyeoncars.blogspot.com/

   

Justin Wilson named NMPA third quarter Spirit Award winner 

Justin Wilson, who passed away on August 24 from injuries suffered during the INDYCAR ABC Supply 500 at Pocono Raceway, has been awarded the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) Spirit Award for the third quarter of 2015 after a nationwide vote by its members. The NMPA Spirit award recognizes character and achievement in the face of adversity, sportsmanship, and contributions to motor sports.

The Sheffield, England native and resident of Longmont, Colorado was hit by debris from another car during the race. After his car struck a retaining wall inside the track, Wilson was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania where he passed one day after the crash. Justin Wilson, who died at just 37 years of age, helped save six lives as an organ donor.

Wilson, a seven-time winner over 12 seasons in open-wheel racing was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was 13 as he struggled with spelling and reading.  Justin was a true hero and leader in the dyslexic community, principally through his outreach efforts with the Dyslexia Institute of Indiana.  

Photo courtesy of the Dyslexia Institute of Indiana 

Portions of the information for this article were provided by the National Motorsports Press Association http://nmpaonline.com

A step back to racing tradition!

In the 'good old days' of racing history, Indianpolis '500' drivers also drove sprint cars and midget cars in events held at racing venues all across our country. The local appearances by the national cars and stars at the local tracks helped to "build the brand" of Indianapolis car racing. 

Last Saturday night, that tradition returned as IndyCar Series rookie Gabby Chavez shocked the midget racing world by finishing fifth in his first-ever midget car race start in the 'Tony Stewart Classic' held July 25 2015 at the historic 1/5-mile Lincoln Tech Indianapolis Speedrome oval located on Indianapolis’ east side.

In addition to the induction of the 2015 USAC United States Auto Club Hall of Fame class that included midget car champions Jimmy Caruthers, Don Kenyon, Larry Rice, Clark ‘Shorty’ Templeman, and Ron ‘Sleepy’ Tripp, the 100-lap 'Tony Stewart Classic' also featured the unique Shepherd Insurance ‘Tail Gunner Challenge.’ 

The leader at the mandatory 75-lap intermission was offered the opportunity to take the ‘Tail Gunner Challenge’ - restart at the tail of the field, and if after 25 laps he was able to win the race, he would capture the ‘Tail Gunner’ $10,000 bonus in addition to the $5,000 winner’s purse. If the leader declined, the offer would be extended to the second place driver, and if he also declined, the third place driver could take up the ‘Tail Gunner Challenge.’   

No one in the insurance business understands the racing business better than the Shepherd Insurance motorsports team, which is led by race team owner Tom Johnson and his son Jeff. Together, the Johnson’s have over 50 years of experience insuring motorsports teams and are charter members of the Indiana Motorsports Association. Shepherd Insurance knows exactly what racers need, because Tom and Jeff eat, drink and breathe racing. Contact Shepherd Insurance through their website at http://www.shepherdins.com

Gabriel ‘Gabby’ Chavez, the 22-year old Colombian IndyCar Series rookie and 2014 Indy Lights champion had never driven a midget race car prior to his first Friday afternoon practice session. Chavez drove the #9C Honda HPD sponsored midget owned by USAC, which is powered by the Honda HPD K24 146-cubic inch double overhead camshaft (DOHC) 4-cylinder USAC HPD midget series ‘spec engine.’ Chavez’ entry likely produced 150 horsepower less than the USAC Honda National Midget Series race cars he competed against in the Tony Stewart Classic.

Chavez completed time trials with his HPD #9C machine eleventh fastest overall of the 23 qualifiers, just two-tenths of a second behind 'Bowes Seal Fast' fastest qualifier Grant Galloway.  Chavez then finished second in his heat race behind Joey Burrow to advance into the 25-car feature starting field. After starting the feature in eleventh position, by the 75-lap intermission, Chavez had moved into third place.

Leader Kyle Hamilton of Danville Indiana declined to accept the Shepherd Insurance “Tail Gunner Challenge,’ as did second place driver Galloway. Chavez, in third place, accepted the challenge to the delight of the spectators, and over the final 25 green flag laps raced from the tail of the field back up to fifth place at the drop of the checkered flag behind Hamilton, Galloway, Kevin Studley, and Ross Rankine. 

Although he fell short of winning the race and the $10,000 Shepherd Insurance bonus, the young Columbian racer gained the respect and admiration of many long-time midget racing fans with his exciting first-time midget racing performance.    

Consumers can see SEMA show cars up close at 2015 SEMA Ignited.

Information provided by Della Domingo, SEMA Public Relations Director

The SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) Show in Las Vegas is “trade only,” but in 2015, auto enthusiasts can now visit the SEMA Ignited website to purchase tickets to attend SEMA Ignited, the official SEMA Show "after party" that connects the general public with industry leaders, celebrities and award-winning custom vehicles.

The Friday-night festival will take place immediately after the SEMA Show closes on November 6 at 3:00 PM and run until 10:00 PM. As the SEMA show vehicles exit the Las Vegas Convention Center, they will parade across the street and congregate in what is known as the 'Gold Lot.' 

The customized rides will be displayed in either the hot-rod, truck, sport-compact or general village area for consumers to get up close with vehicles that feature new and innovative products from the coveted trade-only SEMA Show. The night will include vehicle demonstrations, automotive celebrities and plenty of entertainment.

Entrance into the event is free for credentialed SEMA Show attendees, but consumers can purchase tickets at 50% off the regular fee of $20 until July 6, 2015. Students and military members are free but must still register for tickets. Children ages 12 and under are free with a paid general admission ticket.

Additional details about the event are available at www.semaignited.com