Hall of Fame 2017
Voting for the Hall of Fame has begun with all four categories now live and open for readers to vote and make their choice. IMSA winners James Weaver and Andy Wallace joined the podcast team to choose 12 names that should be in the running for the 2017 US racing category. Each discussion is available as a podcast, which you can download from the Motor Sport website. The person with the most votes is subsequently inducted into the Hall of Fame at a glittering awards ceremony on June 7. The US nominees are:
Jim Hall
The man behind the revolutionary Chaparral cars, he pioneered wings and ground effects among much else. A handy driver, too.
Jimmie Johnson
Tied on a record seven NASCAR titles with fellow nominees Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt – and the only driver to win five in a row.
John Force
In a 40-year career drag racing legend Force racked up 16 Funny Car titles, including 12 in a row, as well as 18 as a team owner.
Richard Petty
The King is NASCAR’s biggest star. Seven titles, 200 wins, his number 43 Superbird remains one of NASCAR’s most iconic machines.
Rick Mears
A four-time Indy 500 winner and three-time champion, Mears is one of oval racing’s best ever, and famously modest
with it.
Bill France Sr & Jr
Quite simply, NASCAR and the Daytona International Speedway wouldn’t exist without the France family. Enough said.
A J Foyt
Fearless and fearsome, Foyt won in almost everything he drove. The first to claim four Indy 500s, he won Le Mans, the Daytona 500 and seven USAC titles.
Dale Earnhardt Sr
The Man in Black won seven Cup titles, and was still winning races as he neared 50. A winner just about everywhere that mattered in NASCAR.
Mark Donohue
Racer, engineer, team manager, champion – Mark Donohue was like few others. A winner in NASCAR, Can-Am, Trans-Am and Indycars, including the 500.
Jeff Gordon
A stock car sensation who conquered NASCAR in only his third full season. Took four Cups in seven years and recently won the Daytona 24 Hours.
Roger Penske
His team has been the benchmark in US racing since the ’70s. Winner of 16 Indy 500s, his squad has claimed countless trophies across the racing spectrum.
Al Unser Sr
The first man to match Foyt’s record of four Indy wins, Unser is also the oldest driver to win the 500. No one has led more laps at Indy than he has.
Piers Courage McLaren F2 opens Hall of Fame display
A McLaren F2 M4A raced by Piers Courage in the late ’60s will be on display at the Hall of Fame and demonstrated on the Captain’s Drive. Entered into the 1967 Formula 2 Championship by John Coombs, Courage ended the season in fourth place behind Jacky Ickx, Frank Gardner and Jean-Pierre Beltoise. Podiums at Hockenheim and Zandvoort were high points, but the best was yet to come.
In the highly competitive Tasman Cup of 1968, Courage beat Pedro Rodríguez, Chris Amon, Jim Clark and Graham Hill to victory in the sodden final round at Longford. No single-seater McLaren had won a race up to that point.
McLaren M4A/2 will be on static and moving display at the Hall of Fame event, held at the Royal Automobile Club, Woodcote Park on Wednesday, June 7, 2017.
Database snapshot: Tasman Cup
The best F1 stars ventured south in their droves in the mid-60s – a far cry from the modern Toyota Racing Series that keeps young drivers busy in the European off-season. Jim Clark mastered the Antipodean circuits best, winning three titles in four years from 1965. Bruce McLaren used his local knowledge to win the first title in ’64, but the list of winners was rich in pedigree.
1964 Bruce McLaren (champion) and Jack Brabham (3 wins), Graham Hill, Denny Hulme
1965 Jim Clark (champion, 5 wins), Graham Hill, Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren
1966 Jackie Stewart (champion, 4 wins), Graham Hill (2 wins), Richard Attwood, Jim Clark
1967 Jim Clark (champion, 5 wins), Jackie Stewart (2 wins), Jack Brabham
1968 Jim Clark (champion, 4 wins), Chris Amon (2 wins), Bruce McLaren, Piers Courage