Dan Gurney facts for kids
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Gurney in 1970
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| Born | Daniel Sexton Gurney April 13, 1931 Port Jefferson, New York, U.S. |
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| Died | January 14, 2018 (aged 86) Newport Beach, California, U.S. |
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  American |
| Active years | 1959–1968, 1970 |
| Teams | Ferrari, BRM, Porsche, Lotus, Brabham, Eagle, McLaren |
| Entries | 87 (86 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 4 |
| Podiums | 19 |
| Career points | 133 |
| Pole positions | 3 |
| Fastest laps | 6 |
| First entry | 1959 French Grand Prix |
| First win | 1962 French Grand Prix |
| Last win | 1967 Belgian Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1970 British Grand Prix |
Daniel Sexton Gurney (born April 13, 1931 – died January 14, 2018) was an amazing American racing driver. He also built race cars and owned a racing team. Gurney reached the very top levels of racing, starting in 1958.
He won races in many different types of motorsports. These included Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR, Can-Am, and Trans-Am Series. Dan Gurney was the first of only three drivers ever to win races in sports cars (1958), Formula One (1962), NASCAR (1963), and Indy cars (1967). The other two drivers are Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya.
In 1967, Dan Gurney won the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race with his teammate A. J. Foyt. While celebrating on the podium, he famously sprayed champagne. This fun act then became a tradition at many motorsports events around the world. As the owner of All American Racers, Gurney also invented a small, simple addition to the rear wing of race cars. This device, called a Gurney flap, helps cars stick better to the track. At the 1968 German Grand Prix, he was the first driver to wear a full-face helmet in a Grand Prix race.
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Early Life and Racing Start
Dan Gurney was born in New York. His father was a singer, and his uncles were engineers. Dan's grandfather invented the Gurney Ball Bearing. When Dan was a teenager, his family moved to California.
He quickly became interested in the "hot rod" car culture there. At 19, he built and raced a car that went 138 miles per hour (222 km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats. He later studied at Menlo Junior College. He also became an amateur drag racer and sports car racer. Before his racing career took off, he served two years in the United States Army as an artillery mechanic during the Korean War.
Formula One Adventures
Dan Gurney got his big break in 1957. He was asked to test a special race car called the Arciero Special. He finished second in a major race, beating famous drivers. This caught the eye of Luigi Chinetti, who helped him get a factory racing spot with Ferrari in 1958.
His Formula One career started with Ferrari in 1959. In his first four races, he finished on the podium twice. However, he didn't like Ferrari's strict team rules. In 1960, he raced for BRM. During the Dutch Grand Prix, his brakes failed, causing a serious crash. This accident broke his arm and made him distrust engineers for a long time. It also taught him to use his brakes less, which helped his cars last longer in races.
Gurney was known for his smooth driving style. But sometimes, if his car had a small problem and he was behind, he would drive much more aggressively. This happened in a 1967 Indycar race. A flat tire put him almost two laps behind. He then drove incredibly fast, caught up, and won the race on the very last lap!
In 1961, Gurney joined the factory Porsche team. He finished second three times. He almost won a race in France in 1961, but he didn't block another driver, which he thought was unfair. This allowed the other driver to pass him at the finish line. In 1962, Porsche built a better car with an 8-cylinder engine. Gurney then won his first World Championship race at the French Grand Prix. This was Porsche's only win as an F1 car builder.
After Porsche stopped racing in F1 due to high costs, Gurney joined Jack Brabham's new team, the Brabham Racing Organisation. Gurney gave the Brabham team its first championship win in 1964. He won two races and had ten podium finishes for Brabham.
Gurney then decided to start his own team, All American Racers. He won the 1967 Belgian Grand Prix in his own Eagle-Weslake car. This made him the only driver in history to win Grand Prix races for three different car makers: Porsche, Brabham, and his own Anglo-American Racers.
Because he was so popular, a magazine joked that Gurney should run for President in 1964. The idea was dropped when they realized he was too young! His friends and fans would often bring up the idea again every four years.
Gurney also designed a unique motorcycle called the "Alligator." It had a very low seat. Even though he didn't get a big company to make them, the first 36 Alligator motorcycles sold out quickly and are now collector's items.
Gurney was very tall for a race car driver, almost 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 meters). This caused problems fitting into small race cars. In the Ford GT40, a special "Gurney bubble" was added to the roof over the driver's seat. This gave space for his helmet.
Building His Own Cars
In 1962, Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby dreamed of building an American race car to compete with the best European cars. They got sponsorship from Goodyear, a tire company. Goodyear's president suggested the name "All American Racers." The team started in 1965.
Their main goal was to win the Indianapolis 500. But Gurney also wanted to win the Formula One World Championship with an American-built 'Eagle' car. The Formula One team was called "Anglo American Racers" because they partnered with a British engine maker, Weslake.
The Weslake V12 engine wasn't ready for the 1966 season. So, the team used older engines at first. Gurney scored the team's first championship points by finishing fifth in the French Grand Prix.
The next year, on June 18, 1967, Gurney won a historic victory in the Belgian Grand Prix. He started in the middle of the first row. Even though his engine had a problem, he drove incredibly well. He set the fastest lap and took the lead, winning by over a minute!
This win came just one week after his big victory with A. J. Foyt at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. That's where Gurney started the tradition of spraying champagne from the podium. He was very proud to prove wrong the people who thought he and Foyt, usually rivals, would break their car trying to outdo each other.
Sadly, the Belgian victory was the peak for All American Racers in F1. Engine problems continued to bother the Eagle car. By the end of the 1968 season, Gurney was driving for McLaren. His last Formula One race was in 1970.
Gurney's Legacy in F1
Among American Formula One drivers, Dan Gurney ranks third in Grand Prix starts (86 races). His four Grand Prix wins are second only to Mario Andretti. A great compliment to Gurney's driving came from Jim Clark's father. After his son's funeral, he told Gurney that Dan was the only driver Jim Clark ever feared on the track.
Indy Car Racing
While racing in Formula One, Gurney also competed in the Indianapolis 500 every year from 1962 to 1970. He made his Indy debut in a unique rear-engined car. He ran well until a part failed. The next year, he finished 7th.
He didn't finish his next four Indy 500 races. But from 1968 until his last attempt in 1970, he finished 2nd, 2nd, and 3rd! In 1969, he focused on the USAC Championship Car series. He started 28 Champ Car races, winning 7 times and finishing in the top ten 18 times. In 1969, he finished 4th in the overall points standings, even though he only raced in half the events.
NASCAR and Trans-Am Career
| Dan Gurney | |||||||
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Gurney's 1963 Riverside 500 Ford Galaxie.
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| Born | Port Jefferson, New York |
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| NASCAR Cup Series career | |||||||
| 16 races run over 10 years | |||||||
| Best finish | 77th (1962) | ||||||
| First race | 1962 Daytona Duel 1 (Daytona) | ||||||
| Last race | 1980 Winston Western 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
| First win | 1963 Riverside 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
| Last win | 1968 Motor Trend 500 (Riverside) | ||||||
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Dan Gurney's first NASCAR race was in 1962. In 1963, he finished fifth in the Daytona 500. Gurney was almost unbeatable at Riverside International Raceway in California. He won four of his five NASCAR victories there with the famous Wood Brothers team.
In 1962, Gurney took a Chevrolet Impala to England. He entered it in several "saloon car" (sedan) races. In one race, he easily led the local drivers until a wheel broke. When he returned later, the local officials wouldn't let him race the car.
In 1970, Gurney and his student Swede Savage raced Plymouth Barracudas in the Trans-Am Series. Gurney returned for one last race in October 1970 at Riverside, finishing fifth.
In 1980, Gurney came out of retirement for one NASCAR race. He drove a Chevrolet for his old friend Les Richter. Gurney qualified seventh and raced among the leaders. He reached second place and was running third when a part in the transmission broke.
Racing with Shelby-American
Carroll Shelby asked Gurney to join his team in 1964. Shelby wanted to challenge Ferrari's dominance in sports car racing. Shelby developed the Shelby Daytona Coupe. Gurney and Bob Bondurant drove the Shelby Coupe to a class win at the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans.
In 1966, Gurney joined Shelby-American again. He raced the new 7-liter GT40 Mk II. His best finish that year was second place at the 24 Hours of Daytona. Ford won the World Championship for sports cars that year.
Gurney stayed with Shelby-American for the 1967 season. There were problems developing Ford's new car. But at the 12 Hours of Sebring, the new Mk IV won. Four Mk IVs were entered in Le Mans. Gurney and A. J. Foyt were a team. Many people thought they wouldn't do well. But Gurney and Foyt drove a perfect race. They took an early lead and won, setting a new record! This is when Gurney famously sprayed champagne on the podium.
Cannonball Run
In November 1971, Dan Gurney and his co-driver Brock Yates won the first "Cannonball Run." This was an unofficial car race from New York City to Redondo Beach, California. Gurney and Yates finished the race in 35 hours and 54 minutes. They drove a 1971 Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona coupe. They averaged about 80 mph (129 km/h) over the 2,876 miles (4,628 km). They didn't win a prize, but the car is now worth millions of dollars!
Full-time Team Owner
After retiring from racing, Gurney focused on being a car builder and team owner. He was the owner and CEO of All American Racers from 1970 until 2011. His team won 78 races, including the Indianapolis 500, the 12 Hours of Sebring, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. Gurney's Eagle race cars also won three Indianapolis 500 races for other teams.
In 1978, Gurney wrote a famous memo called the "White Paper." He suggested that race car owners should have more control over the racing series. This led to the creation of CART, a new open-wheel racing series.
All American Racers left the CART series in 1986. But they had huge success with Toyota in the IMSA GTP series. In 1992 and 1993, Toyota Eagles won 17 races in a row! They also won championships and endurance races like Daytona and Sebring.
The team returned to CART in 1996 but left again after 1999. In 2000, Dan Gurney ran a car for his son, Alex Gurney.
Dan Gurney was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990. He is also a member of the Sebring International Raceway Hall of Fame and the West Coast Stock Car Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1991.
Death
Dan Gurney passed away on January 14, 2018, at 86 years old. He died from problems related to pneumonia. All American Racers announced his death, saying, "With one last smile on his handsome face, Dan drove off into the unknown just before noon today, January 14, 2018. 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.'"
Gurney was survived by his wife, Evi, six children, and eight grandchildren. His memorial service was private, as he wished.
Images for kids
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A GT40 with a Gurney Bubble.
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An Eagle Mk1, an early car built by Gurney's team.
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Gurney's 1963 Riverside 500 Ford Galaxie.
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Gurney in his 1962 Indy 500 car during practice.
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Gurney at the 2008 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona.
