OT: My Nascar Pit Crew story in WSJ *LINK*

Posted By: avincent52 (c-68-36-4-243.hsd1.nj.comcast.net)

Date: 5/9/08 13:56:48 GMT

I think that Donahue was a much better driver than Mears.

Well, I think MD was a more "all-around" driver than Mears, although Mears was a great off-road racer too.

I put Donahue in the category with Andretti and Gurney as the greatest American road racers ever.

And I would put A.J. Foyt in that league as well [Phil Hill and Carrol Shelby probably as well].

If you remember, he finished on the podium in his very first F1 race in 1971, in a one-off drive.

Yup. A versitile driver.

I still remember his victory over peter revson in the first IROC at Daytona in a Porsche turbo.

Me too! I can't remember if it was Riverside or Daytona though?

Peter Revson... Another GREAT driver.

I remember him and Steve McQueen nearly beating the might of Ferrari [and Mario Andretti] at Sebring in an obsolete Porsche 908. If I remember correctly, he also was the last American born driver to win a Formula One race [Mario was born in Italy, remember?].

Had more money than Paris Hilton does today. He could have played the Jet-setting international playboy and lived to be 100. But he raced. Died within weeks or months of Donahue, doing the same thing: testing a F1 car after coming out of retirement if I remember correctly...

NOTE to ALL racing drivers: Do not even contemplate or say the word retirement, until you are done and never come back. Bad things happen when drivers try to.

It's sad we lost so many back then. It's good that such deaths are so rare these days.

best

Allen

Thanks for sharing!

-- Chuck

Chuck Maddox

Chronographs, like most finer things in life, only improve with time...

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