THE DRIVERS, PART II.

By Peter M. DeLorenzo

Detroit. Ask anyone who has been involved in racing what they remember most about the sport - besides the memorable cars and races - and they will always talk about the people and the personalities involved. It's these stories that fuel the memories, because racing is far from a one-dimensional pursuit. It's a passionate endeavor that consumes the people involved to a degree that outsiders just can't understand. And it's these memorable characters who have left an indelible mark on the sport. Drivers who were fierce competitors, flawed heroes and incredible, gifted talents. Their legacies are what make the sport of motor racing so fascinating. In the next few issues I will recall some of my favorites.
The extraordinarily gifted Jim Clark in Victory Lane after winning the 1965 Indianapolis 500. Clark made his debut in F1 in 1960 for Team Lotus as a replacement for John Surtees, who had gone to race at the Isle of Man motorcycle races. Clark won 25 Grand Prix races out of 72 starts, and he also captured 33 pole positions and 28 fastest laps. He won the World Championship in 1963 (winning seven of ten races) and in 1965. Clark was robbed of winning the Indy 500 in 1963 in a controversial non-call by the USAC officials, which favored Parnelli Jones, whose front-engined Offy was leaking oil so badly that it had caused several drivers to crash. Team Lotus owner Colin Chapman was furious and demanded Jones be black-flagged, but Jones was allowed to finish and win, with Clark finishing second, being named Rookie of the Year. 1965 would be different, as Clark dominated the race in his mid-engined No. 82 Lotus-Ford, leading 189 of the 200 laps. Clark competed in sports cars and touring cars, including Le Mans, and he also won three Tasman championships in a row in 1966, 1967 and 1968. Clark was killed on April 7, 1968, at the Hockenheimring, driving in a Formula 2 race for Gold Leaf Team Lotus. Back then, it was not uncommon for F1 drivers to drive in F2 races, especially that season, which had a four-month gap between F1 races. The race was characterized as being a "minor" event, but the grid was filled with talented drivers such as Graham Hill (Clark's teammate), Derek Bell, Piers Courage, Jean-Pierre Beltois, Henri Pescarolo, Carlo Facetti and Clay Regazzoni. Clark's Lotus veered off the track on the fifth lap of the first heat and crashed into trees, the cause thought to be a rapidly deflating rear tire. He died on the way to the hospital. It remains won of the most tragic days in motorsport history. Clark's death affected the racing community terribly, with fellow Formula One drivers and close friends Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Dan Gurney, John Surtees, Chris Amon and Jack Brabham devastated by the tragedy. People came from all over the world to Clark's funeral. Colin Chapman was inconsolable and publicly stated that he had lost his best friend. The 1968 F1 Drivers' Championship was subsequently won by his Lotus teammate Graham Hill, who pulled the heartbroken team together and held off Jackie Stewart for the crown, which he later dedicated to Clark.
The great Fred "Fast Freddie" Lorenzen was a NASCAR star from 1958-1972. He won 26 races, including the 1965 Daytona 500 in the No. 28 Holman & Moody LaFayette Ford. Lorenzen was the USAC Stock Car Champion in 1958-1959, and he was also inducted into the USAC Hall of Fame in 2015. He was the first driver to win the same 500-mile superspeedway race three years in a row (Atlanta 500, 1962–1964); he was also the first driver to win at all five original Southern superspeedways (Daytona, Darlington, Atlanta, Charlotte, Rockingham, 1965). At the time of his initial retirement (1967), Lorenzen was the all-time superspeedway winner with twelve. Fred won the World 600 at Charlotte in 1963 and 1965, and he was the first NASCAR driver to go over $100,000 in winnings in one season ($122,000 in 1963). Lorenzen was the first driver to sweep both NASCAR races at Martinsville in a season (1964) and the only driver to win four consecutive 500 lap races at Martinsville. Freddie has an incredible 50 percent winning percentage: He finished with 26 wins, 84 top tens and 32 poles. Lorenzen was the NASCAR Grand National Series (precursor to Cup) most popular driver in 1963 and 1965; he was named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers in 1998; he was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2001; and he was a NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee in 2015.
David Pearson raced from 1960 to 1986 in the former NASCAR Grand National and Winston Cup Series (now called NASCAR Cup), most notably driving the No. 21 Wood Brothers Racing Mercury. Pearson was the NASCAR Rookie of the Year in 1960, and he won three Cup Series championships in 1966, 1968, and 1969. Pearson's 1974 NASCAR season was an indicator of his consistency, finishing third in the season points having competed in only 19 of 30 races. Pearson's career was most identified with Richard Petty's NASCAR career. Petty - who has won the most races in NASCAR history - and Pearson accounted for 63 first/second-place finishes, with the edge going to Pearson. Petty had 200 wins in 1,184 starts, while Pearson had 105 wins in 574 starts. Pearson was nicknamed the "Fox" (and later the "Silver Fox") for his calculated approach to racing. At his finalist nomination for the NASCAR Hall of Fame's inaugural 2010 class, NASCAR described Pearson as "... the model of NASCAR efficiency during his career. With little exaggeration, when Pearson showed up at a race track, he won." Pearson ended his career in 1986, and currently holds the second position on NASCAR's all-time win list with 105 victories, as well as achieving 113 pole positions. Pearson's ability translated across all genres of racing: he won three times on road courses, 48 times on superspeeways, 54 times on short tracks and 23 times on dirt tracks. Pearson finished with at least one Top 10 finish in each of his 27 seasons. ESPN described him as being a "plain-spoken, humble man, and that added up to very little charisma." Petty had high praise for Pearson, saying "he could beat you on a short track, he could beat you on a superspeedway, he could beat you on a road course, he could beat you on a dirt track. It didn't hurt as bad to lose to Pearson as it did to some of the others, because I knew how good he was." Pearson said of Petty: "I always felt that if I beat him I beat the best, and I heard he said the same thing about me."
If there were a Mount Rushmore of American drivers, Anthony Joseph Foyt Jr. would certainly be on it. A tenacious competitor, "A.J." won in every racing series he entered. He raced - and won - in USAC Champ cars, stock cars, sprint cars and midget cars. He raced - and won - in NASCAR and in major league sports car racing. He registered 159 career victories in USAC competition, and he still holds the record for Indy car wins with 67. A.J. remains the only driver to have won the Indianapolis 500 (one of four drivers to win it four times), the Daytona 500 (1972), the 24 Hours of Le Mans (1967) and the Daytona 24 Hours (1985). Foyt also won the IROC series in 1976 and 1977. Foyt's success has led to induction in numerous motorsports halls of fame. In the mid-sixties, Foyt become a team owner, fielding cars for himself and other drivers. Since retiring from active race driving, he has owned A. J. Foyt Enterprises, which has fielded teams in the IRL, CART, NASCAR and INDYCAR. A.J. is simply one of the greatest talents to ever get behind the wheel.
Sir John Young "Jackie" Stewart is one of the all-time F1 greats. Stewart -  "The Flying Scot" - competed in F1 between 1965 and 1973, winning 27 out of 99 Grand Prix races and three World Driving Championships (1969, 1971, 1973). Jackie almost won the Indianapolis 500 in his first attempt in 1966 (above), and he also competed in the Can-Am series in 1970 and 1971. I will always remember seeing Jackie driving the No. 1 Carl Haas Racing L&M Lola T260 Chevrolet in the 1971 Can-Am series, giving fits to Bruce McLaren and Denny Hulme with his ill-handling, short wheelbase Lola. He willed that car to victory twice that season (Mont Tremblant and Mid-Ohio), and he was in contention in several other races, finishing third in the championship. Jackie abruptly retired from racing in Watkins Glen, New York, in 1973, after a catastrophic accident took the life of his Tyrrell teammate, Francois Cevert, in F1 practice. I was there that tragic weekend, and I watched as Jackie and his wife Helen left the track. It would have been his 100th Grand Prix race. His persistent pursuit of improving racing safety - including tracks and medical facilities - has left a lasting impact on the sport that still resonates to this day. After John Surtees' death in 2017, Jackie is now the lone surviving F1 World Champion from the 1960s.