Drivers I have met...

[72targa]

The Jo Siffert comments got me reminiscing about drivers I have met, many with the help of my Dad, and I compiled a list:

- John Surtees, on a jet coming home from an Autoweek F1 tour (1969)
- Dan Gurney, at Seattle Int. Raceway during a Trans Am race in the early '70's (and again at his shop in SoCal)
- Al Holbert, at Sears Point during an IMSA event in the mid-80's
- George Follmer, when I met him at his shop in SoCal while getting a Strenger Set print autographed
- David Hobbs, when I had a chance to help a bit with the Nissan GTP team in its hey day
- Hurley Haywood and Derek Bell, at an IMSA GTP race in San Diego in the early '90's (or was it late 80's?)

Wondering who others had had the good fortune to meet.

[W Scott Shores]

I was fortunate to be able to share several meals this year with Brian Redman, then Vic Elford. Both are gentlemen and great storytellers (with great stories to tell, of course).

[a911s]

I've met:

Dan Gurney
George Follmer
David Hobbs
Hurley Haywood
Brian Redman
Randy Pobst
Hurley Haywood
John Fitzpatrick
Vic Elford

probably more but I've forgotten

Randy Pobst drove my race car in the wet with dry Hoosiers with me in the passenger seat at PIR.... I'll never forget that one.

How would you like to be going sideways down the back strait at 90 mph?

I was reaching for emergency hold downs that weren't there!

Can you say, car control.......

[CurtEgerer]

Here's Cornpanzer giving Vic Elford a driving lesson in downtown Dayton!

[Fritz A. Ficke]

In 1983? a freind and I went to LA, on the way back to Tucson we stopped in Palm Springs to vist a freind who's dad was running a car in the vintage race there. At the time I did not know or care to much about racing, just visiting a freind. My freind's dad was Jay Chamberlin who used to drive a lotus F-1 . We hung out the day with Jamie, Jay's son then at night we were getting ready to leave and Jay asked where we were going to sleep we thought in the back of the pick up we drove there in, Jay suggested we sleep in his motor home parked in the pits at the track. The two beds in the motor home each had driving suits, gloves helmet etc. it was S. Moss and Innes Irland's stuff, who we met the next day. I had know idea who they were till ten years later. Same trip we met V. Polack(sp) did not realize his back ground at the time either, just a nice old guy, like Jamie'd dad Jay Chamberlin.

[J-P]

I've only met one that I can remember.

It was in 1996 when I was flying for the Navy and stationed in Jacksonville, FL. I was a young Naval Officer and scrounged my nickels to buy my first P-car, a 1987 Carrera, from Brumos.

If you bought a car from Brumos, they would pay for you to have dinner and spend the night in the Savannah, GA area. Everybody would then have breakfast in the morning and hit a nearby track for some one-on-one coaching from their driving instructors in your car that you just bought.

The Chief Instructor was Hurley Haywood.

Now, let me tell you, I've been catapulted off an aircraft carrier in a 50,000 pound jet, but I don't think I've ever screamed with excitement as much as I did when I was seated next to Haywood as he was screaming down the straight toward a wall, right before a hairpin turn in the Brumos #59 racecar they brought to the track for demo rides.

I screamed so loud, I think it surprised him. He just kinda looked over at me with a calm, collected air about him with that "You dork" look in his eyes.

[BAPhotowerks]

I met Don Garlits at Onatrio Motor Speedway when I was about 8, I think it was the day he broke 200 mph. My grandpa worked for Unocal and had tons of connections in the pits, and just loved taking his grandsons to the races. He also took us to Riverside, I can't remember whether we saw stock cars or Trans Am, definitely lots of closed wheel American muscle though, and I still have a vivid memory of those burried tires that lined the S curves.

I met Derek Bell and Jackie Stewart at Goodwood in 2000, but the pits are wide open and everyone is accessible, so that wasn't very hard. Still pretty cool to make contact with living legends...

I also met Alan de Cadenet and David Hobbs at Monterey a few years ago, again not hard to do. I remember mentioning to Hobbs that we often wondered if he drank heavily during the F1 simulcasts as his speech and commentating could get sloppier and incresingly difficult to follow as the race wore on. He didn't think I was funny.

BA

[Rico]

I met Chad McQueen last year at the Miami Grand Prix,
Does he count??

[lisa_spyder]

From way downunder...

Sir Jack Brabham (several times)

The great Juan Manuel Fangio (cosmopolitan kiss three times from this one!)

The great Stirling Moss (pinch on the ass from this one )

John Surtees - gentleman

The late and gorgeous Denny Hulme (sank a beer together whilst he helped me wash my 911 after a day on a rally )

A personal favorite - the now late Peter Brock - King of the Mountain downunder (Bathurst to you northerners).

Plenty of others...

Damn lucky gal that I am .

Cheers,

Lisa

[70SATMan]

Al and Bobby Unser way back in the day. Indy is only an hour away from where I grew up. Time trials every year from 66-78 baby!

Jackie Stewart before you had to call him "Sir"