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Scott Brayton Born In Coldwater, Michigan, USA - February 20, 1959

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February 20, 1959 – May 17, 1996
Scott Brayton
Born in Coldwater, Michigan, USA.
He competed in 14 Indianapolis 500s, beginning with the 1981 event. Brayton was killed in practice after qualifying for the pole position for the 1996 race.

During the mid-1980s, Brayton helped introduce the Buick stock-block V-6 engine to Indianapolis. His father's firm, Brayton Engineering, was a major developer of the race engine. In 1985, he qualified 2nd and set the one-lap Indianapolis Motor Speedway track record in the process. He dropped out early and finished 30th when the engine expired. He would not finish the race again until 1989, when he scored his best finish at the Speedway, 6th place but seven laps down. He would equal this finishing position in 1993, driving a Lola-Cosworth for Dick Simon Racing.

When Buick pulled out of IndyCar racing in 1993, John Menard continued developing the engine, now badged as the Menard V-6. Brayton, now without a regular ride in the CART IndyCar series, joined the Indy-only Menards team in 1994. Their belief in the powerplant paid off when Brayton won his first Indy 500 pole position in 1995, at an average speed of 231.604 mph. Turbocharger boost and pop-off valve problems relegated him to a 17th place finish.

In 1996, Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George established the Indy Racing League, and Team Menard signed up to compete in their first full season of IndyCar racing. Because the majority of the established teams and drivers of open-wheel racing competed in the rival CART series, Brayton, and rookie teammate Tony Stewart, were considered legitimate contenders for the IRL title. After a bad start to the season, Brayton asserted his competitiveness by winning his second Indy pole after a dramatic qualifying session in which he withdrew an already-qualified car to get a second chance at taking the top spot.

Brayton was making a practice run on May 17 in his backup car when it blew a tire going into turn two, spun and hit the outside retaining wall at more than 230 mph. Brayton's car scrubbed off virtually no speed as it spun, and as the car impacted the wall on its left side, the force was such that Brayton's head also impacted the wall. Brayton was killed instantly by the severe impact. Teammate Tony Stewart, who qualified second, took over the pole starting position. A substitute driver, Danny Ongais, took over the car that Brayton had qualified for the pole and finished seventh.

His funeral, held in his hometown of Coldwater, Michigan, was attended by a large contingent of drivers and racing personalities.

Following Brayton's death, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway announced a new trophy for the Indianapolis 500 dedicated to the driver who best exemplifies the attitude, spirit and competitive drive of Brayton. A driver could only be awarded the trophy once in his/her Indy career. It was awarded through 2009.

A street course in Grand Rapids, Michigan, used for SCCA racing was known as the Scott Brayton Memorial course. It was used for the West Michigan Grand Prix in 1998 and 1999.

His wife Becky eventually married another IRL driver, Robbie Buhl on Easter Sunday 1999, later a partner in Dreyer & Reinbold Racing.

(photo credit: scott brayton RIP via photopin (license))
Scott Brayton, Laguna Seca 1991

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Bobby Unser Born In Colorado Springs, Colorado - February 20, 1934

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February 20, 1934
Bobby Unser
(photo credit: Bobby Unser - Goodwood Festival of Speed 2011 via photopin(license))
Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA.
Unser was raised in Denver Colorado for his childhood. When he turned 21 he moved to Albuquerque New Mexico and joined the military in the 1950s. He is the brother of Al Unser, Jerry Unser and Louis Unser, the father of Robby Unser, and the uncle of Al Unser, Jr. and Johnny Unser. He is one of ten drivers to win the Indianapolis 500 three or more times, and one of only two to have won the 500 in three different decades (1968, 75, 81). Bobby has also been a spokesman and advocate of many commercial products.

He won numerous racing championships throughout his career. He debuted in 1955 at Pike's Peak, dubbed "Unser's Peak" because of his family's history of success at the hill climb. He finished fifth that year, behind his two brothers. A year later he won his first of a record 13 championships at Pike's Peak. He won six straight titles from 1958 to 1963. His streak ended in 1964 when his younger brother Al won the race.
(photo credit: Bobby Unser via photopin(license))
Bobby Unser, 1963 Pikes Peak winner

Unser raced in his first Indianapolis 500 in 1963. He crashed early and placed thirty-third. His first Indy-car win came in 1967 at Mosport, Ontario. A year later won his first Indianapolis 500, setting the record as the first driver to race over 170 miles per hour at Indianapolis. In 1969 Unser won his first USAC National Driving Championship.

In 1972, Unser set another Indianapolis 500 record for the fastest qualifying time at 195.94 miles per hour. In 1974, he won his second USAC National Driving Championship and a year later he won his second Indianapolis 500 and the 1975 IROC championship. In the late 1970s, Unser won several races in the CART series. In 1980 he became the first driver to win the California 500 four times.

Late in his racing career he joined Team Penske and won 3 races driving for Penske in 1980 and 1981, including the the controversial 1981 Indianapolis 500. Unser won the pole in the #3 Roger Penske-owned car and led the most laps. On lap 149, during a caution period, Bobby and Mario Andretti made their pit stop and headed back to the race. Bobby passed eight cars during the caution, while Mario passed two cars. Unser won the race, but was stripped of it the following morning in favor of second place finisher Mario Andretti. After a 5-month lawsuit and protest by Penske, Bobby Unser was re-awarded the win in October 1981. But the controversy and financial impact caused a bitter Unser to retire from racing at the end of the year. Unser once estimated that the commercial endorsements he lost because of the delayed result cost him $1 million.
(photo credit: #3 1981 Penske PC-98 Indy Car via photopin(license))
#3 1981 Penske PC-98 Indy Car

Unser became a television commentator for Indycar races after his retirement working for the ABC, ESPN and the NBC. He also broadcast several NASCAR events between 1986–1994 alongside Ned Jarrett and Bob Jenkins.

He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1990, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994, and the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1997.

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Cal Rayburn Born In San Diego, California - February 20, 1940

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February 20, 1940 - December 29, 1973
Cal Rayburn 
(photo credit; Robert Ballard wfotuning) 
Born in San Diego, California, USA.
Rayborn began riding motorcycles at an early age. He began his racing career in dirt track events in Southern California and in 1964, he began racing professionally in the A.M.A. Grand National Championship, a series which encompassed events in four distinctive dirt track disciplines plus road racing. Rayborn excelled at road racing, winning his first AMA national at Carlsbad, California in 1966.

His prowess on road courses earned him a place on the Harley Davidson factory racing team. It was with Harley Davidson that he achieved his greatest success, winning two consecutive Daytona 200 victories in 1968 and 1969. He also set two 1970 motorcycle land speed records. He accomplished a tremendous feat when he competed in the Trans-Atlantic Match Races in England in 1972. The Trans-Atlantic Match Races pitted the best British riders against the top American road racers. On an outdated motorcycle with no experience on British race tracks, Rayborn won three of the six races.

At the end of 1973, it was apparent that the Harley Davidson team couldn't provide him with a competitive motorcycle, so Rayborn accepted an offer to race for the Suzuki factory. In late 1973, Rayborn travelled to New Zealand to compete in an auto racing event and to test ride a Suzuki. At the Pukekohe Park Raceway outside of Auckland, Rayborn was killed when he crashed after the bike's engine had seized, and his body slammed into a wall close to the track.

Rayborn was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.

Peter Gethin Born In Ewell, England - February 21, 1940

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February 21, 1940 - December 5, 2011
Peter Gethin
(Photo; en.wikipedia.org)
Born in Ewell, England.
He participated in 31 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on June 21, 1970. He won the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in the fastest average speed in Formula One history, (until the record was broken by Michael Schumacher in the same race in 2003), but this was his only podium finish. Gethin also participated in numerous non-Championship Formula One races, winning the 1971 World Championship Victory Race and the 1973 Race of Champions.

Gethin also raced for Team McLaren in the 1970 Canadian-American Challenge Cup series, driving the McLaren M8D that had been driven by Dan Gurney in the first three races of the season. Peter Gethin scored Team McLaren's 19th straight Can-Am win at Road America on August 30, 1970. Gethin won the one race and finished third in the 1970 championship. 
(photo credit: Dave Hamster via photopin cc)
In 1974 Gethin won the Tasman Series, a Formula 5000 series held in Australia and New Zealand. Gethin drove a Chevron B24 Chevrolet. Gethin later ran a Formula 3000 team.

Gethin died at the age of 71 on December 5, 2011, after a long illness.

J.D. Gibbs Born In Mocksville, North Carolina - February 21, 1969

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February 21, 1969
Jason Dean "J. D." Gibbs
(Photo; joegibbsracing.com)
Born in Mocksville, North Carolina, USA.
Currently the president of Joe Gibbs Racing. During Gibbs' childhood, he moved several times before settling in Washington, D. C. Once he graduated from Oakton High School, he attended The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. While attending, he was the defensive back and quarterback during the 1987-1990 seasons, as his father coached for the Washington Redskins. He helped the school team to two Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances, which his team won ten games in his senior season.

After school, he became employed at Joe Gibbs Racing, a team his father started in July 1991. The team, with only six employees, started racing with Dale Jarrett the driver in 1992. In 1993, Gibbs was a tire changer on the team and was part of the 1993 Daytona 500 winning team. Then in the mid-1990s, J. D. started racing in the NASCAR Camping World East Series, as well as Late model events in North Carolina. Afterward, he started racing in the Camping World Truck Series and Nationwide Series. In 1998, Gibbs became president of his father's team, when his father returned to the Redskins after a 12 year hiatus.

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NASCAR Becomes Officially Incorporated - February 21, 1948

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February 21, 1948
The National Association for Stock Car Racing, or NASCAR, as it will come to be widely known, is officially incorporated. NASCAR racing will go on to become one of America's most popular spectator sports, as well as a multi-billion-dollar industry.

 It was founded by Bill France, Sr.
(Photo; stockcar.racersreunion.com)
As of 2014, the CEO for the company is Brian France, grandson of Bill France, Sr. NASCAR is the largest sanctioning body of stock car racing in the United States. The three largest racing series sanctioned by NASCAR are the Sprint Cup Series, the Xfinity Series, and the Camping World Truck Series. It also oversees NASCAR Local Racing, the Whelen Modified Tour, the Whelen All-American Series, and the NASCAR iRacing.com Series. NASCAR sanctions over 1500 races at over 100 tracks in 39 US states and Canada. NASCAR has presented exhibition races at the Suzuka and Motegi circuits in Japan, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico, and the Calder Park Thunderdome in Australia.

NASCAR's headquarters are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, although it also maintains offices in four North Carolina cities: Charlotte, Mooresville, Concord, and Conover. Regional offices are located in New York City, Los Angeles, and Bentonville, Arkansas, and international offices are located in Mexico City and Toronto. Additionally, owing to its Southern roots, all but a handful of NASCAR teams are still based in North Carolina, especially near Charlotte.

NASCAR is second only to the National Football League among professional sports franchises in terms of television ratings in the United States. Internationally, NASCAR races are broadcast in over 150 countries. In 2004 NASCAR's Director of Security stated that NASCAR holds 17 of the top 20 regularly attended single-day sporting events in the world. Fortune 500 companies sponsor NASCAR more than any other motor sport.

The Official NASCAR Trivia Book:
With 1001 Facts and Questions to Test Your Racing Knowledge
The Official NASCAR Trivia Book challenges fans with over 1001 NASCAR trivia questions and facts. With an answer section also included, this book will make a NASCAR expert out of any fan, while offering the most seasoned of followers and casual fans hours and hours of fun, laughter and great NASCAR content. This book makes the perfect compliment to any NASCAR enthusiasts collection of officially licensed NASCAR products.

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Lee Petty Wins Daytona "NASCAR Grand National" - February 21, 1954

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February 21, 1954
 
Lee Petty wins "NASCAR Grand National", at Daytona Beach & Road Course.

Tim Flock finishes first but is disqualified from his apparent win at Daytona, elevating Lee Petty to the official winner. Flock quits NASCAR in disgust. Flock's car had been equipped with a two-way radio, the first such use in NASCAR Grand National competition.

For story's and daily events in Motorsport History visit our homepage

The Official NASCAR Trivia Book

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The Official NASCAR Trivia Book challenges fans with over 1001 NASCAR trivia questions and facts. With an answer section also included, this book will make a NASCAR expert out of any fan, while offering the most seasoned of followers and casual fans hours and hours of fun, laughter and great NASCAR content. This book makes the perfect compliment to any NASCAR enthusiasts collection of officially licensed NASCAR products.


Lee Petty Wins The First-ever "Daytona 500" - February 22, 1959

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February 22, 1959

(Photo; www.nascar.com)
 Lee Petty defeats Johnny Beauchamp in a photo finish, at the just-opened Daytona International Speedway in Florida, to win the first-ever "Daytona 500".

Cotton Owens had the fastest qualifying lap, at 143.198 miles per hour. The race had one qualifying race for Convertibles and one for the hardtop Grand National cars. Bob Welborn, winner of the 100-mile Grand National qualifying race earlier in the week, started on the pole position. Shorty Rollins won the Convertible qualifying race and started second. Twenty of the 59 cars in the Daytona 500 were convertibles.

There were no caution periods in the race. Welborn led the early laps in the race but his race ended after 75 laps with engine problems. Other leaders in the first 22 laps of the race were "Tiger" Tom Pistone and Joe Weatherly. Fireball Roberts took over the lead in lap 23, leading the next 20 laps before dropping out of the race on lap 57 due to a broken fuel pump. Johnny Beauchamp led several laps before Pistone and Jack Smith battled for the lead during the next 100 miles. Richard Petty also had to retire from the race with an engine problem and earned $100 for his 57th-place performance.

Lee Petty battled with Beauchamp during the final 30 laps of the race, and they were the only two drivers to finish on the lead lap. Petty took the lead with 3 laps left, and led at the start of the final lap. Petty and Beauchamp drove side by side across the finish line at the end final lap for a photo finish. Beauchamp was declared the unofficial winner by NASCAR officials, and he drove to victory lane. Petty protested the results, saying "I had Beauchamp by a good two feet. In my own mind, I know I won." Beauchamp replied "I had him by two feet. I glanced over to Lee Petty's car as I crossed the finish line and I could see his headlight slightly back of my car. It was so close I didn't know how they would call it, but I thought I won." Early leader Fireball Roberts, who was standing by the finish line, said "There's no doubt about it, Petty won." It took NASCAR founder Bill France, Sr. three days to decide the winner the following Wednesday. In the end, with the help of photographs and newsreel footage, Petty was officially declared the winner.
(Photo; en.wikipedia.org)
The controversial finish helped the sport. The delayed results to determine the official winner kept NASCAR and the Daytona 500 on the front page of newspapers.

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Etchells Defeats Capps In First All-Camaro Funny Car Final - February 22, 1998

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February 22, 1998
Chuck Etchells defeats Ron Capps in the Funny Car finals of the "Atsco Nationals" at Firebird Raceway in Chandler, Arizona, USA.

Capps defeated Dale Creasy Jr., Al Hofmann and Dean Skuza to reach the finals. Etchells eliminated Mitch McDowell, Whit Bazemore and Randy Anderson to make it into the finals.

This was the first ever all-Camaro final in NHRA Funny Car history. There was an all-Chevy final in 1985, however, at Firebird International Raceway, when John Collins, in an '85 Camaro, defeated John Force, in an '85 Corvette.

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Niki Lauda Born in Vienna, Austria - February 22, 1949

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February 22, 1949
Niki Lauda
(photo credit: Niki Lauda with Carlos Reutemann via photopin(license))
Born in Vienna, Austria.
Niki Lauda was born to a wealthy family. Lauda became a racing driver despite his family's disapproval. After starting out with a Mini, Lauda moved on into Formula Vee, as was normal in Central Europe, but rapidly moved up to drive in private Porsche and Chevron sports cars. With his career stalled, he took out a £30,000 GBP bank loan, secured by a life insurance policy, to buy his way into the fledgling March team as a Formula Two driver in 1971. Because of his family's disapproval he had an ongoing feud with his family over his racing ambitions and abandoned further contact. He was quickly promoted to the F1 team, but drove for March in F1 and F2 in 1972. Although the F2 cars were good, March's 1972 F1 season was catastrophic. Lauda, in despair and deep debt, briefly contemplated suicide but finally took out another bank loan to buy his way into the BRM team in 1973. Lauda was instantly quick, but the team was in decline. His big break came when his BRM teammate Clay Regazzoni left to rejoin Ferrari in 1974 and team owner Enzo Ferrari asked him what he thought of Lauda. Regazzoni spoke so favourably of Lauda that Ferrari promptly signed him, paying Niki enough to clear his debts.

Lauda would become a three-time F1 World Champion, winning in 1975, 1977 and 1984. He is currently the only driver to have been champion for both Ferrari and McLaren, the sport's two most successful constructors. More recently an aviation entrepreneur, he has founded and run two airlines, Lauda Air and Niki.
(photo credit: Lauda Air Boeing 767-300 via photopin(license))
He was also a consultant for Scuderia Ferrari and team manager of the Jaguar Formula One racing team for two years. He is currently working as a pundit for German TV during Grand Prix weekends and acts as non-executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.

Lauda has two sons with first wife, Mathias, a racing driver himself, and Lukas, who also acts as Mathias's manager. Lauda has a son, Christoph, through an extra-marital relationship. In 2008 he married Birgit Wetzinger, who is 30 years his junior and was a flight attendant for his airline. She donated a kidney to Lauda when the kidney he received in a transplant from his brother, years earlier, failed. In September 2009 Birgit gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, Max and Mia.

Lauda was seriously injured in a crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, during which his Ferrari burst into flames and he came close to death after inhaling hot toxic fumes and suffering severe burns. However he recovered and returned to race again just six weeks later at the Italian Grand Prix. Scars from the injuries he suffered have left him permanently disfigured.
(photo credit: Fórmula1 - 2010 via photopin(license))
Niki in 2010
The movie Rush, a 2013 British-German biographical sports drama film, centered on the rivalry between Hunt and Niki Lauda, during the 1976 Formula One motor-racing season. 
photo credit: engyles via photopin cc 
Lauda was played by Daniel Brühl. Lauda himself made a cameo appearance at the end of the film. At this point Lauda said of Hunt's death, "When I heard he'd died age 45 of a heart attack I wasn't surprised, I was just sad." He also said that Hunt was one of his small number of friends, a smaller number of people he respected and the only man he had ever envied.

In the book, James Hunt: The Biography, Niki Lauda stated that "We were big rivals, especially at the end of the season, but I respected him, because you could drive next to him, 2 centimeters, wheel-by-wheel, for 300 kilometers or more, and nothing would happen. 
He was a real top driver at the time."

Niki Lauda has written five books: The Art and Science of Grand Prix Driving, My Years With Ferrari, The New Formula One: A Turbo Age, Meine Story, titled To Hell and Back in some markets, Das dritte Leben. Lauda credits Austrian journalist Herbert Volker with editing the books.

Lauda was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993.

(photo credit: 1984 United States Grand Prix, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas via photopin (license))
(Niki Lauda in his Marlboro McLaren TAG during the 1984 Championship season - United States Grand Prix, Fair Park, Dallas, Texas)

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Marshall Teague Born In Daytona Beach, Florida, USA - February 22, 1921

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February 22, 1921 – February 11, 1959
Marshall Teague
Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA
He was nicknamed by NASCAR fans as the "King of the Beach" for his performances at the Daytona Beach Road Course. He walked into fellow Daytona Beach resident Smokey Yunick's "Best Damned Garage in Town", and launched Yunick's legendary NASCAR mechanic career. 

Teague competed in 23 NASCAR Grand National races from 1949 to 1952, winning seven of them. Teague approached the Hudson Motor Car Company by traveling to Michigan and visiting the automaker's factory without an appointment. By the end of his visit, Hudson virtually assured Teague of corporate support and cars, with the relationship formalized shortly after his visit. This "is generally regarded as the first stock car racing team backed by a Detroit auto manufacturer."

During the 1951 and 1952 racing seasons, Teague was a member of the Hudson Motors team and driving what were called the "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" stock cars. Teague was also instrumental in helping Hudson tune the 308 cu in (5.0 L) straight-6 powered Hudson Hornet to its maximum stock capability. When combined with the cars light weight and low center of gravity, the Hornet allowed Teague and the other Hudson drivers to dominate stock car racing from 1951 through 1954, consistently beating out other drivers in cars powered by larger, more modern engines. Smokey Yunick and Teague won 27 of 34 events in major stock car events.
(photo credit: Fabulous Hudson Hornet via photopin (license))
Fabulous Hudson Hornet

In 1953, Teague dropped out of NASCAR following a dispute with NASCAR founder William France Sr. and went to the AAA and USAC racing circuits. The Indianapolis 500 was part of the FIA World Championship from 1950 through 1960. Drivers competing at Indy during those years were credited with World Championship points and participation. Marshall Teague participated in three World Championship races, but scored no World Championship points.

Teague died while attempting a closed course speed record in a reconfigured Indy car at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway. He was conducting test sessions in preparation for the April debut of the United States Auto Club championship with Indy-style roadsters. He was piloting a "Sumar Special" streamliner, a Kurtis-Kraft chassis with a Meyer-Drake Offenhauser 270 engine, streamlined fenders, and a canopy enclosing the driver, thus being classified as Formula Libre. On February 9, 1959, Teague set an unofficial closed course speed record of 171.821 mph.

Teague was attempting to go even faster on February 11, 1959, eleven days before the first Daytona 500. "Teague pushed the speed envelope in the high-powered Sumar Special streamliner - to an estimated 140 mph." His car spun and flipped through the third turn and Teague was thrown, seat and all, from his car. He died nearly instantly.

Teague's achievements include; 1951 & 1952 Daytona Beach Road Course Strictly Stock Car winner and named 1951 AAA Stock Car Driver of the Year. He won the 1952 & 1954 AAA National Stock Car championship.

Teague was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association's Hall of Fame in 1968, the National Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1988, the TRS/NASCAR Mechanics Hall of Fame in 1989, and the American Auto Racing Writers and Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 1991.

Teague was also the inspiration for Doc Hudson in the film Cars.

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"Happy Birthday" Andretti Autosport Driver Shelby Blackstock - February 23, 1990

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February 23, 1990
Shelby Blackstock
Home;Nashville, Tennessee, USA.
He is the son of country music singer Reba McEntire and her ex-husband and manager Narvel Blackstock.

Blackstock began his racing career in college when he went to a Bob Bondurant race school. He dropped out of college and decided to pursue a racing career full-time. His first significant appearances were in Skip Barber competition in 2010 and 2011. In 2011 he made his professional debut driving a Ford Mustang in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge. He also finished fifth in the 2011 Skip Barber National Championship. In 2012, he moved to the U.S. F2000 National Championship with Andretti Autosport. He finished eighth in points with a best finish of fourth at Road America. He moved up with Andretti Autosport to the Pro Mazda Championship in 2013, finishing third in points and capturing a win at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park among six podium finishes in 16 races. In 2014 he continued in Pro Mazda with Andretti, but fell to fourth in points, but still captured six podium finishes, but not a race victory.

In 2015 Blackstock race for Andretti Autosport in the Indy Lights series.
(Photo; people.com)
Shelby with famous mom Reba McEntire. 

Juan Manuel Fangio Kidnapped In Cuba - February 23, 1958

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February 23, 1958
(Photoespn.co.uk)
Five-time Formula One champion, Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina, is kidnapped in Cuba by a group of Fidel Castro's rebels.

Fangio won the 1957 event, and had set fastest times during practice for the 1958 race. Two unmasked gunmen of Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement entered the Hotel Lincoln in Havana and kidnapped Fangio at gunpoint. Local police set up roadblocks at intersections, and guards were assigned to private and commercial airports and to all competing drivers.

Fangio was taken to three separate houses. His captors allowed him to listen to the race via radio, bringing a television for him to witness reports of a disastrous crash after the race concluded. In the third house, Fangio was allowed his own bedroom but became convinced that a guard was standing outside of the bedroom door at all hours. The captors talked about their revolutionary programme which Fangio had not wished to speak about as he did not have an interest in politics. Fangio was released after 29 hours.

The captors motives were to force the cancellation of the race in an attempt to embarrass the Batista regime. After Fangio was released, many Cubans were convinced that Batista was losing his power because he failed to track the captors down. The Cuban Revolution concluded in January 1959, canceling the 1959 Cuban Grand Prix. The Fangio kidnapping was dramatized in a 1999 Argentine film directed by Alberto Lecchi, Operación Fangio.

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The Mario Andretti Story - Part Four; The Later Years

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Mario Andretti
(photo credit: Mario Andretti signing Andretti Winery bottles for WCLM via photopin (license))
Mario and his wife Dee Ann live near their grandson Marco in mansions in Bushkill Township, Pennsylvania. Dee Ann is a native of Nazareth who taught English to Andretti in 1961. Dee Ann and Mario were married on November 25, 1961.

Andretti has kept active after his retirement from full-time racing. He makes numerous speaking engagements before corporate audiences and is a spokesman for longtime sponsors Texaco/Havoline, Firestone and Magnaflow performance exhaust. He was occasionally a spokesman for the defunct Champ Car World Series, though he frequently attended IRL races to watch Marco compete. He owns a chain of gasoline stations, a Toyota dealership in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, just outside of Pittsburgh, car washes, car-care products, go-kart tracks, a clothing line, video games and replica cars. He also test drives cars for Road & Track and Car and Driver magazines. In July 2006 Andretti took part in the Bullrun race across America. The first pitstop was at the Pocono Raceway, with Gate No. 5 aptly named Andretti Road. Since 2012 Andretti has been the official ambassador for the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) and the United States Grand Prix promoting awareness of Formula 1 in the United States and all forms of motorsports at COTA.

Andretti is vice chairman of a winery named Andretti Winery in Napa Valley, California.

(photo credit: Andretti Winery, Napa Valley, California, USA via photopin (license)) 
Mario Andretti was featured in the 2007 documentary A State of Vine, where he commented on his wine-making activities.

Andretti played himself on three episodes of the United States television show Home Improvement. He also appears in films such as the IMAX movie Super Speedway, about the making of Newman/Haas Racing cars, as well as being about Mario Andretti and Michael Andretti. Mario is also in the Pixar Animation Studios film Cars, where his voice is used for a cameo in which he plays the 1967 Ford Fairlane in which he won the Daytona 500, a parody of his own success in that race.
The Mario Andretti character from the movie Cars.
(photo credit: Mario via photopin (license))
Mario appeared in the off-road racing documentary Dust to Glory as the race grand marshal, where the movie documents the 2004 Baja 1000 race. Mario also wrote a racing column for the Indianapolis Star where he wrote about other drivers, equipment and cars. He has a voice part in the movie Turbo.

Mario had a long career in racing, spanning five decades, going on to become an International star. Known for his versatility as a driver, he is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, IndyCar, World Sportscar Championship and NASCAR, the other being Dan Gurney. To date, he remains the only driver ever to win the Indianapolis 500 (1969), Daytona 500 (1967) and the Formula One World Championship, and, along with Juan Pablo Montoya, the only driver to have won a race in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Formula One, and an Indianapolis 500. No American has won a Formula One race since Andretti's victory at the 1978 Dutch Grand Prix. Mario had 109 career wins on major circuits. He was the only person to be named United States Driver of the Year in three decades, 1967, 1978, and 1984. He was also one of only three drivers to win races on road courses, paved ovals, and dirt tracks in one season, a feat that he accomplished four times. With his final Indy Car win in April 1993, Andretti became the first driver to win Indy Car races in four different decades and the first to win automobile races of any kind in five.

Mario Andretti Awards & Achievements;
Named the "Driver of the Century" by the Associated Press and RACER magazine.

2012 Canadian Motorsport Hall of Fame Inductee.

2000 International Motorsports Hall of Fame Inductee.

1996 National Sprint Car Hall of Fame Inductee.

1992 named Driver of the Quarter Century.

1990 Motorsports Hall of Fame of America inductee

1978–1979 International Race of Champions series champion.

1978 Formula One World Championship.

1974 USAC national dirt track champion.

1972 6 Hours of Daytona.

1969 Indianapolis 500 winner.

1967 Daytona 500 winner.

Three time 12 Hours of Sebring winner, 1967, 1970, & 1972.

Four time IndyCar champion, 1965, 1966, 1969, & 1984

1969 ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year.

 

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The Mario Andretti Story - Part Three; The Formula One Years

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Mario Andretti
At Andretti's first Indianapolis 500, in 1965, he met Colin Chapman, owner of the Lotus Formula One team, who was running eventual race winner Jim Clark's car. Andretti told Chapman of his ambition to compete in Formula One and was told "When you're ready, call me." By 1968 Andretti felt he was ready. Chapman gave him a car, and the young American took the pole position on his debut at the 1968 United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen in his Lotus 49.

Andretti drove sporadically in Formula One over the next four years for Lotus, March, and Ferrari, while continuing to focus on his racing career in America. At the 1971 South African Grand Prix, on his debut for Ferrari, he won his first Grand Prix. Three weeks later, at the non-championship Questor Grand Prix in the U.S., he brought the Italian team a second victory.

It wasn't until 1975 that Andretti drove a full Formula One season, for the American Parnelli team. The team was new to Formula One, although it had been successful in both Formula 5000 and IndyCar racing in America with Andretti driving. The team had run Andretti in the two North American end-of-season races in 1974 with promising results. Andretti qualified fourth and led the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix for nine laps before his suspension failed. He scored five championship points in the season. Andretti continued to compete in IndyCar, missing two Formula One races in the middle of the season to do so.

When the Parnelli team pulled out of Formula One after two races of the 1976 season, Andretti returned to Chapman's Lotus team, for whom he had already driven at the season-opening Brazilian Grand Prix.
(1976 British Grand Prix - Niki Lauda Ferrari 312 leads, James Hunt McLaren M23 with Mario Andretti Lotus 77 and Clay Regazzoni Ferrari 312)

Lotus was then at a low point, having failed to produce a competitive car to replace 1970's Lotus 72. Andretti's ability at developing a racing car contributed to Lotus' return to the front of the Formula One grid, culminating in lapping the field in his victory at the season ending race at the Mount Fuji circuit in Japan. Since mid-1975 Lotus had been developing the use of ground effect, shaping the underside of the car to generate downforce with little penalizing drag. For his part, Andretti worked at setting up his cars for the races, exploiting subtle differences in tire size and suspension set up on each side of the car to optimize it for each track, an approach imported from his extensive oval racing experience in the United States. In 1977, at Long Beach, he became the only American to win the United States Grand Prix West, and the last American as of 2014 to win any US Grand Prix. The Lotus 78 "wing car" proved to be the most competitive car of 1977, but despite winning four races, more than any other driver, reliability problems and collisions with other drivers meant Andretti finished only third in the championship. The following year, the Lotus 79 exploited ground effect even further and Andretti took the title with six wins. He clinched the championship at the Italian Grand Prix. There was no championship celebration because his teammate and close friend Ronnie Peterson crashed heavily at the start of the race, was hospitalised and died that night from complications resulting from his injuries.
Mario Andretti - Grand Prix of Canada, October 8, 1978
Andretti would find little success after 1978 in Formula One, he failed to win another grand prix. He had a difficult year in 1979, as the new Lotus 80 was not competitive, and the team had to rely on the Lotus 79 which had been overtaken by the second generation of ground effect cars. In 1980, he was paired with the young Italian Elio de Angelis, and briefly with test driver Nigel Mansell, but the team was again unsuccessful.

Andretti had an unsuccessful 1981 with the Alfa Romeo team. Like other drivers of the period he did not like the ground effect cars of the time: "the cars were getting absurd, really crude, with no suspension movement whatever. It was toggle switch driving with no need for any kind of delicacy...it made leaving Formula One a lot easier than it would have been."

The next year Andretti raced once for the Williams team, after their driver Carlos Reutemann suddenly quit, before replacing the seriously injured Didier Pironi at Ferrari for the last two races of the year. Suspension failure dropped him out of the last race of the season, but at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza he took the pole position and finished third in the race.

Continued in The Mario Andretti Story - Part Four; The Later Years
 

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The Mario Andretti Story - Part Two; The Champ Car & Indy Years

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Mario Andretti
(photo credit: Mario Andretti via photopin (license))
From 1956 to 1979, the top open wheel racing series in North America was the USAC National Championship. It was often referred to as Champ car racing, or Indycar racing, referring to the famous Indianapolis 500 race which was the centerpiece of the championship. The races were run on a mixture of paved and dirt ovals, and in later years also included some road courses.

Andretti made his Champ Car debut on April 19, 1964 at the New Jersey State fairgrounds in Trenton, New Jersey. He started sixteenth and finishing eleventh. Andretti was introduced by his USAC sprint car owner, Rufus Gray, to veteran mechanic Clint Brawner. Brawner was not impressed since sprint car drivers Stan Bowman and Donnie Davis had recently died, and Brawner's current driver, Chuck Hulse, had been critically injured. Chris Economaki recommended Andretti to Brawner, so Brawner watched Andretti race at Terre Haute, Indiana. Brawner was convinced that he had found the new driver for his team. The two stayed together for six years. Andretti finished eleventh in the USAC National Championship that season. Andretti won his first championship car race at the Hoosier Grand Prix on a road course at Indianapolis Raceway Park in 1965. His third place finish at the 1965 Indianapolis 500 in the Brawner Hawk earned him the race's Rookie of the Year award, and contributed towards Andretti winning the series championship. He was the youngest national champion in series history at age 25. He repeated as series champion in 1966, winning eight of fifteen events. He also won the pole at the 1966 Indianapolis 500. Andretti finished second in the IndyCars in 1967 and 1968. He also won a single non-championship drag race in 1967 in a Ford Mustang. In both 1967 and 1968, Andretti lost the season USAC championship to A.J. Foyt and Bobby Unser, respectively, in the waning laps of the last race of the season at Riverside, California, each by the smallest points margin in history.

Andretti won nine races in 1969, the 1969 Indianapolis 500, and the season championship. He also won the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, which was part of the USAC National Championship. He was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. Between 1966 and 1969 he won 29 of 85 USAC championship races.

In 1973, USAC split its National Championship into dirt and pavement championships. Andretti had one win on the pavement and finished fifth in the season points, and finished second in the dirt championship. He competed in USAC's dirt track division in 1974, and won the dirt track championship while competing in both series. Andretti also competed in the North American Formula 5000 series in 1973 and 1974, and finished second in the championship in both seasons.

Andretti had continued to race, and occasionally win, in the USAC National Championship during his time in the Formula One world championship. In 1979 a new organization, Championship Auto Racing Teams, had set up the Indycar world series as a rival to the USAC National Championships that Andretti had won three times in the 1960s. The new series had rapidly become the top open wheel racing series in North America.

It was to this arena that Andretti returned full-time in 1982, driving for Patrick Racing. He returned to the 1982 Indianapolis 500 as well. After starting in row 2, Andretti got victimized by a controversial wreck during the pace-laps, when rookie Kevin Cogan suddenly spun out for no apparent reason. Andretti was livid and engaged in a shoving match with Cogan. In an interview 3 minutes after the wreck Andretti was heard saying "This is what happens when you have children doing a man's job up front."

In 1983 he joined the new Newman/Haas Racing team, set up by Carl Haas and actor Paul Newman using cars built by British company Lola. Andretti took the team's first win at Elkhart Lake in 1983. He won the pole for nine of sixteen events in 1984, and claimed his fourth Champ Car title at the age of 44. He edged out Tom Sneva by 13 points. It was the first series title for the second year team.

Mario's son Michael joined Newman/Haas in 1989. Together, they made history as the first father/son team to compete in both IMSA GT and Champ Car racing, as for the former, it was their fourth time in an endurance race together as co-drivers. Mario finished seventh in points for the 1991 season, the year that Michael won the championship. Mario's last victory in IndyCar racing came in 1993 at Phoenix International Raceway, the year that Michael left Newman/Haas to race in Formula One. The win made Mario the oldest recorded winner in an IndyCar event, 53 years, 34 days old. Andretti qualified on the pole at the Michigan 500 later that year with a speed of 234.275 miles per hour. The speed was a new closed course world record. Andretti's final season, in 1994, was dubbed "The Arrivederci Tour." He raced in the last of his 407 Indy car races that September.

Continued in The Mario Andretti Story - Part Three; The Formula One Years
 

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The Mario Andretti Story - Part One; The Early Years

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February 28, 1940
Mario Andretti
(photo credit: IndyCar-030 via photopin (license))
Born in Montona d'Istria, Italy
Mario and twin brother Aldo, were born in Italy, where they were inspired by watching the great Alberto Ascari race at Monza. The twins' mother Rina said that when they were two years old, they would take pot lids out of the cupboards and run around the kitchen, going "Vroom, vroom," like they were driving cars, this before they had seen a car. In 1945, at the age of five, he and Aldo were racing their hand-crafted wooden cars through the steep streets of their hometown. After World War II Istria was occupied and annexed by Yugoslavia. His family, like many other Italian Istrians, fled in 1948. They lived in a refugee camp from 1948 to 1955. The family settled in Nazareth, Pennsylvania and the brothers discovered racing on an oval track in their home town. Later, the brothers were hired by a garage to park cars, Andretti described the experience in his book What's it like out there: "The first time I fired up a car, felt the engine shudder and the wheel come to life in my hands, I was hooked. It was a feeling I can't describe. I still get it every time I get into a race car."

Andretti's first racing experience was in a new youth racing league called Formula Junior in Ancona, Italy when he was thirteen years old. He had two fond childhood memories of watching a stretch of the Mille Miglia race in 1954 which caused him to become captivated by Italian two-time Formula One world champion Alberto Ascari, who won the race, which got him to go to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix, where he saw Ascari and Juan Manuel Fangio race against each other.

Mario and Aldo were surprised to find a half-mile dirt racing track when they moved to Nazareth. The twins rebuilt a 1948 Hudson Hornet into a Sportsman modified in 1959, funded by money that they earned in their uncle's garage in 1959.
(Photo credit; www.motor-talk.de)
They flipped a coin to see who would race in the first race. Aldo won the coin toss, the heat race and the feature. They took turns racing and each had two wins after the first four weeks. They did not tell their parents that they were racing. Aldo was seriously hurt near the end of the season, and their parents were unhappy to find out that the twins were racing. Aldo fractured his skull, he recovered from his coma, and returned the following season.

Aldo continued racing on the USAC and IMCA circuits, but in 1969 Aldo suffered severe damage to his face after crashing into a fence, and quit racing. His face had 14 fractures to his facial bones. Mario described the accident in his book What's it like out there: "Aldo continued racing until August 17, 1969, when he had an accident, which was not his fault, in an IMCA sprint race at Des Moines, Iowa. He was driving a sprint car that I had bought for him."
(Photo credit; www.t-online.de)
Aldo is the father of John Andretti and Adam Andretti. Both of Mario Andretti's sons, Michael and Jeff, were IndyCar racers. Michael followed in his father's footsteps by winning the Indy Car title. With John joining the series in 1988, this meant that the Andretti's became the first family, to have four relatives compete in the same series.

Mario had 21 modified stockcar wins in 46 races in 1960 and 1961. Andretti's goal was to race in single-seater open wheel cars. Andretti said "Aldo and I were winning in the modifieds. But my objective was to get into open-wheelers." Andretti raced midget cars from 1961 to 1963. He started racing 3/4 midget cars in the American Three Quarter Midget Racing Association in the winter to be seen by full-sized midget car owners. He raced in over one hundred events in 1963. Andretti won three feature races at two different tracks on Labor Day in 1963. He won an afternoon feature at Flemington, New Jersey, and swept twin features at Hatfield, Pennsylvania.

The next rung on the racing ladder on the East Coast of the United States was to race in sprint cars in the United Racing Club. Andretti was able to get a ride for individual races in the URC sprint car racing series, but was unable to secure a full-time ride. He once drove from Canada to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania hoping to find a ride in an event, but he went empty-handed. He bypassed the series when he was offered a full-time ride in a United States Automobile Club sprint car for 1964.

Andretti won the 1964 Joe James-Pat O'Connor Memorial USAC sprint car race at Salem Speedway in Salem, Indiana. Andretti continued to race in USAC sprint cars after moving into champ cars. In 1965 he won once at Ascot Park, and finished tenth in the season points. In 1966 he won five times, but finished behind Roger McCluskey in the season championship. In 1967 he won two of the three events that he entered. He won a USAC Stock Car race in 1967, and finished seventh in the season points.

Andretti competed in fourteen NASCAR Grand National/Winston Cup events in his career. He competed in Holman Moody cars for his final ten events. Holman Moody was one of NASCAR's most successful teams at that time, as the team won NASCAR championships in 1968 and 1969 with driver David Pearson. Andretti won the 1967 Daytona 500 for Holman Moody.

Andretti was invited to race in six International Race of Champions series in his career. His best years were his first three years. He finished second in the final points standings in IROC III (1975–1976) and IROC V (1977–1978). He won the IROC VI (1978–1979) points championship with finishes of third, first, and second. He won three races in twenty events.

Andretti won three 12 Hours of Sebring endurance races (1967, 1970, 1972), and the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1972. In early sportscar races he competed for the Holman Moody team, but later often drove for Ferrari. He signed with Ferrari in 1971, and won several races with co-driver Jacky Ickx. In 1972 he shared wins in the three North American rounds of the championship and at Brands Hatch in the UK, contributing to Ferrari's dominant victory in that year's World Championship for Makes. He also competed in the popular North American Can-Am series in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
1971 Ferrari 712 Can-Am 
Silverstone Classic Endurance Car Racing - September 2009
(photo credit: 1971 Ferrari 712 Can-Am via photopin (license))
Andretti competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in four decades. In 1966 he shared a Holman Moody Ford MKII with Lucien Bianchi. They retired after their car dropped a valve at 10:30 pm In 1967, during a 3:30 am pit stop, a mechanic inadvertently installed a front brake pad backward on his Ford MkIV. As Andretti passed under the Dunlop Bridge before the Esses, he touched his brake pedal for the first time since leaving the pits. The front wheel instantly locked, turning the car hard into the dirt embankment at 150 mph. The wreckage slid to a stop with Andretti badly shaken, the car sideways to oncoming traffic and the track nearly blocked. His teammates, Jo Schlesser and Roger McCluskey, crashed trying to avoid Andretti's car. McCluskey pulled Andretti to safety, and Andretti was taken to hospital for X-rays.

Andretti did not return to Le Mans until his full-time Formula One career was over. In 1982, he partnered with son Michael in a Mirage M12 Ford. They qualified in ninth place, but the pair found their car being removed from the starting grid 80 minutes before the start of the race, as an official discovered an oil cooler that was mounted behind the gearbox, which was against the rules. The car had passed initial inspection four days before the race. Despite protests and complaints, the Andretti's entry was removed altogether. Their return in the following year was more successful as they finished third. The father/son team returned in 1988 with Mario's nephew John. They finished sixth in a factory Porsche 962. Following Mario's retirement from full-time racing, he decided on a return to the circuit to add a Le Mans victory to his achievements. He returned in 1995 with a second place finish. He said in a 2006 interview that he feels that the Courage Compétition team "lost five times over" through poor organization. He had unsuccessful efforts in the following years with a thirteenth place in 1996, and then a DNF for 1997. Andretti's final appearance at Le Mans was at the 2000 race, six years after his retirement from full-time racing, when he drove the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S at the age of 60, finishing 16th.

Continued in The Mario Andretti Story - Part Two; The Champ car & Indy Years
 

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"Four-time Formula One Champion" Alain Prost Born - February 24, 1955

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February 24, 1955
Alain Prost
(Photo: wikiwand.com)
Born in Lorette, Loire, France.
A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion. From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix victories. Michael Schumacher surpassed Prost's total of 51 victories at the 2001 Belgian Grand Prix. In 1999, Prost received the World Sports Awards of the Century in the motor sport category.

Prost employed a smooth, relaxed style behind the wheel, deliberately modeling himself on personal heroes like Jackie Stewart and Jim Clark. He was nicknamed "The Professor" for his intellectual approach to competition, though it was a name he did not particularly care for. Skilled at setting up his car for race conditions, Prost would often conserve his brakes and tyres early on in a race, leaving them fresher for a challenge at the end.

Prost discovered karting at the age of 14 during a family holiday. He progressed through motor sport's junior ranks, winning the French and European Formula Three championships, before joining the McLaren Formula One team in 1980 at the age of 24. He finished in the points on his Formula One début in Argentina and took his first race victory at his home Grand Prix in France a year later, driving for the factory Renault team.

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Prost formed a fierce rivalry mainly with Ayrton Senna, but also Nelson Piquet and Nigel Mansell.
Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell e Nelson Piquet
(photo credit: Poker d'assi via photopin (license))
In 1986, at the last race of the season, he beat Mansell and Piquet of Williams to the title after Mansell retired late on in the race, and Piquet was pulled in for a late precautionary pit stop.

Senna joined Prost at McLaren in 1988 and the two had a series of controversial clashes, including a collision at the 1989 Japanese Grand Prix that gave Prost his third Drivers' Championship. A year later at the same venue they collided again, but this time Prost, driving for Ferrari, lost out.

Before the end of a winless 1991 season Prost was fired by Ferrari for his public criticism of the team. After a sabbatical in 1992, Prost joined the Williams team, prompting reigning drivers' champion Mansell to leave for CART. With a competitive car, Prost won the 1993 championship and retired from Formula One driving at the end of the year.

In 1997, Prost took over the French Ligier team, running it as Prost Grand Prix until it went bankrupt in 2002. During 2002, Prost spent time with his family and competed in eight bicycle races, finishing third in the Granite – Mont Lozère. The Frenchman raced in the Andros ice race series in 2003, finishing second in the championship behind Yvan Muller. He also became an Ambassador for Uniroyal, a position he would keep until May 2006.

Prost continued to compete in the Andros Trophy, which is an ice racing championship, winning the title with Toyota in 2006/07, 2007/08 and with Dacia in 2011/2012.

For the 2010 Formula One season, the Sporting Regulations were changed so that a former driver sits on the stewards' panel. Prost was the first such driver to take on this role, at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix. Prost also took part in the Race of Champions in 2010, a race organised for legends of motor sport to compete in equal machinery.

In February 2012, Prost was named as Renault's new international ambassador, representing the company in sports demonstrations and at events organized or attended by Renault.

Prost has finished the Absa Cape Epic, an eight-day 700 km mountain bike race in South Africa, twice. He first completed the race in 2012 with partner Sebastien di Pasqua and then again in 2013, and started but did not finish the race in 2014.

In October 2013 it was announced that Prost would join forces with Jean-Paul Driot's DAMS racing team to form e.dams, a team which would compete in the FIA Formula E Championship for electric racing cars from its commencement in September 2014. In June 2014 the team announced that its initial driver line-up would consist of Nicolas Prost and Sebastien Buemi. The team went on to win the inaugural Formula E teams championship.

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Cuba Grand Prix Marred By Tragedy - February 24, 1958

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February 24, 1958
In addition to Juan Manuel Fangio's kidnapping on the day before, the Cuba Grand Prix was marred by tragedy when a Cuban driver named Armando Garcia Cifuentes lost control of his car on an oil-slicked part of the street course and plowed into a crowd of onlookers. Seven people were killed and dozens more injured. The crash led to immediate speculation that Castro's followers had sabotaged the course by coating it with oil; however, it was later believed that a broken oil line in a car driven by Argentina's Roberto Mieres was the cause of the slick spot.

(Photoespn.co.uk)
See: Juan Manuel Fangio Kidnapped

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