1938- American race car driver In 1977, the famous words traditionally spoken at the beginning of motorsport's best known race were changed to "In company with the first lady ever to qualify at Indianapolis—gentlemen, start your engines." The change acknowledged the presence of thirty-nine-yearold Janet Guthrie. Before this historic moment, Guthrie had thirteen years of…
1937- American race team owner Following a short-lived but distinguished career as a race-car driver in the early 1960s, resulting in Sports Car Driver of the Year awards from, respectively, the periodicals Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times, Roger Penske established Penske Racing. In IndyCar competition, Penske Racing has won more Indianapolis 500 races than any oth…
1951- American race car driver Rick Mears dominated Indy car racing in the 1980s. He won a total of twenty-nine Indy car races for Team Penske, seven of which were on road courses instead of oval tracks. He won the coveted pole position forty times and he drove more miles during that decade than any other driver. Most impressively Mears won a record number of pole positions in 500-mile races, incl…
1961-1993 American race car driver Davey Allison was a champion stock-car driver, with major race wins; he captured the Daytona 500, stock-car racing's most important event, in 1992. His winnings on the Winston Cup circuit, the major league of the sport, totaled $6.7 million. Allison came from a family of race car drivers that included his father, Bobby, his uncle, Donnie, and his younger b…
1914-2000 American race car driver Lee Petty was a key figure in the early development of stock car racing and the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing Inc. (NASCAR). He contributed to the evolution of the sport from an illegal, back road event, to dirt tracks at local fairgrounds and other sites throughout the South and Midwest, to the latter-day super-speedways at Daytona, Florida, Cha…
1911-1995 Argentine race car driver Race car enthusiasts around the globe consider Juan Manuel Fangio to be the all-time grand master of the racing world. From 1957 until 2002, Fangio sat alone atop Formula One racing's pedestal as the only driver with five world championships. In 2002, Germany's Michael Schumacher tied that record, and while he was likened to Fangio, even Schumacher…
1937- American race car driver Richard Petty's thirty-four years of winning competition on the National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) circuit—during most of which he was the overwhelmingly dominant force—earned him the fitting nickname "The King." His record is unprecedented and unlikely ever to be equaled: 200 wins in NASCAR competition; seven Wi…
1939- American race car driver Al Unser Sr., a legend in the world of auto racing, is one of only three drivers to have won the Indianapolis 500 four times. Unser, a member of the second of three generations of Unsers to race cars, also shares the distinction of having won races on paved ovals, road courses, and dirt tracks in a single season with only two other Indy drivers. In fact, Unser manage…
1940- American race car driver Mario Andretti Mario Andretti was named Driver of the Century for his distinguished racing career that spanned five decades. Andretti earned his reputation with Championship cars. He won a total of 52 Championship car races, including the prestigious Indianapolis 500 in 1969. He is also the all time leader of Championship car pole position wins with 67 and the…
1934- American race car driver Bobby Unser came from a family of racecar drivers. He made a name for himself as a driver who pushed himself and his cars to the limit. He drove fast and hard all of the time, and has won numerous racing championships throughout his career, including three Indianapolis 500 titles. Unser has been the center of controversy because of his sharp opinions about what is fa…
1964- American race car driver As a woman stock car racer, Shawna Robinson has a long list of "firsts" behind her name, including being the first woman to start a NASCAR Winston Cup race since Patty Moise did so in 1989 and the first woman to finish a Winston Cup race since Janet Guthrie in 1980. Yet, she has said she is more interested in being remembered as a winning driver than as…
1878-1946 American race car driver Originally famed for his speed in bicycle racing, Barney Oldfield became one of the pioneers of automobile racing. From 1902 to his retirement in 1918, his name was synonymous with speed and daring on the road. He was the first person to drive faster than 60 miles per hour. According to his obituary in the Toledo, Ohio Blade, the inventor of the automobile, Henry…
1955- French race car driver Formula One auto racing (F1) is the most elite, well funded, avidly followed, and competitive sport in the world. The drivers of F1 are among the most talented racing car drivers in the world, and Alain Prost retired in 1993 as the greatest driver in F1 history. Known for his seemingly effortless ability, Prost won a recordbreaking fifty-one races in his career, with a…
1946- Brazilian race car driver Brazilian racing car driver Emerson Fittipaldi survived the deadliest period of auto racing history to emerge as the most successful driver of both the European Formula One (F1) and American Indy leagues. After he almost single-handedly unraveled his promising career in F1, he switched his focus to American racing, and managed to pull off an entire second career the…
1947- American race car driver At age 45, when many athletes are retired or over the hill, Lyn St. James was blazing a trail. St. James, one of the few women in professional automobile racing, was a rookie of the year at that age, finishing 11th at the 1992 Indianapolis 500 among 33 competitors. She became the second woman to race at Indy and competed in that event a total of seven times. St. Jame…
1961- American race car driver Patty Moise's racing career spanned fifteen years. The daughter of a stock car racer, Moise later married fellow racer Elton Sawyer in 1990. During her career she faced three major challenges. First, Moise had to prove that a woman could succeed in a sport dominated by men. Second, she had to prove herself on the track, not as a woman, but as a driver. Third, …
1969- German race car driver Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher reigns in the elite, highly competitive, and glamorous world of Formula One (F1) auto racing. He has broken the world records for most wins and most championship points in F1, and tied the record for most wins in 2002 with his fifth championship title. Arguably the greatest F1 driver in history, Schumacher is also one of the…
1921-1990 American race car driver Wendell Scott had a lot working against him in his career as a Grand National NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) driver. He was an independent driver racing against factory-backed drivers. This meant he never drove a new car, often buying last Wendell Scott year's cars from competitors. He drove without sponsorship, sometimes ma…
1935- American race car driver A. J. Foyt Jr., is unique in the world of auto racing. While others have matched some of his most impressive records, such as his four Indianapolis 500 victories, nobody can compete with the astonishing longevity and variety of his racing career. Foyt's professional career spanned four decades, from the 1950s to the 1990s, which is an accomplishment in of itse…
1930- American race car driver Junior Johnson was among the pioneers of organized stock car racing and one its most successful practitioners as a driver, mechanic, and team owner. Johnson brought both notoriety and respect to a motorsport that had its beginnings in the hills and mountains of the American South, and grew into the multi-million dollar Winston Cup National Association of Stock Car Au…
1939- Scottish race car driver The name Jackie Stewart is synonymous in America with auto racing. The series he became a legend of, Formula One (F1), however, is virtually unknown in the States. Arguably the most watched sport internationally, F1 is the most advanced auto racing series in the world. From 1964-73, The "Wee Scot" established a race-win record in his trademark tartan he…
1951-2001 American race car driver Seven-time Winston Cup champion Dale Earnhardt Sr. collected a huge following of fans during his 28-year career on the circuit of the National Association for Stock Car Racing (NASCAR). Driving a black #3 Chevrolet sedan and dressed in black, he was nicknamed the Intimidator for his bullish driving behavior on the track. He died when his car crashed and hit the s…
1940- American race car driver Professional drag racing driver Shirley "Cha Cha" Muldowney is not just "good for a girl." Though she was the first woman to accomplish many feats in the sport, many of her records and claims are for the sport as a whole, regardless of gender—she is one of the most successful drag racers in history. She is second all-time in Nationa…
