Jackie Stewart Biography - Put Down Gun To Get Behind Wheel, Survived Near-fatal Crash A Champion, Chronology
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 helmet that remained unbroken in F1 for fourteen years. His driving style has been characterized as smooth, precise, persistent, consistent, and remarkably quick. Off the track, he is known to be good natured and humorous. Beyond his illustrious career, Stewart's greatest contribution to motorsports may be his relentless campaign for track and driver safety after surviving a crash in 1966. He became a household
Jackie Stewart
name in the 1970s and 1980s as a commentator for ABC's Wide World of Sports, and maintained a partnership for Ford Motor Company for three decades. The F1 squad he launched with his son became Jaguar Racing.
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Stewart was born June 11, 1939 in Dumbartonshire, Scotland. He began competitive shooting at age fourteen, and discovered something he was very good at. After frustrating experiences in school, he quit at age fifteen to work at Dumbuck's, his family's garage, and apprentice as a mechanic. It was not until later that he was diagnosed with dyslexia, which explained his difficulties wit…
Stewart placed in the top six spots, earning championship points in his first six Grand Prix races. He qualified in pole position for a nonchampionship race at Goodwood, and beat World Champion John Surtees into second place in the International Silverstone Trophy race. He beat teammate Graham Hill to the finish line at the 1965 Italian Grand Prix at Monza. He finished the season third overall for…
Fellow Scot Jim Clark was the greatest racing driver on the track when Jackie Stewart entered F1. Competition between the legend and the rookie promised to develop into a rich rivalry, but Clark died before Stewart had fully hit his stride. Born March 4, 1936 in Kilmany, Scotland, Clark, like Stewart, went into racing against his parents' wishes. He proved his mettle at first in friends�…
After a lackluster 1967 season with BRM, Stewart had outgrown the fading team, and signed on to drive once again for Ken Tyrell, who was heading up a new F1 team. The German Grand Prix at Nurburgring may be Stewart's greatest race, according to Formula One Art & Genius online. He drove the fourteen-mile, 187-corner track in torrential rain and with a broken wrist, and beat Graham Hil…
He had managed to beat the odds in auto racing and had come out on top, but Stewart also was "just plain bored, burned out, restless," Duncan Christy wrote in Forbes. "Where was I going?" he recalled asking himself. "What else was there to do? It was the same old ground. I could have stayed on as a racing car driver. I mean, Mario [Andretti] is the same age as I …
Stewart founded a shooting school at Scotland's prestigious Gleneagle Hotel in the early 1980s. Nearly thirty years after joining forces with Ford, he signed on in February 2002 for another three years in research and development with the American auto company. He has served since 1995 as president of the Scottish Dyslexia Trust. He has also been on the boards of and a spokesman for Moet &#…
Henry, Alan. Grand Prix Champions: From Jackie Stewart to Michael Schumacher. Osceola, WI: Motorbooks International, 1995. Bechtel, Mark. "Catching up with … Jackie Stewart, Auto racer September 6, 1971." Sports Illustrated (February 25, 2002): 19. Bronson, Gail. "As stars hawk their hidden talents—some have more than a famous face and name to sell." U.S. …
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