Description

It is all but impossible to overstate the importance of Daniel Sexton Gurney in the storied history of American racing. His accomplishments are the stuff of legend, and so diverse his talents that they read more like a Hollywood script than a chronicle of true-life events. But true they are, and Dan Gurney ranks among the greats from any era or nation, capable of winning in the upper echelon of racing in virtually any type of car—from Le Mans to Formula 1 to Indy car to NASCAR to Can-Am and Trans-Am. In fact he is the first driver ever to have scored victories in F1, Indy car, Le Mans and NASCAR—a feat only since matched by Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya. But there is something even more extraordinary that Gurney alone achieved—on a sunny afternoon at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, June 18 1967. Gurney took the green flag from 2nd on the grid in his Eagle Gurney-Weslake V12. His Eagle Gurney-Weslake V12—because the car was designed and built by Gurney’s own company Anglo American Racers (AAR—later revised to ‘All American Racers’.) After trailing Jim Clark early and Jackie Stewart for much of the race, Gurney cracked off a succession of fast laps setting a new track record at Spa in the process, before sweeping into the lead with 8 laps to go, which he held until the checkered flag