The Shelby American (Winter 2021)

Daniel Sexton Gurney was born in April 1931 in Port Jefferson, Long Is- land, the first of two children born to John Gurney, a star baritone with the Metropolitan Opera and Roma Sexton, a former art student. His grandfather, Frederick Gurney, had founded one of the first ball bearing companies in the United States in Jamestown, New York in 1902. Dan spent his high school years on Long Island and often visited the local dirt tracks to watch the action. A seed was planted and came to life when Dan’s parents re- tired and moved west in 1948. They bought an orange grove in Riverside, California and Dan, who was 17, took to the local dirt roads and streets to hone his counter steer skills with a se- ries of motorcycles and jalopies. A cou- ple of mostly distracted years at Menlo Junior College took him to early 1952 and his first marriage. The Gurneys took their honeymoon in a chopped and raked ‘32 5-window Ford that he had built. That year also brought a draft notice and a stint as an anti-air- craft battery mechanic with the US Army in Korea. Not long after his dis- charge, Dan scraped up enough extra money for a used Triumph TR 2 and entered his first race, the Torrey Pines Road Races in October 1955, finishing third in class. The die was cast. By the time Dan retired from active racing 15 years later he had raced in 312 events in 20 countries, in 51 dif- ferent makes (and more than 100 models thereof). He won 42 poles and 51 races, plus another 47 podium ap- pearances. Aside from the 42 pole po- sitions, he started another 58 races from the first row. It is said no driver has ever driven more different cars in different types of races. Some of the highlights: • 7 Formula One victories, including 4 World Championship events. • One of those victories came at Spa in 1967 one week after winning LeMans in a GT40 Mk IV with A.J. Foyt. The third American to win a F1 race and the first and still only American to win an F1 race in a car of his own design and construction – the Gurney Eagle. • 5 NASCAR wins, including four in a row from 1963 to 1966, plus 1968, all in Ford Galaxies and all at Riverside. • 41 starts in Sports Car World Cham- pionships, 6 poles, 10 wins, including 5 OA and 5 Class wins for Ferrari, Maserati, Lotus, Shelby Cobra, Ford GT40 Mk IV and Porsche. • After his OA win at LeMans in 1967, he initiated the now ubiquitous prac- tice of spraying the crowd with cham- pagne. • 30 starts in Indy cars, 10 poles, 7 wins, 16 podiums. Second at Indi- anapolis in 1968 and 1969. • 24 starts in Can Am, 5 poles, 3 wins. • 64 starts in Sports Car events ear- lier in his career, 5 poles, 13 wins OA and 9 Class wins for Porsche, Corvette, Ferrari and Lotus. • 1958 USAC National Road Racing Champion. • One of two drivers (the other being Mario Andretti) to win in four major racing categories: Formula One, Indy, Sports and Stock cars. Upon retiring from active racing in 1970. Gurney bought out Carroll Shelby and became sole owner of All American Racers, a company they founded in 1965 with backing from Goodyear. AAR was soon joined by Phil Remington and the two “shade tree” engineers went on to further greatness. Between 1965 and 2012 AAR built 158 racing cars, employed 66 drivers, gathered 77 victories in- cluding the Indy 500 (1975), 83 pole positions and 8 Manufacturers Cham- pionships. Twenty one of the thirty three cars on the grid at the 1973 Indy 500 were AAR Eagles. AAR paired with Toyota to go GTP racing and in a span from 1992 to 1993 gathered 17 victories in a row; a never repeated win streak. The company went on to design and patent a radical motorcycle called the Alligator and it more re- cently has been performing aerospace work for our military. His son Justin has run the company since 2011. There was some legendary fun along the way as well. Gurney told the story about driving his family up to Mammoth Mountain when a couple in a BMW M5 roared by. The old racer woke up and chased the big BMW down – in a Toyota minivan. He added that Toyota mini vans could be a kick to drive if you kept the weight down and put on a decent wheel and tire package. One could imagine a farm tractor would be a kick to drive if it was under Dan Gurney. Most legendary of all the fun was the second Cannonball Baker Sea to Shining Sea Memorial Trophy Dash in 1971, which saw Gurney and Brock Yates cover the distance between the The SHELBY AMERICAN Winter 2021 46 Dan Gurney Dan Gurney