1930
Worldwide economic depression (followed by WW II) causes a two decade fall in car sales.
1930 – 5/30/1930 – Indianapolis 500
Billy Arnold takes the lead on lap three of the Indy 500 and leads the remaining 197 laps. Arnold’s 198 laps led in the 1930 500 has never been bettered.
Following the Wall Street crash in ’29, Indy established a new formula designed to lower costs and to encourage manufacturers to again participate. The new specs were called the “Junk Formula” (366 ci, 2 valves per cylinder, no superchargers, 2 seats and an obligatory riding mechanic). Billy Arnold, in a reworked, front wheel drive Miller (widened to accept mechanic Spider Matlock and with its 91 ci engine bored out to 151.5 ci) won.
Significantly, a four cylinder, Miller engine, designed for marine use and reworked by Leo Goossen, finished second at the hand of Shorty Cantlon. This was the first of what would become a long line of successful Offenhauser engines.
For 1930, riding mechanics were required. It was the first time since 1922 that riding mechanics were mandatory.
1930 – France
Bentley won the Le Mans 24 Hours for the fourth year in a row with a Bentley Speed Six driven by Woolf Barnato and Glen Kidston.
1931 – 5/30/1931 – Indianapolis 500
At the Indy 500, 1930 winner Billy Arnold was 5 laps ahead on lap 162 when his rear axle broke and Arnold crashed. His wheel flew over a fence and hit and killed 12 year old Wilbur Brink who was sitting in his garden on Georgetown Avenue. Arnold and his mechanic are injured. Louis Schneider led the remaining laps.
The month’s slowest qualifier, Dave Evans, started 17th, and fastest qualifier Billy Arnold started 18th. Dave Evans finished 13th in a Cummins Diesel and became the first driver to complete the 500 miles without a pit stop.
1931
France Frenchwoman, Helle Nice, a former exotic dancer, enters and competes in five Grands Prix driving a Bugatti Type 35C.
1931 – 9/7/1931 – USA
Shorty Cantlon, driving a Miller Special, won the last race at the wood race track at Altoona, ending the board track era .
1932 – 3/9/1932 – USA
Ford Motor Company introduced its flathead V-8, a land mark powerplant. The affordable engine, perhaps the most significant V-8 of all time, was used to power race cars, hot rods, boats and other powered vehicles. It spawned an aftermarket industry for performance parts. The engine was the racers’ engine of choice and helped to speed the growth of auto racing in the 1930s and 1940s.
1932 – 5/30/1932 – Indianapolis 500
Fred Frame wins the Indy 500 from 27th starting position, and is the eighth different leader of the race, a record at the time. Another Indianapolis 500 first is the use of all-wheel drive in 1932.
1932 – Germany
Porsche Design’s “project 22” is a Porsche self-funded speculative grand-prix racer powered by a supercharged 4.4 liter V-16 mounted just ahead of the rear wheels.
1932 – USA
Ford redesigns the Model “A” and team it with a mass-produced V8 engine. Sales in the first year exceed 300,000.
1932 – Europe
Audi, DKW, Horch and Wanderer merge to form Auto Union.
1933 – The Monaco Grand Prix
The 1933 Monaco Grand Prix was the first time in the history of the sport that the grid was determined by timed pre-race qualifying rather than the luck of a draw.
All the competing vehicles were painted in the international auto racing colors: green (British racing green) for Britain, blue (Bleu de France) for France, red (Rosso corsa) for Italian, yellow for Belgium, and white for Germany.
Beginning in 1934, the Germans stopped painting their cars, after the paint had been left off a Mercedes-Benz W25 in an effort to reduce weight. The unpainted metal soon had the German vehicles dubbed by the media as the “Silver Arrows”.
1933 – Germany
Adolph Hitler approves the adoption of Porsche’s “Project 22” grand prix race-car design by Auto Union for the 1934 racing season.
1934 – USA
General Motors put the successful racecar designer, Indy 500 winner and financial failure, Louis Chevrolet on their payroll in recognition of their use of his name.
1935 – 5/30/1935 – Indianapolis 500
A four cylinder “Offy”, descendant of the successful Miller eight, driven by Kelly Petillo won the Indy 500 for the first time. The classic 4 cylinder inline Offenhauser powerplant (in various different manifestations) would go on to dominate the Indy 500 for a quarter century or so. In 1935, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the first track in the world to require the use of a crash helmet, a first for motor racing worldwide. Also in 1935, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was the first track in the world to install safety-warning lights. The newly introduced yellow ‘caution’ light, requiring drivers to slow and hold position, worked to eventual Indy 500 race winner Kelly Petillo’s advantage, as many of the late laps are disrupted by rain, neutralising Petillo’s race long battle with Rex Mays and Wilbur Shaw.
1935 – 9/03/1935 – Bonneville/ Land Speed Record
In his famous land speed record car Bluebird, Briton Sir Malcolm Campbell becomes the first driver to exceed the 300 mph barrier with a run of 301.129 at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. His vehicle was Railton Rolls-Royce affectionately named Blue Bird.
1936 – Indianapolis 500
Louis Meyer became the first driver to win three Indy 500 Races (1928, 33, 36) and two traditions were born on a single day. Race winner Louis Meyer celebrated his victory with a bottle of buttermilk, creating the inspiration for the winner to drink milk, an annual tradition since 1956 and the Borg-Warner Trophy was awarded for the first time. The 110-pound trophy cost $10,000 and featured the face of every driver who ever won the race. Unveiled at a 1936 dinner hosted by then-Speedway owner Eddie Rickenbacker, the Borg-Warner Trophy was officially declared the annual prize for Indianapolis 500 victors. When first presented that same
year to champion Louis Meyer, he remarked, “Winning the Borg-Warner Trophy is like winning an Olympic medal.” The trophy is now valued at more than $1 million.
1936 – New York
The Vanderbilt Trophy race was revived and contested on a road and dirt circuit at Roosevelt Airfield, Long Island, NY. Tazio Nuvolari won the 300 mile race driving an Alfa.
1936 – Europe
Demonstrating the worthiness of Auto Union’s mid-engined C-type design, famed race driver Bernd Rosemeyer wins four GP races and the European GP Championship.
1937 – 5/31/1937 – Indianapolis 500
Wilbur Shaw leads most of the way at the Indy 500 but must slow late in the race to conserve engine oil, which was leaking profusely, to the point his socks were soaked in it. Ralph Hepburn caught Shaw in turn 4 on the final lap, but Shaw stepped on the gas and pulled away to win by 2.16 seconds – the closest finish at that time and would remain so until 1982.
Shaw would go on to win the race in 1939 and 1940 as well, becoming the second three-time champion after Meyer. Later, as the general manager of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, he would popularize the saying, “Gentlemen start your engines.”
In ’37 Indy began to open regulations to more pure racing cars as the worst of the depression was over. The 366 ci limit was retained but superchargers were permitted and fuel consumption limits were lifted.
1938 – Pikes Peak
Louis Unser wins the Pikes Peak Hillclimb driving a purpose-built Loop Cafe Special. He is the first to break 16 minutes with a time of 15:49.900.
1939 – Indianapolis 500
At the Indy 500, defending winner Floyd Roberts, driving the same car he drove into victory circle in 1938, dies in a crash coming off the second turn onto the backstretch on lap 107. Wilbur Shaw wins his second 500, driving The Boyle Special, a Maserati.
The top three qualifiers finished the race in the top three for the first time. Wilbur Shaw started 2nd & finished 1st, Rex Mays started 1st & finished 2nd, Mauri Rose started 3rd & finished 3rd.
1940 – USA
A new Chevrolet station wagon costs about $903
1940 – 5/30/1940 – Indianapolis 500
Wilbur Shaw sets up a commanding lead at the Indy 500 until rain brings out the caution for the last 50 laps and guides Shaw to his third victory, and the first by a driver in consecutive years.
1941 – 12/7/1941 – Europe
WWII brought an end to racing in the US and Europe. In the years prior to the war, European racing was dominated by the German Mercedes and Auto Union teams which had the full support of Hitler. The successful rear engine Auto Union inspired Harry Miller to build the rear engine Gulf-Millers for Indy racing.
1944 – Italy
Enzo Ferrari’s Maranello workshops in Italy are bombed and destroyed by Allied warplanes.
1945
WWII driven technological advancements would impact the future direction of auto racing design. High stress building techniques, radial tires, cast alloy wheels, disc brakes, fuel injection, turbochargers, monocoque construction and higher octane fuels and more, opened a new world of engineering potential.
1945 – 11/14/1945 – Indianapolis Motor Speedway
Terre Haute, IN businessman Anton “Tony” Hulman obtained control of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, purchasing it from Legendary WWI combat pilot, Eddie Rickenbacker, for $700,000. Hulman would help elevate the Indianapolis 500 and the month of May to a new level.
1946 – Europe
In Formula One, a new set of regulations for race cars entering a future series of Grand Prix events was agreed to as a recognized FIA formula.
1946 – Italy
Enzo Ferrari rebuilds his bombed workshops and begins work on the development and production of the Ferrari 125 Sport. The first Ferrari hits the road!
1946 – Britain
In light of obvious negative wartime connotations, William Lyons changed the name of Briton’s SS Cars Ltd. to Jaguar Cars Ltd and begins to focus on auto-racing to promote the newly named company.
1946 – 5/30/1946 – Indianapolis 500
Tony Hulman, the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) President presides over his first race, won by George Robson. Sadly, Robson would be killed later that year.
On the Tech side, Indy retained the pre-war formula but reduced car weight to encourage entry of the lighter weight, Offy powered, dirt track cars.
George Robson’s Sparks engine was and is only the second 6 cylinder motor to win the Indy 500 in the 20th century. Ray Harroun in 1911 was the other.
Fred Offenhauser sold his engineering company to three-time Indy winner Louie Meyer and Dale Drake (who promptly hired Leo Goossen).
1947 – Europe
The FIA Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship is formalized. Although there were races run under F1 regulations starting in 1947, it was to take three more years before the first championship race at Silverstone in England, The 1950 British Grand Prix, debuted F1 as we know it today (sort of).
1947 – 5/30/1947 – The Indianapolis 500
At the Indy 500, Bill Holland leads 143 laps before he is overtaken in the closing laps by team mate Mauri Rose. The team had displayed an ‘EZY’ signal, telling the drivers to hold station to the finish ( an example of ‘team orders’). Holland thought Rose was a lap behind and let him past, even waving at him as he went by. The confusion cost Holland the win, as Rose cruised to victory.
1947 – Europe
Enzo Ferrari’s 125 Sport wins its first race. This the first of many Ferrari victories and is the beginning of the great Ferrari racing tradition.
1947 – 9/16/1947 – Land Speed Record
John Cobb piloted a specially built Railton Mobil Special to a new land speed record of 301.190MPH at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. It would be tast time a wheel-driven vehicle held the overall land speed record.
1947 – 12/14/1947 – NASCAR
In a meeting in the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida, William Henry Getty France oversaw the formation of NASCAR.
1948
In 1948 the Plymouth suburban was introduced, and parent company, Chrysler, introduced their new method of starting the car’s engine with an ignition key. In Europe and North America, the new explosion of automobile technology captivated the growing middle class and with the expanding economics of post World War II, the auto industry was soaring as more and more people wanted to own cars. The inevitable increase in interest in auto-racing blossomed over the next two decades.
1948 – Britain
Having graduated from an English engineering school, Anthony Colin Bruce Chapman modifies a 1928 Austin Seven for local trials races. (trials are described as a timed race through often treacherous off-road sections of rural countryside, often wet and muddy, and always hard on the automobiles. Chapman’s tiny 15-hp car records a number of wins and earns enough prize money to develop Chapman’s next car.
1948 – 2/21/1948 – NASCAR
Bill France incorporated NASCAR with himself as sole owner.
1948 – Germany
Dr. Ferdinand Porsche launches the Porsche marque by introducing the 356/2 as a two seat sports car. This new car is a re-working of his pre-war Volkswagen concept.
1948 – 5/31/1948 – Indianapolis 500
Mauri Rose becomes the second back-to-back winner of the Indy 500. Unlike last year’s race, however, no controversy erupts in the way that Rose and Holland finish.
The first race car to use magnesium wheels, the Pat Clancy six-wheeler, driven by Billy Devore, finished12th place at Indy. Also mechanical fuel injection, developed by Stuart Hilborn and Jim Travers, first appeared at the Speedway.
1949 – Britain
Flush with the sucess, and winnings, from the previous year, Colin Chapman modifies another Austin Seven for trials racing and calls it the Lotus Mark II, retroactively naming his ’48 trials car the Mark I.
1949 – 6/19/1949 – NASCAR
Jim Roper, driving a Lincoln Cosmopolitan (which he had driven to the racetrack from Kansas), records the first NASCAR series win at a premier event at Charlotte Speedway, a 150 mile race on a three-quarter mile dirt track in South Carolina. The initial winner, Glen Dunaway, who was driving a Ford (which was also used to haul whiskey), was disqualified for illegal modifications (stiffer rear springs) not allowed under NASCAR’s “Strictly Stock” rules.
Emerging from the illegal shadowy world of “moonshine running”, largely a product of the U.S. prohibition era, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was formed. In the early days many of the teams used the races, which employ normal looking street cars (hence the word “stock”), to explain the existence of sophisticated auto shops turning out incredibly fast yet normal looking cars designed to move the bootleg product from backwoods distilleries to communities throughout the south. Often this entailed having to outrun federal ATF agents in high speed dashes on rural back roads. While the racing didn’t pay near as much as “runnin’ shine”, the racing did serve to suggest to observant ‘still’ operators which fast drivers they might want to entrust their next batch to. Also the irresistible urge among the drivers to settle who was best and earn those all important bragging rights was also a factor. Seems the compulsion to be the best has fueled auto-racing since about the time the second car was constructed. Ultimately, the drivers competitive nature helped NASCAR evolve into one of the most popular spectator sports in North America and it’s unlikely any of it’s current roster of drivers run “shine” anymore.
1949 – 7/10/1049 – NASCAR
Red Byron won the second race at Daytona Beach in an Oldsmobile and went on to win the inaugural NASCAR championship.
1949 – NASCAR
Louise Smith becomes the first woman to compete in a premire NASCAR sanctioned car race.
1950 – USA
The 1950s was one of the most memorable eras in automotive history. At the beginning of the decade the average new car cost about $1,750 dollars and a gallon of gas went for $0.27 cents.
1950 – 5/13/1950 – The British Grand Prix
The launch of the F1 drivers’ world championship with the premier race at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, England, was at a former millitary airfield. While it was an unexceptional race, it was an extremely important one in motorsports history, as the FIA Formula 1 World Driver’s Championship officially began. The new World Championship used race cars following the regulations laid out in the “Formula One” approved by the FIA in 1947 to 1950. These rules allowed a maximum capacity of 4.5L (4,500cc) for ‘unsupercharged’ engines or 1.5L (1,500cc) for supercharged engines. Guiseppe Farina, an unpopular, arrogant, wealthy Italian racer, piloted his Alfa Romeo 158 to victory in the first modern Formula 1 race. Farina averaged 90.950 mph over the 70-lap race distance. Although there were 22 championship races that year, only six counted towards the title. Guiseppe went on to win the inaugural Formula 1 World Driving Championships for 1950, his only F1 title, in dominate fashion.
1950 – 5/21/1950 – The Grand Prix of Monaco
An institution all to itself, the Grand Prix of Monaco has been held on the streets of Monte Carlo almost every spring since its inception in 1929. The first modern era world championship race in 1950 continued a tradition that places the race at the top of both the European sporting and social calendars. Held on what is without doubt the most iconic Formula 1 circuit in the world, some of the most sophisticated race cars in the world, each year, tear thru the elegant Mediterranean seaside municipality of Monte Carlo in Monaco. It is the crown jewel in the F1 calendar and every F1 driver wants to win this race. In 1950, the first year of the newly formed F1 Championship Juan-Manuel Fangio drove his Alfa Romeo 158 to victory over Alberto Ascari in the Ferrari 125. But that first race in 1950 showed just how difficult the track could be, 10 cars were eliminated in a first-lap shunt. Even now in the 21st century Monaco remains a thrilling throwback to the past.
Also of note, the first rear-engined car in a World Championship event made its appearance at the Grand Prix of Monaco, a Cooper-JAP driven by Harry Schell.
1950 – 5/30/1950 – Indianapolis 500
At Indy, cars designed and built by Frank Kurtis are successful and ubiquitous. Twenty-five rookie drivers, many from the west coast midget and roadster circuits, passed their driving tests.
At the Indy 500, a rumor circulated race morning that Johnnie Parsons’ engine had an irreparable crack. During the race, his hard charging performance sees him leading. At 345 miles (555 km) the rain comes, and Parsons is declared the winner as the race is called at lap 138.
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway track’s reputation improved so much in the post-war era that the 500-Mile Race became part of the Formula One World Championship for 11 years (1950–1960), even though none of the Indy drivers raced in Formula One and only Ferrari’s Alberto Ascari of the F1 drivers at the time raced in the 500. Five time World Champion, Juan Manuel Fangio practiced at the Speedway in 1958, but ultimately decided against it.
It should also be noted that the 1950s were also the most dangerous era of American racing. Of the 33 drivers to qualify for the 1953 race, nearly half, 16, were to eventually die in racing accidents.
1951 – Indianapolis 500
Lee Wallard’s winning time of 3:57:38.05 was the first time quicker than four hours. Speeds at Indy had increased primarily due to improved car handling. The Conze brothers were the first to use disc brakes (developed for aircraft) at Indy. And Frank Kurtis became the first to use a wind tunnel for aerodynamic design. In late 1951, Kurtis utilized a wind tunnel at the University of Kansas while building the Cummins Diesel Spl. which would start the 1952 Indy 500 from the pole.
1951 – Britain
Jaguar introduces the prototype C-Type race-car, aimed at winning Le Mans.
1951 – 7/14/1951 – The British Grand Prix
Scuderia Ferrari wins their first Formula 1 Grand Prix race with Argentinian driver Jose Troilan Gonzalez behind the wheel at the R.A.C. British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
1951 – 8/12/1951 – NASCAR
A NASCAR race, the Motor City 250, which was run on the one mile dirt oval at the Michigan Fairgrounds in Detroit, featured 15 American marques: Chrysler, Oldsmobile, Ford, Nash, Plymouth, Pontiac, Chevrolet, Mercury, Hudson, Packard, Lincoln, Studebaker, Kaiser, Cadillac, and Buick. Tommy Thompson won the race driving a 1951 Chrysler.
1951 – Europe
Juan Manuel Fangio, driving an Alfa Romeo, wins the F1 World Championship. Alfa Romeo subsequently withdraws from F1.
1952 – Britain
Having caught the racing bug with his sucessful trials racers, Colin Chapman founds the Lotus Engineering Company to build top tier race cars, the first of which is the Mark IV trials car. Lotus Engineering was co-founded by Colin and his fiancee, Hazel Williams. Lotus would go on to be one of the most inventive race car manufacturers in motor sports history.
1952 – Europe
The 1951 F1 World Champion driver Juan Manuel Fangio sits out the season, as the result of broken neck in a pre-season race at Monza,.
1952 – 5/1952 – USA
Carroll Shelby entered his first road race behind the wheel of an MG-TC in Norman, Okla. In his first race against other similar MGs in his class he finishes in first place. Later in the day he wins again, this time beating out much faster Jaguar XK 120s.
1952 – 5/30/1952 – Indianapolis 500
At The Indy 500, Bill Vukovich leads 150 laps until his steering pin breaks and he crashes on lap 192. Twenty-two-year-old Troy Ruttman takes the checkered flag, the youngest winner ever (22 years, 80 days old) for the Indy 500. On the pole for the ’52 race was Fred Agabashian’s Diesel-powered racer that succumbed to supercharger trouble on lap 71.
Formula One legend, Alberto Ascari, driving an F1 Ferrari, participates in the Indianapolis 500.
1952 – 9/07/1952 – Europe
Scuderia Ferrari number one driver Alberto Ascari won every Grand Prix race he entered in 1952 ending with his win at the season finale at Monza in the Italian Grand Prix. Ascari missed the first race of the season, the Swiss Grand Prix, due to a schedule conflict with the Indy 500 (which actually counted toward the championship), but he won all the rest of the year’s Grand Prix races. This was the first Formula 1 championship for driver Alberto and manufacturer Ferrari. . Ascari would win the title twice, the second in the following year, 1953, also with Scuderia Ferrari.
1953 – 9/13/1953 – Europe
Maserati, with Juan Manuel Fangio driving the A6GCM, wins its first World Championship event in the final race of the season at the Italian Grand prix at Monza. Another Italian, Alberto Ascari, driving for the Scuderia Ferrari (Ferrari 500), retained the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
1954 – 1/1/1954 – Europe
New F1 regulations, limiting maximum capacity of 2.5L (liters) 2,500cc for unsupercharged engines and .75L (750cc) for supercharged engines resulted in the world championship being reinstated under F1 regulations.
1954 – 1/17/1954 – The Argentinian Grand Prix
The Maserati 250F makes its Grand Prix debut at the Argentinian Grand Prix. Juan Manuel Fangio wins the first race run to the new formula, the Argentinian Grand Prix. Almost two minutes later, Giuseppe Farina and Frolian Gonzalez finish second and third respectively in Ferrari 625s.
1954 – The Americas
The final Carrera Panamerica race was won by Ray Crawford in a Lincoln. The race was a grueling, 6 day, 2,096 mile race from Juarez in the North to El Ocotal in the South. The race was eventually discontinued due to the many spectator fatalities along the route.
1954 – 10/24/1954 – The Spanish Grand Prix
Lancia re-enters Grand Prix racing at the Spanish Grand Prix and qualifying saw Ascari on pole position in the new Lancia D50 with Fangio in the Mercedes Benz W196 STR in second alongside with Mike Hawthorn in the Ferrari 553 and a surprising Harry Schell in the Maserati 250F completing the front row of four.
Juan Manuel Fangio, driving for both Maserati and Mercedes-Benz during the course of the ’54 season, wins the FIA F1 World Driving Championship.
1954 – 11/1954 – Mexico
Carroll Shelby enters the Carrera Pan Americana Mexico in an Austin-Healey and crashes north of Oaxaca, about 110 miles into the race. Shelby’s Austin-Healey flips four times. His injuries include broken bones, shattered elbows and numerous cuts and bruises. Local spectators find him and offer him alcoholic beverages to ease the pain while awaiting help.
1955 – USA
A new Ford Thunderbird two seat roadster costs about $2,944.
1955 – Britain
A new Jaguar XK140 costs about $3,940.
1955 – 5/22/1955 – The Monaco Grand Prix
Grand Prix racing returned to Monte Carlo for the first time since 1950 and there was a good turnout despite the fact that only 20 cars would be allowed to start. Alberto Ascari, at the wheel of his Lancia D50, became the first driver to plunge into the harbor at Monte Carlo during a Grand Prix race, smashing thru haybales and sandbags. He emerged from the water unhurt. This left Ferrari driver Maurice Trintignant in the lead and although Eugenio Castelotti in the other Lancia D50 tried hard to catch him, the Frenchman took the checkered flag in first. Castellotti was second with Cesare Perdisa in a Maserati 250F, third. Trintignant in a Ferrari 625 won with an average speed of 65.805 mph over the 195.400 mile race distance.
1955 – 5/1955 – Italy
Days after his famous crash into the water at Monaco, Alberto Ascari is killed when a tyre blows out on the Ferrari sports car he is driving at Monza. As a result of Ascari’s death, and increasing financial concernes, Lancia withdraws from F1 Grand Prix racing.
1955 – Europe
Juan Manuel Fangio wins his third FIA F1 World Championship.
1956
AAA drops out of sanctioning racing after the 1955 Vukovich crash and the tragedy at Le Mans that same year, so USAC is formed to sanction ‘Open Wheel’ and ‘Indy’ style racing.
1956 – 5/30/1956 – Indianapolis 500
At Indy, two-thirds of the starting field were Kurtis chassis, however, Pat Flaherty won in a roadster built by A.J. Watson who based his car design around the Kurtis he had wrenched to victory with Sweikert the previous year.
Paul Russo became the first driver to lead the race in a car that finished in last place.
1956 – Targa Florio, Italy
The Porsche 550A Spyder, a newly modified version of its previous Porsche race cars, wins the Targa Florio road race on its debut, beating much more powerful competitors. It goes on to dominate the field at virtually every appearance that year.
1957 – 8/18/1957 – Pescara (Italy) Grand Prix
The Italian public roads circuit, Pescara, at 16 miles (25.5KM), was the longest circuit ever used for a F1 Championship event. The cancellation of the Belgian and Dutch GPs earlier in the season had enabled the FIA to include the Pescara GP in the F1 World Championship for the first and only time, although the race had been taking place since 1924. Sterling Moss driving a Vanwall VW 57 took the checkered flag.
1958 – Europe
Formula 1 saw the introduction of the first F1 constructors’ championship, and scheduled the first F1 Grand Prix in Africa (Morocco).
1958 – 1/19/1958 – Europe
In F1, the legendary Briton, Sir Stirling Moss, won the first race of the season in a rear-engined Cooper-Climax T45 Formula 1 car. This was the first victory for a rear engined car in the modern era. Within two years all Formula 1 cars utilized this design. It was the start of the rear- engined revolution. Moss would win four Grand Prix in 1958 and finish 2nd to Mike Hawthorne in the Championship.
1958 – 5/30/1958 – Indianapolis 500
A huge wreck in turn three on the opening lap wipes out several cars, and driver Pat O’Connor is fatally injured. Jimmy Byran goes on to win. Little-known rookie A.J. Foyt spins out and finishes 16th.
1959 – 2/9/1959 – NASCAR
Before the Daytona 500, driver Marshall Teague ran a lap at 171.82 mph during practice. It was the fastest unofficial lap on an American closed course to that time. His car was an open wheeled Indy Car, the streamlined Sumar Spl.
On another practice run, two days later, Teague’s car spun, became airborne, then flipped. At Daytona, the increasingly high speeds and G-Forces encountered in the turns were causing aerodynamic forces to come into play that previous race tracks had only hinted at. Marshall Teague was killed in the incident.
1959 – 2/22/1959 – The Daytona 500
Lee Petty wins the premiere race at Nascar’s new Daytona International Speedway. The race is dubbed “The Daytona 500” and Petty, in an Oldsmobile 88 stock car, covers the race distance at an average speed of 135.521 mph. The brainchild of NASCAR founder Bill France, the track is a 2.5 mile high banked tri-oval, the first super speedway.
