All posts in Auto Racing / Motor Sports

Brian Redman

By | 02/2011 | Auto Racing / Motor Sports, BUSINESS, SPORTS | Comments Off
Brian Redman

Brian Redman is unique. A star in many different forms of motorsport, the Britisher’s credibility is bolstered by the number of different championships he won for himself and others during his career. Yet Redman, for all of his accomplishments, always has maintained an unassuming posture. Indeed, when people such as John Wyer, for whom he drove both Porsches and Fords, described him, words such as “steady” were heard most often. In truth, Redman’s quiet manner masks a talent for consistency and quickness that have made him one of the all-time greats of the sport. Consider for a moment these statistics: three straight Formula 5000 titles and one IMSA Camel GT championship on his own resume, and four World Manufacturer crowns–two for Wyer (1968 and 1970) one for Porsche (1969) and one for Ferrari (1972). Redman, the son of a Lancashire retail grocery chain owner who never saw him race, began racing in 1959, progressing through the ranks until by the mid-1960s he was competing in both sports-racing and open-wheeled formula cars on an international level with a fair degree of success. In 1967 he came to the attention of John Wyer, who partnered him with Jacky Ickx in the Len Bailey designed Ford GT-40 based Mirage at Kyalami, where the pair won outright. The same two were partners again in 1968, this time in the famed double Le Mans winning chassis 1074-, a new car built that year that would wind up as one of the most successful racers in terms of percentage of victories to events entered that there ever was. Two of those triumphs, Brands Hatch and Spa, were attributed to the Redman-Ickx combination. There might have been more, but fate intervened, Redman almost coming to his Waterloo later that season at the Belgian Grand Prix, also run on the fast and dangerous Spa circuit. Read more…

Dennis Gage

By | 02/2011 | Auto Racing / Motor Sports, Automotive, CELEBRITIES, Celebrities / Media Personalities, Emcees / Hosts, ENTERTAINMENT, Music/Radio/TV/Movies, SPORTS | Comments Off
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Dennis Gage, host of Speed TV’s “My Classic Car,” is known for his seemingly boundless enthusiasm, his trademark handlebar mustache and the catch phrase with which he ends every episode, “Honor the timeless classics.” Standing five foot eleven and weighing 155 pounds dripping wet, Dennis is probably the most unlikely television star you’ll ever meet. Yet for the past 15 years, he’s been lighting the old car world on fire with his passionate discourse on classic cars and the classic car scene. Read more…

Janet Guthrie

By | 02/2011 | Auto Racing / Motor Sports, BUSINESS, Diversity, Inspiration, Leadership, MOTIVATION / INSPIRATION, Overcoming Obstacles, SPORTS, Teamwork | Comments Off
Janet Guthrie

Janet Guthrie’s diversified background as pilot and flight instructor, aerospace engineer, technical editor and public representative for some of the country’s major corporations makes her message on motivation and desires heard loud and clear. This groundbreaker speaks on the qualities necessary for anyone to achieve success on the fast track in any field, using humor and wisdom gained from a storied career. Before becoming the first woman ever to compete in the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500, Guthrie had 13 years of experience on sports car road-racing circuits, building and maintaining her own race cars, before being invited to test a car for Indianapolis. Janet’s helmet and driver’s suit are now in the Smithsonian Institution and she was one of the first athletes named to the Women’s Sports Hall of Fame—testament to her courage and determination. Read more…

Johnny Rutherford

By | 01/2011 | Auto Racing / Motor Sports, Automotive, BUSINESS, Inspiration, MISCELLANEOUS, Motivation, SPORTS, Spouse Programs, Success | Comments Off
Johnny Rutherford

Recognized as the “Greatest Ambassador of Auto Racing,” Johnny Rutherford has been in the Indy Victory Circle at every major race track in the nation. He has represented many companies, has been features in radio, print and television commercials, and has been an auto racing TV analyst for all the major networks. He has earned a number of honors throughout his racing career, including induction into the I.M.S. Auto Racing Hall of Fame, the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and Motorsports Hall of Fame in America. Read more…

Mario Andretti

By | 01/2011 | Auto Racing / Motor Sports, BUSINESS, CELEBRITIES, Celebrities / Media Personalities, Change, Entrepreneurs, Inspiration, Leadership, Management, Motivation, SPORTS, Success, Teamwork | Comments Off
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Mario Gabriele Andretti is often referred to as the greatest racecar driver of all time, having proven himself a winner at all levels of competition. Mario Andretti’s skilled and versatile driving has produced some of racing history’s most legendary accomplishments. Beyond that evocative racing driver’s name, he’s been blessed with ability, determination and competitive fire to match; and during a career that spanned five decades, he has compiled an unrivaled record of accomplishment. Mario Andretti took the checkered flag 111 times during his career – a career that stretched five decades. Read more…

David Hobbs

By | 01/2011 | Auto Racing / Motor Sports, Automotive, Broadcasters, BUSINESS, Celebrities / Media Personalities, ENTERTAINMENT, Moderators/Facilitators, SPORTS | Comments Off
David Hobbs

Former racing driver David Wishart Hobbs was among the 1969 F.I.A. list of graded drivers, an elite group of 27 drivers, who by their achievements were rated the best in the world. David Hobbs’s natural speed and engaging personality eventually took him around the world, racing in every major championship for the sport’s top teams in the era’s most iconic race cars: Formula 1 for McLaren, Honda, and BRM; sports cars in the Ford GT40 and Mirage, the Ferrari 512M, Porsche 917s and 956/962s. He raced IMSA Camel GT for BMW, finished fifth in the Indy 500 for McLaren, won championships in Formula 5000 and Trans Am, and even led the Daytona 500 in a NASCAR stocker. He is most closely associated with Le Mans, where he raced 20 times and finished third on two occasions. Hobbs was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2009. David Hobbs has spent the last half-century as one of the sport’s most popular figures on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to the driving skills that propelled him to success in an astonishing array of machinery, out of the car David is upbeat, personable and often hilarious. Though he won more than his fair share, David’s self-deprecating stories about the times he “coulda, woulda, shoulda” are what make him a popular speaker for a variety of audiences. His commentary style, mixing fragments of the good ol’ boys (“she done blowed up”) with British slang (“mind the klag, lad”) and a host of hilarious, if politically incorrect, dialects, have molded the racing vocabulary of his legions of fans in America. His ability to address the human side of the sport, the physical and mental challenges, as well as the funny, frustrating, and sometimes tragic elements of racing life have made him a staple in American television since his first broadcast with CBS in the early 1970s. The witty Brit currently can be seen as a commentator on FOXSports’ Speed Channel. Read more…

Bob Varsha

By | 01/2011 | Auto Racing / Motor Sports, Broadcasters, BUSINESS, CELEBRITIES, Celebrities / Media Personalities, ENTERTAINMENT, Journalists, Moderators/Facilitators, Music/Radio/TV/Movies, SPORTS | Comments Off
Bob Varsha

Bob Varsha is one of the leading on-air personalities for the SPEED automotive network. Currently the host of SPEED’s live coverage of Formula 1 racing and the Barrett-Jackson collector car auctions, Varsha’s 30-year career in radio and television has included appearances on every major network, covering sports ranging from World Cup skiing to the 24 Hours of Le Mans to the cycling’s Tour de France. In a 10-year association with ESPN Varsha handled a diverse selection of sports, including gymnastics, track and field, boxing and the X Games, in addition to a wide range of motorsports. A former practicing attorney and national-caliber marathon runner, he has developed a valuable perspective on both sides of the sports equation, both as an athlete and a broadcaster. Through it all, he has developed a talent for storytelling, as well as a high level of professionalism. Read more…

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