I enjoy auto racing - NASCAR (National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing)
in particular. I especially enjoy racing since the idiots who run and play
major league baseball have tried so relentlessly and have made such great
strides towards destroying that great sport....but that is another tale....
And through auto racing I learned of STP -
The Racer's Edge. Ever since I got a car, I use STP products
exclusively. And they work. Thanks to STP products, I got over 100,000
miles out of a car that already had over 40,000 miles on it.
STP has also played a major role in American motor sports. From 1972 - 2000,
STP was the primary sponsor of NASCAR's legendary #43 stock car, owned and
operated by Richard Petty. The famed STP emblem adorned Petty's "43" car
for 60 of his record 200 victories, and was the sponsor on four of his record
seven NASCAR series championships. (You can learn more of
the racing exploits of Richard Petty by clicking on this line.)
Additionally, STP has long been a primary sponsor of American open wheel racing,
scoring several successes at the greatest race track on earth.....The
Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In 1969 Mario Andretti notched
his lone Indianapolis 500 victory in the STP Oil Treatment Special. Gordon Johncock
won the Indianapolis 500 in 1973 behind the wheel of the STP Double Oil
Filters car and again in 1982 with the STP Oil Treatment Special.
I toured the mammoth Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 1994. As a race
fan, it was incredible to see how unbelievable huge the Speedway was in
person. It's sheer size cannot be displayed on TV nor can a sense of it's
history. The Indianapolis 500 makes a driver a legend, not the drivers making the race important.
No one would have heard of Johnny Rutherford had he never become a 3-time Indy 500 Champion.
The same holds true for Gordon Johncock and Tom Sneva, and even A.J. Foyt,
the first 4-time Indy 500 Champion says no one would have heard of him
or the Unsers or Mario Andretti without their success at the Indianapolis
Motor Speedway. Even NASCAR recognized the importance of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
when they set a deal to run the Brickyard 400 at the track each August beginning in 1994. The
Brickyard 400 quickly became one of NASCAR's Crown Jewel Races and for most competitors a victory at
the Brickyard is nearly as important as winning the Daytona 500.
If you ever get the chance to visit the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,
you should do so. From this world famous site have come many advances in
automotive technology that are now commonplace in our automobiles. This
track is virtually unchanged since it's construction. The track that challenged
Mauri Rose, Bill Vuckovich, and Wilbur Shaw is the same layout that challenged
A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Bobby Unser, Al Unser, Jr. and Rick Mears.
I also follow Formula One auto racing. Here is where 1969 Indy 500 Champion
Mario Andretti cemented his legendary status in auto racing with his 1978
World Championship. Several Formula One World Champions did the reverse
route; Jim Clark, the 1963 and 1965 World Champion won the 1965 Indy 500
and 1962 and 1968 World Champion Graham Hill won the 1966 Indy 500. Emerson Fittipaldi
matched up his 1972 and 1974 World Championships with victories in the
1989 and 1993 Indianapolis 500. The latest to complete this feat is Jacques Villeneuve,
who won the 1995 Indianapolis 500 and the 1997 World Championship.
From 2000 - 2007, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway became the host of the Formula One United States Grand Prix.
This made the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the only track to host IndyCar, NASCAR, and F1 in the same year.
Additionally, from 1950 - 1960 the Indianapolis 500 was officially sanctioned as a Formula 1 Grand Prix race.
This is my personal listing of some of the world's finest race car drivers:
Juan-Manuel Fangio-
Formula One World Champion: 1951, 1954 - 1957 -
First driver to win 5 World Championships
|
Jack Brabham- Formula One World Champion: 1959-1960, 1966
- [Won 1966 World Championship in car he designed.]
|
Graham Hill- 1962 and 1968 Formula One World Champion
- 1966 Indianapolis 500 Champion
- Winner, 1972 Le Mans Grand Prix d'Endurance (with Henri Pescarolo)
- Only driver in history to win the Indianapolis 500, the Le Mans Grand Prix d'Endurance and the Formula One
Championship
|
Jim Clark- 1963 and 1965 Formula One World Champion
- 1965 Indianapolis 500 Champion
|
Dan Gurney- Winner, 1967 Le Mans Grand Prix d'Endurance (with A.J. Foyt, Jr.)
- First of three drivers to have won races in Sports Cars (1958), Formula One (1962), NASCAR (1963), and Indy Car (1967)
(the other two being Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya)
- Only driver in history to score maiden Grand Prix victories for three different manufacturers:
Porsche, Brabham and his own All-American Racers.
- First American driver to win a Formula One Grand Prix race in a car of his own design
(1967 Belgian Grand Prix in an Eagle-Weslake)
- As an owner (All-American Racers [AAR]) won the Indianapolis 500 in 1968, 1973 and 1975
|
Emerson Fittipaldi- 1972 and 1974 Formula One World Champion
- 1989 and 1993 Indianapolis 500 Champion
|
Jacques Villenueve- 1995 Indianapolis 500 Champion
- 1997 Formula One World Champion
|
Niki Lauda- 1975, 1977, 1984 Formula One World Champion
|
Alain Prost- 1985 - 1986, 1989, 1993 Formula One World Champion
- Won 51 Grand Prix races in career
- The first man to win more than 50 Grand Prix races.
|
Mario Andretti- 1969 Indianapolis 500 Champion
- 1965 - 1966, 1969, 1984 IndyCar Champion
-
Won pole position in 67 IndyCar races (Series Record)
-
1978 Formula One World Champion
- 1967 Daytona 500 Champion
-
Winner, 1972 Rolex 24 at Daytona (with Jacky Ickx)
|
Bill Vuckovich- 1953 - 1954 Indianapolis 500 Champion
- [Killed in
accident while leading 1955 Indianapolis 500]
|
A. J. Foyt, Jr.- 1961, 1964, 1967, 1977 Indianapolis 500 Champion
- [First 4 time Indianapolis 500 Champion]
- 1960 - 1961, 1963 - 1964, 1967, 1975, 1978 IndyCar Champion
- Won record 7 IndyCar Series Championships
- Won series record 67 IndyCar Races
- 1972 Daytona 500 Champion
- Winner, 1967 Le Mans Grand Prix d'Endurance (with Dan Gurney)
- Winner, Rolex 24 at Daytona: 1983 (with Preston Henn, Bob Wollek & Claude Ballot-Lena) and 1985 (with Bob Wollek, Al Unser & Thierry Boutsen)
|
Richard Petty- 1964, 1966, 1971, 1973 - 1974, 1979, 1981 Daytona 500 Champion
- Record 7 Daytona 500 victories]
- Winston Cup [NASCAR Series] Champion: 1964, 1967, 1971 - 1972, 1974 - 1975, 1979
- Record
7 time NASCAR series champion
- Won record 200 NASCAR races
- Won pole postion for record 126 NASCAR Series Races
|
Michael Schumacher- 1994 - 1995, 2000 - 2004 Formula One World Champion
- Won record 7 Formula One Championships
- Won pole position in 68 Grand Prix races (Series Record)
- Won 91 Grand Prix races (Series Record)
|