History Steve McQueen’s Command Center

Thanks for sharing your motorsport history, Ryan. This has been a very interesting read. Mart.

 

Thanks for your insight. I had no clue.

 

"Schumacher would stop at nothing. He lived permanently on the border of driving dirty, and he knew exactly what that did to the people around him. It created a kind of ambient fear on the track that he used as a weapon as deliberately as any overtaking move."
For those not into F1 I was comparing him to NASCAR's Intimidator. A good portion of racing is the psych game in the pits. A friend drove the first GT350 R Model in vintage racing. He was grided third at one race behind a pair of Ferraris. As the owner was leaving the grid he yelled I want you leading at the first turn - don't worry we've got more fenders. The flag dropped and the Ferraris parted to let him by.

 

Pretty good optical illusion the first two photos where the camper appears leaning in opposite directions.

 

People still watch NASCAR?
The fun is gone. Homogenized corporate built cars with different stickers with all what made it fun legislated out by NASCAR.
Local tracks? Yes sir. Home built junk pounding each other into submission. Winning is often a result of attrition.
Driving fast in a straight line? Yawn. Except the salt or lake bed stuff. The cars are cooler.
European style racing? Mmmmmmm those cars are ***y. They race in the rain and turn both directions. Some tracks being closed off public streets. The car has to be an extension of the body to handle that speed, braking, feel…..

 

NO - Most pro racing has become nothing but scripted entertainment. Spec cars, HP limits, etc. Not worth watching. F1 is the only one where innovation is king. Even that disappoints at some level. It's the pinnacle and requires the right combination of innovation, engineering, manufacturing, ***embly/maintenance, crew and the driver with his engineer to help him set up the car at each track. Once a team hits on it they seem to stay on top for years until another team puts together the winning combination.

 

So true. Scripted corporate engagement to gather views on the ads.

Or the rules change!

 

Wonder how McQueen would’ve done if he would been in a cart at age 5 ?
Dan

 

I did some amateur road racing for a few years. On my best day I was barely mediocre, and I knew that going in. I didn't have the talent or reflexes or nerve to be very good at it, I was just an enthusiast and I had the opportunity through family members who happen to own a road course and driving school. At times I was on the track with people who were at the higher level of amateur racing, as well as a few pros, and the difference between them and me was even larger than I thought it would be. Some people just operate at a higher level.

 

I crewed for a guy with an IMSA Camaro. At Monterey the driveshaft broke. It busted the 3rd member and ears off the trans. The local Chevy dealer let us use their shop and rob a driveshaft out of a new car. By 3am it was back together. In the first practice the owner/driver who was a top 20% club driver put it on it's roof trying to keep up with Danny Ongais in the Interscope Porsche. A lack of experience and the fog of war caused him to forget he was a back marker in this battle and the car wasn't up to the task. Oh well the chips/salsa and beer at the local Mexican joint was good.

 

On The Gas was reclusive even in his early drag race days. He never wandered around the pits. He'd be in the hauler and come out to drive then back into the hauler. He had a lot of talent to drive the spectrum of cars he got rides in. Even crashing didn't seem to slow him down or cause him to refine his style. Listening to him drive led me think of how a friend was trying to teach one of the Whitington brothers how to drive. He kept having to tell them your either all on that pedal (gas) or all on that pedal (brake) no halfway. After a couple weeks he took his money and flew home.