Better know an A.J. Foyt

Let us face facts... Most of the stuff you read on these here "internets" is pretty much garbage. Whether the topic is motor racing, stick-and-ball sports, general news, etc., chances are, you just read something that sucked. Even this site is not excluded from the previous sentence (NASCAR previews? Come on).

With that in mind, Ridebuyer wants to roll back the clock and take you to a simpler time. A time when the world was a little less scary and the internet had yet to turn into a cesspool of gratuitous potshots and mean spirited abuse. The following is the latest installment in RB'ers "Shit Worth Reading" serial.

Today, one of the last remaining members of motor racing's old guard is profiled. This 1991 SI- article chronicles Anthony Joseph Foyt, Jr. and centers around Super Tex's relationship with his father. (Don't worry, it's not a gay sap piece.) Here's a sample:

For years Foyt has been the most intimidating presence in motor racing, and there are few drivers out there who have not felt at least a gust of his passing heat. In 1982, in his rookie year at Indy, Bobby Rahal was coming out of a turn with Foyt right behind him. "I didn't cut him off," says Rahal , "but I think he expected me to move out of his way, and I didn't. And he shook his fist at me as he went by. But, you know, you're nobody unless you've had a fist shaken at you by A.J. Foyt ."

Complete text:

Twilight Of A Titan

It's a bit lengthy, but give it a click. (If you don't... A.J. will club you with torque wrench.)

Better know a Dan Gurney

Let us face facts... Most of the stuff you read on these here "internets" is pretty much garbage. Whether the topic is motor racing, stick-and-ball sports, general news, etc., chances are, you just read something that sucked. Even this site is not excluded from the previous sentence (NASCAR previews? Come on).

With that in mind, Ridebuyer wants to roll back the clock and take you to a simpler time. A time when the world was a little less scary and the internet had yet to turn into a cesspool of gratuitous potshots and mean spirited abuse. The following is the latest installment in RB'ers "Shit Worth Reading" serial.

These entries are timely in the sense that their subject (Dan Gurney) was recently snubbed from ESPN's Top 25 Drivers of All Time list. (Other notable exclusions: Mark Donahue, Phil Hill, Graham Hill, Bobby Allison...)

While it's little consolation (like, none), we'd like to give the All American Racers-founder some love with two forgotten (old) articles that are worth the time to peruse. Here is a sample:


The Gurney method of staying a jump ahead has often been considered eccentric, and it has brought failure as well as success. But it has never been anything less than true to the man. In his 16 years at the wheel, he established himself as one of the greatest American drivers of all time, with victories in Grand Prix, sports car, endurance, stock car, Indy car, Can-Am and sedan racing. He was America's best road racer in the '60s, a horsepower-crazy era that is gone but not forgotten.

Once again, thank you to the SI Vault for being incredibly ball-kicking.

The '500' Under Attack (May 27, 1963)

Racing To A Midlife Crisis (May 26,1980)

Robin Miller's hero was the balls

Let us face facts... Most of the stuff you read on these here "internets" is pretty much garbage. Whether the topic is motor racing, stick-and-ball sports, general news, etc., chances are, you just read something that sucked. Even this site is not excluded from the previous sentence (NASCAR previews? Come on).

With that in mind, Ridebuyer wants to roll back the clock and take you to a simpler time. A time when the world was a little less scary and the internet had yet to turn into a cesspool of gratuitous potshots and mean spirited abuse. The following is the latest installment in RB'ers "Shit Worth Reading" serial.

This entry comes from the incredible SI Vault and gives the story of Indy folk-hero Jim Hurtubise:

It had been several years since Hurtubise had entered the race with any kind of chance to win it, lead it or even qualify well for it. For most of that time he had been engaged in a quixotic attempt to qualify an improved version of the outmoded front-engine "roadster" that had dominated the Speedway until the rear-engine revolution of the mid-1960s. With time growing short, there was a fever of activity around Hurtubise's Miller High Life Special, as it slowly moved toward the head of the qualifying line. The crowd buzzed. Would the old Mallard, as Hurtubise called his car in tribute to its ducktail rear end, get a chance to make even a ceremonial tour of the Brickyard? No. Precisely at 6 p.m. the gun sounded, locking in the field for another year. At which time Hurtubise removed the cowling from his Mallard to reveal neither an Offenhauser nor a Ford, but rather five cases of his sponsor's product, already chilled and ready for folks to drink. Which is what most of the Speedway officials soon did.

Full text below:

The Ghost Of Indy's Past

Enjoy.

Brock Yates and a lurid tale about death

Let us face facts... Most of the stuff you read on these here "internets" is pretty much garbage. Whether the topic is motor racing, stick-and-ball sports, general news, etc., chances are, you just read something that sucked. Even this site is not excluded from the previous sentence (NASCAR previews? Come on).

With that in mind, Ridebuyer wants to roll back the clock and take you to a simpler time. A time when the world was a little less scary, a rerun of Welcome Back, Kotter was all it took to restore faith in the social hierarchy of High School, and the internet had yet to turn into a cesspool of gratuitous potshots and mean spirited abuse. The following is the first in (what we hope will be) a long line of yesteryear motoring articles that are actually worth reading.


The first installment of our "Shit Worth Reading" serial comes from...


Brock Yates


The overriding question was why would Ken Miles, successful race driver, end up in the backwaters of Wisconsin, even if he'd managed to survive the terrible crash at Riverside? "He claimed to have been given a couple of million dollars by Ford to disappear..."


Full text below:


Ken Miles Alive and Well in Wisconsin? - Column


Enjoy.