Gurney, Daniel S.Auto racingb. April 13, 1931, Port Jefferson, NYBeginning as an amateur drag racer and sports car driver, Gurney became a sort of renaissance man of American auto racing. The drag racing began after his family moved to Riverside, CA. As a high school student, he built himself a car that went 138 mph at the Bonneville, UT, Salt Flats. After serving in the army during the Korean conflict, he bought a Porsche and won a couple of races in 1956. Two years later, he was driving on the Grand Prix circuit. He won the French Grand Prix in 1962 and finished in the top five in the World Driving Championship standings four times in five years. But he was interested in other types of racing, too. He returned to Riverside in January of 1963 for a NASCAR stock car race on a road course. Gurney won it easily. He also finished seventh in the Indy 500 that year, driving one of the revolutionary rear-engine cars that were Indy versions of the Formula One cars he'd been racing in Europe. Gurney formed his own Eagle team in 1965, hoping to win the World Driving Championship and the Manufacturers' championship with an American-designed car. There were a lot of initial problems, but on June 18, 1967, Gurney won the Belgian GP in an Eagle. That year he became the first driver to win in all four major categories, Formula One, Indy cars, NASCAR stock cars, and sports cars. His next step was to bring the Eagle back to America. His cars won three Indy 500s, as well as national championships in 1968 and 1974. Gurney retired from driving after the 1970 season. He had raced 25 makes of cars in 18 countries, and he had a total of 37 victories, seven in Formula One and Indy cars, 18 in sports cars, and five in stock cars. But he remains in racing as owner of a new team that builds the All-American Eagle. International Motorsports Hall of Fame
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