MOORESVILLE, N.C. — It has been a very difficult year. We have lost a lot of close racing friends — Robin Miller, Bob Jenkins, Greg Stephens and, now, Doug Auld.
Auld, as many of you know, was the founder of our sister publication Sprint Car & Midget. I had been friends with Auld for years. He reached out a few years ago about bringing Sprint Car & Midget under the SPEED SPORT banner. Naturally, we were thrilled by the opportunity. Our group of passionate racing media buddies became stronger and a prominent brand of racing journalism was saved.
Sadly, Auld died unexpectedly on Oct. 10, leaving a huge hole in our SPEED SPORT family. While building a tremendous legacy in the world of sprint car and midget racing, Auld was elected to the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2017.
His passion was felt throughout the open-wheel racing industry. He worked tirelessly as a journalist to spread the word about the form of racing that he loved.
It will be very difficult to fill the void left by Auld’s passing. It will be impossible for his family. We have set up a Go Fund Me account to benefit his family. If contributing is something you are interested in doing, we would greatly appreciate it. All of us at SPEED SPORT and Sprint Car & Midget will miss Doug, our colleague and friend.
– Our SPEEDSPORT.tv production crew was proud to serve as the broadcaster for the inaugural American Speed Festival that was run at the M1 Concourse in Pontiac, Mich.
M1 is a private club with a 1.5-mile road course situated on 87 acres approximately 30 minutes from the Motor City.
We provided more than 15 hours of live coverage and will also produce two one-hour shows that will be special presentations of our award-winning SPEED SPORT presented by Crosley series on MAVTV. The shows will air on Nov. 25 and Dec. 2.
This event featured spectacular cars representing the past, present and future of motorsports.
Jim Hall and his legendary Chaparrals were the featured stars with Hall receiving the first Master of Motorsport award. The stunning Chaparral 2, 2E, 2F and 2K were on display with all but the 2K Indy 500 winner turning laps at speed.
M1 President Tim McGrane and his staff put on an outstanding first-time event. Next year’s edition is scheduled for Sept. 29 – Oct. 2. Shelby will be the featured marque, which should be fantastic.
– Two fantastic books about IndyCar racing recently landed on our desk.
The first is “Checkered Past,” which is the latest offering from writer Jade Gurss. The book details the life and times of Al Unser Jr.
The two-time Indy 500 winner describes what he was thinking after crashing while battling with eventual winner Emerson Fittipaldi. He’s just as truthful when discussing how he fought addictions that plagued his career and his personal life.
Unser has lived a remarkable life with incredible highs and lows. Congrats to Unser and Gurss on an exceptional read.
Everybody was wondering who would write the definitive book on what happened to cause the division in Indy car racing that occurred during the mid-1990s. The answer is John Oreovicz and his book is titled “Indy Split.”
The level of research Oreovicz did regarding minute details of the split is impressive. There was never a doubt this book would deliver as Oreovicz was among the traveling media members during the time period.
In reality, this book is very thoroughly researched and provides a captivating trip through the history of Indy car racing. Outstanding effort John!
Both books would make wonderful Christmas gifts and are available from octanepress.com.
– I’ve been very fortunate to ride in some incredibly famous race cars. Nothing, however, will ever compare to my recent trip around the M1 Concourse circuit while hanging on for dear life aboard Henry Ford’s legendary “Sweepstakes.”
The 120-year-old, two-cylinder machine carried Ford to victory over Alexander Winston and kickstarted the birth of the Ford Motor Co. It’s capable of blasting along at 72 mph with just one handle off the left side of the car for the passenger to hang onto while perched on a bench seat.
To be sitting high atop the race track on such a historic vehicle while it shakes and vibrates with its engine popping and banging as it powers out of the corners and heads down the straightaways is quite a ride.
A huge thank you to longtime friend and Ford Motorsports PR man extraordinaire Kevin Kennedy for setting up an amazing experience I will never forget!