I have to say I am always awestruck on how many period images you have and the stories to go with them. It is really amazing. Thank you for sharing this information. I love the letter to Chapman, very interesting to see the communications of the racers in period with the team.
Ross
...Right back at ya Rosco...Thanks
It's important to me to pass on the images and stories...
Earlier in this thread we relived the 1968 USGP. I thought of the daunting task awaiting Jackie Oliver as he faced off against team mates Graham Hill and "Hired Gun" of the Ford Motor Company...
Mario Andretti
This was the old circuit of 2.35 miles... the down hill section towards the light bulb after the long back stretch had not been built yet. It was cold and grey, the estimated crowd of 93k were there to cheer on the home town heroes of Mario, Dan Gurney and Bobby Unser.
The gathering was treated to a historic qualifying tussle as seven drivers fought it out to see who be on top. The field of Stewart (Matra),Hill (Lotus), Amon(Ferrari), Hulme (Mclaren), Rindt(Brabham} were separated by a scant .6 tenths and could not match Mario who posted a 1:04.20
Stewart would claim the victory as Mario, while leading damaged the nose cone and pitted on lap twelve. His efforts ended fighting back from 19Th with a clutch failure on lap thirty three. Graham drove at steady pace to take second.
As far as Oliver...well lets say the had a better night at the Glen Motor Inn and celebrated Stewart's F1's record pay out purse of $10 thousand for winning!
footnote...If you look closely, you can see the burn scars from the Indy race on Mario's face.
