Published on May 10, 2013
” In 1955, Mercedes-Benz sent a squad of cars to Italy. Their mission: win the Mille Miglia. A grueling 1000-mile race across public roads from Brescia to Rome and back, the Mille had a reputation for rewarding skill with hard-fought victory—and punishing hubris with spectacular failure. Sir Stirling Moss, winner of the ’55 Mille, recounts that banner race in this video.”
—
” The Mille Miglia had always been a race that favored Italian drivers. After all, it was a 1000-mile dash through their homeland, giving them home field advantage. But Stirling Moss was no local—he was an Englishman sent to win the Mille Miglia in a German car. And win he did, through a potent mix of determination, an inventive navigator, a fast car and sheer talent.”
—
Driver Nationality Team Points 1. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull Racing-Renault 40 2. Kimi Räikkönen Finland Lotus-Renault 31 3. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull Racing-Renault 26 4. Lewis Hamilton Great Britain Mercedes 25 5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari 25 6. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari 22 7. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari 18 8. Kimi Räikkönen - Lotus-Renault 18 9. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes 15 10. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes 12
See the rest here
—
Early life
McQueen was born Terence Steven McQueen[6] in Beech Grove, Indiana, a suburb of Indianapolis, in Marion County. His father, William Terence McQueen, a stunt pilot for a barnstorming flying circus, abandoned McQueen’s mother six months after first meeting her.[6] His mother, Julia Ann (née Crawford), was allegedly a rebellious alcoholic prostitute.[7][8][9][10]
Unable to cope with bringing up a small child she left him with her parents (Victor and Lillian) in Slater, Missouri, in 1933. Shortly thereafter, as the Great Depression set in, McQueen and his grandparents moved in with Lillian’s brother Claude to his farm in Slater.[6] McQueen was raised as a Roman Catholic.[11][12]
He had good memories of the time spent on his great-uncle Claude’s farm. In recalling him, McQueen stated: “He was a very good man, very strong, very fair. I learned a lot from him.”[6] On McQueen’s fourth birthday, Claude gave him a red tricycle, which McQueen later claimed started his interest in racing.[6] At age 8, he was taken back by his mother and lived with her and her new husband in Indianapolis. McQueen retained a special memory of leaving the farm: “The day I left the farm Uncle Claude gave me a personal going-away present; a gold pocket watch, with an inscription inside the case.” The inscription read: “To Steve – who has been a son to me.”[13]
McQueen, who was dyslexic[6] and also partially deaf as a result of a childhood ear infection,[6] did not adjust well to his new life. His new step-father would beat him so badly that at the age of nine he left home to live on the streets.[7] Within a couple of years he was running with a street gang and committing acts of petty crime.[6] Unable to control McQueen’s behavior, his mother sent him back to Slater. A couple of years later when McQueen was 12 Julia wrote to Claude asking that McQueen be returned to her once again, to live in her new home in Los Angeles, California. Julia, whose second marriage had ended in divorce, had married a third time.
Filmography
Actor (41 titles)
1980The Hunter
Papa Thorson1976Dixie Dynamite
Dirt-bike Rider (uncredited)1974The Towering Inferno
Chief Mike O’Hallorhan1973Papillon
Henri ‘Papillon’ Charriere1972Junior Bonner
Junior ‘JR’ Bonner1968Bullitt
Frank Bullitt1965Baby the Rain Must Fall
Henry Thomas1963Soldier in the Rain
Sgt. Eustis Clay1963The Great Escape
Hilts ‘The Cooler King’1962The War Lover
‘Buzz’/Buzz Rickson1962Hell Is for Heroes
Reese1961The Honeymoon Machine
Lt. Ferguson ‘Fergie’ Howard1958-1961Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV series)
Josh Randall– Barney’s Bounty (1961) … Josh Randall– Dead Reckoning (1961) … Josh Randall– The Long Search (1961) … Josh Randall– Monday Morning (1961) … Josh Randall– Detour (1961) … Josh Randall1959-1960Alfred Hitchcock Presents (TV series)
Bill Everett / Gambler– Man from the South (1960) … Gambler– Human Interest Story (1959) … Bill Everett1959Never So Few
Bill Ringa1959The Great St. Louis Bank Robbery
George Fowler1958Never Love a Stranger
Martin Cabell1958Trackdown (TV series)
Josh Randall – Bounty Hunter / Mal Cody / Wes Cody– The Brothers (1958) … Mal Cody/Wes Cody– The Bounty Hunter (1958) … Josh Randall – Bounty Hunter1958Climax! (TV series)
Anthony Reeves / Henry Reeves– Four Hours in White (1958) … Henry Reeves/Anthony Reeves1957The Big Story (TV series)
Chuck Milton– Malcolm Glover of the San Francisco Examiner (1957) … Chuck Milton1957West Point (TV series)– Ambush (1957)1957Studio One in Hollywood (TV series)
Joseph Gordon– The Defender: Part 2 (1957) … Joseph Gordon (as Steven McQueen)– The Defender: Part 1 (1957) … Joseph Gordon (as Steven McQueen)1956Somebody Up There Likes Me
Fidel (uncredited)1955Goodyear Playhouse (TV series)– The Chivington Raid (1955)1953Girl on the Run
“Steve McQueen left an indelible imprint as one of Hollywood’s sexiest leading men. His balance of masculinity and sensitivity made him both a man’s man and a ladies’ man all at once. His revered roles in films such as Bullitt, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair and, Papillion have been often imitated but never repeated. An actor, race-car driver, and father, McQueen was the epitome of the American dream, rising from hardscrabble circumstances to become one of the most famous movie stars in the world.”
Beginnings
” McQueen drifted through odd jobs and three years of service in the marines before he began performing at New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse in 1952. He did occasional theatre work, making his screen debut with a bit part in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). His first starring role was in the camp horror classic The Blob (1958), and that same year he earned the lead role of a bounty hunter on the television series Wanted: Dead or Alive, which ran until 1961.
In the early 1960s, McQueen attained stardom when he appeared in two action films directed by John Sturges. The first of these was the western The Magnificent Seven (1960), in which he starred with Yul Brynner and Charles Bronson as defenders of a Mexican village. The second action film to refine McQueen’s image was The Great Escape (1963), in which he portrayed an allied captive in a World War II German prison camp who makes a daring motorcycle escape.”
Later Years
” Turning to more weighty material, McQueen had better success with Junior Bonner (1972). He played the title character in this well-received family drama directed by Sam Peckinpah. Also in 1972,
McQueen starred in The Getawaywith Ali McGraw. He and McGraw began an affair during filming—McGraw was married to film executive Robert Evans at the time. Their relationship became a scandal in the press. The couple married in 1973. McQueen had been previously married to dancer and actress Neile Adams with whom he had two children, Chad and Terry.
McQueen won accolades for his performance in Papillon (1973), starring opposite Dustin Hoffman in the prison drama. He played a hero in the disaster epic The Towering Inferno (1974). But his personal demons began to eclipse his talent. He drank and used drugs, and his relationship with McGraw became increasingly stormy. Both of his ex-wives later stated that he could be physically abusive and was often unfaithful.”
McQueen Had A Need For Speed
Twelve Hours of Sebring (1970)
” Excerpt of original. This film captures the excitement of the 1970 12-hour endurance race at Sebring. It features Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney, Jackie Ickx, Pedro Rodriguez, and celebrity driver/actor Steve McQueen. There is non-stop racing action as Ferrari driver Mario Andretti barely escapes with the lead over Steve McQueen, driving with a cast on his broken foot. Produced by Triangle Productions in association with the Automobile Racing Club of Florida.”
To see full-length versions of this and other videos from the State Archives of Florida, visit http://www.floridamemory.com/video/.
” Diagnosed with mesothelioma lung cancer (caused by exposure to asbestos – it is thought that the asbestos lined crash suit from his race car driving days was one potential source) in December 1979, he kept it a secret while filming “The Hunter” (1980), and died within a day after undergoing surgery to remove tumors from his right lung. He was married three times, to Neile Adams (1957 to 1972, divorced), to actress Ali MacGraw (1973 to 1978, divorced), and to Barbara Minty (1980 until his death). He often carried a pistol after it was determined that he topped the list of celebrities to be killed by the Charles Manson “Family;” oddly enough, he would claim to have a dinner appointment at the home of Roman Polanski-Sharon Tate the night she was murdered by the Manson group, but had to cancel the appointment; this claim is disputed by other Hollywood star watchers.”
—-
” Sen. Chris Murphy wants NASCAR to pass on NRA’s race sponsorship.
In a letter sent Thursday to NASCAR CEO Brian France, Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, asks the stock car racing association to drop the NRA’s sponsorship of an April race at the Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. The race, in NASCAR’s top flight, will be the NRA 500.
“By giving the NRA sponsorship of a major NASCAR race, NASCAR has crossed a line – you have decided to put yourself in the middle of a political debate, and you have taken a side that stands in opposition to the wishes of so many Newtown families who support common sense gun reform,” Murphy wrote. “Whether or not this was your intention, your fans will infer from this sponsorship that NASCAR and the NRA are allies in the current legislative debate over gun violence. By announcing this new partnership at the very height of Congress’s deliberations over gun reform, NASCAR has inserted itself into a political debate that has nothing to with the business of NASCAR.” “
—
DAYTONA BEACH, FLA
” At least 28 people were injured — two critically — during the last lap of the NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, officials said, when a car slammed into the catch fence and came apart.
The incident was the result of a last-lap crash in the battle for the win. Kyle Larson’s car was launched into the fence as drivers crashed around him and Tony Stewart took the checkered flag. The suspension and tires from Larson’s car went into the fence, with one tire appearing to sail over it. The front end was sheared off of Larson’s car, but the driver climbed from it.
Daytona International Speedway President Joie Chitwood III confirmed that 14 people were transported off property and an additional 14 were treated in the at-track care center.”
” NASCAR driver Danica Patrick made history on Sunday, becoming the first female driver to win a pole at a NASCAR race when she won the Daytona 500 pole.
Patrick was the eighth driver on the track in Sunday’s qualifying session at Daytona and had the fastest qualifying time, covering the 2 1/2-mile Daytona superspeedway lap in 45.817 seconds. She averaged 196.434 mph. She is also the first woman to win a pole at any major auto race in history.”
” DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — If two practices are any indication,Danica Patrick is a solid candidate to win the pole for the Daytona 500.
Patrick turned the fastest lap Saturday in a pair of practice sessions focused solely on qualifying for the Daytona 500. She went 196.220 mph around Daytona International Speedway in the second practice session and said she’s eyeing the top starting spot in ”The Great American Race.”
”Everything that we do is to make sure that we do whatever we can to be on the pole,” Patrick said. ”That is what we all are shooting for.”
The front row for the Feb. 24 season-opening Daytona 500 will be set in Sunday’s time trials. The rest of the field is set next Thursday after a pair of qualifying races.”
” Racing 500 miles around a smooth paved oval? Kid stuff. The world’s longest rally races have stretched for thousands of miles across continents, through deserts, and over mountains.”
” 1977: Singapore Airlines London to Sydney Rally
Total Distance: 17,500 milesIn 1968, the London Daily Express and Daily Telegraph newspapers sponsored a marathon rally of 7000 miles from London to Sydney. The insane race stirred up some heroic stories of resourcefulness for the papers, and it spawned a series of intercontinental rallies. One of these was a rally from London to Mexico called the World Cup Rally, which coincided with the soccer championship in Mexico City that year. Another was the 1974 London-Sahara-Munich rally. But the ultimate race in this series was the second running of London to Sydney, which covered 17,500 miles. Rally driver Andrew Cowan won the marathon race in a Mercedes 280E. Vintage re-creations of the 1977 rally have been held on several occasions since. “
” At first blush, rally racing—or, simply, rally—is a pretty innocuous pastime. You buy a car. You install a roll cage and safety equipment, including a fire suit and a helmet. You find a friend to ride shotgun and navigate. You drive off into the woods—and then things get exceptionally weird. Races start in the morning and last well into the night. They are staged in asphalt-melting heat or face-freezing cold. Lasting two or more days, they require driving flat-out on unfamiliar roads—many of them unpaved and rutted—guided only by your reflexes and the shouted instructions of a co-driver.
Wrecks are common and can be severe: Roadside hazards include 100-foot drop-offs, Airstream-size boulders, and stout hardwoods. The course, more than 100 miles long, is completed at highway-travel speeds. If you are slow, you lose. If you kill your car and don’t make it home, you lose. And if you don’t have fun, you miss the point. Now take all of this mayhem and stick it in a deep freeze in Atlanta, Mich., 25 miles northeast of nowhere. This is the location of the Sno*Drift Rally, held for two days almost every January since 1973. Entrants range from six-figure Subarus and Mitsubishis to $500 hoopties held together with duct tape and Bondo. “
” Thomas isn’t an engineer; his expertise is merely that of a hard-core fan’s. But with two tubs in hand, he decided he had to put one on the track. He needed only an appropriate drivetrain, suspension, seat, and, well, everything else that makes up a modern Formula 1 car. Resources were—and remain—scarce. He says: “It quickly became clear that it was very difficult, or even impossible, to get the right parts. I have to use what I can get.” He trades among a community of F1 parts collectors, and he checks eBay every day. His shed is filled with F1 components, and he says making them fit has been part of the fun. His sidepods, for example, are from a later Williams-BMW. He learned to work with carbon fiber, chopped up the pods, and modified them to fit with a BAR engine cover. This resourcefulness has served him well: His total outlay has been only about $13,000, and from the look of it, you’d think he had a complete car. “
” This weekend, Formula 1 returns to American soil, and it’s guaranteed to be an exhilarating Sunday. Even though Red Bull only needs to score four points in order to secure the World Constructors’ Championship, this season has demonstrated how anything can happen with nine different racers taking the podium over the course of the 18 races that have occurred thus far.
Weeding your way through the raff of drivers, teams and technical jargon that make up the world’s most high-tech sport can leave even the most ardent fan reeling. In preparation for Formula 1′s American return, we’ve prepared this handy guide to the sport’s top drivers, teams and those pesky terms nobody ever bothers to explain. Get ready for a race, America. “
