Stopwatch

Martin Raffauf recounts a few of the highlights of the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1981 when he was a crew member on the winning Bob Garretson Porsche 935.

A.J. Foyt was drafted into Preston Henn's Porsche 935 in the wee hours of Sunday morning during the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1983. He didn't tell the co-drivers. Find out what happened next in this account excerpted from the book: “IMSA 1969-1989: The Inside Story of How John Bishop Built the World’s Greatest Sports Car Racing Series,” authored by Mitch Bishop and Mark Raffauf, available now from Octane Press and wherever books are sold.

The 1976 24 Hours of Daytona was a race plagued by unusual and unforeseen circumstances that stalled much of the 72 car field and brought the race to a grinding halt for the better part of three hours. The following account of the race is excerpted from the book: “IMSA 1969-1989: The Inside Story of How John Bishop Built the World’s Greatest Sports Car Racing Series,” authored by Mitch Bishop and Mark Raffauf, scheduled for publication in January 2019 from Octane Press.

This is part two of world-renowned motorsports writer Doug Nye's account of an interview he had with Mario Andretti during the U.S. Grand Prix weekend in October 1974 at Watkins Glen.

World-renowned motorsports writer Doug Nye had the good fortune to sit down with Mario Andretti during the U.S. Grand Prix weekend in October 1974 at Watkins Glen. This is part one of Doug's account of the interview that covered the early part of Mario's amazing career.

Luigi Chinetti is best known to American racing fans as the owner of North American Racing Team (N.A.R.T.), a team that fielded many a Ferrari with world-class drivers in U.S. sports car events. Chinetti himself only raced once in America - at the very first Sebring endurance event in 1950. This is the story of how it happened and the Ferrari 166 coupe he drove, owned by Briggs Cunningham.

Peter Sachs, a member of the IMRRC Historians Council, remembers the 1962 French Grand Prix, a race in which Dan Gurney collected an unexpected win. Reposted with permission from the Klemantaski Collection.

William Edgar, a member of the IMRRC Historians Council, relates the story of his personal connection with the Alfa Berlinetta that won the very first race through the streets of Watkins Glen in 1948, and how he was reunited decades later with the very same car.

Dick Barbour's IMSA team decided to attack the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in 1978 - and they won! Here's the inside story of how it happened.

The fight for control of sports car racing between USAC and the SCCA reached a boiling point in the late 1950s. Read about it in this excerpt from the upcoming book on the history of IMSA authored by Mitch Bishop and Mark Raffauf: "IMSA 1969-1989" available in January 2019 from Octane Press.