Dan Gurney has made a tremendous mark on motorsports in the last half century as a driver, team owner, racecar manufacturer, inventor and trailblazer. His charismatic personality and his demeanor in victory and defeat have gained him a worldwide fan audience.
Born and raised in Long Island, New York, the son of Metropolitan opera singer John Gurney, he moved with his family to Riverside, Calirofnia, in 1948. Upon graduation from Menlo College, he volunteered for the U.S. Army serving two years in the Korean War theatre. His racing career spanned 15 years and encompassed every major discipline, winning 49 races and 44 additional podiums in Formula One, NASCAR, Sportscars, Indycars, Canam and Transam.
His greatest achievements extended beyond the cockpit - as a trailblazing racecar builder and as the inventor of the revolutionary low-slung Alligator motorcycle. Over the last 40 years his company, All American Racers in Santa Ana, has built more than 150 Eagle racing cars and has employed 66 racing drivers. The successful Eagles have won championships in open wheel racing, sports car racing and brought home the "Indy 500" crown in 1975 with Bobby Unser.
By winning the 1967 Grand Prix of Belgium in his own Eagle Formula One car, gurney became the only American in the 100 year history of Formula One racing to achieve this distinction.
Developer of the Gurney Flap, an aerodynamic device adopted by the racing and aviation industries, Gurney also introduced the full face helmet to Indycar and Formula One racing. He was instrumental in the rear revolution in Indianapolis, was co-founder of the Long Beach Grand Prix and he wrote the white paper that led to the formation of CART. He was the first driver to spray champagne into the crowd from the victory podium at Le Mans in 1967, three years after racing fans launched a tongue-in-cheek "Dan Gurney for President" campaign.
Gurney is the father of six children. He and his wife Evi live in Newport Beach, California.
Official Dan Gurney website |
