Stay ConnectedFrom race fixing attempts to kidnappings, the backbone of motorsport is built on scandal, intrigue, danger, and deception.
Rev your engines and dive into the heart-pounding world of motorsport with Elizabeth Blackstock’s captivating new podcast, Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys. Join us on an adrenaline-fueled journey through the scandalous, the intriguing, and the perilous tales that define this high-octane universe.
Copyright: © Elizabeth Blackstock
August 17, 1975. In warm-up for the Austrian Grand Prix, American icon Mark Donohue loses control of his March 751 after a tire fails. He careens through a metal Armco barrier and trackside signage and is knocked briefly unconscious in the wreckage. Against all odds, Donohue seems fine and heads back to the garage — where he begins to complain of a worsening headache. He's rushed to a local hospital, doctors urgent to operate on what has been diagnosed as a brain hemorrhage.
It's not enough. Two days later, on August 19, Mark Donohue dies from injuries he sustained driving a Formula 1 car run by his longtime friend and racing team partner Roger Penske.
For many motorsport fans here in the United States. Penske Racing's foray into Formula 1 remains one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ of all time, for so many reasons. What if Mark Donohue hadn't come out of retirement to race and develop the F1 car? What if Donohue had won Penske's first race? What if John Watson had been able to win more, to entice more sponsors, to give the team a reason to continue? What would Formula 1 look like today with a stronger American presence back in the late 1970s?
We won't ever know. But this week on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're going to dig into what we do know about Penske Racing in Formula 1, Mark Donohue's death, and John Watson's triumph — which remains the most recent Grand Prix win by an American team.
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Episode Bibliography:
The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue
Interview with John Watson
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/04/09/Settlement-reached-in-Donohue-case/7324513406800/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1998/73/professional/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1975/35/austrian-grand-prix-16/
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a61VAAAAIBAJ&sjid=J-ADAAAAIBAJ&pg=6311%2C5102237
https://www.historicracing.com/driverDetail.cfm?driverID=2759
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-2005/16/nigel-roebucks-legends-7/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/november-1974/42/canadian-grand-prix-13/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/february-1975/26/the-formula-one-situation/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/398676916/?match=1&terms=%22eden%20donohue%22
Unlike the NFL, MLB, or even Formula 1, NASCAR has never had a drivers’ union, but not for lack of trying. In the early 1960s, Hall of Famer Curtis Turner joined forces with the Teamsters in a bold push to organize the garage area — a move that got him blacklisted by the sport he helped build. Over the years, similar efforts were quietly floated and just as quickly shut down.
Why has unionization never gained a foothold in stock car racing? What were the drivers asking for — and what is NASCAR so afraid of?
In this episode, we’ll trace the roots of NASCAR’s labor resistance, and unpack how the sport’s Southern identity, family-owned governance, and rapid commercialization combined to make organizing nearly impossible.
This is the story of the union that never was.
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Episode Bibliography:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcB2WLxDdk8
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-columbia-record-speedway-spasm/146339838/
https://www.cottonowens.com/archives/Spartanburg_Racing.php
https://teamsters174.net/how-jimmy-hoffa-tried-to-give-unions-the-green-flag-at-nascar/
https://web.archive.org/web/20141216130458/http://speedzone70.tripod.com/VolII.html
If Bernd Rosemeyer had not existed, historian Anthony Pritchard remarked, then the National Socialist Party would have had to invent him.
Tall, blond, strong, and domineering, Rosemeyer became the pride of Adolf Hitler's motorsport program, and the epitome of its goals. The press couldn't get enough of him, hailing him a “radiant boy,” a “bold fighter.” “Beautiful blond Bernd,” they gushed, as they linked him to the true superiority of Aryan blood and praised his overt willingness to compete with a swastika armband, to attribute his success to the glory of his mother country.
Rosemeyer burst onto the Grand Prix scene with Auto Union just a few years after the company brought together four automakers on the verge of bankruptcy in a last-ditch effort to avoid fading into obscurity, and he instantly elevated the outfit to immortality.
Of course, Auto Union was one of two German automakers heavily funded by Hitler as a covert way to bolster the country's weakened military. Building aircraft was illegal, but building state-of-the-art racing machines with engines that could be easily installed in an aircraft? Well, Europe never blinked an eye. Add in a superstar like Rosemeyer behind the wheel, with his Grand Prix victories and his world speed records, and you had a potent recipe for the kind of rampant German pride that could be easily mobilized into the war effort.
This week on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're continuing our discussion of the Nazi party's impact on motorsport. In the previous episode, we covered all things Mercedes as well as the complex ways the Treaty of Versailles contributed to the vacuum of power that allowed genocidal Nazi ideals to flourish.
In this episode, we'll turn our attention to Mercedes’ biggest rival, Auto Union, with an eye to ultimately pinpointing the exact ways these Grand Prix teams directly contributed to the deadliest war in all of human history. Let's dig in.
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Episode Bibliography:
Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler's Best by Neal Bascomb
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20190821-how-germany-became-the-country-of-cars
https://www.audi-mediacenter.com/en/motorsport-history-3646
https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/ic90uta1/release/4
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-2013/109/villeneuve-thirties/
In the build-up to the 1934 German Grand Prix, the already formidable Nürburgring was transformed. Gone were the days of packing a race track with nothing but enthusiasts; under the control of new chancellor Adolf Hitler, motorsport was the ideal venue in which to display the might of his new, robust Germany under the Third Reich.
Track facilities were draped in swastika flags, while a regiment of brownshirts had marched for weeks from Berlin to be present at the July event. Over 150,000 spectators had descended on the rural track, keen to lay eyes on the new German racing machines that promised to be unstoppable — The Mercedes W25, and the Auto Union P-Wagen.
Marvels of automotive innovation, these Grand Prix cars were heavily funded by the German government and looked set to dominate the European racing scene in just the same way that Hitler was hoping to dominate the entire continent: Resoundingly, quickly, and packed with pageantry designed to inspire a nationalistic zeal.
This month on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're digging deep into Nazi participation in Grand Prix racing with a two-part series, with each episode focusing on one of the two state-funded automotive programs. We'll be starting off with Mercedes, then dig deeper into the exploits of Auto Union in the next show with an eye to understanding the complex and often uncomfortable role that motorsport played in the revitalization of the German military after the country was devastated by the First World War.
Over the next two episodes, we'll trace the origins of the automobile in Germany and investigate the impact of the Treaty of Versailles on both industry and national image in order to link Hitler's ascension to power with his emphasis on revitalizing the automotive and motorsport industries. Naturally, we're going to begin with a titan: Mercedes.
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Episode Bibliography:
Faster: How a Jewish Driver, an American Heiress, and a Legendary Car Beat Hitler's Best by Neal Bascomb
A Race with Love and Death: The Story of Britain's First Great Grand Prix Driver, Richard Seaman by Richard Williams
Grand Prix Driver by Hermann Lang
In the late 1950s, the folks in charge of The Autodromo Nazionale di Monza had to face a harsh reality: They had spent millions to revitalize the banked oval that had been an original feature of the track back in the 1920s, but that had been destroyed prior to World War II. They had thought the Italian Grand Prix would be made all the more compelling with a flat-out banked section to challenge the drivers.
But Grand Prix cars weren't built to withstand the high speeds and g forces of oval racing, and the European drivers hated the addition. Hoping to get the most out of its investment, Monza called upon the only drivers that did know how to race an oval: The Americans.
What resulted was the Race of Two Worlds — an exhibition event with a huge prize purse designed to pit the Americans against the Europeans in a friendly competition that soon got feisty. This week on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're exploring the long-term implications of this event, and how it very well may have contributed to the ongoing ill will between two very distinct forms of motorsport.
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Episode Bibliography:
Cars at Speed: The Grand Prix Circuit by Robert Daley
Monza: A Glorious History by Paolo Montagna
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fords-assembly-line-starts-rolling
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1955/22/26th-gran-premio-ditala/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1957/31/the-monza-500-mile-race-2/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1958/15/the-monza-500-mile-race/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1958/36/another-monza-500-miles/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/single-seaters/f1/f1-vs-indycar-monzanapolis/
Camille du Gast wasn't the first woman to get behind the wheel of a race car, but she was the first woman who gained international recognition for doing so when she began taking part in grand epreuves as early as 1901. She was the first woman in France to earn a driver's license, the first woman to hold an official role in the Automobile Club de France.
But to call Camille du Gast a racer and nothing else would be to diminish a lifetime of accomplishments. She donned the title of exploratrice, traveling the world while also competing in motor boat racing, fencing, skiing, tobogganing, fencing, and hot air ballooning. She was the controversial subject of a pornographic scandal, and the intended target of a failed murder plot hatched by none other than her only daughter. And while that might have been enough to push a person into hiding for the remainder of her life, Camille du Gast wouldn't be silenced. Instead, she became a prominent activist campaigning for the rights and dignified treatment of both women and animals.
This week on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're delving deeper into the remarkable life of Camille du Gast and situating her turn-of-the-century accomplishments within the greater context of women in motorsport.
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Episode Bibliography:
Race to the Future: 8,000 Miles to Paris — The Adventure that Accelerated the Twentieth Century by Kassia St. Clair
Cars at Speed: The Grand Prix Circuit by Robert Daley
https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/news/women-in-motorsport-social-history-camille-du-gast/
https://guides.loc.gov/feminism-french-women-history/famous/camille-du-gast
https://www.vintag.es/2023/05/camille-du-gast.html
https://blog.imagesmusicales.be/camille-du-gast-the-valkyrie-of-motorsports/
https://speedqueens.blogspot.com/2010/01/camille-du-gast.html
https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt5vjd61.7?seq=12
https://gettingaround.substack.com/p/dufayel-paris-had-the-most-beautiful-staircase
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-paris-berlin-motor-carriage-rac/
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19020920.2.64.36
If you're a fan of the Indianapolis 500, then there's a good chance you know who won the first race back in 1911: It was Ray Harroun behind the wheel of a Marmon Wasp, the only driver in the field to opt against using a riding mechanic and running solo — albeit with a little help from a relief driver.
What if I told you that might not be true? What if I told you that we don't actually know with 100% certainty who won the inaugural Indy 500?
Today on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're going to continue our discussion from last week concerning the founding of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the chaotic first races held at the track in its first three years of existence. This week, it's all about the inaugural Indy 500 — and about trying to track down who it was that really won the first edition of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
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Episode Bibliography:
Blood and Smoke: A True Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and the Birth of the Indy 500 by Charles Leerhsen
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/one-hundred-years-of-the-indy-500-158836397/
On August 21st, 1909, the 300-mile Wheeler-Schebler race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was waved off — not because that weekend's racing had claimed the lives of five drivers, mechanics, and spectators, but because, after the racing had continued, yet another car crashed into a pedestrian bridge crossing the racing surface.
No one was killed in that crash. No; the real reason the race was being flagged was because so many spectators had flocked to the pedestrian bridge to gape at the wreckage that the whole structure was sagging. That, finally, gave Speedway personnel a reason to call things off.
In the days that followed, newspapers erupted with condemnations about auto racing — but before we can really understand the outcry and its impact on the motorsport scene in America, we need to understand more about the man who concocted the audacious scheme to build a 2.5-mile race track in Indiana within the first decade of the 20th century.
Today on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're going to delve into the life of Speedway founder and confidence man Carl Fisher, and how his harebrained marketing schemes brought to life a track that still hosts one of the world's greatest motorsport events. Over the next two episodes, we're looking at the early history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and how, against all odds, it became an American institution.
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Episode Bibliography:
Blood and Smoke: A True Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and the Indy 500 by Charles Leerhsen
On May 12, 1957, a group of locals from Guidizzolo, Italy gathered in front of their homes to watch some of the world's finest sports cars flash by en route to the finish line that would mark the end of the grueling Mille Miglia. For 30 years, other locals and previous generations stood alongside that very same ribbon of road, watching that very same race.
But on May 12, a Ferrari 335 S scythed through the crowd, and in an instant, nine spectators were dead — cut down just outside their homes. This was the crash that would kill the Mille Miglia, Italy's iconic 1,000-mile race from Brescia to Rome. Ask around, though, and you might find that the tragedy of civilian deaths was nothing compared to the horror of that Ferrari's driver, Spanish nobleman Alfonso de Portago.
If you watched the 2023 film Ferrari starring Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari, then you're likely familiar with this incident; the crash shown at the end of the movie is the very one that ended the Mille Miglia. Today on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” though, we're going to turn our gaze to the driver in question, Alfonso de Portago, in order to better understand how some motorsport accidents are deemed more tragic than others thanks to the mythic status drivers like Portago held.
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Episode Bibliography:
Cars at Speed by Robert Daley
The Limit by Michael Cannell
Enzo Ferrari by Brock Yates
https://www.history.com/news/the-horrific-1957-ferrari-crash-that-ended-the-mille-miglia-race
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1956/26/another-mille-miglia-with-moss/
https://archive.org/details/sim_car-and-driver_1957-08_3/page/n70/mode/1up
https://www.newspapers.com/image/70006822/?match=1&terms=mille%20miglia
In April of 1978, a chartered plane full of USAC officials crashed just outside of Indianapolis, killing everyone on board. With American open-wheel racing already in disarray as team owners began to demand greater accountability from their sanctioning body, the plane crash only served to accelerate a battle we've come to know as the Split.
What role did that plane crash play in the ultimate fracturing of CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) from USAC? And how did that crash unsettle the very foundations of American motorsport as we knew it? That's exactly what we'll find out in this episode of “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys.”
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Episode Bibliography:
Indy Split: The Big Money Battle that Nearly Destroyed Indy Racing by John Oreovicz
The IndyCar Wars: The 30-Year Fight for Control of American Open-Wheel Racing by Sigurd E. Whitaker
https://www.usacracing.com/news/a-tribute-to-those-lost-in-the-1978-usac-plane-crash
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=a5cpAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hckEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1079%2C1093218
From the moment his father died behind the wheel of a race car, Alberto Ascari was haunted by loss. Against his mother's wishes, he pursued a racing career of his own and went on to become Formula 1's first-ever back-to-back World Champion with Ferrari. Still, he was unable to shake the feeling that he was following in his father's footsteps — right down to wondering if he, too, would die behind the wheel.
Throughout his life, Ascari turned to superstition to make sense of the chaos. He avoided black cats and shunned the numbers 13, 17, and 26, the latter of which was the number of the day his father died. He worried he'd die at age 36, just like his father, and fiercely protected the blue helmet that soon became as much a talisman as it was a protective device.
Today on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're digging into the life of Alberto Ascari, the superstitions that helped him find order, and the shocking reverberations of his father's death in Alberto Ascari's own fatal crash on May 26, 1955.
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Episode Bibliography:
The Man with Two Shadows: The Story of Alberto Ascari by Kevin Desmond
Alberto Ascari: Ferrari's First Double Champion by Karl Ludvigsen
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9885050/
https://umsu.unimelb.edu.au/news/article/7797/The-fantastical-realm-of-Italian-superstition/
https://farragomagazine.com/article/farrago/the-fantastical-realm-of-italian-superstition/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1955/36/xiii-grand-prix-de-monaco/
When we last left the Formula 1 scene, the 1977 season was underway. Over a decade had passed since the formation of the Formula One Constructors Association — an organization first formed to guarantee better starting, prize, and travel money for low-budget teams, but that had morphed into a powerful force that could challenge for control of the sport.
In this special two-part feature on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're going to uncover everything there is to know about the FISA/FOCA war — and in this final section, we're going to get into the nitty-gritty details of the specific fights that characterized the battle after the formation of FISA.
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Many of the defining characteristics of modern Formula 1 — two-car teams, limits on who can enter the sport, big-money broadcasting deals, and so much more — are the direct result of a decades-long battle between the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA, which represented the teams) and the Federation du Sport Automobile (FISA, a subsidiary of the FIA).
Fans have likely heard of the FISA/FOCA war, but truly understanding how it impacted the sport of Formula 1 isn't easy when there were so many little battles taking place from 1964 through to 1987. In this special two-part feature on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're going to uncover everything there is to know about the FISA/FOCA war — and in this section, we'll dig into the origins of FOCA and its grievances with F1’s lack of professionalization.
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Episode Bibliography:
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1967/12/continental-notes-august-1967/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1967/16/continental-notes-december-1967/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-1970/26/the-grand-prix-of-spain-ole/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/december-1972/32/continental-notes-december-1972/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/january-1973/25/continental-notes-12/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1977/27/continental-notes-july-1977/
In the mid-1960s, the Chevrolet Corvair became the most reviled car in the United States of America. The automotive press loved this zippy rear-engined machine for its crisp handling and its race-y feel — but it didn't take long before the machine to become the center of hundreds of lawsuits alleging that the car was not only responsible for injuring and killing its drivers and passengers, but that General Motors had known that would happen all along. It was a huge allegation, one that at best would cost GM millions of dollars, and at worst would kill the company.
But the folks at Chevy's research and development department were adamant that they'd created a great, well-tested, and safe product, and they decided that the only way to prove it would be to fight back. The only way to fight back would be to gather as much data as possible about how cars handled. The only way to gather that data would be to hire the best minds in motorsport — the engineers and drivers who knew more about performance than anyone else — to undertake a comprehensive but secret program of testing.
And General Motors decided that the best folks for the job would be the tiny, Midland, Texas-based Chaparral race team, headed by automotive legend Jim Hall.
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Episode Bibliography:
Texas Legend: Jim Hall and His Chaparrals by George Levy
Unsafe at Any Speed by Ralph Nader
Enzo Ferrari. Merely speaking his name aloud conjures up grandiose images of a titan of motorsport: his towering presence, the dark sunglasses obscuring his eyes. He is the man behind the legendary Scuderia Ferrari, a team that has competed in every single Formula 1 season since the sport was born in 1950, and whose legacy extended back decades even before. Even today, the inimitable Enzo still casts a broad shadow over the motorsport.
We know his accomplishments as a racer, a team leader, and a constructor. We know the idiosyncratic way he ruled over the Scuderia, like a military strategist ruthlessly playing both sides of a chess board. And we also know the exceptional accolades that the team has amassed even in the wake of Ferrari's death.
But Enzo Ferrari was far from perfect. Between a tumultuous marriage, and extramarital affair that brought him his only living son, and an ever-revolving cast of girlfriends, Ferrari's love life alone could fill the pages of any autobiography — and today on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” his love life — and its impact on his company — is exactly what we're going to discuss.
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Episode Bibliography:
Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races by Brock Yates
Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automotive Empire by Luca dal Monte
The Limit: Life and Death on the Grand Prix Circuit by Michael Cannell
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1994/34/enzo-ferraris-right-h/
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2004/jan/23/formulaone.comment
https://thinkdesignmagazine.blogspot.com/2012/06/fiamma-breschi-first-lady-of-formula.html
https://www.lanazione.it/pisa/2009/06/29/198198-donna_creo_anima_stile_cavallino.shtml
On May 2, 1982, the green flag flew for the NASCAR Winston 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, and among a grid of legends like Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott, Benny Parsons, and more was a mystery racer no one had ever heard of before: L. W. Wright.
Wright managed to nab a competition license, a race car, and some positive press, but there was just one problem. He wasn't a race car driver. He was a conman with a big dream and studied confidence so strong that no one much questioned this stranger. At least, not until his checks started bouncing.
Today, we're digging into the story of L. W. Wright, the NASCAR driver who never existed.
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Episode Bibliography:
Driven to Crime: True stories of wrongdoing in motor racing by Crispian Besley
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tennessean-lw-wright-debut-announcem/29780910/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/215977023/?clipping_id=29781516
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tennessean-officials-searching-for/29780992/
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-salina-journal-nascar-fell-for-bogus/29781484/
https://www.thescenevault.com/podcast/episode/7995e7c6/episode-193-lw-wright
https://historicalf1stories.wordpress.com/2024/11/27/driver-profile-helmut-koinigg/
The AAA Contest Board was the primary sanctioning body for motorsport in the United States until 1956, but the organization that sanctioned the Indy 500 refused to allow Black drivers to compete in its disciplines. Those barriers, however, didn't stop Rajo Jack from pursuing his dream of racing competitively — and he became one of the most influential Black racers in early American motorsport history.
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Episode Bibliography:
The Brown Bullet: Rajo Jack's Drive to Integrate Auto Racing by Bill Poehler
https://www.gordonkirby.com/categories/columns/theway/2016/the_way_it_is_no525.html
Motorsport safety is an ever-evolving process, but American open-wheel was ground zero for some of the most exceptional innovations in motorsport medical history — be that in the form of a traveling medical staff, a permanent infield hospital, or a mobile medical center capable of handling severe trauma. This is the story of how IndyCar's groundbreaking safety team came to fruition.
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Episode Bibliography:
Rapid Response: My inside story as a motor racing life saver by Stephen Olvey
https://scholars.unh.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=jmotorsportculturehistory
https://www.911.gov/assets/1997-Reproduction-AccidentalDeathDisability.pdf
Achille Varzi is one of the most iconic pre-war racing drivers of all time — but we know so little about him outside of his fierce rivalry with Tazio Nuvolari. Why? Perhaps because Varzi nearly lost his career to a morphine addiction that saw him disappear from the public eye and be shunned from polite society.
Varzi's story is as complex as his legacy, and today, we're delving in to learn more.
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Episode Bibliography:
Fangio: The Life Behind the Legend by Gerald Donaldson
Nuvolari by Count Giovanni Lurani
Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races by Brock Yates
Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automotive Empire by Luca dal Monte
https://researchonline.lshtm.ac.uk/id/eprint/2293141/1/CDP%202014-0512%20Final%20accepted.pdf
https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/epdf/10.3828/cfc.2019.19
https://sportscardigest.com/silver-arrows-key-people/#google_vignette
https://www.tracksracingthesun.com/about-the-book
https://www.italyonthisday.com/2022/07/achille-varzi-racing-driver.html
https://www.crash.net/f1/feature/207273/1/kate-walker-achille-varzi
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/ask-nigel-october-17-5048684/5048684/
The motorsport world is full of fantastic and particular experiences, but there is one driver's life story that has always particularly fascinated me — that of Roberta Cowell.
See, Cowell was a fighter pilot, a prisoner of war, and a racing driver, which alone would have been enough to build up an impressive resumé. However, she was also the first documented person to receive gender affirming surgery in the United Kingdom, making her the first known trans woman to compete in motorsport. Today, we're discussing her life and her experiences in an era where her mere existence was criminalized.
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Episode Bibliography:
Roberta Cowell's Story: An Autobiography by Roberta Cowell
Roberta Cowell by Queer as Fact https://open.spotify.com/episode/0uz4EG1xkR1VFsrPXmmDAf?si=be4060a1bf7a4158
https://www.lizhodgkinson.com/journalismArticle/interview_with_transsexual_roberta_betty_cowell
https://blog.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/2022/06/13/roberta-cowell-in-our-newspapers/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/05/obituaries/roberta-cowell-overlooked.html
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, or FIA, is one of the most powerful sanctioning bodies in all of motorsport — but its control has rarely included racing in the United States. Why, then, did the FIA step in to kill the Chaparral 2J, a car that raced OUTSIDE of its jurisdiction?
Today on DPTJ, we're covering the story of Jim Hall, one of motorsport's most innovative minds, and his Chaparral 2J, the car so quick that the FIA stepped in to kill it — which, by proxy, killed America's greatest racing series, the Canadian-American Challenge Cup.
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Episode Bibliography:
Texas Legend: Jim Hall and His Chaparrals by George Levy
Can-Am by Pete Lyons
Can-Am 50th Anniversary: Flat Out With North America's Greatest Race Series by George Levy
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a32350/jim-hall-chaparral-2j-history/
https://www.magnetomagazine.com/legendary-racer-and-constructor-jim-hall-on-his-chaparrals-at-american-speed-festival/
At the 1977 Firecracker 400, NASCAR invited two of Europe's most exceptional female racers — Christine Beckers and Lella Lombardi — to make their Cup Series debut… but its goals may not have been particularly noble. Janet Guthrie, who was also competing in that race, felt that NASCAR was attempting to end her career by paying foreign talent to take her down. Today on "Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys," we're delving into those accusations, and the drama surrounding the race.
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Episode Bibliography:
A Life at Full Throttle by Janet Guthrie
https://www.reed.edu/reed-magazine/in-memoriam/obituaries/2018/rolla-vollstedt-1940.html
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-05-24-sp-2407-story.html
https://www.newspapers.com/image/303640537/?match=3&terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
https://www.newspapers.com/image/319067010/?match=1&terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
https://www.newspapers.com/image/224846339/?match=1&terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
https://www.newspapers.com/image/111800501/?match=1&terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
https://www.newspapers.com/image/54071698/?match=1&terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
https://www.newspapers.com/image/622854875/?match=1&terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
https://www.newspapers.com/image/398599913/?match=1&terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
https://www.newspapers.com/image/398599913/?match=1&terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
https://www.newspapers.com/image/233364880/?terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
https://www.newspapers.com/image/284009301/?match=1&terms=guthrie%2C%20firecracker
On June 11, 1955, Pierre Levegh's Mercedes-Benz 300SLR launched off the back of Lance Macklin's Austin Healey and into a crowd of spectators gathered for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Over 80 people were killed, with an additional 120 injured. It was a tragedy, and it was one that instantly transformed the racing world.
Today on "Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys," we're delving into the complex aftermath of this horrific event in order to better understand how the global racing world changed.
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Episode Bibliography:
Cars at Speed by Robert Daley,
Le Mans 100: A Century at the World's Greatest Endurance Race by Glen Smale
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1007192672/?match=1&terms=%22le%20mans%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/844754210/?match=1&terms=%22le%20mans%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/784186964/?match=1&terms=%22le%20mans%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/784183293/?match=1&terms=%22le%20mans%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/789197818/?match=1&terms=%22le%20mans%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/987448431/?match=1&terms=%22le%20mans%22
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian/40254005/
https://www.dailysportscar.com/2013/04/27/le-mans-1955-a-lawyers-view.html
https://www.racingcircuits.info/europe/france/le-mans.html
We all know motorsport is dangerous, but for many years, one profession was more dangerous than the rest: Riding mechanics. These men were effectively passengers tasked with making repairs on the fly, keeping an eye on traffic, and even feeding the drivers. Unfortunately, riding mechanics had very little protection, making them especially prone to brutal injuries and deaths in big events like the Indianapolis 500. This is the history of that short-lived — and often fatal — role.
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Episode Bibliography:
The Last Lap: The Mysterious Demise of Pete Kreis at the Indy 500 by William Walker
Blood and Smoke: A True Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and the Birth of the Indianapolis 500 by Charles Leerhsen
https://www.newspapers.com/image/55385261/?match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/700800591/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1017829515/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/37471607/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/107036405/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/274760126/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/951652355/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1020578881/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/74286307/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/83155869/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/689241114/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/888534259/?match=1&terms=%22race%2C%22%20%22riding%20mechanic%22
In 1907, one Paris newspaper challenged drivers and automakers to a seemingly impossible challenge: Be the first car to race from Peking, China to Paris, France. Five different teams took on the 8,000-mile adventure across brutal terrain, including the Gobi Desert and the Ural Mountains. This week on DPTJ, we're delving into the scandals, lies, cheats, and near-death experiences that comprised this race — and we're also talking to Kassia St. Clair, author of "The Race to the Future: 8,000 Miles to Paris - The Adventure That Accelerated the Twentieth Century," a new book that demolishes the Peking-to-Paris myths of the past!
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Episode Bibliography:
The Race to the Future: 8,000 Miles to Paris - The Adventure That Accelerated the Twentieth Century by Kassia St. Clair
https://www.amazon.com/Race-Future-Paris_The-Adventure-Accelerated/dp/1324094915
The Indianapolis 500 is a race that stands alone, outside the pantheon of championship-directed open-wheel racing in America — and it's one of the most coveted events for a sanctioning body to organize. In 1996, the Indy car realm had blown to pieces over access to the iconic event, and dissatisfied teams attempted to set up their own version of the 500. This is the story of the short-lived rivalry between the Indianapolis 500 and the U.S. 500.
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Please give DPTJ's new sponsor, Homefield Apparel, a warm welcome by subscribing for updates and checking out all FOUR new motorsport-themed clothing launches this year. Don't forget to use code DPTJ15 for 15% off your first order!
https://www.homefieldapparel.com/
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Follow Grand Prix Gastronomy: https://grandprixgastronomy.substack.com/
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Episode Bibliography:
Indy Split: The Big-Money Battle That Nearly Destroyed Indy Racing by John Oreovicz
The IndyCar Wars: The 30-Year Fight for Control of American Open-Wheel Racing by Sigur E. Whitaker
Blood and Smoke: A True Tale of Mystery, Mayhem, and the Birth of the Indy 500 by Charles Leerhsen
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-indianapolis-star/138159883/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/articles/us-scene/indycar/remembering-the-split-that-nearly-sunk-indycar-racing/
Sanctioning bodies don't just set the rules for a race series — they also determine the culture and ideologies of the series they represent. In post-war America, the two biggest sanctioning bodies of sports car racing were the SCCA and the AAA Contest Board, and they both had very distinct ideas about what should constitute a series. One faction was determined to embrace an international focus; the other wanted to keep racing strictly regional and strictly amateur. The battle between them almost KILLED motorsport in America.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys:
https://linktr.ee/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Please give DPTJ's new sponsor, Homefield Apparel, a warm welcome by subscribing for updates and checking out all FOUR new motorsport-themed clothing launches this year. Don't forget to use code DPTJ15 for 15% off your first order!
https://www.homefieldapparel.com/
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Instagram: @elizablackstock
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Twitter/X: @eliz_blackstock
Follow DPTJ on Instagram: @deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Follow DPTJ on Twitter/X: @terriblejoy_pod
Order Racing with Rich Energy: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/racing-with-rich-energy/
Follow Grand Prix Gastronomy: https://grandprixgastronomy.substack.com/
Grab some merch on Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/eablackstock/shop?asc=u
Episode Bibliography:
Watkins Glen, The Street Years 1948-1952: Glory, Drama, and the Birth of American Road Racing by Philippe Defechereaux
https://www.scca.com/articles/2000732-sportscar-feature-game-changer
https://www.historicracing.com/driverDetail.cfm?driverID=5106
https://openpaddock.net/2014/01/13/indycar-how-did-we-get-here-pt-1-when-did-we-start/
Cheryl Glass is a name that every motorsport fan should have known. For years, any time she showed up to a race track, she was the first Black woman to have competed there. She carved a path of broken records through the Washington state area before spreading her wings to take on challenges all across America. She should have been a star.
Instead, her chances to race became fewer and farther between. She got married and divorced. She tried some new cars and failed. She reported that her home was burglarized, and that she was raped. On July 15, 1997, Cheryl Glass' body was found beneath the Aurora Bridge in Seattle. The cause of death was ruled a suicide. But what really happened to Cheryl Glass?
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys:
https://linktr.ee/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Please give DPTJ's new sponsor, Homefield Apparel, a warm welcome by subscribing for updates and checking out all FOUR new motorsport-themed clothing launches this year. Don't forget to use code DPTJ15 for 15% off your first order!
https://www.homefieldapparel.com/
Episode Bibliography:
The First Lady of Dirt: The Triumphs and Tragedy of Racing Pioneer Cheryl Glass by Bill Poehler
https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a10307202/the-life-and-death-of-cheryl-glass/
https://jalopnik.com/the-motorsport-world-owes-cheryl-linn-glass-the-first-1848166884
https://www.newspapers.com/image/335215637/?terms=%22cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/121000328/?terms=%22cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/769790973/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/178083383/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/769825567/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/769811503/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/769793859/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/682400000/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1028897638/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/874798024/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/736251764/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/121000328/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/691345914/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/120986782/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/335215637/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/736435915/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/704604380/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/106098294/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/312569696/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
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https://www.newspapers.com/image/131768072/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/874151343/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/312673303/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/633690290/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/519924860/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/401481267/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/175606195/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/805066912/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
https://www.newspapers.com/image/740182691/?terms=%22Cheryl%20glass%22&match=1
Mario Andretti is, without a doubt, the finest motorsport legend that America has ever produced — but his 1978 Formula 1 World Championship was won under tragic circumstances: His teammate, Ronnie Peterson, was killed at the Italian Grand Prix. Peterson was Andretti's biggest challenger for the title. Without that competition, Andretti took the win.
Today on "Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys," we're speaking with Mario Andretti himself in order to better understand just what an emotional challenge that 1978 season was for him.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys: https://linktr.ee/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Please give DPTJ's new sponsor, Homefield Apparel, a warm welcome by subscribing for updates and checking out all FOUR new motorsport-themed clothing launches this year. Don't forget to use code DPTJ15 for 15% off your first order!
https://www.homefieldapparel.com/
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Instagram: @elizablackstock
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Follow Grand Prix Gastronomy: https://grandprixgastronomy.substack.com/
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Episode Bibliography:
Mario Andretti: World Champion by Nigel Roebuck (Thank you to my wonderful friend Zoe for sending along the relevant sections I asked for!)
Ronnie Peterson: Superswede by Alan Henry
Colin Chapman: The Man and His Cars by Gerard Crombac
My Greatest Defeat: Stories of Hardship and Hope from Motor Racing's Finest Heroes by Will Buxton
Life at the Limit: Triumph and Tragedy in Formula One by Sid Watkins.
https://www.indianapolismonthly.com/arts-and-culture/sports/the-wrecked-rebuilt-life-of-aldo-andretti
In 1961, Formula 1 crowned its first-ever American World Driver Champion. Californian Phil Hill — a driver whose ulcer-ridden body should have prevented him from racing at the top levels of motorsport — never quite seemed like the prototypical race car driver. But if an American earned the highest honor in motorsport within the first 11 years of F1's existence, why don't we better remember and celebrate Phil Hill?
The answer lies in the title-deciding 1961 Monza Grand Prix, a tragic, deadly race that immediately overshadowed Hill's greatest success.
This is the first of a two-part series focusing on the tragedies of F1's American World Champions.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys: https://linktr.ee/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Please give DPTJ's new sponsor, Homefield Apparel, a warm welcome by subscribing for updates and checking out all FOUR new motorsport-themed clothing launches this year. Don't forget to use code DPTJ15 for 15% off your first order!
https://www.homefieldapparel.com/
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Instagram: @elizablackstock
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Twitter/X: @eliz_blackstock
Order Racing with Rich Energy: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/racing-with-rich-energy/
Follow Grand Prix Gastronomy: https://grandprixgastronomy.substack.com/
Grab some merch on Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/eablackstock/shop?asc=u
Episode Bibliography:
The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit by Michael Cannon
Phil Hill: A Driving Life by Phil Hill
Monza: A Glorious History by Paolo Montagna
The American Legacy in Formula 1
https://www.racingsportscars.com/results/Carrera_Panamericana-1952-11-23.html
https://www.automotivehalloffame.org/honoree/phil-hill/
https://www.24h-lemans.com/en/news/who-was-phil-hill-the-legend-who-shunned-the-spotlight-58307
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/october-1961/44/xxxii-italian-grand-prix/
The 1952 Watkins Glen Grand Prix should have been yet another leap toward solidifying road racing's popularity in the United States — but instead, the death of one seven-year-old-boy in a crash brought American motorsport to its knees. This is the story of Frankie Fazzary, the young boy whose death changed the tides of racing and created the automotive world we know today. This is a story that has, tragically, been forgotten.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys: https://linktr.ee/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Please give DPTJ's new sponsor, Homefield Apparel, a warm welcome by subscribing for updates and checking out all FOUR new motorsport-themed clothing launches this year. Don't forget to use code DPTJ15 for 15% off your first order!
https://www.homefieldapparel.com/
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Instagram: @elizablackstock
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Twitter/X: @eliz_blackstock
Order Racing with Rich Energy: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/racing-with-rich-energy/
Follow Grand Prix Gastronomy: https://grandprixgastronomy.substack.com/
Grab some merch on Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/eablackstock/shop?asc=u
Episode Bibliography:
Watkins Glen, the Street Years 1948-1952: Glory, Drama, and the Birth of American Road Racing by Philippe Defechereaux
Watkins Glen: From Griswold to Gordon, Fifty Years of Competition at the Home of American Road Racing by J.J. O'Malley and Bill Green
Watkins Glen Racing: Images of Sport by Kirk W. House and Charles R. Mitchell
https://www.newspapers.com/image/279393633/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/279589937/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/276687494/
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/95370544/Frank-%E2%80%9CFrankie%E2%80%9D-Fazzari
In 1933, FIVE racers got together to fix the Tripoli Grand Prix, an African race run with a lottery system that would award three lucky fans with millions of dollars if their driver won the race. Those drivers selected one man to win the race and scoop up the prize money to be shared amongst the group in a ridiculous race that saw one uninvolved driver die so that the conspirators could make millions.
Except… none of that actually happened. Today on "Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys," we're setting the record straight and breaking down an almost century-old myth.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys: https://linktr.ee/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Please give DPTJ's new sponsor, Homefield Apparel, a warm welcome by subscribing for updates and checking out all FOUR new motorsport-themed clothing launches this year:
https://www.homefieldapparel.com/
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Instagram: @elizablackstock
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Twitter/X: @eliz_blackstock
Order Racing with Rich Energy: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/racing-with-rich-energy/
Follow Grand Prix Gastronomy: https://grandprixgastronomy.substack.com/
Grab some merch on Redbubble: https://www.redbubble.com/people/eablackstock/shop?asc=u
Episode Bibliography:
"Enzo Ferrari: The Man, The Cars, The Races" by Brock Yates
"Enzo Ferrari: Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automotive Empire" by Luca dal Monte
"Nuvolari" by Giovanni Lurani
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-2012/140/the-tangled-tale-of-tripoli/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1934/18/tripoli-grand-prixwon-at-116mph/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-1978/58/tripoli-dip-past/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/january-2000/73/swindle/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/september-1969/36/the-lottery-grand-prix/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/july-1933/5/the-late-sir-henry-birkin/
https://sportscardigest.com/1933-tripoli-grand-prix/
https://atlasf1.autosport.com/2001/bri/capps.html
https://simanaitissays.com/2014/04/11/tripoli-tangles-1933/
https://petrolblog.com/articles/an-ill-informed-history-of-the-tripoli-grand-prix
With five World Driver Championships to his name, Juan Manuel Fangio is an icon of Formula 1 and motorsport as a whole — but in 1958, he also turned the tides of global politics. Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship had ravaged Cuba, but in 1958, the right-wing leader decided to stage a non-championship Formula 1 race to draw in the crowds. That plan was turned on its head when Fangio was kidnapped by a group of young revolutionaries — and it was that very kidnapping that helped lead to a full-on overhaul of the Cuban government.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys: https://linktr.ee/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Subscribe on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Instagram: @elizablackstock
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Order Racing with Rich Energy: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/racing-with-rich-energy/
Follow Grand Prix Gastronomy: https://grandprixgastronomy.substack.com/
Episode Bibliography:
Fangio: The Life Behind the Legend by Gerald Donaldson
Driven to Crime: True Stories of Wrongdoing in Motor Racing by Crispian Besley
The International Grand Prix Book of Motor Racing by Michael Frewin
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-2023/7/when-fangio-was-kidnapped-in-cuba/
From race fixing attempts to kidnappings, the backbone of motorsport is built on scandal, intrigue, danger, and deception.
Rev your engines and dive into the heart-pounding world of motorsport with Elizabeth Blackstock's captivating new podcast, Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys. Join us on an adrenaline-fueled journey through the scandalous, the intriguing, and the perilous tales that define this high-octane universe.
Subscribe to the Patreon: patreon.com/deadlypassionsterriblejoys
Follow DPTJ on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/deadlypassionsterriblejoys/
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