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
The 1975 Spanish Grand Prix holds a strange place in the Formula 1 history books. That weekend, drivers boycotted what they perceived as unacceptably dangerous conditions at the Montjuïc Park street circuit; barriers had been poorly assembled, and in some cases, there were no bolts holding the Armco together. To keep the event on schedule, team bosses descended onto the track with wrenches in hand, ready to secure the safety features themselves.
Yet for all of those efforts, the race still went down in infamy. A crash on lap 26 left multiple people dead, and the race was called to an early conclusion by organizers who couldn't access the scene of the accident without using the track itself.
It's one of F1's biggest tragedies, but there are many fans who only recognize the race for another of its historic moments: It remains the only Formula 1 event where a woman — Lella Lombardi — scored points.
In this episode of “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” I'm threading together the disparate parts of this weekend to create a more comprehensive understanding of what really happened that weekend at Montjuïc Park — with a little help from none other than Mario Andretti helping to set the scene.
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Bibliography:
http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/focus.php?db=ct&n=294
https://www.dive-bomb.com/article/formula-1-s-forgotten-tragedy-1975-spanish-grand-prix
https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr254.html
https://www.motorsportretro.com/2010/09/spanish-grand-prix-1975-tragedy-at-montjuic-park/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1975/66/spanish-grand-prix/
https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/june-1975/36/the-spanish-grand-prix-catastrophic/
For more than 70 years, Formula 1 has been one of the most exclusive — and challenging — arenas in global sport. And while over 1,000 drivers have entered a Grand Prix, only five of them have been women.
But who were these women? How did they get to F1? And what barriers stood in their way?
Join award-winning motorsport historian Elizabeth Blackstock for an exploration into the fascinating lives of F1’s fastest women. Among them are Olympians, kidnapping victims, and LGBTQ+ trailblazers who all had one goal in mind: racing on the world’s biggest stage.
This audio is a recording of a public talk given at the San Antonio Library System during March 2026 in honor of Women's History Month.
#womeninmotorsport #womeninhistory #womenracing #f1 #formula1 #lellalombardi #mariateresadefilippis #desirewilson #giovannaamati #divinagalica
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From Formula 1 to the Indianapolis 500, motorsport often presents itself as a meritocracy, but for much of racing history, women were explicitly and systematically banned from competition. From formal rules to informal “gentlemen’s agreements,” the exclusion of women from the world of speed lasted for decades, shaping who was allowed to compete and who could only watch from the sidelines.
Join award-winning motorsport historian Elizabeth Blackstock for a fascinating look at the ways women were barred from competing in races — and how those women fought back.
We’ll explore everything from national federation bans, license denials, moral refusal, and political climates in order to understand why and how women were discouraged from racing. More importantly, though, we’ll also take a deep look at the persistence and organization required to revoke those bans in order to allow women to get behind the wheel.
#womeninmotorsport #womeninhistory #womenracing #f1 #formula1 #lellalombardi #mariateresadefilippis #janetguthrie #camilledugast #odettesiko #lemans #24hlemans #indycar #indy500
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While motorsport is often perceived as a man’s world, the history of racing is littered with trailblazing women who refused to accept the rules — both formal and informal — that prevented them from racing. And thanks to them, we’ve transformed the definition of what a racing driver can be.
Join award-winning motorsport historian Elizabeth Blackstock as she highlights some of the most influential women who transformed their respective sports throughout racing’s past. From Camille du Gast in early-1900s city-to-city racing to Danica Patrick in NASCAR, each of these women competed under different rules and expectations, yet all faced similar pushback from the male-heavy institutions of motorsport. But more importantly, they all carved a space for themselves and for the women who followed.
Rather than presenting a simple list of achievements, this session explores why these drivers mattered: how their successes challenged entrenched norms, changed media narratives, opened doors for those who followed, and, in some cases, forced rulebooks and institutions to evolve. It also examines the limits of progress, asking why individual breakthroughs have not always translated into lasting structural change. Finally, we’ll take a look at the future of women in motorsport, and how these pioneers paved the way for a more diverse future.
#womeninmotorsport #womeninhistory #womenracing #f1 #formula1 #lellalombardi #mariateresadefilippis #janetguthrie #michelemouton #shirleymuldowney #wrc #worldrallychampionship #danicapatrick #indycar #indy500
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Some men are born to set land speed records. Others feel their calling is creating ever more technologically advanced machines for the Indianapolis 500. Still others succumb to the siren song of long-distance desert racing. And some prefer to work behind the scenes, where they can transform the world of racing via promotion.
But Mickey Thompson was no normal man, because Mickey Thompson attacked all of those goals with gusto.
Yet for all of his accomplishments across various forms of motorsport, Thompson's legacy has since been defined by his death. In 1988, he and his wife Trudy were gunned down in the driveway of their own home. The killers have never been caught, and it took almost two decades to put the mastermind of the plot in jail.
This month on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we'll be talking about that murder, yes. But more than that, I want to focus on the ways Mickey Thompson transformed the world of American motorsport while he was alive, because that is the truly unbelievable part of this story.
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Bibliography
Mickey Thompson: The Fast Life and Tragic Death of a Racing Legend by Erik Arneson
Mickey Thompson: The Lost Story of the Original Speed King in His Own Words by Tom Madigan
Black Noon: The Year They Stopped the Indy 500 by Art Garner
City of Speed: Los Angeles and the Rise of American Racing by Joe Scalzo
Twenty-five years ago, the racing world lost Dale Earnhardt at Turn 4 on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500, but while the man may not be here physically, his legacy remains an integral element of NASCAR — and American motorsport as a whole — to this day.
But how exactly did that happen? How did Earnhardt — who started his career during an era where stock-car racing was still a niche sport — evolve into a cultural phenomenon and a household name still regularly evoked decades after his death? How did Dale Earnhardt: The Man become Dale Earnhardt: The Myth?
That's exactly what we're going to find out on this month's episode of “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys”. We'll start at the very beginning, with the racing legacy of Ralph Earnhardt followed by Dale Earnhardt's fitful early career and the professional polish applied by his third wife Teresa, which transformed one man's life into a myth that has withstood the test of time.
#daleearnhardt #earnhardt #nascar #nascarcupseries #motorsport #motorsporthistory #doitfordale
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Episode Bibliography:
Earnhardt Nation: The Full-Throttle Saga of NASCAR's First Family by Jay Busbee
Dale Earnhardt: Rearview Mirror, collated by The Charlotte Observer
The Earnhardt Collection
The Search for Meaning by Dennis Ford
Earnhardt (2025, Amazon Prime Video)
Becoming Earnhardt Series (YouTube; Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s Dirty Mo Media)
https://www.nbcsports.com/nascar/news/nascar-dale-earnhardt-business-marketing-savvy-empire-stars
https://www.earnhardtchevy.com/about-us/
https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation?paperid=121597
https://www.hagerty.com/media/people/auto-anthro-dale-earnhardt-and-the-myth-of-the-american-west/https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-2025/34/dale-earnhardts-nascar-legacy-the-long-shadow-of-the-man-in-black/
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/business/dale-earnhardt-jr-docuseries-amazon.html
In 75 years of Formula 1 history, only one driver has been crowned World Champion after his death. In 1970, Austrian racer Jochen Rindt was so dominant behind the wheel of an exceptional car built by Colin Chapman of Team Lotus that no driver could bridge the gap to his place on the top of the championship standings despite there being four races remaining in the season after Rindt's death.
Most F1 fans with any interest in the history of the sport know this — but fewer know the cloud of tragedy that followed Rindt throughout his life, casting dark, dramatic shadows over his every move.
Orphaned at just over a year old, and seemingly powerless against his team bosses when it came time to advocate for greater safety, Rindt was a prickly competitor who was nevertheless fondly remembered by so many of his competitors, and who completely changed the name of the game when it came to professionalizing motorsport. Today on Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys, we're going to dig into the ill-fated story of Jochen Rindt's life, the shock of his death, and the legacy he left in his wake.
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Episode Bibliography:
Jochen Rindt: The Uncrowned King by David Tremayne
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/the-f1-driver-who-didnt-want-to-be-champion-5114105/5114105/
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/
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