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
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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Order Racing with Rich Energy: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/racing-with-rich-energy
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.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys:
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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!
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Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Instagram: @elizablackstock
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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.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys:
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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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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.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys:
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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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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.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys:
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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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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.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys:
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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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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.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys:
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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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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.
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys:
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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/
Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Instagram: @elizablackstock
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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
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