Post by Chris K. Hale on Feb 19, 2017 5:53:00 GMT -8
My Dad has been diagnosed with Dementia and is pre-Alzheimer's, he told me this story a while back and it was confirmed by Dan Gurney and others, so I thought some of you might enjoy it!
In the winter of 1971 the AAR crew loaded up the new Prototype Eagle Indy car, my Dad had done his usual magic to the T/C Offy engine and he decided to tag along just in case. Once at Ontario Motor Speedway Bobby Unser took the new car out for a few laps eventually getting it up to speed.... but not to the speed that it was built for, Bobby brought the car in to the pits and things didnt look too good, He said " I dont understand it it feels fast but it constantly seems like it is scrubbing off speed! and it is crazy scary in the turns!" So Dan stop watch in hand tells Booby and the crew, " it only reached a top speed of 125mph in the straights" so the crew fiddled about checking out as much as possible and couldnt find out what was wrong. Dan told the guys that after several years of designing, wind tunnel testing and building the car that it would most likely end up as scrap , a waste of time and lots of money. When the car got back to the shop, my Dad suggested they tear down the whole car laying all the parts out on the floor just as they had been on the car. So after hours of work, they has a pile of parts to take a look at, a lot of time past and no one could find a reason why this beautiful race car wouldnt perform up to its potential... just as Dan was going to tell the guys to throw the parts in the scrap bin, my Dad noticed one small mistake, the front torsion bars were on the wrong sides, yes there is a left and right and the do have different torsion or spring rates, so they re-assembled the car making the correction and headed back out to Ontario Motor Speedway the next morning. A dejected Crew, Driver and Dan Gurney anticipated the test, when the car was ready to go out Booby told my Dad, " John, You fixed it, You take it out, but be careful" so my Dad put on a driving suit and Bobby lent him his helmet, they are about the same size in most ways, so went out at first slowly not knowing what to expect, he got it up to speed and ran about 10 laps and brought the car into the pits, "Well, he says, I cant tell, its so smooth and comfortable but I dont think I got it up to more than 125mph!" He looked over to see that famous Gurney smile and Bobby with his Jaw dropped, " What gives, Dan? I am sorry about the cars performance..." Dan said, "What are you talking about You just turn 4 laps at 203mph and the others weren't bad either!!!" My Dad said the car was so smooth and easy to drive that it didnt feel at all like he was going that fast.." Of course that version of the Eagle went on to win the 500 several times and almost 50 other races in the hands of the worlds best drivers... and to think, Dan was going to Scrap It!!! Chris
In the winter of 1971 the AAR crew loaded up the new Prototype Eagle Indy car, my Dad had done his usual magic to the T/C Offy engine and he decided to tag along just in case. Once at Ontario Motor Speedway Bobby Unser took the new car out for a few laps eventually getting it up to speed.... but not to the speed that it was built for, Bobby brought the car in to the pits and things didnt look too good, He said " I dont understand it it feels fast but it constantly seems like it is scrubbing off speed! and it is crazy scary in the turns!" So Dan stop watch in hand tells Booby and the crew, " it only reached a top speed of 125mph in the straights" so the crew fiddled about checking out as much as possible and couldnt find out what was wrong. Dan told the guys that after several years of designing, wind tunnel testing and building the car that it would most likely end up as scrap , a waste of time and lots of money. When the car got back to the shop, my Dad suggested they tear down the whole car laying all the parts out on the floor just as they had been on the car. So after hours of work, they has a pile of parts to take a look at, a lot of time past and no one could find a reason why this beautiful race car wouldnt perform up to its potential... just as Dan was going to tell the guys to throw the parts in the scrap bin, my Dad noticed one small mistake, the front torsion bars were on the wrong sides, yes there is a left and right and the do have different torsion or spring rates, so they re-assembled the car making the correction and headed back out to Ontario Motor Speedway the next morning. A dejected Crew, Driver and Dan Gurney anticipated the test, when the car was ready to go out Booby told my Dad, " John, You fixed it, You take it out, but be careful" so my Dad put on a driving suit and Bobby lent him his helmet, they are about the same size in most ways, so went out at first slowly not knowing what to expect, he got it up to speed and ran about 10 laps and brought the car into the pits, "Well, he says, I cant tell, its so smooth and comfortable but I dont think I got it up to more than 125mph!" He looked over to see that famous Gurney smile and Bobby with his Jaw dropped, " What gives, Dan? I am sorry about the cars performance..." Dan said, "What are you talking about You just turn 4 laps at 203mph and the others weren't bad either!!!" My Dad said the car was so smooth and easy to drive that it didnt feel at all like he was going that fast.." Of course that version of the Eagle went on to win the 500 several times and almost 50 other races in the hands of the worlds best drivers... and to think, Dan was going to Scrap It!!! Chris
