I am a die-hard car guy.  I love the machines.  They are history, technology and excitement.  But they aren’t the only story.  They are certainly important, but they are tools… tools are utilized and achieve their glory at the hands of gifted craftsmen.

This is about the gifted craftsmen.  They are legion.  There are hundreds of drivers that have left their impression in the world of racing, as well as the larger world.

Fangio, Nuvolari, Shelby, Penske, Schumacher, Petty.  I could go on forever…  These guys are unmistakably part of history.

Juan Migeul Fangio and Tazio Nuvolari… imagine racing at the edges of the performance envelope… with no roll cage, no HANS device… no SEATBELT!  In the days of Fangio and Nuvolari it was said that there were old race drivers and bold race drivers, but no old & bold race drivers.  Both lived long, but drove like banshees…


The next two are Americans… and while both made names racing, it was what they did after they drove that will secure their places in history.  For Carroll Shelby, it is the Mustangs and Cobras bearing his name.  For Roger Penske it is his team ownership success… NASCAR and IndyCars have been his playground.


Micheal Shumacher was a machine… the Terminator of Formula 1.  Seven World Championships…  In 2004 he won 13 of 18 Formula 1 races for the season.  Five of his seven titles were consecutive.  He is regarded as possibly the world’s first billionaire athlete… and he came from unassuming roots.  His father took on extra jobs to get him into kart racing at 4 years old.There is a reason that Richard Petty is known as the King.  He is one of two racing drivers my mother can identify.  And since the other one was Paul Newman… maybe he shouldn’t count.  200 victories.  There isn’t another NASCAR driver that is even close.  But even more than that, he is an ambassador for the sport and even 20 years after retirement he is one of the most respected people in the pits.