Motor Sport History

Events in Sport

Sports History

1963-11-03 Joe Weatherly finishes 7th in the season ending Golden State 400 at Riverside International Raceway; retains NASCAR Sprint Cup by 2,228 points from 14-time winner Richard Petty

F1 World Champion

1984-10-21 Austrian Ferrari driver Niki Lauda becomes a 3-time Formula 1 World Drivers champion when he finishes 2nd in the season ending Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril; wins title by just 0.5 from Alain Prost

Sports History

1985-11-03 Bill Elliott wins Atlanta Journal 500 at Atlanta Raceway to become first driver to win 11 super-speedway races in 1 season; also first driver to win $2m in prize money in a single season

2005-04-02 Bubba Stewart becomes first African-American to win a major motor sports event when he takes out the Monster Energy AMA Supercross C'ship event in Irving, Texas

Schumacher's Ski Accident

2013-12-29 7-time world F1 motor racing champion Michael Schumacher suffers a serious head injury in a ski accident in the French Alps; his condition still remains unclear

2015-08-23 English Indycar driver Justin Wilson suffers a head injury during a race crash at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania
2021-11-07 Kyle Larson holds off Martin Truex Jr in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway to earn his 10th win of the season and claim his first Cup Series championship

Birthdays in Sport

1873-09-20 Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian auto racer (winner 1st Grand Prix motor racing event in Le Mans, France 1906), born in Szeghalom, Hungary (d. 1944)

Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988)

1898-02-18 Italian racing car driver and founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team and sportscar manufacturer Ferrari, born in Modena, Italy

1921-04-09 Jean-Marie Balestre, French president of motor sport's FIA, born in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France (d. 2008)
1928-08-30 Lloyd Casner, American race car driver and owner (Casner Motor Racing Division team), born in Miami, Florida (d. 1965)
1941-08-20 Jo Ramírez, Mexican motor racing team manager and author, born in Mexico City
1947-09-18 Giancarlo Minardi, Italian founder and Managing Director of Minardi Formula One team, born in Faenza, Italy
1951-09-18 Marc Surer, Swiss motor racing driver, born in Arisdorf, Switzerland
1952-04-11 Peter Windsor, English motor racing journalist and reporter, born in Reigate, Surrey, England
1952-06-03 David Richards, Welsh motor racing entrepreneur (chairman Prodrive, Motorsport UK, Aston Martin, team principal BAR, Benetton F1 teams; World Rally C'ship 1981), born in Denbighshire, Wales
1963-04-02 Mike Gascoyne, British motor racing engineer, designer, writer (McLaren, Sauber, Tyrrell, Jordan, Renault, Toyota, Force India) and broadcaster (BBC 5 Live, Sky Sports), born in Norwich, England
1966-12-20 Matt Neal, British motor racing driver, born in Stourbridge, United Kingdom
1969-05-14 Sabine Schmitz, German professional motor racing driver, and television personality (Top Gear), born in n Adenau, West Germany (d. 2021)

Deaths in Sport

1927-03-03 J.G. Parry-Thomas, Welsh motor-racing driver (b. 1884)
1944-02-21 Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian auto racer (winner 1st Grand Prix motor racing event in Le Mans, France 1906), dies at 70
1965-04-10 Lloyd Casner, American race car driver and owner (Casner Motor Racing Division team), dies at 36

Enzo Ferrari (1898-1988)

1988-08-14 Italian racing car driver and founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team and sportscar manufacturer Ferrari, dies at 90

1996-11-19 Denis Jenkinson, British motor racing journalist, dies at 74
2008-03-27 Jean-Marie Balestre, French president of motor sport's FIA, dies at 86
2021-03-16 Sabine Schmitz, German professional motor racing driver, and television personality (Top Gear), dies of cancer at 51