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Morning Qualifying – Ford vs. Porsche edition
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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In 1969, Porsche set out to dominate endurance racing and win the International Championship for Makes. After a hiccup at Sebring, Porsche’s mighty 908/2 steamrolled the competition, picking up consecutive wins at Brands Hatch, Monza, the Targa Florio, Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring. If that weren’t enough, Porsche introduced the 908’s successor, the 917, midway through…
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Morning Qualifying – The Prancing Horse's Last Ride edition
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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1965 saw an escalation of hostilities between Ford and Ferrari. Carroll Shelby had been asked to take over racing and development of the Ford GT40 program. Seeking greater reliability and fuel efficiency, Shelby fitted the all the MkI cars with the same 4.7 liter engines used in the Cobras, and replaced the fragile Colotti gearboxes…
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Morning Qualifying – Disaster at Le Mans edition
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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The 23rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans arrived with great fanfare. For the 1st time, the race would be televised on French television, with a feed to the rest of Continental Europe. Mercedes-Benz, only a decade removed from the end of the war, had returned with an international team, managed by…
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Morning Qualifying – History Lesson, Part VII
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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Good morning, students. I am Professor Van Helsing, and I hate vampires…all kinds of vampires. Christopher Lee vampires, chocolate vampires, Keifer Sutherland vampires, 60’s tv show vampires, African-American vampires, comedy vampires, video game vampires, Scientologist vampires, Golden vampires, math vampires and most of all….sparkling vampires. These vile abominations must be wiped clean from the face of the…
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Morning Qualifying – A Sequel of Sorts edition
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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With the withdrawal of Mercedes-Benz from motor sport at the end of the 1955 campaign, the World Sports Car Championship turned into an Italian showdown between Ferrari and Maserati. Maserati, with Stirling Moss and Carlos Menditeguy at the wheel of a 300S, took the season opener at Buenos Aires. Ferrari stormed back with wins…
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Morning Qualifying – Beauty Contest edition
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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I think it was Smokey Yunick who said, “a thing of beauty is a joy forever”. And while we all enjoy two-fisted tales of motor sport glory, there is no denying that old race cars are pretty. To my eye, the sports racing cars from the 1950’s were particularly lovely. Most cars of…
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Morning Qualifying – From The Savoy Grill to Sydney Australia edition
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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It was late 1967, and Great Britain’s economic fortunes had hit the skids. The pound sterling had been devalued, auto sales were down, and unemployment was up. Tired of the doom and gloom in his newspaper, Sir Max Aitken, owner of London’s Daily Express, wanted to create an event to lift the spirits of…
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Morning Qualifying – History Lesson, Part VI
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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Good morning class. I know you might think the architect of New Orleans rhythm and blues, Henry Roeland Byrd aka Professor Longhair aka “Fess”, might not have any connection to the history of auto racing. You would be correct. However, the Hooniversity Department of Inter-disciplinary Studies and general cool stuff believes in providing a…
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Morning Qualifying – You say Sarti….I say Surtees edition
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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Arguably the best depiction of auto racing in Hollywood history, John Frankenheimer’s 1966 film, “Grand Prix” is much beloved in the Hooniverse. Using what Hollywood once called the “Grand Hotel” approach to story telling, it takes an “all-star cast” to depict the actions of a number of characters in a relatively small space; in this…
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Morning Qualifying – A Mad Russian in the Noonday Sun edition
Jennings R. Scroggs, Jr.
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