The final seconds of an auto race are always exciting. Speeding cars come flashing toward the finish line to take the checkered flag of victory, accelerators pressed to the floor. The noise, the blur of passing cars, and the cheers of the crowd all make the finish the most exciting moment of the race.
But that wasn’t what happened to Dan Gurney in the first Daytona Continental, in 1962.
Gurney, driving a Lotus, had a comfortable lead over the second-place Ferrari. He was only a few seconds from crossing the finish line. Then suddenly, the Lotus slowed and stopped. Gurney’s engine had gone dead.
Quickly, Gurney leaped out of his car and dashed over to the officials’ stand. He consulted with them hurriedly, checking his time. Nodding, he ran back to his car, got in and tried to start the engine. It started briefly, roared, sputtered then died again. But Gurney started the car again, and when the engine began to cough, he kept it in gear. The car inched forward.
Gurney’s desperate energy became apparent to the crowd. He was going to inch the car ahead by using the ignition starter!
Again and again Gurney turned the ignition on. Each time the Lotus lurched forward a little. The second-place Ferrari was streaking toward the finish line at 180 miles an hour, Gurney was just going a foot or two at a time.
Dan Gurney just made it He covered the final section of the race at approximately one mile an hour, crossing the finish only moments before the second-place Ferrari roared in going 180 times faster.
From The Giant Book of Strange But True Sports Stories by Howard Liss. Illustrations by Joe Mathieu.
According to the video, Gurney stopped his car on purpose when the engine quit, rather than let it coast over the finish, due to a race rule regarding timing. My guess is that’s what he consulted with the race officials about before inching the car forward again.
This shows what I know about racing — was getting out and pushing against the rules?
…think it might have depended on the race?
…certainly remember being told that there used to be a joke about the AC Cobra being so fast (0-60 in 1st gear not being unusual) that you could afford to get out & push it round the corners & still win a race…not sure I know of an actual example of a winning car being pushed over the finish line, though?