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Dan Gurney To Receive Peter Bryant Award
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On the night of August 20, Dan Gurney's name will be added to the honor roll of names already inscribed on the Peter Bryant Challenger Award.
The award is named for the late race car designer Peter Bryant, who designed and engineered many well-known racing machines, among them the cutting-edge Ti22 and UOP Shadow Can-Am cars, as well as the Shelby Series 1 road cars. Beginning as a young racing mechanic in his native England, Bryant went on to become an innovative engineer/designer.
Among Gurney’s myriad accomplishments: oversight of the design and construction of the Formula 1 Weslake Eagle and then driving it to become the first American to win a Grand Prix in a car with his own name on it; talking Ford into working with Colin Chapman to install a modified Ford Fairlane engine in a upgraded Lotus 33 chassis for the Indianapolis 500; taking Toyota to victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona; and building the Eagle Indy car that Jerry Grant broke the 200 mile-per-hour barrier with at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1972.
At a Riverside Raceway reunion event in 2010 (on the first anniversary of Bryant's passing) the "Peter Bryant Challenger Award" was unveiled and presented to former McLaren mechanic/Formula 1 Driver/race car constructor Howden Ganley by Bryant's widow Lois.
The ceremony honoring Gurney will take place at a special dinner at the Monterey Plaza Hotel held as part of the historic races and concours, and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Can-Am racing series.
Due to prior commitments, Gurney will not be able to attend the Can-Am dinner. Accepting for him will be Vintage Racecar Associate Editor, historian, and the author of "Dan Gurney's Racing Eagles" John Zimmermann.
The award is named for the late race car designer Peter Bryant, who designed and engineered many well-known racing machines, among them the cutting-edge Ti22 and UOP Shadow Can-Am cars, as well as the Shelby Series 1 road cars. Beginning as a young racing mechanic in his native England, Bryant went on to become an innovative engineer/designer.
Among Gurney’s myriad accomplishments: oversight of the design and construction of the Formula 1 Weslake Eagle and then driving it to become the first American to win a Grand Prix in a car with his own name on it; talking Ford into working with Colin Chapman to install a modified Ford Fairlane engine in a upgraded Lotus 33 chassis for the Indianapolis 500; taking Toyota to victory in the 24 Hours of Daytona; and building the Eagle Indy car that Jerry Grant broke the 200 mile-per-hour barrier with at Ontario Motor Speedway in 1972.
At a Riverside Raceway reunion event in 2010 (on the first anniversary of Bryant's passing) the "Peter Bryant Challenger Award" was unveiled and presented to former McLaren mechanic/Formula 1 Driver/race car constructor Howden Ganley by Bryant's widow Lois.
The ceremony honoring Gurney will take place at a special dinner at the Monterey Plaza Hotel held as part of the historic races and concours, and celebrating the 50th anniversary of the iconic Can-Am racing series.
Due to prior commitments, Gurney will not be able to attend the Can-Am dinner. Accepting for him will be Vintage Racecar Associate Editor, historian, and the author of "Dan Gurney's Racing Eagles" John Zimmermann.
