Today in Motor Sport

Motor Sport: Auto Racers - Drag Racing - Formula One - Motocross - Motor Races - Motorcycle Racing - NASCAR

Events in Sport

  • 1950-09-04 NASCAR’s first paved super speedway, Darlington Raceway hosts Southern 500, first 500-mile event in NASCAR history; winner Johnny Mantz in a Plymouth
  • 1958-06-01 The Riverside International Raceway in Southern California opens with three 500-mile races in one weekend; Eddie Gray wins the Crown America 500 for NASCAR Grand National cars
  • 1960-11-20 Australian driver Jack Brabham finishes 4th in season-ending US Grand Prix at Riverside Raceway to retain his F1 World Drivers Championship by 9 points from Bruce McLaren of New Zealand

Event of interestEvent of Interest

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

Auto Racer Richard Petty
Auto Racer
Richard Petty

Event of interestEvent of Interest

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

Formula 1 Racing Driver Alain Prost
Formula 1 Racing Driver
Alain Prost
Auto Racer Niki Lauda
Auto Racer
Niki Lauda
  • 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

Event of interestEvent of Interest

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

Formula 1 Driver Michael Schumacher
Formula 1 Driver
Michael Schumacher
  • 2015-08-23 English Indycar driver Justin Wilson suffers a head injury during a race crash at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania

Birthdays in Sport

  • 1873-09-20 Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian race car driver (winner of the 1st Grand Prix motor racing), born in Szeghalom, Hungary (d. 1944)
  • 1903-06-24 Ernest Leslie Bouts, motor-racing driver
  • 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, Mexico
  • 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, CBE, British motor racing entrepreneur
  • 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

Deaths in Sport

  • 1927-03-03 J.G. Parry-Thomas, Welsh motor-racing driver (b. 1884)
  • 1944-02-21 Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian race car driver (winner of the 1st Grand Prix motor racing), dies at 70
  • 1965-04-10 Lloyd Casner, American race car driver and owner (Casner Motor Racing Division team), dies at 36
  • 1996-08-15 Ernest Leslie Bouts, motor-racing driver, dies at 93
  • 2008-03-27 Jean-Marie Balestre, French president of motor sport's FIA, dies at 86

Famous Racing Car Drivers