Ford Racing - History

History

  • 1896 - Henry Ford reached a top speed of 20 mph in his first car, Quadricycle.
  • 1901 - Henry Ford defeated Alexander Winton (the most accomplished automobile builder/racer of the era) in a 10-lap race on a one-mile oval at the Detroit Driving Club, Grosse Pointe, Michigan. He overcame his rival's more powerful car in Sweepstakes, a racing car of his own design.
  • 1903 - Ford 999 (named after a famous New York Central train), driven by Barney Oldfield, lapped the Indiana Fairgrounds dirt track at a then-record 60 mph.
  • 1909 - A Ford Model T won the transcontinental New York to Seattle cross-country race (about 6600 km).
  • 1932 - Ford introduced its V-8 Flathead engine, bringing V-8 power into mass production with the slogan "Everyman’s power for the road, and Everyman’s power for racing".
  • 1932 - Two car mechanics win the Swedish Winter Grand Prix driving a Ford special.
  • 1936 - Ionel Zamfirescu and P. G. Cristea won the Monte Carlo Rally driving a Ford V8 "Flathead".
  • 1949 - Jim Roper, driving a Lincoln, won the first NASCAR race.
  • 1967 - Jim Clark, driving a Lotus-Ford, won the Dutch Grand Prix. This is Ford's first grand prix victory.
  • 2003 - Giancarlo Fisichella, driving a Jordan-Ford, won the Brazilian Grand Prix. This is Ford's 176th and last grand prix victory.
  • 2011 - Trevor Bayne wins the 2011 Daytona 500 in a 1-2-3 finish for Ford. It would be Ford's 600th NASCAR victory.

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    —Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

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    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “Culture, the acquainting ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.”
    —Matthew Arnold (1822–1888)