{"id":162158,"date":"2021-03-26T15:51:01","date_gmt":"2021-03-26T19:51:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=162158"},"modified":"2021-03-26T15:51:01","modified_gmt":"2021-03-26T19:51:01","slug":"gm-preserves-racing-history-with-driven-to-win-racing-in-america-sponsorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2021\/03\/gm-preserves-racing-history-with-driven-to-win-racing-in-america-sponsorship\/","title":{"rendered":"GM Preserves Racing History with “Driven to Win: Racing in America\u201d Sponsorship"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Driven<\/a>
The “Driven to Win: Racing in America\u201d exhibit at The Henry Ford took more than a decade to put together and is sponsored by GM.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No doubt you\u2019ve looked in your car\u2019s rearview mirror lately. But did you know it\u2019s an innovation that came from racing? Probably not.<\/p>\n

It was used at the first Indianapolis 500 by driver Ray Harroun piloting a Marmon Wasp with a 3-inch-by-8-inch mirror mounted above the dashboard. Averaging 74.6 mph, Harroun won the race for one simple reason.<\/p>\n

Of the 40 cars on the track, he was the only one not driving with a second man on board, a riding mechanic, whose job it was to look backwards and alert the driver as to what is going on. The aerodynamic and weight advantage of not having one gave Harroun the win.<\/p>\n

Such stories and innovations are part of a new permanent exhibit, “Driven to Win: Racing in America,\u201d one that has taken more than a decade to put together. Sponsored by General Motors, the new 24,00 square-foot display opens March 27 at The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Michigan.<\/p>\n

Tracking racing history<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
It traces the history of motorsports in America, covering everything from soap box derbies and Indy car, to stock car and drag racing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It traces the history of motorsports in America<\/strong><\/span><\/a>, covering everything from soap box derbies and Indy car, to stock car and drag racing. The exhibit spotlights more than 50 racing legends from Barney Oldfield through A.J. Foyt, Lyn St. James, Dan Gurney, Bobby Unser through to Ken Block.<\/p>\n

There are displays with 225 artifacts, 28 vehicle exhibits, 26 race cars, 24 interactive exhibits, six simulators, and a 15-minute film, \u201cFueled by Passion,\u201d which chronicles following five people pursuing their dream of racing.<\/p>\n

“American motor sports racing is the embodiment of American innovation in the world of sports. But its reach has long stretched beyond the track to our showrooms, our roads and our culture,” said Mark Reuss, trustee of the Henry Ford, and President of General Motors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s about technology, it’s about cars, it’s about everything having to do with motorsports,\u201d said Edsel Ford II, a trustee at The Henry Ford, and son of Henry Ford II.<\/p>\n

Of course, being that this is The Henry Ford, you\u2019ll see two of America’s most significant early race cars \u2014 Henry Ford’s 1901 Ford “Sweepstakes” and the 1906 Locomobile “Old 16.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ken<\/a>
The Henry Ford secured Ken Block’s 2012 Ford Fiesta ST HFHV for the exhibit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Henry Ford raced to success<\/h3>\n

In the case of the Ford, it was Henry himself, then a neophyte, who raced it, beating his opponent, Alexander Winton, an established automaker. The win garnered Ford the financing he needed<\/strong><\/span><\/a> to establish his second company, which ultimately became Cadillac. It is, perhaps, the earliest example of the old motto, \u201cwin on Sunday, sell on Monday.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Locomobile is noteworthy for a different reason. It\u2019s the car driven by George Robertson in the 1908 Vanderbilt Cup, the first time an American car won a major international road race in the United States.<\/p>\n

But the exhibit also has more modern iron, such as the 2012 Ford Fiesta ST HFHV driven by Ken Block in his series of YouTube videos that has more than 108 million views. It sits alongside the victorious 1902 Ford \u201c999\u201d race car driven by Barney Oldfield.<\/p>\n

Of course, its next to the even more victorious 1967 Ford Mark IV Race Car driven by Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt. It won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, beating Ferrari by 32 miles at a record-breaking average speed of 135.48 mph. Then there\u2019s the Lotus Ford Type 38, which Jimmy Clark drove to victory at the 1965 Indianapolis 500, the first rear engine Formula One-style car won the race.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The display also features the 1967 Ford Mark IV Race Car driven by Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans that year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Race-inspired innovations<\/h3>\n

But beyond the cars themselves, the exhibit delves into what happens behind the scenes to make race cars go faster while enhancing their safety. Many items developed for race cars are common in modern street cars, including disc brakes, steering wheel controls, seat belts, and many more.<\/p>\n

Still, you might wonder how two of the world\u2019s largest automakers came together to create this exhibit. It actually happened eight years ago at SEMA, when Mark Reuss first heard the pitch from The Henry Ford. At the time, he wasn\u2019t sure it would happen. But The Henry Ford is a vital educational institution, one whose impact on children and the Detroit region can\u2019t be overstated. GM quickly realized the opportunity it was being given.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe compete fiercely in the showroom and on the track,\u201d said Jim Campbell, General Motors U.S. vice president, Performance and Motorsports. \u201cBut when we’re not doing one of those two things coming together for efforts like this actually make a lot of sense or a lot of fun. So we couldn’t be prouder to be part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It clearly inspires plenty of loyalty and dedication.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve been involved in this exhibit for probably the last 15 years,\u201d said Ford. \u201cIt has been a true labor of love.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The U.S. has an impressive racing heritage and now critical parts of it are on display in a 24,000 square-foot exhibit sponsored by General Motors at The Henry Ford, a museum near Detroit. Find out more at TheDetroitBureau.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13752,"featured_media":162179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,8,5,12],"tags":[],"make":[58],"post-state":[],"category_old":[118,150,151,123,135,133,299,243,132,119,125,303,148,291,288],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162158"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13752"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162158"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=162158"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=162158"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=162158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}