Читать книгу Carroll Shelby: A Collection of My Favorite Racing Photos - Art Evans - Страница 11

Shelby remembered, “I won the first race I ran for Roy Cherryhomes. It was at Eagle Mountain, Texas, on October 26, 1952. The understanding I had with him was that I would drive strictly for expenses, but even so, I was pretty much thrilled. In the Southwest, good rides were mighty hard to come by in the sports car field, especially then. Suddenly, there I was with the latest equipment, a car I knew well, and a competent mechanic. Another reason I got a big charge out of the ride was that, by then, Masten Gregory was winning just about everything in our part of the country. Well, I thought, maybe we can put a stop to that, always in a friendly way, of course.”

“I raced my friend Tom Graip’s MG TC at Bergstrom Air Force Base near Austin, Texas, on April 12, 1953.”

Shelby won at Offutt Air Force Base on July 5, 1953. “That same weekend, there was a long-distance event that required a driver change. Jack McAfee had come to Nebraska with a Ferrari 340 Mexico in pursuit of the SCCA National Championship. As chance would have it, Jack’s co-driver didn’t show up and he needed a teammate. Since I had won the preliminary event, Jack asked me to join him. We ended up 2nd overall.”

At the Eagle Mountain event on August 23, 1953, Shelby remembered, “It was very hot that Saturday morning and I had been working on the farm. I was wearing my striped farm coveralls. Eventually I realized that if I were going to get in any practice, I’d have to hurry up. So I took off just the way I was. When I got in the Allard, I realized how much cooler the coveralls were than the regular driver outfits. Well, seems like everyone got a big laugh out of that and my picture appeared in the papers. I got more publicity because of those doggone coveralls than I did for winning the race.”

Shelby raced Roy Cherryhomes’ Allard five times in 1953, taking four 1sts and one 2nd. Jeanne gave him a kiss.

Riddell Gregory had this to say about Carroll Shelby (recorded on July 24, 2006): “The only time I was ever able to beat Shel was at an Eagle Mountain event. I was staying with Shelby at his home in Dallas, not far from Eagle Mountain. At dinner the night before the race, he told me that if we let another Allard beat either of us, we’d be in real trouble.

“I was running my C Jag and Shel was driving an Allard belonging to Roy Cherryhomes. I was always a notoriously poor starter. At the beginning, everyone went into the first corner. Shelby and a guy in another Allard were 1st and 2nd.

“When I got to the first corner, those two and several others were ahead of me. I slammed on my brakes and started to flash my lights like I was in trouble. Everybody pulled over and I went through the corner. I ended up running 3rd behind the two Allards.

“On the 10th lap, Shelby had to make a pit stop. There I was behind the other Allard. After a few more laps, I caught and passed him. So there we were, me in 1st with the Allard right behind me. I came up on Don Rose in another Allard and I was about to lap him. But since I was so far ahead, I decided I would just follow along behind Don, a nice guy, until the race ended.

“About eight laps from the end, I got a signal from the pit with ‘P12’ on the board, which meant that I was only 12 seconds ahead of the 2nd-place car. On the next lap, the board said, “+12 Shel,” meaning Carroll was only 12 seconds behind me. I was looking so hard at the board that when I ran down into the first corner, I almost lost it. I collected myself and passed Don in the next corner.

“I decided, ‘To Hell with Shelby, I’m going to drive the way I usually drive. I’m not going to get in over my head.’ When the flag finally dropped, I ended up 11 seconds ahead of Shel.

“Years later, I was telling my grandson about my days of racing and that one time I beat Shelby in a race. He didn’t believe it, so I asked Carroll to send my grandson a personal letter telling him that what I said was the truth. And he did; I think my grandson still has the letter.”

By the end of 1953, Shelby had garnered a host of trophies, having won 12 races in two years.

The Shelby family was complete: Daughter Sharon is between Carroll and Jeanne with sons Patrick and Michael (on the right).