Having just recieved this Story, we simply could not wait to post it. So…..as promised…. 

My Initiation to open wheel formula 5000 racing, the 1969 Continental Championship

                                                As Written by

                                       Tony “a2z” Adamowicz.

                                         www.a2zracer.com

                                            a2z Racer LLC

                                      www.a2zracergear.com

Straight from winning the 1968 Under 2 liter Trans Am Championship for Porsche, where we dominated this pro series, my car owner of Milestone Racing, Marvin Davidson asked me what I wanted to race the following year. With out hesitation I indicated to him, the Formula A/5000 series with a Gurney Eagle Mrk. 5. 

What I didn’t know was how things were to work out, and actually I was to bite off more than I could chew. You see I had never driven an open wheel car, let alone a 1400 lb, 5 liter Chevy stock block with then 480 available hp.  My intro to my desires would unravel quickly as I was asked to drive the car at VIR (Virginia International Raceway) for Car & Driver magazine. Leon Mandel had arranged to have Sam Posey’s Can Am car there and it was to be a comparison between the cars. When I arrived at VIR, the Can Am car had already been destroyed. I was faced with the daunting task of fulfilling my job to drive Eagle for the test.

 My First time in the car was with sub zero weather with running ice water across various parts of the track; my eyes became as big as saucers. I was able to make through this test unscathed and immediately related to my car owner, that we needed to get some real seat time in sunny California. He agreed and my former Group 44 Mechanic Roy Wade and helper Don Bresslauer and I proceed to drive to Ca. arriving at our destination, Willow Springs Raceway, located in the desert of Rosmand, Ca. We unloaded the Eagle and proceeded to get some valuable seat time at this unknown raceway.

Little did I know that the winds came up around 3 o’clock in the afternoon and provided some interesting consequences for me?  Our Eagle had no wing down force at the time, as I was entering turn 6 , a fast right-hand , blind , reverse camber turn a gust of wind helped my Eagle to become airborne and promptly take flight, level off and ultimately plummeting into the desert floor outside the track. It continued to become airborne again and repeated the second stage of my previous uncharted fight plan. My open faced “Jim Clark inspired” helmet with goggles did little to protect me from a serious cut above my eyebrow, more over I had some serious pain in my ribs. A quick jaunt to the local hospital revealed I was very lucky not to have any broken bones, small consequence to our totaled Eagle.

Fortunately we had a brand new Gurney Eagle being completed at the All American Racers factory in Santa Ana, Ca. It was not yet completed and it was less than 2 weeks before the first race at Riverside International Raceway. The crew proceeded to strip down the wrecked Eagle to save any useful parts for spares. John Cannon had been testing our new wings and larger rear wheels at Riverside Raceway and was doing quite well with the new pieces. Finally our new car was completed by AAR and we arrived at RIR ready for practice. My bruised dribs did not allow me to enter or get out of the cockpit by myself; I had to be helped in and lifted out the car each time. The bumps encountered over the track, provided me with excruciating pain to endure. Practice with these new FA/5000 cars provide more excitement as various cars started to crash and have their new high mounted suspension wings come apart. Sam Posey totally destroyed his new Eagle, providing a spectacular shunt and becoming airborne, complete with flames. Fortunately he was alright, however his car was destroyed, I immediately determined that these Eagles were not meant to Fly…..do you think?

As the very first FA/5000 race drew underway, I was fortunate to get a good start and was running 2^nd behind John Cannon in his sorted and very fast Eagle. During the course of the race I was challenged by Lothar Motchenbacher in his new McLaren and rather than risk going off track, I motioned for Lothar to pass me going into the famed turn 9 oval. The bruised ribs provided enough pain to allow this to take place. We finished the 40 minute race in 3 rd place, hmmm not bad for a rookie.

The following races provided more entertainment as we encountered several failures with chassis components. It was becoming acutely aware that we were way in over our head in chassis preparation my lack of Formula 5000 driving experience. It was then that my car owner had made a deal with Carroll Shelby to hire his team manager and engineer, Carroll Smith. Carroll had been with Shelby as team manager when their Ford Mk 4 won the 24 hrs of Le Mans. We welcomed Carroll as pivot able team manager addition to our group, providing expert knowledge and application to our Eagle. Being a former formula driver in Europe himself, this allowed him to mentor me in my education of Formula 5000 racing.

We struggled through the 13 race season with two wins, one at Road America, Elkhart Lake, Wisc. and Seattle International Raceway, in Kent Wash. We racked up consistent top points by our well place finishes through out the season and we had enough points to be leading in the Championship for the final race, Sebring, Fla. We had the opportunity to drive among some great professional international drivers and teams. Thanks to our team and particularly Carroll Smith for the excellent driver mentoring and preparation of our Eagle. Without Carroll’s engineering expertise, we would have never won the Championship

Almost 40 years later, little did I know that there would be a 40^th reunion of F 5000 cars. My Championship Eagle was purchased by Doug Magnon of the Riverside International Automotive museum in Riverside, Ca. With the help of chief mechanic Bill Losee and UK transplant fabricator Morris, our # 7 Eagle was thoroughly prepared to compete again, but was the driver?  Our first intro back to vintage racing was at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Ca where we were rewarded a 3^rd place podium finish for our 68 to 71 class of racers. Ironically we had finished 3^rd our very first race at Riverside, and now we accomplished the same feat in 2008. Was it meant to be? , well some say it was more than just serendipity that all of this happened again.

 We have just came back from Road America where we were running a strong 2^nd place suddenly we experienced a rare rear brake caliper failure at 170 mph entering a tight 30 mph right hand “Canada Corner”, fortunately we made it unscathed and both car & Driver will live to perform in our last race of the season at Watkins Glen, N.Y.

The # 7 Eagle and the a2z Racer will be better prepared to compete in this final race and I am truly honored to be re- united with our Eagle and once again be a part of history. Our combination is unique, as we are the only Championship Car and Driver taking part in the 40^th F 5000 reunion vintage series. What’s it like out there, well let’s just say it is not a Sunday Drive for this ole a2z Racer.      Written by author and Copy by permission 2008

Thanks “T” !!!!!

O.C.C.E