Discover the most momentous motorsports events that took place this weekend in history ………

~19 June~

1899: Ettore Bugatti won the 110 mile (175 km) Padua-Vincenza-Thiene-Bassano-Treviso-Padua road race driving a twin-engined tricycle of his own design.

1909: Louis Chevrolet won the Ira Cobe Trophy, which was possibly his only road course victory. Dubbed the “Vanderbilt of the West” by the press, the trophy was commissioned by Ira Cobe, president of Chicago Automobile Association. This event was more akin to an off-road contest by today’s standards.

1913: Racer Paolo Zuccarelli (28) was killed along with his riding mechanic, Fanelli, when their Peugeot crashed between Thomery and Tivoli, France during a practice run for the upcoming French Grand Prix at Amiens.

1927: The fifth 24 Hours of Le Mans Grand Prix of Endurance finished. The race is commonly remembered due to the infamous White House crash, which involved all three of the widely tipped Bentley team’s entries, and caused the retirement of two of them. The race was eventually won by the third which, although badly damaged, was able to be repaired by drivers Dudley Benjafield and Sammy Davis.

1949: Louis Rosier, driving a Talbot-Lago T26C won the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.

1949: NASCAR staged its first Grand National event at the Charlotte Fairgrounds; the event marked the birth of NASCAR racing as we know it today. In 1946, race promoter Bill France began promoting an event in Charlotte. As he explained it, “I wanted to run a 100-mile national championship race at the fairgrounds, but [local

sports editor] Wilton Garrison said I couldn’t call it a national championship race.” Garrison argued that France “might call it a North Carolina championship race, but you have to get some kind of a national organization to sanction it in order to call it a national championship race.” So began Bill France’s dream of creating a national sanctioning body for stock-car racing, which would govern a points standing as well as organize races in states across the country. During the 1946 stock-car season, France formed the National Championship Stock-Car Circuit. France withheld a purse for the point fund, kept track of standings, attempted to enforce uniform rules, and paid the drivers on time. That year, France expanded stock-car racing’s range, arranging races all over the South. The 1947 season began with a 160-mile race at Daytona Beach. By the middle of the season, France had incorporated more than a dozen tracks into his circuit; he offered a guaranteed purse of $2,000 at each event; and he had a slogan, “Where the fastest that run, run the fastest.” But at that point most of the race cars were modified stock pre-war Fords, and France and his governing body had a nearly impossible time enforcing regulations placed on modification of the car engines. The combination of his success with the NCSCC and his failure to enforce strict rules led him to call a meeting in December of 1947 at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona to discuss a more substantial governing body for stock-car racing. What emerged from the meetings was the National Association for Stock-Car Auto Racing, or NASCAR. The 1948 season was a more tightly governed version of the previous year; the sport’s final breakthrough came in 1949. France decided that product identification would greatly add to fan interest in stock-car racing. As all of the major car companies had released postwar models, France created rules in the off-season that would allow for a Grand National division of NASCAR racing. Only late-model, strictly stock cars would be allowed in the Grand National class. A crowd of 13,000 watched as Jim Roper won the inaugural event on the three-quarter-mile dirt track at the Charlotte Fairgrounds. The Grand Nationals later became Winston Cup Series events.

1955: Despite a track made slippery by continuous drizzle, the record crowd were treated to some outstanding driving as the masters slid their machines through the sand-dunes at the Dutch Grand Prix held at Zandvoort. The 100-lap race was won by Mercedes driver Juan Manuel Fangio after he started from pole position. His teammate Stirling Moss finished second and Maserati driver Luigi Musso came in third.

1960: Racer Christopher Bristow of London, UK, was killed aged 22 while racing at Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium. Bristow was discovered by Alfred Moss and Ken Gregory, father and manager of Stirling Moss, and owners of the then newly founded squad British Racing Partnership (BRP). Bristow showed great promise in F2 as well as non-championship F1 races and soon rated as a man with a great future.

1960: The first World 600 NASCAR race was held at the 1.5 mi (2.4 km) at Charlotte Motor Speedway, North Carolina (US) designed and built by Bruton Smith and partner and driver Curtis Turner in 1959.

1960: James Ernest Bryan (33) was killed while participating in a dirt track race at Langhorne, Pennsylvania, US when his car flipped on the very first lap. Bryan first got noticed when he finished 2nd at the 1954 Indy 500 despite a broken spring, a broken shock absorber, and a burned left leg due to oil spraying from broken pipe. He won the last four races and the championship that year, followed by titles in 1956 and 1957.

1966: Ford GT40’s took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at the 24 Hours at Le Mans – the first time an American car manufacturer won the classic 24-hour race.

1977: The Scandinavian Raceway staged the Swedish Grand Prix, which was won by Jacques Laffite driving a Ligier-Matra JS7.

1988: Ayrton Senna’s third win of the season at the Detroit Grand Prix made it six out of six for McLaren in 1988, on the way to an unprecedented 15 wins and ten 1-2 finishes in 16 races.

1988: Bobby Allison completed in his last race, the Miller High Life 500 in Pocono, Pennsylvania, US and was involved in a near-fatal accident during the first lap.

2003: NASCAR announced that Nextel Communications would become the title sponsor of its top racing series in 2004. Nextel replaced Winston, which had provided sponsorship since 1971.

2005: After 14 Formula One race car drivers withdrew due to safety concerns over the Michelin-made tires on their vehicles, German driver Michael Schumacher won a less-than-satisfying victory at the United States Grand Prix.

~20 June ~

1904: The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, commonly referred to as the FIA, a non-profit association, was established to represent the interest of motoring organisations and motor car users.

1937: Tazio Nuvolari in an Alfa Romeo 12C-36 won the 2nd Milan Grand Prix, held over 70 laps of the 2.75 km twisty circuit in the Sempione Park with its two tight hairpins.

1937: Jean-Pierre Wimille and Robert Benoist won the Le Mans 24-hour race in a Bugatti Type 57G, becoming the first to exceed 2000 total miles during the event. Both men would go on to become active members of the French Resistance during WWII. Benoist did not survive the war

1948: NASCAR made its first trip to Alabama. Fonty Flock won the Modified feature at Birmingham. On the same day, Tim Flock scored his first NASCAR win at Greensboro, North Carolina, US.

1952: Luigi Fagioli (54), one of Italy’s greatest race car drivers, died. Fagioli has the second-highest percentage of podium finishes in the Formula One World Championship (85.71%).

1954: The Belgian Grand Prix was held at Spa-Francorchamps. Despite Nino Farina having an arm in plaster after a crash in the Mille Miglia he managed to lead his Ferrari away from the start. Juan Manuel Fangio Maserati soon overtook him, but lost the lead whilst adjusting his rain visor. A frantic duel ensued, with the Argentine coming out in the lead. Farina battled furiously, but an engine blow-up cost him a chance of a race win. Juan Manuel Fangio cruised home an easy winner from Trintignant and Moss in his privately entered Maserati.

1964: Three spectators were killed when the AC driven by Peter Bolton crashed during the Le Mans 24-Hour race. The winners were Umberto Maglioli and Giancarlo Baghetti in a Ferrari.

1965: Jochen Rindt and Masten Gregory drove a North American Racing Team Ferrari 250LM to victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was the first non-works team to win since Ecurie Ecosse in 1957. It was also the first international race victory for Goodyear tyres.

1971: The Dutch Grand Prix held at Zandvoort was won by Jacky Ickx in a Ferrari 312B2. This was the last Formula One race on a circuit with no safety features on it. Because of this the Dutch Grand Prix was cancelled the next year, but the circuit came back in 1973; and the layout had been modified.

1976: David Pearson outran Cale Yarborough for win No. 94 in NASCAR’s top series, prevailing by three car-lengths in the Cam 2 Motor Oil 400 at Michigan International Speedway (Michigan, US).

1982: Rothmans sponsored Porsche 956s finished 1-2-3 in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jackie Ickx and Derek Bell drove the winning car. It was the first overall race victory for the 956.

1993: (20-26th): The second running of the American Solar Race was held. The race route covered over 1100 miles starting in Arlington, Texas and ending in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The first place car was Maize & Blue from the University of Michigan followed by Intrepid from Cal Poly Pamona and Solar Eagle II from Cal State LA.

1997: Auto Club Speedway (formerly California Speedway), a two-mile (3 km), low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in Fontana, California which has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997, was officially opened. The first race, a NASCAR West Series race, was held the next day. The speedway is also used for open wheel racing events.

2004: The United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis was won by Michael Schumacher driving a Ferrari F2004.