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RACE SPACE: THE TRANSFORMATION OF ICONIC

MOTORSPORT CIRCUITS FROM PUBLIC USE TO LARGE

TECHNICAL SYSTEMS, (1950-2010)

A Dissertation

Presented to

The Academic Faculty

by

Peter Gustav Westin

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the History and Sociology of Technology and Science in the School of History and Sociology, Ivan Allen College

Georgia Institute of Technology

August 2019

COPYRIGHT © 2019 BY PETER G. WESTIN

RACE SPACE: THE TRANSFORMATION OF ICONIC

MOTORSPORT CIRCUITS FROM PUBLIC USE TO LARGE

TECHNICAL SYSTEMS, (1950-2010)

Approved by:

Dr. John Krige, Advisor

School of History and Sociology

Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. David Lucsko

School of Liberal Arts (History)

Auburn University

Dr. W. Bernard Carlson

School of Engineering and Applied

Sciences

University of Virginia

Dr. Doug Flamming

School of History and Sociology

Georgia Institute of Technology

Dr. Kenneth Knoespel

School of History and Sociology

Georgia Institute of Technology

Date Approved: [July 12, 2019]

DEDICATIONS

Elementary School in the Brentwood suburb of Pittsburgh Mrs. Higginbotham and Mrs. Pappas both challenged me and enabled learning. The faculty of SHAPE International High conception of what I thought was a conventional program by requiring Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Macroencomics, Microeconomics, Math, French, German, English, Physical Education, Art, Music, Religion, History, and Geography classes all in one week. Four years of French in high school with Ms. Dee Moynihan (cousin of legendary statesman Daniel Patrick Moynihan) were inspiring and my twelfth-grade Advanced English teacher Ms. Virginia Crane, made learning the subtleties of literary language fun by referring to our student row of end-of-- everything. Closer to my heart, I dedicate this to my family of teachers. and Brita Olsson, my uncle Sven-Erik Lidén as a school administrator, my godparents Gunnar and Brita Liss, my aunt Kerstin Westin, my mother Anna-Lisa (Ekvall) Westin, and my paternal grandfather Dr. Per Gunnar Westin. Pax vo biscum. iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During my initial interview with Prof. John Krige regarding admission into the Georgia Tech HSTS program, in the first two-three comments I made it clear that my focus was to bring my professional work experience with historical case studies to teach undergraduate engineers. I am now doing this. Completing the journey resulting in the following narrative could only have happened with the help of many people along the way. First, I am obligated to memorialize three people who greatly impacted me but are no longer with us. The late Ann Johnson was the first person in our profession, and outside of Georgia Tech, to whom I broached my motorsport- centric path and instead of doubt and hesitation, she wholeheartedly encouraged me. My dear friend and colleague, Wayne Drews, showed me that senior non-traditional students can succeed and he gave me an opportunity to guest lecture. I also want to thank Col. the expert, in his home, on initial GPS implementation. Most importantly, I must thank my parents for raising an inquisitive, stubborn, and unrelenting son by exposing me to so many cultures and ideas. While not physically here, they are with me and I miss them greatly. Classroom teaching to undergraduate students is a critical element to our role as professors fering a guest lecture opportunity, and his kind critique, as a demonstration of academic trust in me even v Before embarking on this voyage, I sought the counsel of Dr. Dan Papp in 2009, then- President of Kennesaw State University, and who has a strong connection to Georgia Tech. Having no idea who I was or what I was asking, he agreed to a 30-minute conversation and provided the most important advice a grad student could ever receive write every paper for every course on the topic of your intended dissertation. Further, I cannot proceed without an incalculable thank you to Dr. Wenda Bauchspies who deftly, and with great understanding, helped me navigate the intricacies of Social Theory. In the conduct of research there are many to thank and I do so in alphabetical order. At Appalachian State, the curator of the Motor Sport Collection, Suzanne Wise, and her staff were immensely helpful. At the Chemical Heritage Foundation Beckman Center, the phenomenal. In the world of motorsports, there are several I want honor. The first is Peter Wright, former sales for cold-calling, I reached out for his advice and he was amazingly benevolent in both agreeing to guide me and sharing his knowledge. This study would not have been completed without his input. Next is Bob Varsha who is renowned in motorsport media for not just his television work but as a never-ending student of the sport with great historical knowledge who informed my path greatly. The people on the staff of the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC) in Watkins Glen, NY, have been of a magnitude above and beyond helpful. There have been staff changes over the past couple of years but I want personally thank Glenda Gephardt and Kip Zeiter for their coordinating support. vi However, there are two people at IMRRC who stand out for their support of this effort, the first being the gold-mine, historian Bill Green who lived the history and knows almost everything about American racing in general as well as WGI. The second is the greatly enthusiastic Josh Ashby with his treasure trove of American sports car knowledge and photographical skill. I cannot complete this acknowledgement without a sincere thank you to our GT alum, Ben Shackleford. His first-hand background in racing and advice helped me in forming my approach. With respect to NASCAR, I would like to thank NASCAR historian, Hal Branham, for the rare personal access to the ISC archives in Daytona and his helpful contextualization of events within International Speedway Corporation. I am further indebted to Derek Muldowney and Bill Braniff, engineers at the ISC, for their willingness to accede to a conversation about the evolution of M/S racetracks and NASCAR in particular. A very rare and greatly appreciated interchange. This venture would not have been completed without the support of my colleagues. I begin with Joe Lupton, another of our senior, non-traditional entourage. Our conversations continuously refreshed my purpose and I am profoundly thankful to him. I also drew strength from members of my cohort Jennifer Green, Rebecca Hull, and Jonah Bea-Taylor. Words are inadequate to thank Dr. Jenny Smith for encouraging me to apply for the Chemical Heritage Foundation fellowship and for ably guiding me through the Environmental leg of my three-legged Comprehensive stool. The unique and insightful bond that developed between Dr. Ken Knoespel and I was transformative as he guided me through the European History of my Comprehensives vii My thanks to Dr. John Krige are for guiding me through the completion of a transformation that some thought would never take place. I must also thank my grand-father, Dr. Gunnar Westin, Professor Emeritus of Church History at the University of Uppsala. A wonderful, stubborn, obstinate, and gentle soul, I inherited his work ethic which drove me to deliver this final product. I must also thank my current work environment at the University of Virginia. Without the deft guidance and solid support of my department chair, Prof. W. Bernard Carlson, over the past five years teaching more than 3500 first-year engineering students I would not have been able to accomplish this task. In conjunction with this, I want to thank my co- teaching partners, Doug Reed, Bryn Whitely-Seagraves, Ben Laugelli, and Matt Henderson for picking up the slack as needed while I completed my dissertation. However, nothing can compare to the sacrifices my family endured to accommodate the requirements necessary to reach this remarkable milestone. To our sons P. Gustav II and very many wonderful years, among so many gifts she has, she is the skilled and inquisitive Research Assistant that is the envy of any historian and I am honored that she shares my passion for historical facts. I am but a shadow without her. To the reader, whatever mistakes, errors, or omissions might exist, they are mine and mine alone. viii

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv

LIST OF FIGURES xii

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS xvi

SUMMARY xviii

CHAPTER 1. Introduction: Setting the Grid 1

CHAPTER 2. Invention and Development of a System: 1950 Early 1960s 32

2.1 Countries, Cars, and Labor 34

2.2 Waves of Humanity 39

2.3 Learning to Consume 43

2.4 Inventors/Entrepreneurs 48

2.5 The Outlier - Raymond Loewy 56

2.6 The Sport 61

2.7 The Race Space - Watkins Glen 64

2.7.1 Mainstreet: 1948 1952 68

2.7.2 The Fields: 1953 - 1955 85

2.7.3 The Built: 1956 - 1970s 87

CHAPTER 3. On Being a Participant: Early 1960s to Early 1980s 94

3.1 The Macroview 96

3.2 Nicotiana Tabacum 97

3.3 Crises, Regulations, and Contradictions 100

3.4 Leisure and Getting There 117

CHAPTER 4. The Sport and Tracks 132

4.1 The Sport 134

4.2 Administration of Racing 150

4.3 Watkins Glen International (WGI) - Growth and Fail 157

ix

4.4 The Professor, Dr. Sid 160

4.5 Woman as Active Participants 166

4.6 Bernie Ecclestone 168

4.7 The Nürburgring (a.k.a. N-ring) 171

4.8 Daytona 182

4.8.1 The Year 1972 195

4.8.2 The Fight 196

4.9 Conclusion 199

CHAPTER 5. System Growth & Critical Problems: Early 1980s - Early 2000s 203

5.1 Macroview 204

5.2 Fall of the Iron Curtain 209

5.3 Environmental Trouble 211

5.4 The Sport 215

5.5 System Growth 241

5.6 Spa - Francorchamps 248

5.6.1 Eau Rouge 261

5.7 Conclusion 263

CHAPTER 6. Momentum: Early 2000s to 2010 268

6.1 Macroview 270

6.2 Motorsport and the Environment 274

6.3 The Sport 278

6.4 End of Tobacco Support 293

6.5 New Spaces, New Methods 295

6.6 Monte Carlo, Monaco 297

6.7 Le Mans 306

6.8 Conclusion 312

x

CHAPTER 7. Epilogue and Conclusion 317

7.1 Epilogue 317

7.2 Conclusion 323

REFERENCES 339

xi

LIST OF FIGURES

1-1 Ford Thunderbird at 1958 NASCAR race 5

1-2 Alberto Ascari in Italian F1 Grand Prix 6

1-3 Peter Whitehead in 1951 Le Mans (WEC) 6

Fig. 2-1 French article about Loewy BMW 48

2-2 -frame chassis 51

2-3 Bernie Ecclestone 52

2-4 Bill France, Sr. 55

2-5 1938 Chrysler Airflow 56

2-6 Huppmobile exterior 57

2-7 Huppmobile interior 57

2-8 Lime Rock racecourse proposal 59

2-9 Loewy design of Lime Rock paddock area 60

2-10 1950s start pf F1 race at Spa, Belgium 61

2-11 Aerial view of Watkins Glen racecourse 64

2-12 Watkins Glen Grand Prix course map 65

2-13 IMRRC historian Bill Green 67

2-14 68

2-15(a) Pit area blueprint plan 69

2-15(b) Actual photo of pit area space 69

2-16 Right turn uphill from Mainstreet 70

2-17 Lap timer 71

2-18 Course surface material 72

xii

2-19 Railroad bridge 74

2-20 Stone bridge 74

2-21 Railroad crossing 74

2-22(a/b) Seneca Lodge entrance (opposite views) 75

2-23 Communication terminal high in tree 76

2-24 Map of track safety and RCA stations 77

2-25 Wooden safety paddles 78

2-26 79

2-27 1951 Le Sabre concept car 80

2-28 Le Monstre Cadillacs 81

2-29 Spectators on Mainstreet 82

2-30 Fatal incident 84

2-31 Options for interim circuit 85

2-32 RCA stations for interim circuit 86

2-33 RCA team 87

2-34 Proposed Built circuit with handwritten notes 88

2-35 RCA plan for the Built track 89

2-36 Installation of timing lights 89

2-37 Armco barrier 90

2-38 Material types for track surfaces 91

Fig. 3-1 Eugene Houdry 106

3-2(a) 1974 Ford Granada (US) 108

3-2(b) 1974 Ford Granada (Europe) 108

3-3 1972 Pontiac GT Luxury Le Mans 109

3-4 1978 Buick Regal 111

xiii

3-5 1962 Studebaker Avanti 116

3-6 European tourist flows 120

3-7(a) 1971 Speed Circuit board game 121

3-7(b) Board pieces (racecars) 121

3-8 Late 1920s Tin Can Tourist convention 126

3-9 Recreational vehicles at 1979 24-Hours of Daytona 127

3-10 Camping at early 1970s Nürburgring 129

Fig. 4-1 1960s extreme wings in F1 145

4-2 1978 Brabham fan-car 146

4-3 John Fitch traffic sand barriers 156

4-4 Blueprint of WGI Boot addition 157

4-5 Topographical representation of WGI with Boot addition 157

4-6 Pavement specifications for WGI re-surfacing (1971) 158

4-7 Ronnie Peterson crash at Monza, Italy 162

4-8 Michelin Guide for Nürburg 172

4-9(a) Construction of N-ring banking (1925) 176

4-9(b) Construction of Brooklands (England) banking (1907) 179

4-10 Full map of Nordschleife circuit 177

4-11 Dangerous airborne hump at N-ring track 178

4-12 Aerial map view of Niki Lauda crash site 180

4-13 Daytona Beach 182

4-14 Compendium of photos of beach race sections 184

4-15 Missing person letter to editor (1953) 188

4-16(a) Daytona 1958 banking construction with hopper 190

4-16(b) Daytona 1959 finishing paving on banking 190

xiv Fig. 5-1 GPS satellite: Space Environment Effects 222

5-2 Timing Lights 224

5-3 CATIA model 234

5-4 Overview of Chrysler Patriot powertrain 235

5-5 Patriot being towed 237

5-6 Panoz Q9 - Sparky 238

5-7 Michelin Guide for Francorchamps 248

5-8 1920 map of Spa circuit 250

5-9 Re-shaping Stavelot curve 252

5-10 Jackie Stewart crashed car (1966) 254

5-11 Re-construction at La Source, late 1970s 258

5-12 Detailed image of former hairpin at Eau Rouge 261

5-13(a) 1947 Eau Rouge curve with hotel 262

5-13(b) 1997 Eau Rouge (hotel and grandstands removed) 262

Fig. 6-1 HANS device 281

6-2 John Fitch driver capsule protection 282

6-3 Energy Absorbing guardrail 283

6-4(a) Oblique Crash impact with concrete wall 284

6-4(b) Oblique Crash impact with SAFER barrier 284

6-5 SAFER barrier schematic 286

6-6 Allianz tire barrier 287

6-7 NASCAR pit crew war-wagon 289

6-8 F1 pit road command center 290

6-9 291

6-10 Michelin Guide listing for Monte Carlo 297

xv

6-11 Map of original Monaco circuit 299

6-12 New chicane at the piscine 301

6-13 Current Monaco configuration 303

6-14 Le Mans circuit maps over time 307

6-15 Iconic (but discontinued) Le Mans driver running start 309

6-16 Geoff Bodine manual race set-up data sheet (1996) 315

Fig. 7-1 Updated SAFER barrier (2016) 334

7-2 Upgraded catch fencing stanchions 335

xvi

LIST OF SYMBOLS AND ABBREVIATIONS

ACCUS Automobile Competition Committee for the United States

ACF Automobile Club de France

BE Bernie Ecclestone (in Formula One)

DTM Deutsche Touring Motorrennen (German racing series)

EU European Union

F1 Formula One

FIA

GT Grand Touring

GP ICE IMRRC IRL

Grand Prix

Internal Combustion Engine

International Motor Racing Research Center

Indy Racing League

M/S Motorsport(s)

MSV Motor Sport Valley (in England)

NASCAR National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing

RB Regenerative Braking

SCCA Sports Car Club of America

SEMA Specialty Equipment Manufacturers of America

USAC United States Auto Club

WEC World Endurance Championship

WGI Watkins Glen International

WRC World Rally Championship

xvii

SUMMARY

The 1950s marked the beginning of a key transformational period in automobility and the socio-technical realm of motorsports. In Post-War Europe, people began to drive for pleasure on weekends and holidays while in the US, this extant access was supplanted by the quest for more status-oriented and powerful cars. On both continents it was also the time when motorsporting activities became formally organized and regulated with the creation of the globally oriented Federation Internationale de L'Automobile (FIA) in Paris, France and the American oriented National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing (NASCAR) in Daytona Beach, Florida (US).

This chronicle

technology and culture as well as of unique motorsport sites with physically shifting landscapes and tensions that cascaded across socio-cultural strains, technological innovation, and regulation. I locate this ambitious narrative at an intersection where several large-technical systems in conjunction technical nodes of a transnational business network, environ-mental complexity, easier mobility in Europe and America from proliferation of roadway networks, postwar pled with technological enthusiasm, and coproduced hegemony instrumental to this evolution. Over time these would coalesce into a heterogenous network reliant upon multiple actors. t, inter- regional technology transfer, system growth, momentum. While not yet a transnational xviii network in the first phase, motorsports grew to become inextricably intertwined globally. This growth also complicated the relationship between technology, regulation, and the environment. Further as people earned more (especially in Europe) they learned to be a consumer and with more free time they could take vacations and drive to races. Enthusiastsquotesdbs_dbs31.pdfusesText_37

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