Page 22 - Ferrari in America

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24 David Bull Publishing
CAR CULTURE. By year two, the Riverside Raceway was fully entrenched and hosted
a round in the short-lived USAC championship, the first attempt to conduct a fully
professional road-racing series in the United States. It was a popular and artistic success
that featured a pitched battle between this Johnny von Neumann–backed Ferrari 412 MI
(0744) of Phil Hill chasing Chuck Daigh’s American-built Scarab. Hill’s fuel pump failed
and the Chevrolet-powered Scarab won. COURTESY OF REVS INSTITUTE, WILLIAM HEWITT
PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION
informal association with NASCAR, but neither organization was able to attract big-name
drivers or exotic cars, which led in turn to their inability to attract enough spectators to
©2024 David Bull Publishin
generate sizable amounts of prize money. And Sebring, arguably the most important road
race in the United States at that time, was sanctioned by Alec Ulmann’s own Automobile
Racing Club of Florida, and was therefore able to pay the international drivers and teams,
a practice they expected.
By May, the United States Auto Club (USAC)—which sanctioned the highest levels
of oval racing in the United States, including the Indianapolis 500—saw an opening to
promote road races that paid prize money. The USAC’s intent was first noted in the May
2–9 issue of MotoRacing, a Los Angeles fortnightly tabloid. The next issue carried a USAC
press release confirming that it was starting a Road Racing Division. The paper speculated
that Luigi Chinetti; Phil Hill, a Chinetti client; and Ferrari entrant Allen Guiberson would
be part of USAC’s Competition Committee. As things turned out, neither Chinetti nor
Hill became officials in the series. Nonetheless, professional road racing had arrived in
the United States.
A month later, four races were announced. The courses named were Lime Rock, Virginia
International Raceway (VIR), and Marlboro, all in September, and Riverside, in October.
Ultimately Watkins Glen was substituted for VIR.
©2024 David Bull PubDon Pedro Rodríguez informed Chinetti that he wanted to launch his sons in the 1958
Sports Car World Championship series. The first race was to be Sebring in March, but
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