Real racing heroes....

[riff_raff]

Just saw the obituary for Art Cross. In case you don't know who he was, he was a young American dirt track racer back in the late 30's/early 40's, who put a very promising racing career on hold, to go fight for the freedom of some folks he didn't even know. He served in WWII as a tank driver and saw lots of combat, including the Battle of the Bulge. They don't make guys like Art Cross or Eddie Rickenbacker anymore (except for maybe Pat Tillman, but he wasn't a racer). Can you imagine someone like Michael Schumacher or Jacques Villeneuve volunteering to give up their racing career, and go put themselves in harm's way for their country?

God bless and rest in peace Art Cross.

[manchild]

Just saw the obituary for Art Cross. In case you don't know who he was, he was a young American dirt track racer back in the late 30's/early 40's, who put a very promising racing career on hold, to go fight for the freedom of some folks he didn't even know. He served in WWII as a tank driver and saw lots of combat, including the Battle of the Bulge. They don't make guys like Art Cross or Eddie Rickenbacker anymore (except for maybe Pat Tillman, but he wasn't a racer). Can you imagine someone like Michael Schumacher or Jacques Villeneuve volunteering to give up their racing career, and go put themselves in harm's way for their country?

God bless and rest in peace Art Cross.

I can imagine Schumacher volunteering to fly up in Fokker and shoot down his enemies just like he did with Hill twice and Jacques once on the ground.

Villeneuve is 100% good guy and I don't see why are you mixing him with Shuey?

[manchild]

Speaking of "real racing heroes" I'd like to mention late James Hunt and his rescue of Ronnie Peterson from the burning car. The fireman stood and watched without daring to approach the car that was burning huge amount of fuel (it happened on the race start) while James Hunt got out of his car, went into flames and took Ronnie out of the car.

This is an example of heroism when it matters racing more than someone’s decision to participate in warfare regardless how rightful the cause might be.

Risking own life without endangering others is what true heroism and nighthood is all about.

[Scuderia_Russ]

Speaking of "real racing heroes" I'd like to mention late James Hunt and his rescue of Ronnie Peterson from the burning car. The fireman stood and watched without daring to approach the car that was burning huge amount of fuel (it happened on the race start) while James Hunt got out of his car, went into flames and took Ronnie out of the car.

This is an example of heroism when it matters racing more than someone’s decision to participate in warfare regardless how rightful the cause might be.

Risking own life without endangering others is what true heroism and nighthood is all about.

I can't even think of any superlatives to describe James Hunt. The guy was something else. The words live life to the full can usually be found all over the internet on the profiles of people that work dead end 9 to 5 jobs and don't do much else with their lives... but this guy really did live his life to the full! I cannot reccomend enough Gerald Donaldson's biography of Hunt, it's one of my highest re-reads!