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BLOG: Goodwood Festival Of Speed - Black Tie Extravaganza
FINAL UPDATE DAY 5: We’ll start with Saturday night’s gala at Goodwood House - To call it just a black tie dinner would be unfair to Lord and Lady March...
SPEED Staff  |  Posted July 05, 2010   West Sussex (GBR)
Part of the huge crowd on Saturday on the front straight in front of the Goodwood house. (Photo courtesy of Richard Childress Racing)
FINAL UPDATE Day 5: Sunday, July 4, 2010 - Goodwood Festival Of Speed - Goodwood Estate, West Sussex, England - Blog entry by David Hart, Director Corporate Communication/Richard Childress Racing

Simply put, the past 30 hours at Goodwood have been amazing.

We’ll start with Saturday night’s gala at Goodwood House. To call it just a black tie dinner would be unfair to Lord and Lady March and all the Goodwood staff who pulled off this extravaganza. After a full day of Festival of Speed activities on the grounds, 1,500 people clean up, put on their finest, slip their invitations into their purses or coat pockets and return to Goodwood House at 7 p.m. Rolls Royce, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar and Ferrari were all in front of us as Kerry, Rene, Danny, Rich and I pulled into the circular drive in our seven-passenger van. We made that van look good.

PHOTOS: 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed - Richard Childress Racing Spotlight

After a champagne reception on part of the back lawn, we went inside and had an incredible dinner and great conversation. Simply all the beautiful people were there … and us, too! In addition to the heroes of motorsports in attendance, guitar god Jeff Beck was at the table next to the one Kerry, Rene and I sat. I try not to be much of a name dropper but, for crying out loud, it’s Jeff Beck!
The table setting for Saturday night’s gala at Goodwood House attended by 1,500 guests of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. (Photo courtesy of Richard Childress Racing)

Anyway, after the meal, the guests went back outside to another part of the back lawn for the visual entertainment. Last year’s acrobatic/Cirque de Soleil-type performance was unbelievable and, believe it or not, they topped it this year with a bicycle/motorcycle/acrobat group from Red Bull. And the fireworks show during and after the on-stage performance was beyond anything I’ve ever seen (I said the same thing last year). What a way for all of the Americans in attendance to celebrate the Fourth of July.

You might think that the evening closed with that last fireworks burst but it was only then that the real party began. Everyone went back inside and were treated to an incredible concert by Jimmie Vaughan and his blues band. I’m sure there were many who stayed out long into the night but we got back to the hotel at about 12:30 a.m. Mike and Angie Skinner are staying at the same hotel so we hung out with them for a while in the hotel lounge before finally shutting things down a bit after 1 a.m. I didn’t think last year’s event could be topped, but it was. As a good friend of mine would say, W-O-W!!

There were at least 50,000 fans in attendance Sunday for the final day of the event. They were treated to two more runs up the hill by all the heroes driving all those beautiful cars and motorcycles. The main events were when the current F1 teams were on course. The sound of those cars is something impossible to explain. I worked for the NHRA early in my career and have said since then that the sound of an 8,000-horsepower Top Fuel or Funny Car engine is from another world … the current F1 engine is from still another world. The crowds were four- and five-deep along the hay bales as they went by. Former champion and current point leader Lewis Hamilton did an amazing burnout, with NASCAR-style doughnuts and everything. It was certainly a crowd pleaser because the F1 guys aren’t allowed to do such things after a race.
(Left to Right) Delano Wood, Sir John Surtees, Sir Stirling Moss (waving), Lady March and Lord March at the Goodwood Festival of Speed awards ceremony. (Photo courtesy of Richard Childress Racing)

The NASCAR teams headed up after that, near day’s end, and put on a big show for the crowd, as well. The No. 3 car Kerry was driving is a museum piece so, while he did a very respectable burnout for the fans, he understood that going all the way, and possibly hurting the car, was not the best option. Danny reinforced that point to him right before he left the starting line. Waltrip did a really good burnout and then Skinner stole the show with a long burnout almost the entire length of the 1.1-mile course. The crowd dug it.

Kerry brought the car back to the paddock and we did a quick photo shoot with our No. 3 car and the No. 20 Silverline Chevrolet Cruze team of Alex MaDowall in the British Touring Car Championship. Anything we can do to help promote the Chevrolet brand on either side of the pond. Thanks to Alan Brewer for helping make that happen.

We then made our way to the awards ceremony. We didn’t attend the ceremony last year - found out after-the-fact that we should have been there. We got to meet former F1 and road racing star Jochen Mass while we were there and watched as Lord March thanked all for attending. He then began to bring up onto the stage a list of drivers and riders who can only be described as living legends. Moss, Surtees, Bell, Mass, Schwantz are all up there. Leonard and Delano Wood were invited up – they were attending as representatives of the Wood Brothers team that pitted Jim Clark to victory in the 1965 Indianapolis 500. Kerry was up there representing his father and the No. 3 car … it was an amazing sight.
A 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed Winner medal awarded to RCR's Rich Burgess, Danny Lawrence and David Hart for being the crew that best exemplified the spirit of the Festival. (Photo courtesy of Richard Childress Racing)

And then, out of nowhere, with all those amazing people still on stage, Lord March announces that Danny, Rich and I were receiving a winner’s medal for being the crew that best exemplified the spirit of the Festival. We go up on stage, shake Lord March’s hand, have Lady March put a medal around each of our necks and are then presented with a silver race car and magnum of champagne. Are you kidding me?! Danny spoke to the crowd and told them what an honor it was for RCR to be able to be here and that, if it weren’t for a rain delay at Daytona in February, which allowed Lord March to spend some extra time with Richard in his motor coach, we probably wouldn’t be here.

We then walked off the stage and there was no way in the world you could wipe the smiles off our faces. A photographer in the crowd took some shots of us – I gave him my card so I sure hope he sends the images. Even if he doesn’t, it’s a moment none of us will ever forget.

We went back to the paddock and finished packing up everything for the return trip. It was almost 9 p.m. when we drove off the Goodwood Estate for the final time. We had been excited to return since we left last year and, somehow, it was all over. So much happened during the past week that it will be hard to remember it all but the thousands of photographs we all took should help.

PHOTOS: 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed - Richard Childress Racing Spotlight

Restaurants don’t stay open very late here in the south of England so dinner options were few and far between. We finally found KFC in a nearby town that was still serving so we pulled in and dined on the Colonel’s finest, English-style. It was after 10 p.m. when we finally made it back to the hotel, tired and a bit dirty from the packing up. But those medals were still around our necks … and the smiles were still there, too.

From GoodWood.co.uk... The Festival of Speed (July 2 - 4, 2010) is the largest motoring garden party in the world – a unique summer weekend that brings together an impossibly heady mix of cars, stars and motorsport ‘royalty’ to create the largest car culture event in the world. Held in the immaculate grounds of Goodwood House, this annual hill-climb event is a true celebration of motorsport and all things automotive.

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