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GURSS: Which Driver Would You Invite to Dinner?
Written by: Jade Gurss   
08/26/2008 - 09:24 AM
Mooresville, NC
 
Faster. Louder. The weekly column on SPEEDtv.com by Jade Gurss. (Harold Hinson Photo) ยป More Photos

Early in my career, the fan in me was disappointed to learn some racing heroes have a less-than-winning personality outside of the car. It’s necessary for a successful driver to possess elements of selfishness and confidence that occasionally (or frequently) spills over into arrogance. If you’re going to strap yourself into a machine that could kill you at any moment while fighting for victory, you must exhibit those traits to be a success.

Some are good at separating their persona inside the car versus outside. There are drivers I love to watch in the heat of battle but wouldn’t particularly enjoy sitting down with for a multi-course meal. Some are simply monomaniacal: racing is all they think about, which doesn’t bode well for dinner chatter.

So, whom would you invite to your home for a meal? Use the “comment” section below to add your choices.

Here are a few of mine:

Dan Gurney: Gurney won in Indycars, dominated at Riverside versus NASCAR’s best, won at LeMans, and is the only American to win a Formula One race in a car of his own design and make. The son of an opera singer, Gurney went on to build cars that dominated at Indy and won IMSA championships. He led the formation of CART and also played a key role in the original Cannonball Run. A student of politics and history, mix in his good humor and he’s a perfect dinner invitee.

Jeff Burton: Burton is intelligent, eloquently speaks his mind and has many interests outside of the racing world. Plus, we could debate Duke vs. Kansas basketball.

Alex Zanardi: I wasn’t a fan when he was doing spectacular things in his Honda-powered Champ car (I worked for rival Ilmor-Mercedes at the time), but his return to racing after losing both legs in a horrific crash in 2001 showed a remarkable positive attitude and fortitude. An inspirational guest for sure.

John Force: I once picked-up Force at the airport at sunrise for a complete day of promotions and media appearances, and he never slowed for a moment. What you see on TV is how he is… all the time. Incredibly funny and entertaining, but would any of the other guests get a word in edgewise?

Kyle Petty: One of the most active and lithe minds I’ve been around. I had dinner with Kyle in Daytona earlier this year, and the conversation swirled from his plan to mount a video camera on his motorcycle (so he could narrate his personal travel videos) to the
many virtues of Michelangelo. A voracious reader and an incredibly charitable person, he’s a must-have on the list.

Janet Guthrie: Sometimes lost amid Danicamania is Janet Guthrie. The first woman to start the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 (both in 1977), she was an accomplished aerospace engineer and flight instructor who had a brief-but-impressive career in both NASCAR and Indycars (a top-ten finish at Indy and a sixth-place at Bristol in the Cup series are two highlights). Serious, smart and eloquent.

I’d also invite Chris Economaki as story-telling master of ceremonies, the perfect ringmaster for the different personalities. And, of course, all wives are invited.

Honorable mention (because how big can one table be?): Darrell Waltrip for his brilliant stories, Arie Luyendyk (because how many drivers have owned an art gallery?) and Mario Andretti, because he’s… Mario.

Finally, I would have included Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the list, but after working with him for nine seasons, I won’t punish him further. Plus, I already know how the dinner would end.

“Got any money on ya?,” he’d ask with a wry smirk. “I don’t have any money on me…”

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Jade Gurss is the owner of fingerprint, inc., a sports publicity company. He has written two New York Times Best Sellers, including what is believed to be the biggest-selling motorsports book in American publishing history (Driver #8 with Dale Earnhardt Jr.). His two decades of publicity and marketing experience involves nearly every category of motorsports, including nine innovative seasons as NASCAR publicist for the Budweiser brand and Earnhardt Jr. His blog can be seen at: http://fingerprint.typepad.com


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