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{"id":20986,"date":"2019-02-18T10:30:30","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T10:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/?p=20986"},"modified":"2019-02-18T10:53:28","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T10:53:28","slug":"long-island-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/?p=20986","title":{"rendered":"Long Island View"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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At\u00a0DDC\u00a0Towers\u00a0we\u00a0welcome\u00a0another\u00a0contributor,\u00a0our\u00a0old\u00a0friend\u00a0Andy\u00a0Hartwell.\u00a0Andy\u00a0was\u00a0one\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0 regulars\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0ALMS\u00a0beat\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0turn\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0century.\u00a0Here\u00a0he\u00a0gives\u00a0an\u00a0overview\u00a0of\u00a0what\u00a0drew\u00a0him\u00a0to\u00a0 this\u00a0area\u00a0of\u00a0motor\u00a0sport.\u00a0Hopefully\u00a0this\u00a0will\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0of\u00a0many\u00a0contributions\u00a0from\u00a0Long\u00a0Island.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Personal Journey Through A Golden Age<\/strong>
\u00a9Andrew S. Hartwell<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was 1995 and Major League Baseball (USA) decided to cancel the World Series over player\/owner disputes.  For this lifelong fan, that action was enough to turn me off to the game we had so often played for hours in the streets where I grew up.  It was time to look to other interests and, as luck would have it, a man from Italy would persuade a famous car maker that the time had come to return to the world of sports car racing.  The man was Gianpiero Moretti and the car he championed Ferrari to build was the 333 SP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Growing up, when I wasn\u2019t playing ball \u2013 pretending to be any one of a number of my favorite New York Yankee players every time I stepped up to bat \u2013 the other thing that I was most interested in was sports car racing. I loved seeing the Jim Hall Chaparrals, the Lola T-70s, the McLaren Can-Am cars and all the modern open top racers featured in the racing magazines of the time. There was Road & Track, Sports Car Graphic, Car and Driver, Autoweek\/Competition Press, and later, On Track and Auto Racing Digest. Money I earned from delivering papers, along with meager parental allowance monies, would often go towards buying the latest issues. (Along with a box of chocolates or two.) I couldn\u2019t wait to see who was racing what and where. I was in awe of these champions of courage, and in love with the idea of going fast around corners in both directions, not just in a straight line or to the left over and over.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When I finally was old enough to have a car\nof my own, Dad found a 1957 Chevy for me and I would tear that baby up and down\ntwisty and narrow River Road thinking, as I had when playing baseball, that I\nwas really Stirling Moss or Jim Hall or Mark Donohue and corners were to be\ncut, not driven around. I sometimes wished the Chevy was a Triumph or an MG but\nhey, I was driving and enjoying myself regardless.
\n
\nIn the mid-1960s, Dad and my Brother Steve and I went to a few races at our\nhome track, Bridgehampton. We saw the USRRC, Trans-Am and Can-Am races at that\nunder-developed, bare bones circuit, but the venues condition didn\u2019t\nmatter.  We were seeing my heroes in the\nflesh and not too far from home to boot. \nThis was the real thing, not a static image on a page.  It was a time when I came to feel I needed to\nhave a future in this sport.  Not as a\ndriver or mechanic, but as a journalist or photographer. I wanted to see, hear\nand feel more about what went on within this magical world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The idea was further cemented in my mind\nwhen, at the 1968 Bridgehampton Can-Am race, I cheered on my favorite, Jim Hall\nwhen he took the lead from Bruce and Denny in their identical McLaren\nMK8As.  When the race ended, and the last\ncar crossed the finish line, this 17 year old fan leaped over the fence, ran\nacross the track, and stood in the pits as Hall pulled up right next to me! I\nreached in and was the first to shake his hand to congratulate him on his\nsecond place finish! He wore an open face helmet and I can still see the blood\nand marks on his face from all the sand that had been thrown up during the\nrace.  Shaking his hand was a seminal\nmoment for me. I knew then I had to have a place in this exciting world!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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(Note: 40 years after that race I found a\nphoto someone took of Jim at that moment. In the photo, I am the kid in the\nwhite T-Shirt and sunglasses on Jim\u2019s right! \nThe photo also captured my Dad, in the crowd over Jim\u2019s left\nshoulder.  And the elbow you see sticking\nout behind Jim\u2019s left arm belongs to my brother, Steve!  What are the chances of every finding a photo\nof that magic moment?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, sometimes what you feel you want is\nthe very thing you have to wait the longest to receive. While working a full\ntime job in retailing, I gave journalism a shot, writing short pieces for a\nLong Island weekly newspaper. I covered a few local club rallies, wrote about\nthe world of racing at Bridgehampton, and submitted a piece or two on Lime Rock\nand Watkins Glen events. This early involvement came to a sudden halt when the paper\u2019s\ninterests waned in affording print space to a sport that was never really in\nthe mainstream of public awareness.  My journalistic\ndesires were put on hold. I then fell back on my other first love, baseball. I\nwas a Yankee fan again. Moreover, I was reborn as a fan of the game.  Well, that is, until 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides baseball, which you could watch on\nTV for free – an amount equal to my ability to pay,  the years of the mid 1970s through to 1995\nwere devoted to family, career and economic concerns that put the idea of a\njournalism or photography career on the back burner.  In fact, I tuned out of the whole racing\nscene for close to 20 years or so. When others talk of the GTP era, or the\nAyrton Senna years, I feel no emotional attachment.  I simply didn\u2019t follow the sport back then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As the years passed, and our economic status improved, and baseball went stupid and shut down when it should have been celebrating a pair of champions, I decided to pick up a car magazine again. In the pages of Road & Track I saw a picture of the new Ferrari 333 SP.  I immediately had a flashback to the glory days of the Can-Am series and the beautiful prototypes built by Bruce McLaren and Lola and Chaparral. The spark was reignited.

I worked out getting credentials to Lime Rock and later other circuits, so I could be on the scene shooting photos and writing about this new era in racing.  Those early stories in the local paper helped pave the way for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 1996, I had the opportunity to interview\nWayne Taylor. This was the year he would go on to win both the Rolex 24 Hours\nof Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring, in his Riley & Scott MKIII with\nOldsmobile power.  That blue and white\nand yellow paint scheme was often what the fans saw come across their line of\nsight first, provided a certain red Ferrari hadn\u2019t stolen the lead.
\n
\nThat interview with Wayne \u2013 which he told me at the conclusion was, I quote,\n\u201cThe best interview I\u2019ve ever had\u201d- would lead to his setting me up with\ncredentials to the inaugural Petit Le Mans (1998).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When the internet became a thing, I found a\nwebsite called Sportscarworld and reached out to its creator, Malcolm Cracknell,\nto see if he could use a little help with the content side of the\nbusiness.  My first submission to Malcolm\nat Sportscarworld.com was a picture of the Porsche GT1-98 that would later go\nairborne, ending the race on a flatbed tow. \nWe connected well and Malcolm became a friend. I would go on to\ncontribute for years to that first site and the many iterations that would\nfollow. This was at a time when most folks only had slow dial up internet\nservice so the pictures were small and I was \u2018advised\u2019 to abandon my thoughts\nof submitting short videos for posting. \n(I think what Malcom said was \u2018NO MORE $#%^ VIDEOS!) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I would also go on to become a contributor\nto TheRaceSite.com and many of my \u2018Through The Esses\u2019 columns appeared there,\nand are still accessible today. A short stint writing for AllRaceMagazine\n(defunct) happened as well but I\u2019d rather not talk about that experience, thank\nyou.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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For the next 20 +\/- years I would go on to cover the Petit again for several more years, along with days spent covering racing at Sebring, Lime Rock, Mid-Ohio, Mosport, Watkins Glen and VIR.  Never made it to Road America but I just might someday. Along the way I met a lot of wonderful professionals who covered the races as photographers, journalists or public relations specialists.  I\u2019m sure I am leaving some great names off this list, and for that I apologize in advance, but some of the names were Barbara Burns, Craig van Eaton, Sylvia Proudfoot, Regis Lefebure, John Brooks, Janos Wimpffen, Lyndon Fox, Gary Horrocks, Brian Mitchell, Richard Prince, Rick Dole, Chris and Rob Dyson and many more.  Each of them having played significant roles in the sport and in my development from novice to (nearly) professional status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my time of active involvement, I was\nable to talk with and write about many great people in the sport.  I am pleased to say my time \u2013 albeit as a\npart time journalist\/photographer \u2013 found me watching the emergence of some\nincredibly talented drivers and teams. \nPeople like Andy Lally, Spencer Pumpelly, Mike Borkowski, Guy Cosmo,\nMark Wilkins, Jeff Segal and more were just making a name for themselves and I\nwas there to talk with them early in their careers and write about their\ndesires and ambitions to succeed in the sport. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was also during this time that I found a\ngreat friend in Dennis Spencer. He and I would spend a lot of time talking in\nthe paddock about almost anything. He was a great man who seemed \u2013 to me,\nanyway \u2013 to have no sense of what fear can do to a mind.  He was smart, intelligent, brave and a man\nwith a big heart.  His sense of humor and\nhis ability to mentor others were remarkable traits that I admired greatly.\nWhen he passed the sport lost a magnificent competitor and I lost a good\nfriend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dissipating brain cells have led to gaps in\nmemory over all that I enjoyed about the sport. In no particular order I do remember\ncovering the NASAMAX team at Sebring; doing the race reports and press releases\nfor Stevenson Motorsports for a little over seven years; covering the Red Bull\nRacing team at Daytona and, I think, Sebring; \nMeeting and reporting on George Robinson\u2019s 74 Ranch team when Jack Baldwin\nhad the lead driving role; Sharing hotel rooms and rides with Janos Wimpffen\nand later, Lyndon Fox;  Sharing space at\na private home in Sebring with several fellow enthusiasts;  Having a hotel or two on the beach at\nDaytona;  Staying in less than stellar\naccommodations for Sebring; Flight delays; Losing my dailysportscar jacket at\nthe airport;  Staring down a pig\/boar\nlate at night on the way back to Sebring; \nDropping my camera bag into the only puddle within 50 feet of me at\nWatkins Glen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yes, it\u2019s been a fun ride and I feel so\nvery fortunate to have been there during what many folks consider a golden age\nof sports car racing.  Today, I find\nmyself more attracted to Vintage Racing and seeing some of the cars of the past\n\u2013 both recent and ancient \u2013 doing what they were built to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, 1995 was a seminal year for this journalist\/photographer. But, I wonder if you can guess what my interests today include outside of racing?  Can you say, \u201cBatter up!\u201d?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew S. Hartwell February 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

At\u00a0DDC\u00a0Towers\u00a0we\u00a0welcome\u00a0another\u00a0contributor,\u00a0our\u00a0old\u00a0friend\u00a0Andy\u00a0Hartwell.\u00a0Andy\u00a0was\u00a0one\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0 regulars\u00a0on\u00a0the\u00a0ALMS\u00a0beat\u00a0at\u00a0the\u00a0turn\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0century.\u00a0Here\u00a0he\u00a0gives\u00a0an\u00a0overview\u00a0of\u00a0what\u00a0drew\u00a0him\u00a0to\u00a0 this\u00a0area\u00a0of\u00a0motor\u00a0sport.\u00a0Hopefully\u00a0this\u00a0will\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0of\u00a0many\u00a0contributions\u00a0from\u00a0Long\u00a0Island. A Personal Journey Through A Golden Age \u00a9Andrew S. Hartwell It was 1995 and Major League Baseball (USA) decided to cancel the World Series over player\/owner disputes.  For this lifelong fan, that action was enough to turn me off to the game we had so often played for hours in the streets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1542],"tags":[1544,500,1545,1516,1543,153,346],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20986"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21006,"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20986\/revisions\/21006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.doubledeclutch.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}