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Dan Gurney, legendary all-American racer, dies at 86

American racer Dan Gurney, who raced and won in Formula One, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, IndyCar and NASCAR in the 1960s and who started a trend by spraying champagne on the victory podium, died in California on Sunday. He was 86. The news was announced by his wife, Evi, and family in a statement. "With one last smile on his handsome face, Dan drove off into the unknown just before noon today, January 14, 2018," they said. "In deepest sorrow, with gratitude in our hearts for the love and joy you have given us during your time on this earth, we say, 'Godspeed.'" The family said Gurney, whose Formula One career spanned one of the most glamorous and dangerous periods of the sport's history from 1959 to 1970, had died of complications from pneumonia. He won seven IndyCar races, five in NASCAR and four in F1, placing second twice in the Indianapolis 500. He raced in multiple series concurrently throughout much of his career. He was the first of just three drivers to win races in four series — sports cars, Indycars, Formula One and NASCAR. The feat was later replicated by Mario Andretti and Joan Pablo Montoya. At the height of his popularity, in 1964, Car and Driver promoted the idea of electing him president. He retired from racing in 1970 but returned for a NASCAR race in 1980. Between 1965 and 2012, his All American Racers, which he founded with Carroll Shelby and Goodyear, built 158 race cars and is the only constructor to have built a winning F1 Grand Prix car, a winning Indy 500 car and a winning Sports Car. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Reporting by Alan Baldwin Featured Gallery Dan Gurney obituary View 20 Photos Motorsports Ferrari Ford Porsche IndyCar dan gurney

Yearly auto recall record demolished in 6 months

With nearly 40 million vehicles under repair campaigns and counting, 2014 will almost certainly go down as the year of the automotive recall. At just past the halfway mark, we are already at record levels, and there aren't any signs that the epidemic is slowing. General Motors' latest 8.4 million vehicle recall in the US puts the industry over the top for the title of the most cars with fixes pending from automakers ever. That's a prize no one ever wants to receive. According to TheDetroitBureau.com, the US recall total has hit 39.85-million vehicles to surpass the previous record of 33.01 million in 2004. Perhaps more surprising, with over 26 million repairs pending, it's still quite possibly that GM could recall more vehicles by the end of the year than the 27.96-million unit total of the entire US auto industry last year. With over 40 campaigns under its belt in 2014, the roughly one million cars it would take would hardly come as a surprise at this point, especially with increased government scrutiny into the Detroit automaker's processes. The pace of recalls started off relatively normal this year, with just a smattering of campaigns. The most surprising early on was Aston Martin calling in about 75 percent of its output since 2007 due to counterfeit plastic, but with just a few thousand cars, it was relatively tiny in pure numbers. GM really kicked things off soon after, but we didn't know it at the time. It issued its first bulletin for 778,000 Cobalt compacts in early February. Things only ballooned from there as more models were added to its growing ignition switch problem. The onslaught of announcements from every major automaker hasn't abated since then. Some industry executives are trying to put a positive spin on the situation. "With what's transpired (in recent months), there's a higher level of scrutiny," said Joe Hinrichs, Ford president of the Americas, to TheDetroitBureau.com. He believes that automakers are looking at data much more thoroughly than before, and it means better customer safety. Still, many consumers probably wish these problems had been found before their car went on sale.

Ford offering emergency strobes on Super Duty trucks [w/video]

If you're driving a Ford Super Duty, chances are you've got a job to do. It could be construction or maintenance, or it could be something big you're hauling, but either way, you may need to warn others in the vicinity that you're on the job. Which is why Ford is now offering strobe warning lights on its F-Series Super Duty trucks. The $700 option includes a pair of amber LED strobe lights on the hood (by the base of the windshield), another pair at the back on either side of the high-mounted stop light, and a trim panel with four switches on the center stack inside. The equipment can be factory-installed or dealer-installed after sale, are covered by warranty, require no drilling for installation (to reduce risk of corrosion), are programmable in different patterns and can be seen from up to a mile away at night or a thousand feet during the day. See a demonstration in the video below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.