| Sam Posey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Posey at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2006 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  American | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1944-05-26)May 26, 1944 (age 81) New York City,New York, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
NASCAR driver
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Samuel Felton Posey (born May 26, 1944)[1] is an American former racing driver and sports broadcast journalist.
Posey's father, Lt. (j.g.) Samuel Felton Posey, was killed in theBattle of Okinawa when a kamikaze struck his ship, theUSS Henrico. His remains were never recovered. Posey grew up on his grandfather's Connecticut estate nearLime Rock Park. Posey was bought aMercedes-Benz 300 SL when he was 14 years old, and practiced driving the car around his family farm. He received his first racing lessons from neighborJohn Fitch.[2] Sam Posey started as an amateur sports car racer, and graduated to theCan-Am, in a car designed and funded by himself in collaboration with engineer friend Ray Caldwell.[3] Posey raced the Sunoco Camaro forRoger Penske in 1968 in theTrans-Am Series. Chevrolet won the championship based on the Penske team effort.Mark Donohue was the lead driver and he won a remarkable 10 of 13 races. Posey's first race was atBridgehampton where he finished 3rd. Other finishes were:Meadowdale, 3rd; St Jovite, 3rd; Bryar, 6th; Watkins Glen, 2nd which was the only race that Donohue was beaten by a Camaro in 1968. Posey's car was the same Sunoco Blue with yellow lettering as Donohue. Posey sported a yellow spoiler and Donohue had a red spoiler.
In 1969, he won the Lime Rock Trans-Am in a factory Ford Mustang. In 1970, Posey was the driver for Ray Caldwell's factory-backedAutodynamics Dodge Challenger inTrans-Am, racing againstParnelli Jones,Dan Gurney,Mark Donohue andJim Hall in what most racing historians regard as the greatest season of professional road racing in US history. Posey also raced in theUSACChampionship Car series in the 1969 and 1972-1974 seasons, with 13 career starts, including the1972 Indianapolis 500. Posey's entry was disqualified from the1973 Indianapolis 500 after USAC Technical DirectorFrank DelRoy discovered Posey's team had disguised their already qualified car as another vehicle so that Posey could make another qualifying attempt to try to avoid being bumped from the field.[4] He finished in the top ten 8 times, with his best finish in 3rd position in 1969 at the Kent road course. He was the team driver for Caldwell'sCan-Am racer which featured monocoque aluminum construction in two parallel longitudinal space frames, with solid front and rear axles.
As an endurance racer, Posey appeared at the24 Hours of Le Mans 10 times (1966, 1969–1973, and 1975–1978) and finished in the top 10 five times. His best finish was 3rd position during the 1971 competition in which he drove theFerrari 512M.[5] He won the 197512 Hours of Sebring, teaming with three other drivers.
He participated in twoFormula One world championship events, the1971 and1972 United States Grand Prix, retiring from the first and finishing 12th in the second, thus not scoring any championship points. He droveSurtees cars on both occasions, but only the first was a works-entered car.
He also competed in a single event in theNASCAR Grand National Series (now known as theNASCAR Cup Series), the first race of the1970 season, held on theRiverside International Raceway road course inRiverside, California.
Posey went on to become an auto racing commentator forABC Sports. Posey debuted on ABC for theIndianapolis 500 in 1974, serving as analyst. In subsequent years, he served as a pit reporter but would fill in as analyst when regular analystJackie Stewart was unavailable as Posey was second choice as analyst. Posey returned to the booth starting in 1982 as Stewart reduced his workload. By 1986, Stewart had left and Posey was their first choice as analyst.
While commentating the1986 Indianapolis 500, as there was a yellow flag out very near the end of the race, Posey used a two-way radio to ask an impromptu question to race leaderKevin Cogan. Posey was trying to ask Cogan about his thoughts in leading theIndianapolis 500 at this stage. Cogan tried to stave off the conversation once, but Posey persisted a second time, at which time Cogan politely replied to Posey that he was "a little busy now," but would talk to him later. Posey understood the circumstances and told the audience if that were he, "I wouldn't want to talk to me either." Moments later, on a restart with two laps remaining,Bobby Rahal jumped Cogan on the restart and went on to win.
Along with the Indy 500, Posey'sABC Sports duties included commentary for theCART/PPG Indy Car World Series withPaul Page andBobby Unser, lasting through1995. Posey also appeared on selectedNASCAR broadcasts on ABC. The three-man booth of Page, Posey, and Unser was a fixture of Indy car racing during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Posey and Bobby Unser were known to engage in friendly, but sometimes heated exchanges on-air. The friction reached a level such that beginning in 1993 at the Indy 500, Unser moved out of the booth and began reporting from a remote location in turn two.
In 1989, Posey was brought in as part of the ABC Sports broadcast team covering the1989 Tour de France. Many people were surprised by Posey's knowledge and genuine enthusiasm for the sport. ABC would bring him back as the lead anchor for the 1990 and 1991 races. Posey also worked as the play-by-play announcer forluge during ABC's coverage of the1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and the1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
Posey moved toSpeedvision (later known asSPEED) in 1996, covering various races namely sports car racing and Formula One. He also did essay work for the coverage of theTour de France on OLN/Versus (later known asNBCSN), serving as the "Race Historian", and wrote forRoad & Track magazine.
Posey is also the author ofPlaying With Trains, a book onmodel railroading published byRandom House and his layout (the Colorado Midland) was featured in the February 1995 issue ofModel Railroader Magazine, andThe Mudge Pond Express, an autobiography which centers around his personal racing career and love of the sport.
An accomplished artist, painter and architect,[6][7] in 1966 he earned his B.F.A. in painting fromRhode Island School of Design.[8] Since 1995, Posey suffers fromParkinson's disease, which has attenuated his activities in recent years.[9][6]
Posey was the voice for the pre-race build-up montage slotted between the Mercedes-Benz Pre-Race Show and the actual race coverage for each Formula 1 race shown on the Speed Channel. Posey also comments on recent Formula 1 races and the championship in a segment called "Posey's Perspective" as part of the Formula 1 Debrief show (also featuringBob Varsha,David Hobbs,Steve Matchett, andWill Buxton) on the Speed Channel. Posey narrated F1 montages for theNBC Sports Network from 2013 to 2017.[10]
He was inducted into theMotorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2016.[11]
In 2013, the front straight atLime Rock Park was renamed the Sam Posey Straight.[12]
(key)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | WDC | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Team Surtees | SurteesTS9 | CosworthV8 | RSA | ESP | MON | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA Ret | NC | 0 | |
| 1972 | Champcarr Inc. | SurteesTS9B | CosworthV8 | ARG | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA 12 | NC | 0 |
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | – | – | Refused entry due to experience | |||
| 1970 | – | – | Failed to qualify | |||
| 1971 | Eagle | Offy | – | – | Jerry Grant Racing | Bumped |
| 1972 | Eagle | Offy | 7 | 5 | Champ Carr Inc. | |
| 1973 | Eagle | Offy | – | – | Champ Carr Inc. | Bumped |
| Year | Team | Co-drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 |  Prototipi Bizzarrini | Massimo Natili | Bizzarrini P538 Super America | P +5.0 | 39 | DSQ | DSQ |
| 1969 | North American Racing Team | Teodoro Zeccoli | Ferrari 275LM | S 5.0 | 329 | 8th | 4th |
| 1970 | North American Racing Team | Ronnie Bucknum | Ferrari 512S | S 5.0 | 313 | 4th | 3rd |
| 1971 | North American Racing Team | Tony Adamowicz | Ferrari 512M | S 5.0 | 366 | 3rd | 3rd |
| 1972 | North American Racing Team | Tony Adamowicz | Ferrari 365 GTB/4 | GTS 5.0 | 304 | 6th | 2nd |
| 1973 | North American Racing Team | Milt Minter | Ferrari 365 GTB/4 | GTS 5.0 | 254 | DNF | DNF |
| 1975 |  Hervé Poulain | Jean Guichet Hervé Poulain | BMW 3.0 CSL | TS | 73 | DNF | DNF |
| 1976 |  BMW Motorsport GmbHAlpina-Faltz |  Baron Hughes de FierlandtHarald Grohs | BMW 3.0 CSL | Gr.5 SP | 299 | 10th | 4th |
| 1977 | Grand Touring Cars Inc. | Michel Leclère | Mirage M8-Renault | Gr.6 S 3.0 | 58 | DNF | DNF |
| 1978 | Grand Touring Cars Inc. | Michel Leclère | Mirage M9-Renault | Gr. 6 S 3.0 | 33 | DNF | DNF |
Jacques Laffite Vern Schuppan | Mirage M9-Renault | Gr.6 S 3.0 | 293 | 10th | 5th |
For a few minutes on a beautiful afternoon in France, Sam Posey "felt the exhilaration of total control in a place where a mistake would be fatal.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
