30 Dec

Sam Posey Collection takes home Motor Press Guild Award

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Los Angeles, CA– As renowned a career as Sam Posey made for himself as a race car driver, he’s spent far more time as a motorsports observer, albeit a highly qualified one, either as a commentator or writer, and it’s for that latter role that the Motor Press Guild recently honored him with its annual Best Book of the Year award for 2015.

Posey, who raced from 1965 through 1982, began his professional writing career with an article for Road & Track in 1968 and has gone on not only to write for Sports Illustrated and to pen his autobiography, but also to serve as a racing analyst and commentator for ABC Sports throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, covering everything from the Indianapolis 500 to the Olympics to the Iditarod.

Earlier this year, he assembled the best of his varied writings and television scripts for Where the Writer Meets the Road: A Collection of Articles, Broadcast Intros, and Profiles. As the publisher, David Bull, describes the book, “The result is a remarkably varied mix of short and long pieces on subjects ranging from racing in the rain at Le Mans to test-driving the propeller-driven Wind Wagon created by his uncle Teddy in the 1920s.”

The Motor Press Guild presented Posey with the award at its annual awards ceremony earlier this month at the recently reopened Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Sam Posey receiving award from Eric Dahlquist, Sr. (Head Judge – Books, Motor Press Guild)

Sam Posey receiving award from Eric Dahlquist, Sr. (Head Judge – Books, Motor Press Guild)

For more than 40 years, racing fans all over the world have followed Sam Posey’s unique career as a driver, writer, and broadcaster. Posey wrote his first article for Road & Track in 1968, the same year he drove a Chevrolet Camaro for Roger Penske’s team in the Trans-Am series. In the 1970s he not only won at Sebring and finished on the podium at Le Mans, but also published a highly regarded autobiography.

Sam Posey and Tony Adamowicz finished 3rd overall at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans driving the N.A.R.T. Ferrari 512M (photo: Speed Merchants Collection)

Sam Posey and Tony Adamowicz finished 3rd overall at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans driving the N.A.R.T. Ferrari 512M (photo: Speed Merchants Collection)

Posey retired from driving in 1982, but in the years since then his public profile has grown through his articles for Road & Track, Sports Illustrated, and other publications, as well as his work as a television commentator. In Where the Writer Meets the Road, Posey has selected the best of his work in both fields. The result is a varied mix of short and long pieces as well as examples of the shorter broadcast introductions (he called “teases”) produced for Formula One Grand Prix races at Spa and Monaco, and even non-automotive events like the Iditarod sled race.

Sam Posey in a helmet of his own design, the stripes representing the American flag (photo: David Bull Publishing)

Sam Posey in a helmet of his own design, the stripes representing the American flag (photo: David Bull Publishing)

Sam Posey has had a long association with Connecticut, racing at Lime Rock since he was a teenager under the tutelage of John Fitch which he talks about in the book. In March 2013, the front straightaway at Lime Rock was renamed Sam Posey Straight to honor the driver that enjoyed much success and notoriety at the track. Lime Rock Park track owner Skip Barber commented, “I know – we all know – that Sam deeply loves Lime Rock Park – he grew up five miles from the track. Sam was the first driver to lap the track in less than 60 seconds – that was a big, big deal when Sam did that, in 1967. He was driving a McLaren Can-Am car. And that was just two years after his very first race at Lime Rock, in a Formula Vee, a car that has less than a fifth of the power of that McLaren. Sam was able to use Lime Rock as a launching pad for what turned out to be an astoundingly steep early career path. And of course,” continued Barber, “We’ve been blessed that no less than three of the track’s beautiful buildings, including the now-iconic paddock tower, were designed by Sam”

No matter what the venue or circumstances, Posey’s writing captures the excitement of racing as well as an insider’s understanding of how the sport really works, both on and off the track. It also reflects his innate curiosity and enthusiasm for a wide range of non-automotive interests such as painting, art, design and architecture. The book can be purchased on line at David Bull Publishing www.bullpublishing.com or other on-line book shopping sites.

Article courtesy Hemmings Daily and David Bull Publishing

Sam Posey drove the lime green Dodge Challenger Trans-Am for the Trans-Am series in 1970 (photo: Speed Merchants Collection)

Sam Posey drove the lime green Dodge Challenger Trans-Am for the Trans-Am series in 1970 (photo: Speed Merchants Collection)