John Greenwood (racing driver)
John Greenwood (born July 5, 1945 in Detroit - † July 7, 2015 ) was an American entrepreneur, racing car driver , racing team owner and designer.
Racing career
John Greenwood grew up in the US automobile city Detroit. His father worked as an engineer at General Motors' technology center . As a teenager , he began converting vehicles into dragsters in the family garage . The first racing car was a 1964 Chevrolet Corvette C2 Satin Silver , with which he drove forbidden private races at night on Woodward Avenue in Detroit and later competed in his first club races on the racetrack.
John Greenwood's active racing and entrepreneurship were shaped by the Corvette C3 . All of his races in the 1970s took place with cars of this type of vehicle. In 1969 he received his first national racing license and in the same year opened a specialist Corvette workshop in Troy , which soon specialized in the conversion and maintenance of Corvette racing cars. His success as a driver quickly made him known, so that his racing and entrepreneurial activities were supported for many years by Zora Arkus-Duntov and General Motors.
He celebrated his successes in national GT racing . In 1970 and 1971 he won the overall classification of the SCCA National Championship and in 1975 the touring car class of the Trans-Am series . In 1970 he made his debuts in the Daytona 24-hour race and the Sebring 12-hour race . In 1975 he started from pole position in Daytona , but had to give up early in the race after an accident with a teammate. While he was never able to classify himself in the top field at Daytona, he achieved a podium finish at Sebring. In 1973 he was third overall.
He came to Europe three times to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans . All three missions ended due to failures due to technical defects in the Corvettes.
Organizer in Sebring
In 1975 he took over the event rights for the Sebring 12-hour race, which he held until 1977 . Greenwood tried to improve the racetrack, but failed because of the lack of funds. In 2015 he died after a long and serious illness.
statistics
Le Mans results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | John Greenwood Racing | Chevrolet Corvette | Bernard Darniche | Alain Cudini | failure | Engine failure |
1973 | John Greenwood | Chevrolet Corvette | Robert Johnson | failure | Engine failure | |
1976 | IMSA Camel | Chevrolet Corvette Stingray | Bernard Darniche | failure | Defect on the radiator |
Sebring results
year | team | vehicle | Teammate | Teammate | placement | Failure reason |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1970 | John Greenwood | Chevrolet Corvette | Allan Barker | failure | Clutch damage | |
1971 | John Greenwood | Chevrolet Corvette | Dick Smothers | Rank 7 and class win | ||
1972 | John Greenwood Racing | Chevrolet Corvette | Dick Smothers | failure | Engine failure | |
1973 | John Greenwood Racing | Chevrolet Corvette | Mike Brockman | Ron Grable | Rank 3 | |
1975 | John Greenwood Racing | Chevrolet Corvette | Jerry Thompson | failure | no petrol | |
1976 | Levitt Racing Spirit of Sebring | Chevrolet Corvette | Mike Brockman | failure | Clutch damage | |
1977 | Mancuso Chevrolet | Chevrolet Corvette | Burt Greenwood | Rick Mancuso | Rank 22 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ SCCA National Championship 1970
- ^ SCCA National Championship 1971
- ↑ 1975 Daytona 24 Hours
- ↑ On the death of John Greenwood
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Greenwood, John |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American racing car driver |
DATE OF BIRTH | July 5, 1945 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Detroit |
DATE OF DEATH | July 7, 2015 |