One of the pictures is for Jochen Rindt. He lost his life in September 1970 during an F1 practice session. He still scored enough points to win the 1970 F1 championship and he would been able to utilize the number one the following season.
His widow Nina is in the photo with the trophy (next to Jackie Stewart)
Otto Harwi out of Easton, PA, driving the #1. Harwi raced at Orange County Fairgrounds (a/k/a Victory Speedway) in Middletown, NY and Nazareth Speedway in Nazareth, PA. He was my favorite driver until his untimely death in a 1964 racing accident at the age of 41. Harwi won five features at Orange County in 1957 beating the best the east coast had to offer.
My personal experience with Harwi and an incident that helped end my racing career. I raced in the stock division, a flathead 59 AB block, nothing fancy. We had raced at Lehighton, PA Sunday afternoon and pulled in late at Nazareth but was given the okay to run practice laps with the modifieds as long as I stayed low on the track. On the second lap, Harwi went by me so fast it scared the bejeezus out of me and I pulled off the track choosing to wait until they ran the stock/sportsman class. But, it also made me realize speed was fun as long as I was an observer and not a participant. The way I see it, I'm glad it was Harwi who helped move me in that direction. I guess I was too much pf a scaredy-cat to be a race car driver anyway. I continued racing a few more weeks until an opportunity to be the starter at a local track came along. The best part now was getting paid to start races instead of putting money out as a car owner.
Finally... we are there. It is Sunday. It is raceday.
On a bank check, the official and legal amount is the amount written in words. The amount written in numerals is not official. The photo below is officially a real zero...
In September 1948, Rollie Free was at a Land Speed Record meet at Bonneville Salt Flats with a new Vincent HRD (V-2 air-cooled, 998 cc). He was looking for 150 mph, but several runs topped out at 148 and change. That was enough for an official record for a normally aspirated and non-streamlined motorcycle. The existing record was 136.183 mph. But Free wanted that "magic number" of 150. He decided to go all in.
On previous runs, Free knew his leathers were ballooning at his neck, catching air like a small parachute. So he ditched the leathers and went out wearing only a bathing suit, a rubber shower cap, and borrowed sneakers. The result: a two-way average of 150.313 mph!!
There were numerous photographers present, but one photo in particular became famous thanks to Life Magazine. And there is no number plate, so I guess the Vincent can be considered a "0." The second photo is the same motorcycle today...
