Hurley Haywood and Peter Sachs have been honored by the Road Racing Drivers Club at the annual RRDC banquet preceding the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Haywood was recognized with the club\u2019s Phil Hill Award, while Sachs was presented with the RRDC\u2019s Bob Akin Award, both in recognition of their longtime participation in and service to the sport.<\/p>\n
Haywood is, of course, one of the USA\u2019s most successful long-distance racers, with five victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, three at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and two at the 12 Hours of Sebring. He also claimed two IMSA GT crowns and the 1988 SCCA Trans-Am championship. Sachs contested SCCA, IMSA and vintage races for four decades, and in his retirement now manages the Klemantaski Collection, a historic motorsports photo archive.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen (RRDC President) Bobby (Rahal) called me up and told me I was going to get the Phil Hill award, I was really shocked,\u201d said Haywood. \u201cAny time you are mentioned in the same sentence with Phil Hill it\u2019s very special. Phil Hill was an icon in this sport. He won Le Mans three times, was a Formula One champion. He was just a class act. If all of us mimicked what Phil Hill was all about, we\u2019d all have a wonderful life. So, thank you very much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am overcome by this,\u201d commented Sachs. \u201cOne summer about 56 years ago I went to see some friends in the Midwest and we drove up to this place called Elkhart Lake to see the SCCA June Sprints. I got into the Cunningham garage and there was a helmet on the bench and I asked, \u2018What\u2019s that?\u2019 \u2018That\u2019s Mr. Hansgen\u2019s helmet, don\u2019t touch it,\u2019 one of the mechanics replied. I was not about to touch Walt Hansgen\u2019s helmet, but on the front of it was this symbol that a lot of us are wearing on our lapels tonight. \u2018What\u2019s that emblem on the front of his helmet?\u2019 I asked. And he said, \u2018That\u2019s the Road Racing Drivers Club, and only the best drivers in the country can join that.\u2019 I said to myself, \u2018Gee, I love motor racing, and if I could do some of this, I thought maybe some day, somehow, I could be part of that organization.\u2019 To receive this award tonight, in the name of my friend Bob Akin, is more important to me than you can imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hurley Haywood and Peter Sachs have been honored by the Road Racing Drivers Club at the annual RRDC banquet preceding the Rolex 24 at Daytona. Haywood was recognized with the club\u2019s Phil Hill Award, while Sachs was presented with the RRDC\u2019s Bob Akin Award, both in recognition of their longtime participation in and service to the sport. Haywood is, of course, one of the USA\u2019s most successful long-distance racers, with five victories in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, three at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":521994,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[263,255,18114],"tags":[18435,11424,12124,18105],"class_list":["post-493730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-culture","category-news","category-people","tag-people","tag-eddie-sachs","tag-hurley-haywood","tag-people-news"],"yoast_head":"\n