Australian Muscle Car – July 01, 2019

Stock car ace

G

eoff is the  rst to admit he’s no ‘Good ol’

Boy’, but from 1989 to 1994 he was able

to mix it with stock car legends Dale Earnardt

(Senior), Bill Elliott and Darrell Waltrip – in

the famed International Race of Champions

(IROC), driving identical stock cars with Chev

and then Dodge bodywork.

“They took four NASCAR guys, four Indycar

guys and four road racing guys who were

standouts from the year before. I was there as

a road racer. I did six years in a row and I won

two races – two oval races actually (both at

Michigan).

“It was fun b u u ru i t ll t

top NASCAR guys and they would team up on

you. One race at Talladega, Waltrip and I were

at the back, and I got right up behind him and

we started to pass everybody. We went right

past the whole  eld and when we got to the

front he just ducked in the front and left me out

there; he didn’t leave me enough room to come

in behind him and I just went straight to the

back again! I was so pissed off.

“One of the Michigan wins was the highlight

of my career because I had a huge race with

Dale Senior and Bill Elliott and ended up

beating them. That was one of the biggest

rillsI everhad.I feltreally

ood about that – what I

was driving, where I was

driving and who I was racing

against.”

Brabham’s performances

on the ovals led to a drive

l Brickyard 400 in 1994

r r i t er, former Ford motorsport

boss Mike Kranefuss. Geoff had raced for the

German in the works IMSA Ford Mustang in

1987, which was “a bit of a disaster because the

(Zakspeed 1.7-litre turbo) engines blew-up all

the time”.

Although he had plenty of experience at

Indianapolis, tyre restrictions meant minimal

practice laps, yet he somehow quali ed in the

top 20. But in the race the car simply wouldn’t

turn in and Geoff eventually hit the wall and was

t-boned.

That was the end of his wonderful American

adventure.

WinningLeMans

G

eoffracedtwiceatLeMansforNissan

• andcouldhavewonthe 1990 race,as
  theywereleadingwhena fueltanksplitathalf
  distance– andwhentheIMSAdealnished
  in 1992hereceiveda mysteriousphonecall
  fromEurope.
  “Itwasa weirdone.I wassittingin Florida
  andthephonerangandtherewasthislady
  at theend.Shesays,‘Areyouinterestedin
  drivingfora teamin LeMans’,andI said,‘Who
  is it?’Andshesaid,‘I can’ttellyou,butif you’re
  interestedI‘llletthemknowandtheywillcall
  you.’SoI saidokayandputthephonedown.
  “TwodayslaterJeanTodtringsupandasks
  meto driveforPeugeot!I thoughtthatwas
  fantastic,soI rangDavid(hisbrother)andsaid,
  ‘You’renotgoingto believethis,I’mrunning
  forPeugeotat LeMans!’Deadsilenceonthe
  otherendof thephone.‘David,areyoustill
  there?David!’Turnedouthewaschasingthat
  drive,andto thisdayhebelievesthatJeanTodt
  gotthenamesmuddledupandrangmeby
  mistake!
  “Andit madeit worsewhenI wontherace!
  “Thecarwasfabulous.It wassomuchbetter
  thantheNissans.TheToyotas(thatyear)werea
  littlebitquickerthanthePeugeotsbuttheykept
  havinglittleissues.Wejustranat-out,justas
  hardasyoucouldgo.”
  TherewerethreeworksPeugeots,andGeoff
  wastheexperiencedhandwithtwoLeMans
  rookies,FrenchmenEricHelaryandChristophe
  Bouchut,in the#3car,whichranfaultlessly.
  Neartheendof theracetheywereleading,but
  Geoffwasfearfulthatoneof themorefancied

Frenchcarsordriverswouldbeallowedto take

thegloryin France’sbiggestrace.

“TheToyotachallengehadnally

disappearedandwewererunning1-2-3,andI

wasjustwaitingforJeanTodtto tellusto slow

downandhavetheirnumberonecarnishrst,

andheneverdid.

“Infact,in therotationI wasn’tgoingto nish

theraceandJeanTodtchangedtherotationso

I wasin thecarat theendandI actuallycrossed

theline,whichwasamazingforme.I’llnever

forgetthat.I don’tknowwhyhedidit. I asked

himseveralyearslaterandhejustshruggedhis

shouldersandsaid,‘Youdeservedit.’ I’venever

gotmyheadaroundwhyhedidn’tletoneof the

Frenchdriversnishtherace.I’mjusteternally

gratefulto him.

“SoI didthelastlap,withalltheagsgoing,

andallthespectatorscameonthetrackbefore

theracenished...Whenwecamearound

to takethechequeredagtherewerepeople

everywhereandI onlyjustcrossedthenish

line,andthenthetrackwasjustblocked.I got

outof thecarandtheypeople-surfedmeallthe

wayto thepitwall.It wasprobablythehighlight

of mycareer.AndthenI neverwentback...”

Thefollowingyearhewasto drivefor

Porsche,buttheypulledoutin protestovera

changeof rules.Thenthefollowingyearhe

andDavidweresetto driveforJoest,butDavid

wantedmorethana one-racedealanddidn’t

callteambossReinholdJoest,unbeknownto

Geoff.“I rangJoestandhewassopissedoff

withDavid,andI wassayingit wasnothingto

dowithme,I’llstilldoit, buthedidn’twantto

knowussowedidn’tgetthedrive– andthe

damncarwontherace!I wasnothappy.”

Perhapsit waspaybackforDavidmissing

thatwinningdrivewithPeugeot...

GeoffsayshisLeMans 1993 winis probablythe

highlightofhislongcareer.Thecircumstancesofhis

call-upaddtoitssignificance.