Roger Penske (kneeling) and the crew of Mark Donohue’s Sunoco McLaren in 1971
Roger Penske (kneeling) and the crew of Mark Donohue’s Sunoco McLaren in 1971. Don Cox is standing 4th from left. Photo: Indianapolis Motor Speedway photo.
The Captain has been building his reputation for decades, and it’s a lot more than crew cuts, yellow floors, and polished wheels. Here’s a point of view from an uninvolved racing fan named Bob Collins. Bob was attending college in Adrian, Michigan. One weekend in the spring of 1977 he was bored in his dorm room, so he went to Michigan International Speedway to watch race cars test and tune. Bob parked his 1975 Olds Cutlass at the steel gate of a service road and sat on the hood of his car to watch the action. A well-appointed late-model sedan approached the gate and the driver, seeing Bob, looked discomfited. The gentleman then asked Bob what he was doing there, pointing out that this was private property. Bob responded,
“Well, I was in my dorm room, really bored, everyone is gone, so I came over here to see the cars. I love racing cars. I’m from upstate New York and I’ve been to races at Watkins Glen.” A brief conversation ensued, and unexpectedly the gentleman went and unlocked the gate and motioned to Bob that he could drive his Cutlass for one lap around the 2-mile D-shaped track. That gentleman could offer such a gesture, unthinkable today, because he owned the track – Mr. Roger Penske.
Bottom center color photo of 1973 Indianapolis 500, #66 car Penske Eagle/Offenhauser with Mark Donohue. Penske is second from left, Don Cox is 4th from left with jacket over his left arm. Photo: Bill Warner Archives
Cox maintained a full time working relationship with Penske for seven years. But it didn’t end there.
“I left the race shop in ’76 after Mark Donohue died in Formula One practice at the Österreichring in 1975.” Cox relates,
“But I kept working on projects and races with Roger until 1989, a total of 20 years. During my 20 year involvement with Penske Racing, I saw Penske accumulate seven Indy 500 wins.” Penske Racing went on to win an astounding total of 18 Indy 500s.
Today, still living in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Cox remarks on the many years with Penske:
“Thinking back as far as my work on the Camaros, or the Javelin, or in Germany with Helmut Flegl and the 917, it all ended well – but it’s funny how it all started.”
Author Luis Martinez and Don Cox at Amelia Island Concours, March 8, 2020. Photo: Anthony J. Bristol
Subscribe
1 Comment
Oldest
Geoff Herald
11 months agoGreat anecdotes, wish I had attended Amelia last year.
Met Don Cox about 6-7 years ago at a Porsche Club track day at Watkins Glen. As we both had Cayman coupes, I was intrigued by what I thought was an “aftermarket” rear wing, but then I sort of recognized the oval Cox Engineering logo from some Chaparral pictures .
Little did I know, but he explained at some length his experimentation with the fitting and testing of this wing, just for fun, on a Cayman.
Then he mentioned being part of a boondoggle on a GM jet to Midland , Texas, to size up the test bed Jim Hall was perfecting at Rattlesnake raceway. The GM guys were chatting up the pilots and crew, contemplating the lift forces and wing dynamics they were enjoying over a cocktail at 25,000 feet, and voila’, why not turn one upside down on a race car??
As the article says, he was there and saw it all!