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Written by:
David Phillips
Senior writer, RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
Senior writer, RACER Magazine http://www.racer.com/speedtv
03/18/2008 - 01:45 AM
Sebring, Fla.
O'Connell (second from right) shares another winning moment at Sebring with Corvette co-drivers Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows. (LAT photo) » More Photos
One’s tastes tend to Giuseppe Verdi and Bourdais, the other’s to Johnny Cash and Copenhagen. But one thing they share in common is a love of fast cars and the ability to drive them exceptionally well . . . particularly at Hendricks Field, former WWII training facility for B-17s and, since the 1950s, known to motorsports fans as Sebring International Raceway.
“They” are Phil Hill and Johnny O’Connell. Together they have enjoyed more success at Sebring than any other two drivers since Alec Ulmann staged America’s first sports car endurance race at Hendricks Field in 1952. Together, Hill and O’Connell have 13 class and overall wins at Sebring, a total that was enhanced when the latter stormed home to the GT1 victory this past Saturday in a Corvette C6.R co-driven by Jan Magnussen and Ron Fellows.
That makes seven class wins in the Twelve Hours of Sebring for O’Connell, breaking a tie he has had with Hill since ‘04 and making him the event’s winningest driver. It’s an honor O’Connell appreciates.
“It's huge to break Phil Hill's record,” O’Connell said late Saturday night. “If you've ever had the chance to meet Phil Hill, he is everything good and proper about motorsports. He was what was wonderful about that era. You run across some of your heroes that are just so full of themselves. But you meet someone like Phil Hill, he's one of the coolest cats around!”
Phil Hill, here celebrating victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix, was a Sebring legend as well as America's first World Champion. (LAT photo) » More Photos
O’Connell went on to share a story about the time he, Hill and another distinguished American racer -- John Morton -- got together, about how they talked of racing and cars with no egos on display, no ‘I can top that’ attitudes about the old war stories. How nobody who observed the conversation would have had any idea the distinguished fellow in the middle was the first American to win the World Driving championship.
“Phil didn’t want to talk about the races he won or his championships,” O’Connell said. “He talked about the beauty of the cars he competed in and the spectacle of this race. When you spend time with someone who is that deep and insightful, you come away with a much better understanding of how special this race is.”
And it was in a similarly humble spirit that O’Connell noted it probably took Hill a few less years to score his six class wins at Sebring, and that nobody wins alone at Sebring.
“When you win Sebring, you share it,” he said. “It's not about one guy. I got my first ALMS win with Jan in 1999, and I've won some 25 races with Ron. I can't think of two finer gentlemen and race car drivers I'd rather share this win with.”
Initially, of course, the only people the Poughkeepsie-born O’Connell shared his wins with were his mechanics. For in the 1980s and ’90s, O’Connell
After a brief return to open-wheel racing in the Indy Racing League (including the Indianapolis 500 ), O’Connell returned to sports car racing with Panoz before joining the factory Corvette team in ’01. He promptly won his class in the 24 Hours of Daytona and followed that with a second class win at Le Mans later that same season. He has since gone on to become one of the leaders in every significant American Le Mans Series category whether it be starts (85), wins (29) or championships (two).
Now, it is undeniably true that some of those wins and championships came when Corvette faced but token opposition in the GT1 category. Not that that was always the case, such as when they squared off with Aston Martin in ’06 and O’Connell (with some help from Fellows) won at Road America. And the fact that Corvette often had only itself to beat cuts both ways, as O’Connell noted Saturday night. “Anytime you beat your own team,” he said, “you have to be pretty good.” Especially, one might add, when the team’s “other” car is driven by Olivier Beretta, Oliver Gavin and, occasionally, Max Papis.
Phil Hill, here celebrating victory in the 1960 Italian Grand Prix, was a Sebring legend as well as America's first World Champion. (LAT photo) » More Photos
Like comparing Michael Schumacher to Juan Manuel Fangio, Jeff Gordon to Richard Petty, Brett Favre to Johnny Unitas, there is no ultimate “answer” when you compare Phil Hill and Johnny O’Connell. O’Connell never got a whiff of Formula 1, let alone won a World Championship. Then again, Hill never turned a lap at the Brickyard. Hill won the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the World Championship in the same season (1961), O’Connell scored class wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the same season (2001) and appeared in a Super Bowl commercial with Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mary Blige, T.I and Big & Rich in 2007.
The point here is not to debate whether Phil Hill or Johnny O’Connell is the better driver. Rather it is to recognize that O’Connell was already one of America’s most accomplished drivers even before last weekend. His seventh win at Sebring merely confirms that fact.
David Phillips is a Senior Writer for RACER magazine. For details about the current issue, visit www.racer.com.
The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, SPEED, or Haymarket Worldwide.
Commenting is not allowed in this article.
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