completely different races: the 1959 Formula One race,
the 1967 12 Hours and the 1962 GT support race.
During the 1960s, tech inspection took place in downtown
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Sebring and then the cars were driven to the track!
Sebring became a permanent year-round circuit in
1987 upon completion of a track reconfiguration project
that eliminated the airport runway portion of the
original 5.2 mile circuit.
The most caution laps at Sebring was in 1993 when 5
hours and 55 minutes were run under caution due to
heavy rain (this includes over 1:15 of red-flag). There
were no caution laps in 1994 and 2001.
There have been five red-flags (race stopped) in Sebring
history, three times for rain (1993, 95, 2016) and twice
for an accident (1997, 2014).
The Chaparral 2 driven to victory in 1965 by Jim Hall
and Hap Sharp utilized an automatic transmission.
The only true All-American Sebring winners (American
car driven by American drivers) were the Cunningham
in 1953 (Phil Walters and John Fitch driving) and the
Chaparral in 1965 (Jim Hall and Hap Sharp driving).
1976 and 1981 Sebring winner Al Holbert was a member
of Roger Penske’s pit crew at Sebring in 1968.
The last car to qualify outside the top ten and then win
the 12 Hours of Sebring was the Porsche 962 driven
by A.J. Foyt and Bob Wollek in 1985 (qualified 13th
fastest).
In 1990, Derek Daly became the first person to drive
both the first and second place cars.
The 12 Hours was run on Sunday in 1953, 54 and 55.
All other years it has been held on Saturday. It has been
held in March every year except 1967, when it was run
on April 1st.
The Citicar, the first mass-produced electric car in
America, was constructed at the Sebring airport from
1974-79.
Two cars have been disqualified from Sebring 12 hours
while leading the race. In 1962, Stirling Moss and Innes
Ireland built a comfortable two-lap lead in their Ferrari,
but were disqualified for a refueling infraction. They
had refueled too early (fueling stops needed to be at
least 20 laps apart). In 1966, Dan Gurney was disqualified
for pushing his Ford, which had stopped on the
last lap while in the lead.
At the first race ever at Sebring, a six-hour race in
1950, Florida Gov. Fuller Warren rode with race official
George Huntoon for two laps around the circuit while
the race was in progress.
Two promoters of the Sebring 12 Hours have won their
own event: Charles Mendez and Andy Evans.
Ray Crawford (1955) and George Waltman (1961 and
1963) were the only drivers to complete the entire 12
Hours of Sebring solo. Crawford was given special
permission to do so by the American Automobile
Association (AAA). Rules now prohibit that.
Among the winners of support races prior to the 12
Hours of Sebring are Formula One legends Jim Clark
and Jochen Rindt. NASCAR star Joe Nemechek won
the first road race of his career at Sebring in the fall
1988 race.
Miles Collier raced under the assumed name “John
Marshall” in 1953 and 54 so his
parents would not know he was
racing (his brother Sam had been
killed in 1950 during a road race).
Spectators begin arriving at
Sebring several weeks before the
gates open. The record for earliest
arrival is 85 days.
Among the unusual engines
used in race cars competing at
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