Terrence Stephen "Steve" McQueen 

                         (March 24, 1930 – November 7, 1980)

Steve McQueen was top box-office draw of the 1960s and 1970s. He
received an Academy Award nomination for his role in The Sand Pebbles
(1966). His other popular films include The Great Escape (1963), Bullitt
(1968), and The Towering Inferno (1974).. In 1974, he became the
highest-paid movie star in the world.

McQueen was an avid racer of both motorcycles and cars. While he studied
acting,he partially supported himself by competing in weekend motorcycle
races and bought his first motorcycle with his winnings.

McQueen in a scene from The Great Escape

 
 
Steve McQueen in Bullitt

Sometimes referred to as "The Great American Race" or the "Super Bowl of Stock
Car Racing”, the Daytona 500 is a 500 mile-long NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race
held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. 

The first Daytona 500 was officially held on February 22, 1959. Lee Petty, the
father of racing legend Richard Petty, was the first winner.

The winner of the Daytona 500 is presented with the Harley J. Earl Trophy in
Victory Lane, and the winning car is displayed for one year at the Daytona
500 Experience, a museum adjacent to the speedway. 

Lee Petty

             Ralph Dale Earnhardt, Sr. (April 29, 1951 – February 18, 2001)

Race car driver Dale Earnhardt, known as “The Intimidator”, died of injuries 
received a crash during the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 at Daytona
International Speedway. He has been inducted into numerous halls of fame, 
including the inaugural class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The original Chevrolet “bowtie emblem” introduced by company co-founder
William C. Durant in 1913.  

 

Louis Chevrolet

William Durant

Louis Chevrolet at the wheel of his prototype for the 1912 Chevrolet

The Chevrolet Motor Car Company was founded on November 3, 1911
by Louis Chevrolet, a race car driver and automotive engineer and
William C. Durant, the founder of General Motors who, after five
years, lost control of the company in 1910. The first Series C
Classic Six prototype Chevy was ready months before The
company was actually incorporated. 

The first Chevrolet automobile produced in Detroit, 1912. The son of William
Durant, Cliff Durant, is behind the wheel.

Shortly after completing work on his third starring feature film, producer-director
George Steven’s Giant (1956), actor James Dean and his passenger, mechanic
Rolf Wutherich, started out on a trip to Salinas, California in Dean’s silver Porsche
(above) to compete in a sports car rally. As Dean was traveling down the highway,
he crashed almost head-on into a Ford sedan (shown below) that had crossed into
Dean’s lane in an attempt to turn at an intersection in the highway. Dean was killed instantly. Wutherich and the driver of the other vehicle, 23-year-old college student
Donald Turnupseed survived. Dean was only 24.

Junction of US Highways 46 and 41 near Cholame, CA. (2007)

The remains of Dean’s Porsche

The 1950 Ford Custom sedan, driven by Turnupseed