He returned to driving in August at the Trans-Am event at Watkins Glen. The throttle stuck wide open, and Savage suffered near-fatal head injuries in the ensuing crash. In March 1971, Savage entered the Questor Grand Prix at Ontario Motor Speedway, driving an Eagle-Plymouth Formula 5000 car. #Savage scaffold professional#This would be his sole professional auto racing victory. Early in the season, Chrysler cut back support for the AAR effort and Gurney stepped out of the car to let Savage drive the entire season.ĭriving an Eagle-Ford Ind圜ar, Savage won the Bobby Ball Memorial, a 150-mile race at Phoenix International Raceway on November 21, 1970. In 1970, Savage and Gurney drove identical factory-sponsored Plymouth Barracudas in the Trans-Am Series. With AAR's racing program cut back due to budget troubles, Savage resumed semi-pro motorcycle racing in the Southern California area. Competing in the 1969 Daytona 500, he crashed after a wheel fell off on lap 124. He finished fifth at Riverside in his one appearance in the car. #Savage scaffold driver#Savage debuted in the old SCCA United States Road Racing Championship (USRRC) series in April 1968, driving a Lola T70 Mk III (the car campaigned by Gurney in the 1967 Can-Am racing series a condition of employment Gurney imposed on the young driver was that he rebuild and prepare the car for competition with very little assistance from other AAR staff). After a partial season driving NASCAR stock cars in the South for the Ford factory-backed racing team Holman-Moody, Savage received a telephone call from Gurney inviting him back to Southern California to try his hand at sports car racing. Also in attendance was a Ford public relations executive named Monte Roberts, who watched Savage calmly wheelie a motorcycle for the better part of a mile and, struck by Savage's "racy" name and obvious talent, encouraged Ford officials to take Savage under their wing. In January 1967, Savage made a point of showing up at a Ford Motor Company test session at Riverside International Raceway attended by, among others, racing legend Dan Gurney. By his mid-teens he was racing motorcycles competitively.Īn exceptional natural athlete, he was honored as an all-state high school football player at San Bernardino's Pacific High School as a junior, but was ruled ineligible for his senior year because he had accepted prize money racing motorcycles and was therefore ruled a professional athlete. He began Soap Box Derby racing at the age of five, moved up to racing quarter midget cars, then at age twelve to Go-Kart racing. 5 Complete Non-Championship Formula One resultsīorn and raised in San Bernardino, California, Savage was the eldest son of David Earl Savage Sr.3 Complete USAC Championship Car results.2.1 1973 Indianapolis 500 crash and subsequent death.
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