Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys

The Lone Star State has no shortage of forward-thinking innovators dedicated to transforming the world — and that’s just as true in motorsport as it is in other fields.
From dusty dirt tracks and moonshine backgrounds to Indianapolis glory and international fame, Texas has produced some of racing’s boldest personalities and fiercest competitors. This talk explores the lives and legacies of legendary figures such as A. J. Foyt, Carroll Shelby, Jim Hall, and other drivers, builders, and innovators whose influence extended far beyond the Lone Star State.
Join motorsport journalist and historian Elizabeth Blackstock for a talk spanning discipline including IndyCar, NASCAR, endurance racing, drag racing, and sports cars to examine how Texas developed such a distinctive racing culture — and why so many of its competitors became synonymous with toughness, independence, and mechanical ingenuity.

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The year is 1940. Lucy O’Reilly Schell sits on the last ocean liner to depart Italy for the United States of America before World War II completely engulfs the European continent. Accompanying her are some of European Grand Prix racing's stars, two Maseratis, her young son Harry, and a dream: She intends to win the Indianapolis 500.
It is a dream deferred by the death of her beloved husband Laury in a road accident — one that also left Lucy with injuries that she's still nursing on that ship. It is a dream nearly brought to a screaming halt by war, a dream she won't be able to realize from the pits of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, because even though she's a team owner, women are banned lest they distract the men.
It is a dream that will not come true, but Lucy O’Reilly Schell is not the kind of woman to worry about those kinds of things. After all, she fielded the quiet Delahaye that, with Jewish driver René Dreyfus behind the wheel, defeated the might of Nazi Germany's repressively dominant Mercedes and Auto Union teams at the 1938 Pau Grand Prix. 
Today on “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we're investigating the exceptional life of Lucy O’Relly Schell, a French-born American racing driver turned team owner who did her best to bring glory to French automakers during the build-up to the second World War.
#motorsport #motorsporthistory #indy500 #indianapolis500 #worldwarii #wwii #renedreyfus #lucyschell #lucyoreillyschell #racing #womeninracing #womeninmotorsport

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Episode Bibliography: 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1028128781/?match=1&terms=%22lucy%20o%27reilly%22&_gl=1%2a1s2cxde%2a_up%2aMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAqrG9BhAVEiwAaPu5zinarN6sTwRXIAG8BQ7n5kyw7AKyBsnsc1bFahJmRyS6Uh9Oub71ohoCHcgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/552485268/?match=1&terms=%22lucy%20o%27reilly%22&_gl=1%2a1th56lx%2a_up%2aMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAqrG9BhAVEiwAaPu5zinarN6sTwRXIAG8BQ7n5kyw7AKyBsnsc1bFahJmRyS6Uh9Oub71ohoCHcgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.newspapers.com/image/314461808/?match=1&terms=%22lucy%20o%27reilly%22&_gl=1%2a1s2cxde%2a_up%2aMQ..&gclid=CjwKCAiAqrG9BhAVEiwAaPu5zinarN6sTwRXIAG8BQ7n5kyw7AKyBsnsc1bFahJmRyS6Uh9Oub71ohoCHcgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/blog/blog-posts/why-were-women-written-out-of-history-an-interview-with-bettany-hughes/

For much of its history, motorsport projected an image of hyper-masculinity, tradition, and exclusivity. Yet LGBTQ+ people have always been part of racing, even when the culture of the sport made openness difficult or dangerous.
Join motorsport historian Elizabeth Blackstock for a talk that explores the often-overlooked history of LGBTQ+ representation in motorsport through the stories of pioneering figures across different eras. From F1 drivers Lella Lombardi and Ralph Schumacher to modern racer/activists like Charlie Martin, we’ll understand what it has meant to be queer in racing and why motorsport has often lagged behind in acceptance when compared to other sports.

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In 1903, more than 220 competitors set off from Versailles bound for Madrid in what was supposed to be the greatest automobile race ever staged.
They never made it.
Within hours, drivers, mechanics, soldiers, spectators, and bystanders lay dead or dying along the roadside. Cars crashed into trees, burst into flames, and plowed into crowds. The death toll mounted so quickly that French authorities stopped the race before it even reached the Spanish border.
Newspapers around the world called it an "automotive holocaust." Critics demanded the end of motorsport. Governments questioned whether automobiles themselves were too dangerous for public roads.
Yet from the ashes of the Paris-to-Madrid disaster emerged many of the safety principles that still shape racing today.
In this episode of Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys, award-winning motorsport journalist and historian Elizabeth Blackstock explores the origins of city-to-city racing, reconstructs the catastrophic events of the 1903 Paris-to-Madrid rally, examines the public backlash that threatened to end motorsport forever, and explains how one of racing's darkest days ultimately helped create the modern sport we know today.
What made Paris-to-Madrid so deadly? Why did so many people die? And why did racing survive when so many believed it shouldn't?
#motorsport #motorsporthistory #racing #racinghistory #paristomadrid #parismadrid #rally #rallying 
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys: https://linktr.ee/deadlypassionsterriblejoys 
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Order Racing with Rich Energy: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/racing-with-rich-energy
Bibliography:
Cars at Speed by Robert Daley
https://www.newspapers.com/image/1158528162/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/86387471/
https://motorracinghistory.com/paris-bordeaux-the-place-and-the-winners-motor-age-11-june-1903/ 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/135329349/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/138851587/
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https://www.newspapers.com/image/1219567281/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/818686864/
https://www.newspapers.com/image/818686509/

It would be the darkest Month of May in Indianapolis 500 history.

In 1933, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway promised fans the safest race the Brickyard had ever seen. New rules, new technology, and a renewed focus on stock-based machinery were all meant to prove that America’s greatest race could survive the crushing weight of the Great Depression. Instead, the month became one of the bloodiest chapters in motorsport history.

Five men lost their lives before the checkered flag had even truly settled over Indianapolis.

In this episode of “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys,” we trace the chain of events that transformed the 1933 Indianapolis 500 into the deadliest running of the race ever contested. From Eddie Rickenbacker’s controversial “junk formula” regulations and the return of riding mechanics to the brutal qualifying crashes, mechanical failures, and horrifying accidents that claimed the lives of Bill Denver, Bob Hurst, Mark Billman, Lester Spangler, and Monk Jordan, we'll reveal how such a dangerous event came to be.

#Indianapolis500 #Indy500 #indycar #MotorsportHistory #RacingHistory #AutoRacing #VintageRacing #IndianapolisMotorSpeedway #MotorsportPodcast #Motorsport #RacingPodcast #IndyCarHistory #AAAChampionship #EddieRickenbacker #LouisMeyer #WilburShaw #GreatDepression #1933Indy500 #HistoricRacing #MotorsportCulture #RidingMechanic #ClassicCars #AmericanHistory #DangerousSports #SpeedwayHistory #GoldenAgeOfRacing #MotorRacing #HistoricMotorsport #OpenWheelRacing #Brickyard
To find out more about Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys: https://linktr.ee/deadlypassionsterriblejoys 
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Watch on YouTube: @eliz_blackstock
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Follow Elizabeth Blackstock on Twitter/X: @eliz_blackstock
Order Racing with Rich Energy: https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/racing-with-rich-energy
Bibliography: 
https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/motor/2015/05/21/indianapolis-500-indy-500-will-overhead-1933-newspaper-headline-mistake-history/27678645/
https://www.hemmings.com/stories/in-all-but-one-small-town-in-america-louis-meyer-won-the-1933-indianapolis-500/#comments-block 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/105233097/?match=1&terms=%22speedway%22 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/313430554/?match=1&terms=%22speedway%22 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/873257022/?match=1&terms=%22speedway%22 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/105160745/?match=1&terms=%22Indianapolis%20500%22
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https://www.newspapers.com/image/105155396/?match=2&terms=%22speedway%22 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/105160354/?match=1&terms=%22Indianapolis%20500%22 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/311162451/?match=2&terms=%22speedway%22
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https://www.newspapers.com/image/873257006/ 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/873255772/?match=1&terms=%22speedway%22
https://www.newspapers.com/image/313422288/?match=1&terms=%22Indianapolis%20500%22 
https://www.newspapers.com/image/873256688/?match=1&terms=%22speedway%22 
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