Al Speyer, former Executive Director of Motorsports for Bridgestone/Firestone, hasn’t taken too long finding a new home after 39 years with the tire manufacturer.
He’ll be joining the DeltaWing Racing Cars team as its President and Chief Operating Officer, with the task of preparing for 2014 and transitioning the team into an organization capable of long-term growth.
“DeltaWing is a terrific concept, and I am delighted to be joining the team,” Speyer said in a team release. “I have been a passionate believer in DeltaWing since its inception and am very enthusiastic about the future. I am grateful to managing partner Don Panoz and partners Chip Ganassi, Joe Walton and Duncan Dayton for selecting me for this key position. I am fully aware that there is a lot to be done and am eager to get started.”
The DeltaWing is racing’s radical, oft-derided red-headed stepchild, but it’s kept going through a crazy ride over the last 12-16 months in particular.
The car was originally planned as an IndyCar prototype but rejected by that series’ ICONIC committee; it found its home in sports car racing, first with backing from Nissan, Michelin, and All American Racers in the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans and Petit Le Mans.
This year, the car is independent from its former partners, run under the auspices of Panoz’s headquarters in Braselton, Ga., adopted with Bridgestone tires and running in the American Le Mans Series’ P1 class with drivers Katherine Legge and Andy Meyrick. It had its breakout race at Elkhart Lake’s Road America in August and plans are forging ahead on the team’s new coupe version, which premiered last week.
Speyer, whose impact on motorsports through his efforts at Bridgestone/Firestone was profound, is about as good a get as possible to enhance the DeltaWing’s brand and further its future. The car runs at half the weight, with half the horsepower of a normal prototype.
