Kent-ish - The Formula Ford Podcast

On February 1, 2005, 20-year-old me had the opportunity to sit down with Sir Stirling Moss. It was on a night in which the Madison Sports Car Club held 50th anniversary celebration – "A Night with Sir Stirling Moss." Stirling sat with me for five minutes and we recounted his time being Johnson Wax's ambassador with the Can-Am Series and his thoughts about some of those who competed.

 

It took me three converter programs to get the 2005 audio file up to current mp3 formatting, but here you go. Its rough. I'm rough (I'm still rough.) It ends without notice, as things do some times. 

 

But damn Stirling was fantastic.

 

Earlier in the evening, I presented he and Lady Moss with an event program from the 1961 International Gold Cup, which was held at Oulton Park, and won by Stirling in Rob Walker's Lotus 18. Lady Moss gave me a giant hug and thanked me- they didn't have much for programs, as Stirling went to events to race and didn't have many programs from his race wins. Through the dinner I saw the two of them paging through the program from a few tables away, grinning like mad. They only married in 1980, so it was something new for them to share.

 

While this recording has nothing to do with Formula Ford competition, I didn't know where or how else to post it. Stirling was a huge fan of FF in its infancy, so if nothing else, here's the five minutes I got to spend with one of the greatest of all-time.

 

Cheers,

 

JD

They say don't meet your heroes.

I'm not sure who 'they' are, but they obviously don't know Jimmy Vasser. The 1986 SCCA Runoffs National Champion and 1996 PPG/CART IndyCar champ was a pleasure to interview on VERY, VERY short notice, and his love for the sport comes out crystal clear after all these years, so much so that it looks like you may see him back in a Formula Ford very soon.

In this episode we discuss winning the Runoffs, being the first Team USA Scholarship recipient, running the ultra-rare Lanan Formula Ford, and of course- how good Formula Ford racers make excellent IndyCar team owners.

I hope you are all well and that you're enjoying Kent-ish. Feel free to drop me a line.

Cheers,

JD

Bryan Cohn has done it all. He's raced Formula Ford, prepped Formula Fords for others, rented FFs for others, worked on the other side of the fence running races, and even was one of the select few that raced a Peugeot 505 Turbo in SSB. All-the-while, Bryan has understood what the sport is all about, and has done it all with the best intentions in mind.

Enjoy,

-JD

Steve Nickless well-and-truly wrote the book on Formula Ford. His 1993 book 'The Anatomy and Development of the Formula Ford Race Car' chronicled the history of FF going back to its roots in England in the mid 1960s and is considered by many to be the 'FF bible.'

Nickless also spent some time behind the wheel of FFs and has written for such motorsports publications as Formula, On-Track, SportsCar, RACER and Vintage Motorsport.

Whether it is his tremendous writing at Road & Track magazine, his previous work at Jalopnik (and many, many others,) or his on screen persona via NBC Sports Network's 'Proving Ground' - Sam Smith has a way of bringing out his love of all things motorized.

In 2014, Smith stumbled upon a 1968 Alexis Mk14, and thus became a FF racer. It was a short tenure, but his love of FF and the various principles that make up the cars remain.

Enjoy!

-JD

It is really hard not to like Ethan Shippert. Like my first guest Reid Hazelton, he not only works on his own FF, but also does a lot to try to change the sport for the better while also maintaining client cars with his prep shop, Shippert Racing Services. I hope you enjoy this one- it clocks in at 90 minutes in length, and it is filled with a lot of great FF content.

Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts as to how Kent-ish is going. My only stopwatch in this is your feedback.

-JD

The long-awaited episode #1 with Mr. Monoshock- Reid Hazelton. Reid was one of the first FF racers I met back in my debut season a decade ago, and I've always enjoyed debating where things are in the sport.

There were sound issues: three dogs I failed to put away.

Regardless, for a first go to it, all the wheels stayed on.

Enjoy!

-JD

A brief overview of what is in store in the realm of this FF themed pod.

We hope to give Formula Ford drivers, tuners, manufacturers and even those behind the scenes a place to share their personal history of the sport, as well as their outlook as to the future of FF as a worldwide class.

Our first proper episode should be out in April.

...stay tuned.