Word: granatelli
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Speed Sells. There are hundreds of additives on the market, and sales last year probably topped $100 million. The largest manufacturer is STP Corp. (for Scientifically Treated Petroleum). It had sales of only $9 million as late as 1963 -but then Andy Granatelli took over as president. Granatelli, a former racing driver, figured that if speed could sell cars and tires, it could sell additives as well. He began to offer extra cash to racers who pasted STP decals conspicuously on their cars. Motorists now buy 2,000,000 cans a week, usually paying more than a dollar...
...Maybe," said Andy Granatelli, "somebody up there doesn't want me to win." That was the way it looked last week as Granatelli, 45, the Don Quixote of auto racing, once again was frustrated in his long and costly quest to win the Indianapolis 500. Last year, only the failure of a $6 ball bearing with eight miles to go kept Parnelli Jones from winning the 500-mile race in Granatelli's revolutionary, turbine-powered STP Special. Last week, in an uncannily similar disaster, Joe Leonard was whooshing toward apparently certain victory in a new STP turbine when...
...Granatelli was up to his ears in fast cars, he was soon precariously low on drivers. Jones decided that he would not drive this year; and doctors announced that Jackie Stewart's hand, injured the month before, would not be healed in time for the race...
Then on May 7, only hours after he had turned in the second fastest lap in Speedway history. Mike Spence was killed in a freak accident while testing teammate Greg Weld's turbine. The next day Weld, who had been slow all month, was released by STP, and Granatelli was left with 1966 winner Graham Hill, and four turbine cars...
...Leonard did what he could to improve the driver to car ratio by stuffing last year's car into the first-turn wall during a test run. As a reward Granatelli hired him to drive number 60, which had originally been assigned to Mike Spence. It wasn't a bad move. When the first day of qualifying ended, Leonard held the pole position...