Hurley: the best kept secret in Auto Racing

Flying for business is often an excuse for me to catch up on some reading, Motorsports news, or get lost in my own thoughts. On this shorter than normal trip, I happened to be casually browsing the movie offerings on a local Delta Airlines flight and came across this…

“American racing legend Hurley Haywood speaks for the first time about being gay in the 1970’s world of motor sports, setting the record straight.” (IMDB) – Wait, what…? – My attention peaked and a sucker for Motorsports history as well as documentaries, I hoped this already delayed flight would let me capture the entirety of the film.

The film isn’t a militant political piece but rather a mild-manner soft-spoken and emotional retelling of IMSA in the ’70s as told from Hurley’s perspective. I thought the overall mood, use of archive footage, interviews and music used in the film were brilliant. The combination really conveyed Hurley’s personality in an unspoken way, and it was a very intimate experience. Within the 90 minute running time the producers were also able to add back stories about the Brumos Porsche Team, Hurley’s relationship with Peter “Peter Perfect” Gregg, and other maybe not so well known Motorsports stories of the time. Did you know Hurley started as an AutoCrosser?

Having recently been to the Sahlen’s 6-hrs race at Watkins Glen and seeing the Brumos No.911 and No.912 Porsches up close, with their Red/Blue No.58/No.59 livery, now makes 100% sense. I never paid attention before… but those were Peter and Hurley’s numbers!  I always knew Hurley as “a Porsche guy” but have always had more of an attachment to him as “the other guy” driving along-side Hans J. Stuck and Walter Rohrl for Audi Sport in the late ’80s and early ’90s.

I found the entire movie to be engaging but also gentle; but more importantly I feel I walked away from it with some closure. I feel that I now know Hurley Haywood better and respect him for his wins (ie: 5 times Rolex-24 & 3 times Le Mans overall winner) along with all his sacrifices. Hurley is a racing legend and definitely changed the way we look at, and still evaluate, Motorsports today. I don’t want to elaborate too much more on the film itself, as I think it’s something you have to experience on a personal level and I would prefer not to color the waters or give any spoilers. But I highly recommend checking it out! – If you’re not flying Delta Airlines anytime soon, “Hurley” is currently available on Amazon Prime.

Me paying my respects to Hurley’s Grouppe-44 Audi GTO at The Auto Collection in was what the Imperial Palace (now the Quad), Las Vegas in 2013.