RAY EVERNHAM TAKES HOME TOP AWARDS AT AMELIA ISLAND CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE

Unique Restoration of Mario Andretti’s Brawner Hawk 

Won Best in Class – Race Cars (1961-1967) and the Phil Hill Restorer’s Award

 

Historic Car to Appear at the 100th Anniversary of the Indianapolis 500 

 

CHARLOTTE — When Ray Evernham chose the 21st annual Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance to debut his restoration of the car that took Mario Andretti to the 1965 USAC National Championship and Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award, he knew it was a special car for such a prestigious show.

 

And he was correct.  His painstakingly accurate restoration of Mario Andretti’s Brawner Hawk, led by famed Indy 500 Crew Chief Jim McGee, appeared at the 2016 Amelia Island Concours exactly as it did in May 1965 when Andretti won Indy’s Rookie-of-the-Year honors with a third place finish in the 49th   running of the Memorial Day classic.

 

The Brawner Hawk was given the recognition it deserved by the concours judges, as it was awarded Best in Class – Race Cars (1961-1967) and the Phil Hill Restorer’s Award, which is an award created to honor the artisan whose restoration of a classic, antique, historic or competition car is judged the best new restoration in its first concours appearance.

 

“I’ve been a lifelong fan of Mario Andretti.  I watched him race growing up and have always admired his talent, his business leadership, his commitment to philanthropy and his passion for the sport,” said Evernham.  “To be able to restore his rookie Indy Car was truly a special opportunity. I can’t thank Jim McGee enough for leading the restoration of the car and am thrilled the Brawner Hawk was not only recognized for its historical significance but also for all of the effort Jim and the team put into it.”

 

“From the historian’s point of view, Ray Evernham’s ’65 Brawner Hawk is a pivotally important car,” said Bill Warner, founder and Chairman of the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. “It crystalizes a moment of monumental change in American race car design and construction: a true ‘technological changing of the guard’ — the first American-built rear engine car to win the national championship.”

 

This car launched the Andretti legend: Mario not only won the Indy 500, he ultimately won the Daytona 500 and the Formula 1 World Championship. It all started in 1965 in the cockpit of Clint Brawner’s first rear-engine car that made its concours debut on March 13, 2016 at Amelia Island, Florida.

 

The 1965 Brawner Hawk’s next stop will be Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Indianapolis 500 race weekend, where Mario Andretti will once again get behind the wheel of his rookie Indy Car for the first time in nearly 50 years.

 

The 2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance was held March 11 to 13 on the 10th and 18th fairways of The Golf Club of Amelia Island at The Ritz-Carlton, Amelia Island.  The show’s Foundation has donated over $2.75 million to Community Hospice of Northeast Florida, Inc. and other charities on Florida’s First Coast since its inception in 1996. In 2013 the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance won Octane Magazine’s EFG International Historic Motoring Event of the Year award.