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George Steinbrenner and the New York Yankees meet Darrell Gwynn and drag racing. Just how did the introduction come about? It turns out that the connection was Hank Steinbrenner, George's son. George is the owner of the New York Yankees. Hank is the oldest of George's five children and has a race horse farm in Ocala, Florida. He lives with his family in Clearwater, Florida. Don Gillespie was on hand at Gainesville Raceway when driver Mike Dunn first took the Gwynn Steinbrenner Racing team's Top Fuel dragster down the track. In this DRO exclusive interview, George and Hank Steinbrenner talk about their involvement in drag racing. DRO: How did you first get involved in sports? George Steinbrenner: Well, baseball, basketball and hockey back then. I owned the Cleveland Pipers. I owned part of the Cleveland Barrons in the old International Hockey League. So, I've been pretty active for about 40 years as a competitor, and then horses. I'd drive harness horses. I've been involved all of my life, as a competitor, and as a coach - business was a sideline. What was the reaction by your people when they heard you were becoming involved in a NHRA drag racing team? GS: I consider Roger Penske one of my very good friends, and Pat Patrick, who I was his little partner in the Indy Cars. They have both been friends of mine, and I've always looked to them as really great people. It really all goes to Hank, my son. He had an interest in this, He claims that this sport is on the up. The Indy cars are up there. We know the George family - and we know them well. That's all wonderful. But, this is something that my son really likes. I must say, that I really did not have a feel for it. But then, all of a sudden, I sit down with my top tax people; they love it. They're involved with it. I sit down with my top attorneys and my lead attorney - his father is a driver, Mark Tate. So, everybody around me, there in Tampa, and up in New York….and the trainer of the Yankees, Gene Monaghan, is the most knowledgeable motorsports car guy that you would want to find. So, all of a sudden I find these fellows have this great interest in this, and Indy Lights, Indy Cars and sports cars. To me, I've seen it from afar, the building of motorsports in this country, because they can identify so closely with the people that are involved with it - whether they are the crews, or the drivers. You can't do that when you're sitting with 60,000 fans miles away from them. Really, America can really feel like they're part of this sport. So, Hank sold me on it, and he really deserves all of the responsibility, or the credit, and he's got a troop of people around him that love it. So, that's good.
Hank, I understand that you're a gear-head from way back. What is your drag racing background? Hank Steinbrenner: I was a huge fan as a kid in the 60s - I mean a big fan, with the slingshots, especially. Don Prudhomme is a hero of mine, back when he was driving the slingshots, and of course, Garlits, and those guys. I never got to see a drag race "live" in Cleveland, at that time, even though it was pretty popular up there. But, I got all of the hot rod magazines, and kept track of it, on the Wide World of Sports, and all that. Then, I lost track of it, for years. It's really been the last two of three years that I've been back into it. A friend got me back into it, and I don't know why I didn't stay involved. Kind of a late start. What were you like as a kid? Did you like taking mechanical things apart? HS: I was somewhat of a tinkerer. When I was a fan of drag racing back then, it was more of how thrilling it would be to drive. But then, when you get older, you appreciate the technology of it, ever more so. Even though my grandfather was a very successful and wealthy ship owner, we started out - he did it his own way, and we started out in just a very nice and quiet suburb outside of Cleveland, called Bay Village. Nice, middle class, quiet. |
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Copyright 1999-2001, Drag Racing Online and Racing Net Source |
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Hank
Steinbrenner with driver Mike Dunn 
