Champagne!
Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt, driving a Ford MK IV, won the 1967 Le Mans 24 Hours, after leading from the second hour, becoming the first and only so far, all American victors – car, team and drivers – of the race. Ferrari were second and third.
When the winners mounted the victory stand, Gurney was handed the traditional magnum of champagne (picture above). Looking down, he saw Ford CEO Henri Ford II, team owner Carroll Shelby, their wives and many journalists. Gurney shook the bottle and sprayed everyone nearby, establishing a tradition for every winner around the world. Nobody had ever done this on a podium before.
Gurney remembered: “What I did with the Champagne was totally spontaneous. I had no idea it would start a tradition. I was beyond caring and just caught up in the moment. It was one of those once-in-a-lifetime occasions where things turned out perfectly… I thought this hard-fought victory needed something special.”
“Dan was a big part of that win and I’m just glad to have been on his team. He sprayed Henri Ford II all up and down with champagne and I said ‘man, that’s the boss you’re spraying!‘” – the words of A.J. Foyt, who shared the top step of the podium with Dan Gurney.
“We were up there celebrating, and everyone was up there, Mike Parkes from Ferrari and all the Ford people,” recalled Gurney when Ford marked the 50th anniversary of his and Foyt’s win at Le Mans.
Gurney concluded: “Henri Ford was an imposing figure and if he looked at you the wrong way, you kind of shriveled up and tried to disappear. He was there with a new bride, I think, on their honeymoon and when I started spraying him, I’m not sure he liked it or not, but he was a good sport about it and we had a wonderful time spraying champagne, A.J. and I both.”
“Dan was as happy as I was,” added Foyt, acknowledging it as pretty spontaneous act. “Now you see all the Formula 1 drivers doing the same thing, but we did it 50 years ago. It was just a great victory, I think, for both of us.” A nice tradition indeed, started by Dan Gurney and A.J. Foyt (picture below) and perpetuated to this day.