Tony Adamowicz (May 2, 1941 – October 10, 2016) was an American

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

, active from 1963 until his death. He won the Under 2-Liter class of the 1968 Trans-Am Championship and the 1969 SCCA Continental Championship.

Early life

Adamowicz was born in 1941 to Polish immigrants in

Moriah, New York Moriah is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 4,798 at the 2010 census. The town is in the eastern part of the county. It is by ...

and raised in

Port Henry, New York Port Henry is a hamlet (and census-designated place) in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,194 at the 2010 census. Port Henry lies on the eastern side of the town of Moriah and is approximately one hour's drive (52 mile ...

. He began his career with the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and worked as a communications staffer at the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

during the late 1950s and 1960s.

Racing career

It was during his time in Washington DC that Adamowicz took up auto racing. He started racing with a Volvo PV 544 in neighbouring Maryland in 1963. He later contested the Under 2-Liter class of the 1968 Trans-Am Championship in a

Porsche 911 The Porsche 911 (pronounced ''Nine Eleven'' or in german: Neunelfer) is a two-door 2+2 high performance rear-engined sports car introduced in September 1964 by Porsche AG of Stuttgart, Germany. It has a rear-mounted flat-six engine and ori ...

, then raced in the

Can-Am The Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, was an SCCA/ CASC sports car racing series from 1966 to 1987. History Can-Am started out as a race series for group 7 sports racers with two races in Canada (''Can'') and four races in the United ...

Series and Formula A/Formula 5000, winning the 1969 SCCA Continental Championship. He had an opportunity to race in the 1970 Indianapolis 500, but during the first lap of his qualifying attempt in his

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

- Offy the yellow light was shown and Adamowicz slowed. However, the yellow was an error and Adamowicz was ordered to continue with the other 3 laps. The first lap, slower than his others, dragged down his average to a point where he was bumped from the field. He got in another car but crashed in practice before having a chance to requalify. Adamowicz returned to sports cars, racing TransAm in an Autodynamics

Dodge Challenger The Dodge Challenger is the name of three different generations of automobiles (two of those being pony cars) produced by American automobile manufacturer Dodge. However, the first use of the Challenger name by Dodge was in 1959 for marketing ...

as teammate to

Sam Posey Sam Posey (born May 26, 1944)) is an American former racing driver and sports broadcast journalist. Early life and driving career Posey's father was killed in the Battle of Okinawa. Posey grew up on his grandfather's Connecticut estate near Lime ...

, achieving second place in the

1971 24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

in a Ferrari 512S, shared with Ronnie Bucknum, and third place in the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans with

in a 512M Also in September 1971 Adamowicz won 12 Horas Marlboro in Yahuarcocha Ecuador in a Ferrari 512S. After the decline of the Can Am and F5000 formulas, he moved to

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

series and won the 1979 GTU championship in an Electramotive

Nissan 280ZX The Nissan S130 is a sports coupé produced by Nissan in Japan from 1978 until 1983. It was sold as the Datsun 280ZX, Nissan Fairlady Z and Nissan Fairlady 280Z, depending on the market. In Japan, it was exclusive to Nissan Bluebird Store locatio ...

and 1982 GTO championship in an Electramotive 280ZX-T. He returned to prototypes in 1984 but had little success at that level and retired after the 1989

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layo ...

. He then competed in select vintage races in the same 1969-model Eagle racing car in which he won the 1969 SCCA Continental Championship. The car is now owned by Doug Magnon, the founder of the Riverside International Automotive Museum, and prepared by mechanic Bill Losee. It bears the identical livery it carried back in 1969. As the Eagle had been parked immediately after the 1969 season, and was not run again until following its restoration in 2008, Adamowicz remained the only driver to actually have driven this car. Adamowicz was inducted into the

National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame The National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame and Museum was founded in 1973. The mission of the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame is to recognize and preserve outstanding achievement by individuals of Polish heritage in the field o ...

in 2016.

Personal life and death

Early in 2015, Adamowicz was diagnosed with brain cancer,

glioblastoma Glioblastoma, previously known as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), is one of the most aggressive types of cancer that begin within the brain. Initially, signs and symptoms of glioblastoma are nonspecific. They may include headaches, personality ...

. He died on October 10, 2016 at the age of 75.Tony Adamowicz, 1941-2016
, ''Racer'', October 10, 2016. Retrieved October 10, 2016.

Complete Formula One Non-Championship results

( key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

a2z racer
- website devoted to Tony Adamowicz

- ''MyF5000.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Adamowicz, Tony 1941 births 2016 deaths People from Port Henry, New York Racing drivers from New York (state) 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Trans-Am Series drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers SCCA National Championship Runoffs participants Jaguar Racing drivers