Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

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Driven to Win: Racing in America exhibition is a playground for all ages

DRIVEN TO WIN: RACING IN AMERICA

presented by General Motors is Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation’s premier racing exhibition. It was all set to open last summer. Anticipation was high. Preview parties were planned. The cars on display — from the “Old 16” race car to Jim Clark’s Lotus-Ford from the 1965 Indy 500 — were ready for installation. Racing simulator games were plugged in, and a gravity racetrack was constructed, poised to welcome visitors to take a turn on its hills.

COVID-19 changed all that, forcing a long pause in the exhibition’s grand opening plans in 2020. In March 2021, that pause was finally over, with Driven to Win welcoming guests for the first time.

Matt Anderson, curator of transportation at The Henry Ford, will tell you that many of the elements within Driven to Win make it a literal playground — for kids as well as grown-ups.

There are lots of interactive elements: There’s a quarter midget car that kids can sit in, six full-motion racing simulators (additional fee required to experience), a pit crew exercise where you can try your hand at changing a stock car’s tires — real fast, a drag racing Christmas tree light column that tests your reflexes, a race car driver training gymnasium complete with hightech cognitive games and much more.

In addition, you can get acquainted with some of the young-at-heart personalities who have and still are burning up the competitive racing scene, like professional rally driver Ken Block. “You really get a sense of Block’s showmanship,” said Anderson about watching the video that runs on a continuous loop near Block’s wild-looking 2012 Ford Fiesta ST HFHV, which is part of the exhibition.

Or you can stop and learn about stock car driver Bubba Wallace, the second Black driver to race full-time in NASCAR’s toplevel series. A die-cast model of his 2020 Chevrolet Camaro painted with “Black Lives Matter” is on display. And don’t forget to take a closer look at the 1960 Slingshot Dragster built by teens Sam Buck and Bob Thompson. “These guys are a case study for racing as grown-up play. A couple of young hot-rodders who built a car from a kit, modified the engine with speed shop parts and became drag strip heroes on weekends,” said Anderson.

Plus, there’s an impressive collection of tether cars, a display of Hot Wheels and slot cars, Lego models of Ford GT racers, and a whole selection of influential racing video games — from Atari’s Indy 500 (1977) and Pole Position (1983) to Microsoft’s Forza Motorsport (2005).

— JENNIFER LAFORCE

ONLINE For more information, hours and pricing for Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, visit thf.org/museumc

READ

The Henry Ford Magazine’s JanuaryMay 2020 issue totally dedicated to racing. It includes a questionand-answer with drifter Vaughn Gittin Jr., spotlights some of racing’s remarkable women and takes you inside one of racing’s top-tier training facilities in Indianapolis issuu.com/thfmagazinec

HOLMAN MOODY-BUILT FORD GALAXIE

Driven to Win: Racing in America has a new addition: a Holman Moody-built 1966 Ford Galaxie driven by Wendell Scott. He was the first African American to compete full-time in NASCAR’s Cup Series and the first to win a top-level race. The car is on loan to The Henry Ford from Hajek Motorsports through the end of 2021.

Breaking barriers, Scott fought limited resources and discrimination throughout his 13-year career in auto racing, even inspiring the 1977 film Greased Lighting. He was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2015. Learn more about the obstacles he faced and overcame on our blog.

See the visiting ‘66 Galaxie in the exhibition, and then go to The Henry Ford’s digital collections and view related photos in the Dave Friedman Collection, where Matt Anderson, curator of transportation, said images were recently found of Scott and the Galaxie in its original Holman Moody paint.

cScotsman Jim Clark won the

Indianapolis 500 with this rear-engine Lotus-Ford in 1965, effectively killing the traditional

Indy roadster and establishing a new design for American race cars. The vehicle is one of 22 race cars on display in The Henry

Ford’s now-open Driven to Win:

Racing in America exhibition.