Steve McQueen
1970 Sebring 12-hours
Sebring always had its share of celebrities – Walter Cronkite, James Garner, Dick Smothers – but 1970 was different. Steve McQueen was going to drive a Porsche with Peter Revson, ostensibly as “research” for his upcoming film “Le Mans.” McQueen was driving with a broken left foot (you can see part of the cast) and had done an admirable job to not handicap Revson’s efforts too much. McQueen seems to be oblivious to his fans’ attention as he learns that Mario Andretti has been put into the second place Ferrari, in a bid to overtake Revson. I tried to be observant to all that was going on during often-chaotic pit stops and when I saw the young woman lean out over the pit wall, I moved my framing to include her.
Interestingly, this was not McQueen’s first time driving at Sebring. He had co-driven a factory Austin-Healy Sebring Sprite in the 1962 event (a DNF after 71 laps with engine issues).