Brought the very first rear engine race car (His slightly modified championship '60 F1 car) to the Indianapolis 500 in 1961 and finished 9th. The beginning of the end to the big-engine in front roadsters. A true innovator, RIP Jack.
http://allamericanracers.com/revolut...-indianapolis/
"The modern Indy roadster had evolved after World War II into a deceptively sophisticated device, brutally fast on the high speed Indy oval. Racing exclusively on ovals, the cars were very asymmetrical and unsuited for all but a few tracks. During the late fifties the cars even went head-to-head with the best of Formula One at the Monza War of the Worlds.
The results there were lopsided victories for the specialized oval racers from America. A few years later, in 1961, reigning World Champion Jack Brabham brought the first modern rear-engined "funny-car" to America. Although horribly underpowered by speedway standards, his little Cooper-Climax was amazingly quick through the turns - faster than any roadster, quick enough to finish the race in ninth place.
In 1962 a few others, including Mickey Thompson, tried their hands at the rear-engined cars. Thompson's lead car was driven by road racing star Dan Gurney in his Indy rookie year. Like many of Thompson's cars it was very adventurous in design, but it was also hastily built and contained too many flaws to achieve the desired result. The result of Gurney's participation, though, was profound and set into motion events that would forever change Indycar racing. Gurney's European racing experience was extensive and he knew first-hand the capabilities of the chassis builders. Gurney also knew the capabilities of the various American automakers. Simultaneously he approached both Colin Chapman at Lotus and the folks at Ford Motor Company. It was Gurney who saw a match between the premier Formula One chassis builder and the American giant looking to make its mark in racing."