Sam Posey

Posey’s father, Lt. (j.g.) Samuel Felton Posey, was killed in action during the Battle of Okinawa, with his remains never recovered. He grew up on his grandfather’s estate in Connecticut, near Lime Rock Park. At age fourteen, he was given a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, and received his initial racing instruction from neighbor John Fitch. Posey began as an amateur sports car racer before moving to the Can-Am series, designing and funding a car in collaboration with engineer Ray Caldwell.

In 1968, Posey raced the Sunoco Camaro for Roger Penske in the Trans-Am Series. Chevrolet secured the championship through the Penske team effort, led by driver Mark Donohue, who won ten of thirteen races. Posey’s debut race at Bridgehampton resulted in a third-place finish, followed by third at Meadowdale and St Jovite. He finished second at Watkins Glen, the only race in 1968 where Donohue was defeated by a Camaro. Posey’s car featured the same Sunoco Blue and yellow lettering as Donohue’s, distinguished by a yellow spoiler on Posey’s car and a red spoiler on Donohue’s.

In 1969, Posey won the Lime Rock Trans-Am race in a factory Ford Mustang. The 1970 Trans-Am season saw him driving Ray Caldwell’s factory-backed Autodynamics Dodge Challenger, competing against drivers such as Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, Mark Donohue, and Jim Hall in a season considered by many racing historians to be the greatest in US professional road racing history. He also participated in the USAC Championship Car series in 1969 and from 1972 to 1974, achieving a best finish of third at the Kent road course in 1969.

Posey’s entry for the 1973 Indianapolis 500 was disqualified when USAC Technical Director Frank DelRoy discovered his team had disguised their already qualified car to attempt another qualifying run, hoping to avoid being bumped from the field. During the 1986 Indianapolis 500 broadcast on ABC, Posey attempted to interview race leader Kevin Cogan via two-way radio while a yellow flag was displayed. Cogan initially resisted the conversation, but Posey persisted, prompting Cogan to state he was “a little busy now.” Posey responded that if he were in Cogan’s position, he “wouldn’t want to talk to me either.” Moments later, Bobby Rahal overtook Cogan on a restart to win the race.

Posey competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans ten times (1966, 1969–1973, and 1975–1978), achieving five top-ten finishes, including third place in 1971 while driving a Ferrari 512M. He participated in two Formula One World Championship events, the 1971 and 1972 United States Grand Prix, retiring from the first and finishing 12th in the second, failing to score any championship points. He drove Surtees cars in both events, with the first being a works-entered car. He also made a single start in the NASCAR Grand National Series, at Riverside International Raceway in 1970.

Posey transitioned to auto racing commentary for ABC Sports, debuting at the 1974 Indianapolis 500 as an analyst. He later served as a pit reporter and filled in as an analyst when Jackie Stewart was unavailable, becoming the first-choice analyst by 1986. He commentated alongside Paul Page and Bobby Unser on CART/PPG Indy Car World Series races through 1995, and also appeared on selected NASCAR broadcasts. The broadcast team of Page, Posey, and Unser was a prominent fixture in Indy car racing during the late 1980s and early 1990s, though Posey and Unser occasionally engaged in heated on-air exchanges, leading Unser to move to a remote reporting location at the 1993 Indy 500. He also covered the 1989 Tour de France for ABC, returning as lead anchor in 1990 and 1991. Posey worked as the play-by-play announcer for luge during ABC’s coverage of the 1984 and 1988 Winter Olympics.

Posey moved to Speedvision in 1996, covering sports car racing and Formula One. He also contributed essay work for the Tour de France on OLN/Versus and wrote for Road & Track magazine. He is the author of Playing With Trains and The Mudge Pond Express, an autobiography detailing his racing career. An accomplished artist, painter, and architect, he earned a B.F.A. in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1966. Since 1995, Posey has suffered from Parkinson’s disease, which has limited his activities. He provided pre-race montages for Formula 1 broadcasts on Speed Channel and narrated montages for NBC Sports Network from 2013 to 2017.

Posey was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2016. In 2013, the front straight at Lime Rock Park was renamed the Sam Posey Straight in his honour.