Chuck Daigh dies

Chuck Daigh

This comes as a bit of late news but back on April 29th Chuck Daigh died in a hospital in Newport Beach, California after a brief battle with heart and respiratory problems at the age of 84. Born on November 29, 1923, Daigh was an American racing car driver. He broke into F1 Grand Prix racing through Lance Reventlow's Scarab team, through the virtue of being one of the resident engineers.

Born in Long Beach, California, he participated in six World Championship Formula One races, debuting on May 29, 1960 and scoring no championship points. He also participated in one non-Championship Formula One race.

He served as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne during WWII and saw action in France, Belgium and Germany, including fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. On his return he went to work for Bill Stroppe and Clay Smith preparing the Bob Estes entered Lincoln Capris for the Carrera Panamericana Mexican road race. He was the co-driver on three occasions, in 1952 and 1953 with Walt Faulkner, finishing 8th in 1953 and with Chuck Stevenson in 1954 when they failed to finish.

Chuck Daigh also drove Stock Cars in NASCAR as well as many other venues of racing. On the 29th of May 1960 he debuted in F1 and participated in another five Grands Prix at the wheel of a Scarab and a Cooper. What you will not see is the little known fact that he was the chief engineer that designed and built the Scarabs that became so famous. It was Daigh that drove the Scarab to victory in the 1958 Riverside International Grand Prix beating a field of international factory teams including famous race car driver Phil Hill and the Ferrari Team. Carroll Shelby drove the Scarab sports car built by Daigh to victory at the Continental Divide raceway in Castle Rock Colorado setting a new course record. He was also a successful sportscar driver in America, winning the 1959 Sebring endurance classic and also tried to qualify twice for the Indianapolis 500.