“Full Circle” goes inside the plan to race a dream car at Daytona

“Wouldn’t it be a kick in the ass to run the next Daytona? Get out there with the big boys. Run 1200 miles. Maybe win it? How’s that sound?”

It’s late October, 1963; the corner booth in Bernard’s Surf bar, Cocoa Beach, near Cape Canaveral, Florida. The boys are having a couple of rounds after work. They’ve got their drinks, and plates stoked with happy hour free food. The boys are Larry Perkins (Perk) and his cronies Jake, Pepi, Bob and Fred. They’re shooting the breeze. As always, the breeze blows toward cars and racing.

The casual chatter has suddenly taken a shocking turn — not so easy with a bunch of aerospace engineers and race drivers. Larry has just made a proposal which sounds … sort of … like a joke.

“Perk, the race is definitely…