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Samuel Felton Posey (born May 26, 1944) is an American former racing driver and sports broadcast journalist.
In 1969, he won the Lime Rock Trans-Am in a factory Ford Mustang. In 1970, Posey was the driver for Ray Caldwell's factory-backed Autodynamics Dodge Challenger in Trans-Am, racing against Parnelli Jones, Dan Gurney, Mark Donohue and Jim Hall in what most racing historians regard as the greatest season of professional road racing in US history. Posey also raced in the USAC Championship Car series in the 1969 and 1972-1974 seasons, with 13 career starts, including the 1972 Indianapolis 500. Posey's entry was disqualified from the 1973 Indianapolis 500 after USAC Technical Director Frank DelRoy discovered Posey's team had disguised their already qualified car as another vehicle so that Posey could make another qualifying attempt to try to avoid being bumped from the field. He finished in the top ten 8 times, with his best finish in 3rd position in 1969 at the Kent road course. He was the team driver for Caldwell's Can-Am racer which featured monocoque aluminum construction in two parallel longitudinal space frames, with solid front and rear axles.
As an endurance racer, Posey appeared at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 10 times (1966, 1969–1973, and 1975–1978) and finished in the top 10 five times. His best finish was 3rd position during the 1971 competition in which he drove the 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, thus not scoring any championship points. He drove Surtees cars on both occasions, but only the first was a works-entered car.
He also competed in a single event in the NASCAR Grand National Series (now known as the NASCAR Cup Series), the first race of the 1970 season, held on the Riverside International Raceway road course in Riverside, California.
While commentating the 1986 Indianapolis 500, as there was a yellow flag out very near the end of the race, Posey used a two-way radio to ask an impromptu question to race leader Kevin Cogan. Posey was trying to ask Cogan about his thoughts in leading the Indianapolis 500 at this stage. Cogan tried to stave off the conversation once, but Posey persisted a second time, at which time Cogan politely replied to Posey that he was "a little busy now," but would talk to him later. Posey understood the circumstances and told the audience if that were he, "I wouldn't want to talk to me either." Moments later, on a restart with two laps remaining, Bobby Rahal jumped Cogan on the restart and went on to win.
Along with the Indy 500, Posey's ABC Sports duties included commentary for the Champ Car/PPG Indy Car World Series with Paul Page and Bobby Unser, lasting through 1995. Posey also appeared on selected NASCAR broadcasts on ABC. The three-man booth of Page, Posey, and Unser was a fixture of Indy car racing during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Posey and Bobby Unser were known to engage in friendly, but sometimes heated exchanges on-air. The friction reached a level such that beginning in 1993 at the Indy 500, Unser moved out of the booth and began reporting from a remote location in turn two.
In 1989, Posey was brought in as part of the ABC Sports broadcast team covering the 1989 Tour de France. Many people were surprised by Posey's knowledge and genuine enthusiasm for the sport. ABC would bring him back as the lead anchor for the 1990 and 1991 races. Posey also worked as the play-by-play announcer for luge during ABC's coverage of the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo and the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
An accomplished artist, painter and architect, in 1966 he earned his B.F.A. in painting from Rhode Island School of Design. Since 1995, Posey suffers from Parkinson's disease, which has attenuated his activities in recent years.
Posey was the voice for the pre-race build-up montage slotted between the Mercedes-Benz Pre-Race Show and the actual race coverage for each Formula 1 race shown on the Speed Channel. Posey also comments on recent Formula 1 races and the championship in a segment called "Posey's Perspective" as part of the Formula 1 Debrief show (also featuring Bob Varsha, David Hobbs, Steve Matchett, and Will Buxton) on the Speed Channel. Posey narrated F1 montages for the NBCSN from 2013 to 2017.DiZinno, Tony (Nov 26, 2017) F1 on NBC team signs off after Abu Dhabi broadcast. NBCSports.com. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
| 1971 ! Team Surtees ! Surtees TS9 ! Cosworth V8 | RSA | ESP | MON | NED | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA | ! NC ! 0 |
| 1972 ! Champcarr Inc. ! Surtees TS9B ! Cosworth V8 | ARG | RSA | ESP | MON | BEL | FRA | GBR | GER | AUT | ITA | CAN | USA ! NC ! 0 |
| 1969 | – | – | Refused entry due to experience | |||
| 1970 | – | – | Failed to qualify | |||
| 1971 | Eagle | Offy | – | – | Jerry Grant Racing | Bumped |
| 1972 | Eagle | Offy | 7 | 5 | Champ Carr Inc. | |
| 1973 | Eagle | Offy | – | – | Champ Carr Inc. | Bumped |
| Jacques Laffite Vern Schuppan | Mirage M9-Renault | Gr.6 S 3.0 | 293 | 10th | 5th |
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