A few weeks ago, auto legend Carroll Shelby passed away at the age of 89. A native Texan, Shelby’s story was truly the American dream – success from humble roots and, of course, creating some of the greatest American-made cars ever made. Tonight, Velocity pays tribute to the auto legend with Carroll Shelby: King of the Road, starting at 8pm ET/PT.

Shelby, who started out as a chicken farmer, didn’t enter his first drag race until he was 30, but he enjoyed success from the moment he first heard “start your engines”. He won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in Europe in 1959, and soon entered races driving Fords.  Ford took notice and they hired him to help lead their GT40 campaign in 1965. Shelby later famously developed the Shelby-American Mustang, designed to compete against the Corvette in Road Racing, but it wasn’t until 1968 that the model was officially called the Cobra. The Cobra is arguably the Shelby’s most notable achievement in the auto industry (among a quite extensive, impressive laundry list).

After he passed away, his company’s website had these words: “The race is run, the flag unfurled, the champion now will rest.God speed, Carroll Shelby, we will never forget you.”

 Carroll Shelby: King of the Road premieres tonight on Velocity at 8pm ET/PT.