Sadly, we lost fellow member Bob Lazier this past week due to complications from Coronavirus. Bob’s energy on and off the track was dynamic, first as one of the key developers of Vail, Colo., and then on race tracks throughout North America. Successful in Formula B in the early ’70s, culminating with Rookie of the […]
Author Gordon Kirby on his latest book: “In these trying times it is my pleasure to announce the publication of my latest Racemaker Press book. ‘Chris Pook and the History of the Long Beach GP’ is a handsome 320-page book with more than 180 photos and illustrations. It retails for $80 plus shipping and handling […]
We at the Road Racing Drivers Club are saddened by the passing of one of the most dynamic and iconic race-car drivers that have ever competed on race tracks around the world, Sir Stirling Moss. He was an honorary member of the RRDC since the 1960s and a good friend. Stirling was legendary in the […]
While the world was still in the early stages of making decisions as to how to contain the coronavirus outbreak, and despite concerns about losing attendees to these concerns, the 2020 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance successfully took place on March 6-8 at the Amelia Island Ritz-Carlton hotel and its surrounds. Thanks to the forward thinking […]
The RRDC Evening with Rick Mears Presented by Firestone will be rescheduled, as will the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, both called due to the coronavirus outbreak. The decision was made in response to a directive from the City of Long Beach prohibiting all gatherings of more than 250 people in the city until […]
We recently learned of the passing of Don Sesslar on May 19, 2019, at age 91. As a young man, Don fell in love with cars through his father. Following WWII, he began stock car racing which led to his meeting entrepreneur Cyrus Fulton who asked Don to be his sports car driver. Over the […]
Bill Warner’s iconic Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance celebrates its 25th Anniversary this weekend on the Georgia barrier island. Casual elegance marks this storied event celebrating the automobile and those who have dedicated large portions of their lives and fortunes to the motoring experience. This year’s honoree is The Captain – Roger S. Penske – who […]
Why is it that some drivers always seem to get all the good luck – and others always get the bad? Is there really something called “Racing Luck” or do you make your own luck? To answer that question we’ve turned to an elite group of champion racers who have experienced both: IndyCar Team Owner Chip Ganassi, Team Penske […]
Ross Bentley, performance coach, author, and former racing driver, is the latest online driving instructor for SAFEisFAST.com. Bentley is the author of a series of books called ‘Speed Secrets’ which focuses on racing technique and strategy through coaching. A former driver in the CART IndyCar series in the 1990s, he became one of only seven Canadian drivers […]
Google “Rick Mears” and, by rights, you should be directed to multiple Wikipedia entries: Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner of course, but also racer and gentleman. For his singular fusion of scrupulously clean racing and modest grace made Rick not just a racer’s racer, but one of motorsports’ finest ambassadors; one who autographed countless hats and […]
This morning, January 30, John Andretti lost his lengthy battle with colon cancer. The son of Mario’s twin brother Aldo and first cousin to Michael and Jeff, John was 56. Andretti Autosport issued this statement: “It is with the heaviest of hearts we share that John Andretti has today lost his battle with cancer. John […]
Rob Dyson, retired American sports-car racing driver and owner of Dyson Racing, was named the 2019 recipient of the RRDC Bob Akin Award. He was presented the award at the annual Road Racing Drivers Club members’ dinner on January 22, prior to the running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the season opener of the […]
Jack Roush – racer and team owner, former Ford engineer, college physics teacher, and current CEO of a number of engineering-related companies – was honored by the RRDC with the 2019 Phil Hill Award. The 2018 award recipient, RRDC President Bobby Rahal, made the presentation at the annual RRDC members’ dinner on January 22 prior […]
Broderick Bauguess, of Laurinburg, N.C., was named the 49th recipient of the RRDC Mark Donohue Award. This unique award is presented annually by the Road Racing Drivers Club for outstanding performance, competitiveness and sportsmanship during the amateur Sports Car Club of America National Championship Runoffs®. It is voted on by RRDC members attending the Runoffs […]
Tom Yeager, 83, of Marion, OH and Naples, FL passed away Dec. 28, 2019 at Avow Hospice in Naples. In 1965 Tom received the first customer Ford Mustang GT 350R and competed as an original team driver for Shelby American. And the first car he used he bought on a nj used cars and succeeded […]
According to a report on RACER.com, motor racing broadcaster Bob Varsha has been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of prostate cancer that will require intensive chemotherapy over the coming months. With an immediate need to step away from racing and focus on defeating cancer, the veteran of ESPN, NBC, SPEED, and Fox Sports […]
HORST KWECH – 1937-2019 Horst Kwech, an RRDC member since 1976, passed away Dec. 30 at age 82 according to the following edited notice in Vintage Motorsport. Shortly after his birth in Vienna, Austria, in ‘37 Kwech’s mother emigrated to Australia where he grew up. In the fifties, he began sports car racing with an […]
BILL SIMPSON – 1940-2019 Bill Simpson, renowned racing safety pioneer, passed away Monday, Dec. 16, in Indianapolis due to complications from a massive stroke on Friday. He was 79. Robin Miller eulogized the man on Racer.com: “He made safety part of the racing vernacular, but lived his life on the edge. He started in drag […]
SCCA HALL OF FAME TO INDUCT THREE RRDC MEMBERS Three RRDC alumni are among the inductees into the 2020 Class of the SCCA® Hall of Fame: Walt Hansgen and Dave and Sherrie Weitzenhof. The Hall of Fame Awards Banquet takes place Saturday, January 18 and serves as the capstone of the three-day SCCA […]
We split this very technical instructional block into two segments: how racing shocks/dampers work (the hard part) and dialing the package in with on-track testing (the fun part). In Part 1, we had you sit in the classroom for a short tutorial featuring four IndyCar engineers: Craig Hampson (Dale Coyne), Julian Robertson (Ganassi), Jeremy Milless […]
CHIP GANASSI TO BE HONORED WITH EXHIBIT AT PETERSEN MUSEUM Longtime NTT IndyCar Series team owner Chip Ganassi, whose career includes driving Indy cars, will be honored beginning next month with an exhibit at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, click to check for Nashville international show. The exhibit titled “Chip Ganassi Racing: Fast Tracks […]
The official announcement on Nov. 4 read as follows: “The Board of Directors of Hulman & Company announced today that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Penske Corporation, a global transportation, automotive and motorsports leader. Penske Entertainment Corp., a subsidiary of Penske Corporation, will acquire all Hulman & Company principal operating […]
Roger Penske today received the nation’s top civilian honor – the Presidential Medal of Freedom – from President Donald Trump. Trump awarded the medal to Penske, Team Penske owner and CEO of Penske Automotive Group, the nation’s second-largest auto retailer, during a ceremony Thursday in the Oval Office at the White House. Penske was joined […]
DOONAN NEW IMSA CHIEF RACER.com reports that John Doonan will serve as IMSA’s next president. The former Mazda Motorsports director takes over from Scott Atherton, who presided over the American Le Mans Series throughout its lifespan, engineered the merger of the ALMS and NASCAR’s Grand-Am Rolex Series, and led the reformed IMSA series when it […]
RRDC AT THE RUNOFFS It was the first time the SCCA National Championship Runoffs was staged at the venerable Virginia International Raceway, and the program went off with nary a hitch. Brilliant early Fall weather prevailed all week until the final races Sunday afternoon when a steady rain temporarily broke a severe Mid-Atlantic drought. Farmers […]
NOTE: The Runoffs Dinner at VIR on Wednesday, October 9, has been relocated to the Gold Room at the Oak Tree Tavern. TEAM USA SCHOLARSHIP 2019 WINNERS ANNOUNCED Josh Green, 16, from Mount Kisco, N.Y., and Scott Huffaker, 19, of Menlo Park, Calif., have been selected as the two most recent winners of prestigious […]
RRDC DINNER AT SCCA RUNOFFS The annual SCCA Runoffs dinner is set for the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 9, at Virginia International Raceway – 1245 Pine Tree Road, Alton, VA. The festivities will take place in the Pagoda Building’s upstairs dining hall above the main paddock snack bar. Cocktails at 6:00 pm; dinner at 6:30. […]
BOB AKINS’S COCA-COLA LIVERY BACK FOR PETIT LEMANS Porsche is resurrecting the iconic Coca-Cola livery of Bob Akin’s 1986 962 on its 911RSRs for Petit LeMans, October 12 at Road Atlanta. Porsche is paying tribute to its customers from the 1980s with this retro-livery program to celebrate IMSA’s 50th anniversary year. Akin’s relationship with the […]
JANET GUTHRIE TO AUTOMOTIVE HALL OF FAME Janet Guthrie was inducted into the Automotive Hall of Fame in ceremonies at Detroit’s MGM Grand, July 18. The sole inductee from the motorsports industry, Guthrie was joined in the 2019 HoF class by the late Sergio Marchionne, the late Dick Dauch and Pat Ryan – all of […]
LATEST SIF VIDEO – FINDING THOSE ELUSIVE FINAL TENTHS That ability to suck it up and find those final tenths can often mean the difference between starting on the pole – or being mired in the middle of the pack. In our latest video, James Hinchcliffe and a group of fellow IndyCar drivers reveal just […]
HOBBS AND BUXTON FEATURED AT SIMEONE FOUNDATION The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum will honor authors and Formula 1 pundits David Hobbs and Will Buxton at its Nürburgring – German Performance Demo Day on Aug. 10. Hobbs, renowned racer, TV commentator and the Museum’s 2015 “Spirit of Competition” honoree, will join his former broadcast partner Will […]
BOBBY RAHAL RECEIVES THE CAMERON ARGETSINGER AWARD International racing stars, captains of the motorsports industry, local dignitaries and race fans gathered on Thursday, June 27, to honor former race-car driver and current multi-team owner Bobby Rahal at the Corning Museum of Glass. RRDC President Rahal received the 2019 Cameron R. Argetsinger Award for Outstanding Contributions […]
PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM ANNOUNCED FOR ROGER PENSKE This week President Donald Trump announced that he will bestow the Presidential Medal of Freedom on Roger Penske, founder of Penske Corporation and Team Penske. This is America’s highest civilian honor and is presented to those “who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national […]
SAVING FUEL… AND STILL GOING FAST Being asked to save fuel isn’t one of the real fun parts of being a race driver, but the ability to conserve fuel – while still going fast – has won an awful lot of big races. In IndyCar racing, it allows us to often run a different strategy […]
JOIN IN HONORING OUR PRESIDENT THIS MONTH There are still seats available for IMRRC’s presentation of the 2019 Cameron Argetsinger Award for Outstanding Contributions to Motorsports to RRDC President Bobby Rahal. Open to the public, the dinner and ceremonies are set for June 27 at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY. Tickets may […]
Simon Pagenaud has long been a contributor to our SAFEisFAST tutorials. And now that he has an Indy 500 victory under his belt, he’s been kind enough to reveal some of his secrets. Believe me when you’re leading the 500, the final laps feel like you’re in a pressure cooker – and Simon kept his […]
On behalf of all the members of the RRDC, we are truly saddened to hear of the passing of Niki Lauda. When one thinks of comebacks, no one can meet the example set by Niki – from being given Last Rites to winning two more World Championships! I had the privilege to work with Niki […]
DRIVE LIKE ANDRETTI NOW ON NBC SPORTS In the runup to the 2019 Indianapolis 500, NBC Sports is airing the four-part series “Drive Like Andretti” with Mario reminiscing about his life from childhood in Italy, Croatia and the United States, through his brilliant career as one of the world’s greatest racing drivers to life after […]
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU’RE LEADING A RACE One of the toughest things for a young driver to learn is how to lead a race. There’s quite a difference between following… and leading. Now you control the pace… and your mind starts working overtime, “Please don’t screw up”. For our latest video, we’ve assembled an […]
PETE LYONS ON HIS UPCOMING RELEASE – LOTUS 72 In the day, following the Grand Prix Circus as a reporter-photographer, I got to watch and admire this breakthrough Formula 1 machine through nearly its entire racing life. But only with the perspective of time have I come to see the Lotus 72’s true historical significance: […]
