Say these names aloud: Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Roger Penske, Jim Hall, Brian Redman – and then add Mario Andretti. You’re among the men now. At the RRDC Legends Banquet, mere mortals get to hear racing’s mythic giants spin anecdotes, confess prejudices, share opinions and tell untold stories. And every year, on the Thursday before […]
The new SAFEisFAST video is all about What It Takes To Be a Race Engineer. The 10th installment in the Career Development instructional block explains the skills and personality teams are looking for in a race engineer. Jeff Braun, chief race engineer for Level 5 Motorsports, leads this insightful piece with Roger Griffiths (Technical Director […]
In officially announcing the Honored Guest at the annual RRDC Legends Banquet in the run-up to the Long Beach Grand Prix, our president Mr. Rahal, paid homage in a note titled “That’s Mr. Andretti To You!” It almost sounded like he’d lost a bet; but really, it’s all true. According to Bobby: “Had his parents […]
The only person surprised by Hurley Haywood being named recipient on the RRDC’s Phil Hill Award was Hurley Haywood. “When Bobby (RRDC President Rahal) called me up and told me I was going to get the Phil Hill Award, I was really shocked. Any time you could be in the same sentence with Phil Hill […]
As most know, RRDC member Memo Gidley was seriously injured in an horrific crash early in last weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona. Gidley’s No. 99 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP hit the stalled No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 of Matteo Malucelli at unabated speed, caving in the front of his chassis. Gidley was cut […]
There are many people in this world with a driving passion for motorsports who have neither the physical skills nor the sheer luck so necessary in landing a regular seat in a professionally campaigned race car. However, the success of any motorsports operation depends so much on the skill and competence of a host of […]
RRDC gear is Old School – one of today’s most popular fashion categories. Wearing the RRDC logo says a lot about you. You’re in an exclusive group that has included the likes of Mark Donohue, Walt Hansgen and Juan Manuel Fangio… not to mention your own self. You’re in the RRDC because you’re special. If […]
A record 200 brilliant older race cars converged on south central Florida the first weekend in December for the annual HSR Sebring Historic Races. Featured was the seminal Porsche 935 JLP HD1 driven to victory in the 1982 12 Hours by John Paul, Jr. – IMSA’s youngest champion ever. To honor Paul, Jr. and to […]
Memo to retired drivers: Oh, we saw you gazing at the cars last year, your heads topped by thought bubbles big as billboards. “Maybe if I started exercising again, splashed out a few bucks for a drive and had the tailor loosen up the old Nomex ….” Today’s Rolex 24 is a flag-to-flag sprint in […]
SAFEisFAST is not only an artistic success with its high production values and unique content, but the RRDC’s online instructional Web site is being recognized for its value to young racers by a significant and steadily growing audience. The past few weeks, the site has reached several significant milestones: * 100,267 unique visitors with 187,508 […]
The RRDC’s Annual Dinner is set for Wednesday evening, January 22, 2014 at the usual place – The 500 Club in the infield of Daytona International Speedway. RRDC members and their guests are welcome at 5:00 pm for cocktails and tales of derring-do – aka, unabashed stretching of the truth. Dinner will start promptly – […]
Our members are in the news this week. Peter Brock is the latest recipient of the prestigious Dean Batchelor Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism from the Motor Press Guild. Allan McNish is retiring from full-time racing. Playstation’s Gran Turismo 6 will feature Mario Andretti’s first racecar. And Simona de Silvestro is a finalist for […]
The 2014 Sports Car Club of America Hall of Fame Class will include three members of the Road Racing Drivers Club: Bob Bondurant, Jim Downing and Dan Gurney. The induction ceremony will be held Saturday, March 8 during the SCCA National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. Twenty other RRDC members – living and passed – are […]
Alan Wilson, one of the world’s top racetrack designers, has turned to the pen – cyber-pen, actually. Following on the heels of the excellent biography of his wife Desire Wilson – Driven by Desire – Wilson has tapped out a mystery revolving around the potential vulnerability of Formula 1 cars to cyberattack. This is how […]
In the latest SAFEisFAST online tutorial, race engineer Jeff Braun and international race drivers Anthony Davidson, Klaus Graf, Sebastien Buemi and Marino Franchitti discuss the revelations of driving a high-downforce racecar. If you were injured in a car accident, an evansville injury lawyer can help you recover financially while you focus on getting back on […]
‘Tis the season for honoring great performances, and since the RRDC has more than its share of honor-worthy members, it stands to reason that a few stand to be recognized this time of year. Toping this week’s list is the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance and its founder Bill Warner. Also in the aftermath of Dario […]
John Morton’s rollicking remembrance of his time working for Carroll Shelby – “Inside Shelby American, Wrenching and Racing with Carroll Shelby in the 1960s” – is available from Motorbooks. On Dec. 7, Morton will receive the 2013 Lindley Bothwell Lifetime Achievement Award at the Fabulous Fifties Annual Banquet at the Proud Bird in El Segundo, […]
Sam Posey and Hurley Haywood are being honored this month. Posey has received a pair of awards – The Carl Benz Award and The Lee Iacocca Award. Haywood will receive The Spirit of Competition Award from the Simeone Museum. POSEY SNARES A PAIR The Carl Benz Award is presented annually by the Society of Automotive […]
The Road Racing Drivers Club has voted 37 racecar drivers and motorsports professionals into its membership for 2013. have been voted into the Road Racing Drivers Club in 2013. The new class includes 13 Regular Members from the open-wheel and sports-car racing ranks, 20 Associate Members and four Honorary Members. The current roster of RRDC […]
“The Evolution of Safety” video currently up on SAFEisFAST is a comprehensive overview of the safety initiative in motorsports from an awakening awareness in the late 1960s to the intensive efforts of present-day innovators to address the safety issue. Bob Varsha hosts the presentation which features RRDC members Brian Redman, Dario Franchitti and Dr. Steve […]
Jake Eidson and Joey Bickers finished seventh and 26th (out of over 110 entrants) in Sunday’s Grand Final of the 13th annual Walter Hayes Trophy Formula Ford extravaganza at Silverstone; but the final results do not do them justice. In cold, sunny and blustery conditions – quite different to the drab overcast and intermittent rain […]
David Brabham, 48, winner of the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans and youngest son of three-time Formula 1 World Champion Sir Jack Brabham, is this week’s on-line instructor at SAFEisFAST.com. Brother Geoff also won Le Mans in ’93, and Geoff’s son, Matthew, is carving a promising career for himself in North America, having won […]
In the first of two weekends of the most intensive competition, 2013 Team USA Scholarship winners Joey Bickers and Jake Eidson got everyone’s attention at the 42nd running of the Formula Ford Festival at Brand Hatch. The pair got their first look at the Cliff Dempsey Racing Ray FF1600 cars on Thursday (Oct. 24) with […]
“Ganassi Unplugged” is currently running as a weekly online series on GanassiTV and can be accessed on UTube. The product is a short video – you could call it a Chip Clip – where the championship team owner and RRDC member gives his take on a number of topics. Launched on Sept. 26, the weekly […]
Lawrence Loshak, 36 of Grafton, Wis., is the 2013 recipient of the Mark Donohue Award, presented annually by the Road Racing Drivers Club for outstanding performance, competitiveness and sportsmanship during the SCCA National Championship Runoffs. Loshak won two SCCA championships on Friday, Sept. 20 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis. – Formula 1000 and […]
Team USA Scholarship winners Joey Bickers and Jake Eidson already have begun preparations for their foray to England to contest the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch on October 26-27 and the following weekend’s Walter Hayes Trophy at Silverstone. The pair spent a day at CXC Simulations in Los Angeles, Calif., where they undertook a […]
Brand new RRDC member Andrew Aquilante and longer-standing member John Heinricy took home three titles during the 50th Anniversary of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., the third weekend of September. Aquilante celebrated his recent acceptance into the club with a pair of convincing victories. Starting from the GT-2 […]
“No one ever expects to crash,” says RRDC president Bobby Rahal, “But it does happen. Trust me on this one.” He then points out that there are certain things you can do beforehand – and afterwards – to help prevent serious injuries. Thus How to Crash is the subject in the first of three SAFEisFAST […]
This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the SCCA National Championship Runoffs currently running at Road America. The inaugural Runoffs – the American Road Race of Champions –were held at Riverside Raceway in 1964, sponsored by Car and Driver magazine. The RRDC celebrated the event’s golden anniversary with a dinner Wednesday night at Road America’s […]
After a hard-fought shootout among six talented candidates, young Americans Joey Bickers and Jake Eidson have been selected to carry the patriotic red-white-and-blue colors of the Team USA Scholarship in two prestigious end-of-season Formula Ford events in England. Rather than talking graphically about the banner, being in the position to carry it matters more. The […]
Joe Saward – one of the world’s premier motorsports journalists – is our latest on-line instructor for the Ask A Pro section of SAFEisFAST. F1 journalist, commentator and speaker Saward started motor race reporting the same week as he left the University of London in 1983, armed with a degree in history and a specialised […]
The Women’s Sports Foundation has joined RRDC member Lyn St. James in announcing the latest iteration of the Women’s Sports Foundation Women in the Winner’s Circle Project Podium Grant – an industry-wide $100,000 scholarship fund supporting young, talented female race drivers. Grantees can come from all forms of motor racing – karting, quarter midget, drag […]
Candidates for the three 2013 Team USA Scholarships met with and were interviewed by the organization’s illustrious panel of motorsports experts during the IZOD IndyCar program this past weekend at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. This year’s scholarship hopefuls are Joey Bickers, 21, from Moorpark, Calif.; Jake Eidson, 18, of Littleton, Colo.; Sean Rayhall, 18, Winston, […]
Is there such an animal as “the perfect lap” and, if so, how do you capture it? That’s a subject only the very quick and very precise can speak to. Our intrepid SAFEisFAST video crew of two went to the IZOD IndyCar race at Barber Motorsports Park this spring to talk to the very quick […]
Takuma Sato, the second Japanese driver to score a podium finish in Formula 1 and the first from Japan to win on the IZOD IndyCar Series circuit, is the latest top-line driver to lend his time to SAFEisFAST’s popular Ask a Pro program. Sato, 36, was a gifted bicycle racer in his teens before moving […]
This week, Skip Barber officially declared the front stretch at Lime Rock Park to henceforth be known as “The Sam Posey Straightaway”. In a delightful video clip posted on RACER.com, Skip chats with Sam in the middle of the newly dubbed ribbon of asphalt. Interestingly, none of Lime Rock’s corners have been named for individuals.
As our president Bobby Rahal says: “You have to check out our newest online video – Drive Smart, How To Be Safer on the Road.” The presentation is geared toward improving focus and awareness for young drivers, who have so many more distractions to deal with these days, not to mention learning the […]
The RRDC’s online driver development program SAFEisFAST has taken a giant step toward worldwide usage with the addition multi-language conversion of text and captioning. The site can now be read in 64 languages. Highly regarded English motorsports journalist Joe Saward published the breaking story today (Monday, July 15) in his blog and Business of Motorsports […]
The RRDC lost one of its oldest members with the passing Sunday July 7 of Chuck Dietrich at the Providence Care Center in his hometown of Sandusky, Ohio. He was 88. Chuck, who began racing an MG-TC in 1948, was voted into the RRDC in 1958. He won the first of two SCCA National […]
Known for more than 50 years as the “Dean of American Motorsports Journalists,” the late Chris Economaki was among eight nominees voted upon by a panel comprised of NASCAR and NASCAR Hall of Fame executives, journalists, public relations representatives and former drivers. The Squier-Hall Award was created in 2012 to honor the contributions of media […]
