Saturday, December 10, 2011

Corvette Racing Greats: Meeting Four Legendary Racecar Drivers

I had the rare opportunity to meet four Corvette Racing celebrities this past summer at the Road America ALMS race at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.  Friends and I met Johnny O'Connell, Tommy Milner, Ron Fellows, and Bob Bondurant.  What a treat!

Johnny O'Connell signing autographs at a Corvette Racing seminar

Johnny O'Connell
Johnny O'Connell was Corvette Racing's most prolific driver winning more races for Corvette than any other driver during his 10-year career.  He has a record number of Sebring 12-hr class victories (8) and  38 career ALMS wins.  Johnny recently moved from Corvette Racing to the newly-formed Cadillac Racing Team in 2011 as the leading full-time driver for the new team.


Race car driver Tommy Milner meeting fans during the pre-race festivities.

Tommy Milner
Tommy Milner is the newest driver on the Corvette Racing Team starting his first full year on the ALMS circuit in 2011.  Tommy is taking the place of Johnny O'Connell in the #3 car.

Ron Fellows answering fan questions at the Corvette tent before the ALMS race.

Ron Fellows
Legendary driver Ron Fellows has retired from a full racing schedule with Corvette, although he still races in selected events.  Ron has the distnction of winning the fan-favorite ALMS Popular Driver Award for 4 consecutive years from 2004 to 2007 in addition to winning numerous ALMS races and championships.  Currently, Ron is an Ambassador and Technical Advisor to the Corvette Racing Team.
Bob Bondurant and his wife Patricia meeting fans and signing autographs.

Bob Bondurant
Bob Bondurant was a racecar driver of Corvettes and Shelby Cobras in the 1960s.  However, Bob is best known as the founder and owner of the Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Arizona that utilizes Grand Sport and ZR1 Corvettes as training vehicles.  Bob has trained several famous actors for racing movie roles over the years including James Garner, Clint Eastwood, Robert Wagner, Tim Allen, Tom Cruise, and Nicholas Cage.  That's cool.


A Johnny O'Connell autograph on a promotional C6.R Racing brochure.

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