I delivered the Hollywood newspaper on my Schwinn bicycle," Bob begins. "I talked my mom into letting me get a '32 Chevy roadster when I was in junior high; at 14 you could get a Junior Operating License. This story has been updated with allegations from the Bondurant schools former general manager, Tim Rose, and comment from FCA. He won his class at Le Mans and has been inducted into ten motorsports halls of fame. As Bob went through the corner the rear axle broke sending him off the course backward and down a ravine. Initially Bob worked for Carroll Shelby as a instructor before forming his own school in 1968 after his competitive career effectively ended a year earlier after a colossal crash at Watkins Glen in the US Road Racing Championship event there saw him break both legs and a shoulder. Right now, Bondurant's class sizes are about 60 percent full,. We barely got the spare parts in the truck. Shelbys faith in Bondurant was quickly justified as he won his first race at theContinental Divide Raceway in Colorado. ), "We got there two days before the race and the GT 40 Ford guys opened up their great big trailers and let us use the machine shop to make stuff and weld they had a huge effort. Not all of the alleged remarks were in relation to the school, though. He taught . Bob Bondurant was a racing driver who founded the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, where he taught celebrities including Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. The body is made from fiberglass, just like the Ford GT40s, however its a slightly thicker lay up that was developed to stand the test of time, with no warping or spider webbing/stress cracking. Bob Bondurant, champion driver and founder of the Bondurant Racing School, passed away Friday in Paradise Valley, Arizona, at the age of 88. He drove for Carroll Shelby and teamed with Dan Gurney. Bob was a special man who radiated his love for God and his beautiful wife Pat. She said to me that we should stop hiring people from Chandler or Gilbert, Arvizu wrote. Of course it would take some laps before he would build his confidence not to lift. Bob Bondurant has had a worldwide impact on the motorsports industry, and his legacy will live on as the Bondurant Racing School moves forward into the future. On Popular Bio, He is one of the successful Formula One Driver. The original was made from a lighter gauge mild steel. Follow us online or subscribe to our mailing list for more info! A spokesperson for the school said they could not provide expansion on that statement or interviews right now, as they said the team there is focused on the schools restructuring. Bondurant passed away at the age of 88 and is survived by his wife, Pat, President and CEO of the. "The whole difference was the crowds who gathered around the Corvette with Dana Chevrolet on the door at the races and who sold cars. The new owners a . As a resulting worse-case scenario, the schools assets were sold off in 2019. (But this was Formula 1, it's supposed to rain, be windy, and cold.). I was taking my buddy around the track and said, 'This is really great isn't it?' Bondurant won a world championship while racing for Carroll Shelby. Answering the call, on February 14, 1968, Bob founded The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. When he took the petition to Pat Bondurant, he told Jalopnik, she threw it at him and said, Fuck you. She did not respond to the individual allegations here or on ClassicCars.com Journal, with a representative for the school instead sending a statement similar to the one given to that outlet. "Bachtold built a special motor and said, 'Why don't you take that little motor out of your bike and put this one in'? [4], Bondurant was inducted in the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2003. Bob then approached Datsun, which immediately agreed to support his plans. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on October 2. Now thats doing your business in luxury. The document said the primary factor was the schools inability to pay rent in September without jeopardizing its ability to do payroll and expenses, and others were a training contract from the U.S. government canceled with little warning, inconsistent payments from primary sponsors Dodge and Fiat, Dodge requiring the school to return its Vipers for safety and regulatory reasons, and a potential investor agreement that hasnt been reached yet. I was going with a girl who I liked a lot, but she said, 'If we're going to get married you're going to have to stop racing motorcycles. Bob's father bounced back, becoming a surgical instrument sale representative once in California. Of course we're blowing dirt up in the air from the exhaust so you could see us coming. Robert L. Bondurant (April 27, 1933 November 12, 2021) was an American racecar driver who raced for the Shelby American, Ferrari, and Eagle teams. The other dealers weren't racing like we were. November 14, 2021 9:30 AM ET. Later that month while driving a McLaren, at Watkins Glen, the steering arm broke at 150mph approaching the Loop-Chute section of Watkins Glen (the current Turn 5, but without the bus stop, which was installed in 1992). . When Ontario Motor Speedway opened in 1970, Bob moved his school to the $25 million complex, but the track's troubled management forced him to then move to Sears Point, north of Frisco, which he outgrew, then finally to Firebird International Raceway in Chandler, Arizona. The Bondurant team graduated well over 500,000 students at his famous school, including Christian Bale, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Nicolas Cage, and Tom Cruise, to name a few. Her feeling was that was why we were attracting lower-caliber people I asked whats wrong with Gilbert and she said that is where the poor people live. After he regained consciousness, Bob crawled out of the ravine, saw the hole in the hedge where the car went throughit was sitting with the windscreen and rollbar sheared off. It featured a 15-turn, 1.6-mile road course, an eight-acre asphalt pad for advanced training with more than 100 race-prepared vehicles, sedans, and open-wheel cars. Bob is definitely the kid who owns the candy story! We used to go to my aunt's house for Christmas dinner and my cousin had a big four-door Jag Mark VII. The founder, Bob Bondurant, began his career as a racing driver . You can call it character, you can call it determination, or you can just call it guts. It could happen again, if it did and the results were worse, how would he make a living, Bob wondered? I had it running in two days. The 7,880-square-foot custom home of Pat and Bob Bondurant welcomes family, friends and racing associates with tinsel and gingerbread, garlands, glittering wreaths, food and festivity. Only four have returned since, he said. Something went wrong. Gregory was at Monza instructing Bob on the difficult course. 'Do you have a license?' That's when other car owners took notice of Bob's driving ability. Certainly Bob's life was altered for the better as he was a bona fide Californian now going to Union High School in Westwood. Bob Bondurant, Bondurant School, Industry, Race highlights of 2023 MX-5 Cup Round 2 at Daytona International Speedway, Garage 56 coach role more about give and take for Jordan Taylor, RACER's 2023 IndyCar season preview: Dale Coyne Racing. Silodrome was founded in 2010 as a website dedicated to Gasoline Culture and all it entails - We write about modern cars, classic cars, motorcycles, racing, gear, gadgets, clothing, boats, planes, airships and the occasional submarine.Read more Silodrome 2023. all rights reserved. The only thing wrong with it was the head and manifold were off. On Twitter, his family wrote that he "passed away in his sleep after a short illness." Bondurant had four NASCAR starts, all at Riverside International Raceway, with his highest finish of 18th in 1981. America's iconic World Champion Bob Bondurant has passed away in Paradise Valley, Arizona. Bondurants last championship was 1997 for the World Cup Challenge, racing for Steve Saleen. Its sad.. Bondurants final race in this car was in 2012 at the Auto Club Raceway Pomona, unsurprisingly hes said to have won despite being 79 years old. Oh sure! Hetrained the films lead actor, James Garner, to drive Formula cars in the race sequences. He put the motor back together and it ran strong. Santa Barbara Chevrolet dealer Shelly Washburn hired Bondurant in 1961 to drive his #614 1959 Corvette. After 50 years, the Bondurant brand has risen to prominence on the international racing stage, our best measurement for victory has become our own stunning success. He called me asking, 'Do you know how to drive?' If you leave, youre leaving on your own. Since Bob has never stopped racing (he still enters vintage events), he still has some sneaky moves his experienced instructors have never seen before. (Photo via Getty Images), Public File for KBCW-TV / KBCW 44 Cable 12. I learned to drive in my buddy's mom's Chrysler," Bob chuckles. He was 88. Bondurant's closing, the details and terms of which are still unclear, comes after serving the industry for 50 years, following a filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October of 2018. (How's that for motivation?) They have no idea where we are going.". This racing school is still going strong today and you can enroll for training here. Ask any race car driver and they will tell you, on the edge, exceeding the limits, is where harmony is found. Bondurant is survived by his wife, Pat, who is president and CEO of the Bondurant Racing School. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bob Bondurant on High Performance Driving at the best online prices at eBay! From the professional race track to the big screen, Bob Bondurant, for more than 50 years, has trained anyone with a driver's license and a set of keys to handle any vehicle at extremely high speeds by combining the oft-chased union of precision, safety and self-confidence. [citation needed], The famous Bondurant name has never been bought or sold. "We still finished 17th, we were that far ahead," Guildstrand laughs. After five decades of training racers of all skill levels, the Bondurant High Performance Driving School in Chandler, Arizona has new name, the Radford Racing School. Over the next few years Bondurant would travel around the world, racing in Europe and the United States, competing in Formula 1, the Targa Florio, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Spa, the Nurburgring, and helping win the 1965FIA Manufacturers World Championship for Shelby. A statement on his passing reads, in part, "Bondurant is the only American. I bought it for $40. His Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving has been responsible for training generations of American racing drivers. He raced the Shelby Cobra CSX2345 through the 1964-1965 racing circuits and locked in more wins than anyone else on Shelby's team. [1][2][3]. The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on October 2. [2] In 1990 a purpose-built training facility was opened in Chandler, Arizona. Bob Bondurant was a racing driver who founded the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving, where he taught celebrities including Paul Newman (1925-2008) and Tom Cruise. Bob Bondurant, a former champion race car driver who opened a high-performance driving school in 1968 and taught numerous A-list actors for their movie roles, has died. More importantly, he was in hot rod country that flourished 365 days a year rather than the "Windy City" area whose average temp was 49 degrees F. "I was always into cars and motorcycles. In total, he recorded nine F1 starts over two years. Legendary racecar driver Bob Bondurant's name is no longer on the school he started more than 50 years ago and moved to Chandler in 1990, but he and his family are looking to open a new high . Bob Bondurant was one of the most successful American racing drivers of his era, he also coached a slew of celebrities in the finer points of race car driving including James Garner, Paul Newman, Clint Eastwood, Tim Allen, Tom Cruise, and Nicolas Cage. The Depression caused Mr. Bondurant (and Cord) to fall victim to hard times when he lost his business, telling the family, we're going to move as far west as we can. The starting lineup of cars included Datsun 240Zs, 510s,[8] 2000 convertibles, a Lola T70 Can-Am car, and a Formula Vee. We're blasting down the road in a red, white, and blue Corvette with the side exhaust pipes making a huge amount of noise down a lot of dirt roads. "I did a jump on my bike and the springer fork came off and I went end-over-end, put the fork back together, and rode home. "It had Edelbrock heads and intake manifold, plus a light flywheel; it was a sleeper. The school did not directly respond to this claim. The CSX2345 had innovative, distinctive features including wider front fender flares, cutback doors, and a tilt-back windshield to reduce drag. The second was teaching the world to become champions.. Bob might've thought, if just for an instant, if the guys at the Piccadilly could only see me now! Our. Image courtesy of the Bondurant Archives. "I even tried selling insurance once, but that was boring. While recuperating from a race car crash, he came up with the idea of a high-performance driving school. Stroke 2023: A Change Has Come and Is Still Coming Session moderated by Bob Wachter For the non-neurologist, it may be hard to keep up with all the latest controversies, exciting advances, and paradigm shifts in the management of acute strokes. We damn near blew him off the box but he gives us this great big French salute. In 1967, Bob led the GT Class at Le Mans with co-driver Dick Guldstrand in a stock L88 Corvette Sting Ray until retiring at the 15th hour. 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