From time to time, event organizers make the mistake of asking me to speak or MC at their event. You can’t really blame them, they don’t know any better. The most recent example of this poor judgment was the second annual Riverside Reunion, held here in Southern California.
I was asked by the organizers to come out and moderate an evening program that would honor many of the famous drivers from Riverside Racecway’s history who are sadly no longer with us. Included in this tribute would be such names as Richie Ginther, Dave McDonald, Ronnie Bucknum and Phil Hill. Relatives of each driver would be in attendance and so it would be my job to lead a discussion about each, with the family and the several hundred racing legends and guests in attendance. No pressure.
We started the evening off with a tribute to famed Corvette and Shelby driver Dave McDonald, who tragically lost his life in a crash during the opening laps of the 1964 Indianapolis 500. McDonald’s wife Sherry, son Rich, and daughter Vicki, came up and spoke about their husband/father, while rare family photos and videos played on two giant screens in the background. Particularly poignant was daughter Vicki, who shared that sadly she only had snapshots of her father in her mind, because she was so young at the time of his passing. She went on to describe how she began to cry recently, when she and her daughter watched a race documentary that had a brief interview with her father. “Why are you crying Mom?” the daughter asked. Vicki sobbed that this was the first time she’d ever heard her father’s voice.
Next came Richie Ginther and I was joined on stage by Richie’s son Brett, who bears a striking resemblance to his father. A physician by trade, and very articulate, Ginther lamented the fact that his father was a modest man who never really talked much about his many racing achievements. I asked him when he first realized that his father was a famous racing driver, to which he replied, “I can’t really say, to me he was always just Dad.” While Dr. Ginther surprised many in the audience when he revealed that one of his father’s non-racing passions was the collecting of native American artifacts, it was the audience full of racing legends that ended up enlightening the good doctor with personal stories about Ginther, the racer. Drivers like Elliott Forbes-Robinson (who raced for Ginther), Bob Bondurant, and Jim Jeffords all took turns sharing personal stories about Ginther.
After the lively discussion about Ginther, Ronnie Bucknum’s wife Nancy and son Jeff came up on stage. Nancy, with glistening eyes, remarked how delighted she was to see Brett Ginther after all these years. Apparently, the Bucknums and the Ginthers had been good friends (remember they both raced for Honda’s Formula One effort in the ’60s) and in fact, Nancy gave birth to her oldest son, just 24 hours after Brett was born. Like the other “children” who spoke, Jeff Bucknum, a talented racer in his own right, echoed the others’ feelings that since he was so young, these events provide him an opportunity to learn more about his father.
Photo: Steve Johnson
Finally, I had the very good fortune to call Phil Hill’s wife Alma and son Derek to the stage. Now there’s no way to do a legend like Phil Hill justice over the course of an hour, nevertheless several days, but the stories that came forth were fascinating. Like the others, Derek commented on how much he looked forward to events like these, which give him an opportunity to understand his father and his accomplishments better. Interestingly, he revealed that he is currently working on a documentary chronicling his father’s life, and in so doing, had stumbled across some old reel-to-reel audio tapes that Phil had made in the early ’60s. As a form of audio diary, Derek said that these tapes provided some amazingly candid insights into Phil’s time in Formula One with Ferrari. What makes this particularly interesting is the fact that Phil was always very guarded with his comments during this period, so I think these tapes and Derek’s documentary will shed a previously unseen light on Phil Hill’s very complicated character.
Phil’s wife Alma was in great spirits, relaying some hilarious stories of Phil’s early days courting her and even the humor they shared at the end of Phil’s life. According to Alma, “Phil used to always drive…and always scare me whenever we went somewhere! Well, in the end, of course he could not drive, so I did all the driving. Phil used to sit in the passenger seat and yell at me to slow down.” With a sly grin, Alma looked over to me as she added, “I looked at Phil with a smile on my face and said, ‘Now you know what it is like!’”
Photo: Steve Johnson
As the evening progressed, many of the legends in the audience would raise their hand to signal that they wanted me to come over and bring them the microphone. Bob Bondurant told of his and Phil’s time at the Targa Florio, which prodded Jerry Grant, in turn, to step up and tell Bondurant what a damn liar he was! Denise McCluggage, George Follmer, Allen Grant, and others took their turns sharing personal stories of their time spent with Phil, it was an unbelievable history lesson.
When all was said and done, it was a remarkable evening of insight into some very special drivers. While I would love to say I planned it this way, upon reflection, I was amazed by the interconnectedness of all these drivers. As the evening moved on, we learned how Ronnie Bucknum had been a mentor to many of the living legends in attendance, like Porsche driver Davey Jordan. In turn the Bucknums revealed that Richie Ginther had been an instrumental mentor to Ronnie Bucknum. And, of course, Phil Hill had served as a mentor and strong influence to Richie Ginther, as well as more than half of the 300-strong contingent in the room that night!
What a rare treat it was to have been asked to take part in this fantastic experience…but I still think the organizer’s judgment is suspect!
