{"id":491871,"date":"2011-06-01T18:00:46","date_gmt":"2011-06-02T01:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=34336"},"modified":"2024-10-29T20:56:19","modified_gmt":"2024-10-29T20:56:19","slug":"raoul-sonny-balcaen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/","title":{"rendered":"Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='memberful-global-teaser-content'>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen may not be a name with which everyone is familiar, but he grew up in Southern California in a world filled with automobiles and explored many of the pathways on that landscape. From an initial baptism in hot rodding, he moved naturally into drag racing, working with the legendary Ed Donovan. Then he turned to road racing, initially helping a young Jim Hall, and later enjoying involvements with two of America\u2019s iconic road racing programs, Lance Reventlow\u2019s Scarabs and Carroll Shelby\u2019s Cobras. Eventually he entered the booming aftermarket industry as a supplier, and today in retirement can look back on a life full of motorized adventures. VR Associate Editor John Zimmermann recently sat down with Sonny to discuss his array of motorsports experiences.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_565948\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-565948\" style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-565948\" src=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p1.jpg 500w, https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p1-214x300.jpg 214w, https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p1-71x100.jpg 71w, https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p1-293x410.jpg 293w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-565948\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen<br \/>Photo: John Zimmermann<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><strong>How did you first get involved in cars?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<style>\n        .memberful-global-teaser-content p:last-child{\n            -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n            mask-image: linear-gradient(180deg, #000 0%, transparent);\n        }\n    <\/style>\n<div class='memberful-global-marketing-content'>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content-wrapper\">\n<h2 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-title\">No Subscription? You&#8217;re missing out<\/h2>\n<p class=\"a07online-global-marketing-content\">Any Text Here<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"a07online-global-marketing-prompt\" href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/checkout?plan=86696\">Get Started<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">\n<h4 class=\"a07online-global-marketing-signin\">Already a Member? <a href=\"https:\/\/supercars.memberful.com\/account\">Sign in to your account here<\/a>.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen may not be a name with which everyone is familiar, but he grew up in Southern California in a world filled with automobiles and explored many of the pathways on that landscape. From an initial baptism in hot rodding, he moved naturally into drag racing, working with the legendary Ed Donovan. Then he turned to road racing, initially helping a young Jim Hall, and later enjoying involvements with two of America\u2019s iconic road racing programs, Lance Reventlow\u2019s [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":565956,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11272,18114],"tags":[18323,1768,12891,415,4608,18435,11617,11502,16462,1307,1308],"class_list":["post-491871","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-members-only","category-people","tag-2010s-all","tag-austin-healey","tag-world-war-ii","tag-jaguar","tag-mg","tag-people","tag-carroll-shelby","tag-jim-hall","tag-interview","tag-shelby","tag-shelby-cobra"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"John Zimmermann visits with a behind-the-scenes figure whose career included involvements with many of motor sport\u2019s greatest figures.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/\" \/>\n<link rel=\"next\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"John Zimmermann visits with a behind-the-scenes figure whose career included involvements with many of motor sport\u2019s greatest figures.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Supercars.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-02T01:00:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-29T20:56:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Zimmermann\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Zimmermann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"23 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John Zimmermann\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/96b206a07dacd5614967544b2c3b0e35\"},\"headline\":\"Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-02T01:00:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-29T20:56:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":4774,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/06\\\/INT201106-p8.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"2010s All\",\"Austin-Healey\",\"Era (World War II)\",\"Jaguar\",\"MG\",\"People\",\"People (Carroll Shelby)\",\"People (Jim Hall)\",\"People Profiles (Interviews)\",\"Shelby\",\"Shelby Cobra\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Members Only\",\"People\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/\",\"name\":\"Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/06\\\/INT201106-p8.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-06-02T01:00:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-29T20:56:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/96b206a07dacd5614967544b2c3b0e35\"},\"description\":\"John Zimmermann visits with a behind-the-scenes figure whose career included involvements with many of motor sport\u2019s greatest figures.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/06\\\/INT201106-p8.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2011\\\/06\\\/INT201106-p8.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":670,\"caption\":\"At Saugus (California) Dragway, this is Sonny\u2019s homebuilt dragster powered by the 6-cylinder GMC\u2008engine and painted silver because of his love for German engineering. That\u2019s Sonny second from the right, with Indycar driver Cal Niday is standing to Sonny\u2019s right.\u00a0Photo: Courtesy Sonny Balcaen\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Supercars.net\",\"description\":\"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/96b206a07dacd5614967544b2c3b0e35\",\"name\":\"John Zimmermann\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/DNFD62DX0AA8wcD-293x293.jpeg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/DNFD62DX0AA8wcD-293x293.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/DNFD62DX0AA8wcD-293x293.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"John Zimmermann\"},\"description\":\"John Zimmermann was exposed to racing at birth. His father worked for famed race car builder Kurtis Kraft, and later as a mechanic at Indianapolis and on the Championship Trail for drivers such as Rex Mays, Ted Horn, and Troy Ruttman. John has written about racing for more than 25 years, first at RACECAR before helping found both On Track and RACER, overseeing the latter for a dozen years. He was also motorsports editor at AutoWeek and editor of SportsCar, and his book The Atlantic Championship celebrates the first 25 years of Formula Atlantic. His freelance work has appeared in Road &amp; Track, Motor Sport, Autosport, and Vintage Motorsport, among others.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/john_zimmermann-2\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen","description":"John Zimmermann visits with a behind-the-scenes figure whose career included involvements with many of motor sport\u2019s greatest figures.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/","next":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen","og_description":"John Zimmermann visits with a behind-the-scenes figure whose career included involvements with many of motor sport\u2019s greatest figures.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/","og_site_name":"Supercars.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/","article_published_time":"2011-06-02T01:00:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-29T20:56:19+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":670,"url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p8.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Zimmermann","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@supercars_net","twitter_site":"@supercars_net","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Zimmermann","Est. reading time":"23 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/"},"author":{"name":"John Zimmermann","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/96b206a07dacd5614967544b2c3b0e35"},"headline":"Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen","datePublished":"2011-06-02T01:00:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-29T20:56:19+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/"},"wordCount":4774,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p8.jpg","keywords":["2010s All","Austin-Healey","Era (World War II)","Jaguar","MG","People","People (Carroll Shelby)","People (Jim Hall)","People Profiles (Interviews)","Shelby","Shelby Cobra"],"articleSection":["Members Only","People"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/","name":"Raoul \u201cSonny\u201d Balcaen","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p8.jpg","datePublished":"2011-06-02T01:00:46+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-29T20:56:19+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/96b206a07dacd5614967544b2c3b0e35"},"description":"John Zimmermann visits with a behind-the-scenes figure whose career included involvements with many of motor sport\u2019s greatest figures.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/raoul-sonny-balcaen\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p8.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/INT201106-p8.jpg","width":1080,"height":670,"caption":"At Saugus (California) Dragway, this is Sonny\u2019s homebuilt dragster powered by the 6-cylinder GMC\u2008engine and painted silver because of his love for German engineering. That\u2019s Sonny second from the right, with Indycar driver Cal Niday is standing to Sonny\u2019s right.\u00a0Photo: Courtesy Sonny Balcaen"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/","name":"Supercars.net","description":"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/96b206a07dacd5614967544b2c3b0e35","name":"John Zimmermann","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DNFD62DX0AA8wcD-293x293.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DNFD62DX0AA8wcD-293x293.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/DNFD62DX0AA8wcD-293x293.jpeg","caption":"John Zimmermann"},"description":"John Zimmermann was exposed to racing at birth. His father worked for famed race car builder Kurtis Kraft, and later as a mechanic at Indianapolis and on the Championship Trail for drivers such as Rex Mays, Ted Horn, and Troy Ruttman. John has written about racing for more than 25 years, first at RACECAR before helping found both On Track and RACER, overseeing the latter for a dozen years. He was also motorsports editor at AutoWeek and editor of SportsCar, and his book The Atlantic Championship celebrates the first 25 years of Formula Atlantic. His freelance work has appeared in Road &amp; Track, Motor Sport, Autosport, and Vintage Motorsport, among others.","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/author\/john_zimmermann-2\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/565956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}