Drivers from the past

In what I hope becomes a regular feature, I'm going to focus on drivers, events and cars from the past. These won't always be profiles of the more-famous drivers or their machines; hopefully interesting drivers. In honor of LeMans, my first is Ronnie Bucknam. Why? Because the 1966 24 Hours of LeMans really helped cement Ronnie's reputation and because he often gets overlooked despite being a fantastic talent.

I do my best to be as accurate with these profiles as possible - but I can always use some help. For instance, I don't have much on Ronnie's Trans-Am days. Any help on this would be much-appreciated!

There are many drivers who have earned the term “legend.” And there are many, many more who end up — sadly — as something of a footnote in motor racing’s past. Some of them deserve more of a legacy than that. One is Ronnie Bucknam.

Today many may not have heard of him, unless you live on the West Coast where, among racers, he is a legend. But in his time Ronnie was there to bear witness to some of motor racing’s greatest moments. He finished third at LeMans in 1966, competed in F1 for the Honda factory team and took part in the USAC Indycar series, including six Indianapolis 500s.

Born in Alhambra, California in 1936, Bucknam was one of many race car drivers to emerge from the California racing scene of the late 50s and early 60s. He had a reputation as a competent driver in many SCCA events, which lead to a series of “fortunate circumstances,” as he put it, that lead him to F1, LeMans and USAC.
That first was Honda in its F1 program. In an interview from the late 1980s, Ronnie took exception to the modern-day idea that he got the drive because he was an unknown driver, and that was what Honda was looking for. As he rightly pointed out, he was known for his skills as a test driver, as well as being sympathetic on his machinery, two areas Honda was looking for.

The team was facing a monumental task, building its own chassis and engines, something only Ferrari and BRM attempted to do. Its first season, 1963, coming just three years after they began building cars, proved that they needed sympathetic drivers up to the challenge of developing their cars. There was also a sense of secrecy surrounding Honda; they sought drivers with no connections to other F1 competitors so they could ensure information about their car would not be leaked to other teams. There was certainly a shortage of race-proven European drivers who met the criteria and were willing to risk their reputations racing the Honda.

A search led them to Bucknam, by this time a top driver in SCCA series in Southern California, who joined the team in 1964, where he finished 13th in his first outing in Germany. He would retire from two more races, Italy and Watkins Glen.

Bucknam himself admitted he was “shocked as hell when Honda called" and asked him to test their car. At the time he was in his late 20s and had only driven sports cars. But his reputation, as well as Honda’s desire that development work be carried out in secret, made him a perfect choice.

In 1965 he was back with the team, this time in a more full-time role, competing with the RA272 in six Grand Prixs. His teammate was Richie Ginther, a driver who also came out of the California racing scene. Their best result came in Mexico, where Bucknam finished fifth and Richie won.

Despite a lack of results, Honda were more than satisfied with his help in sorting out the car, and, in 1966, he returned to compete in the final two races of the season (Watkins Glen and Mexico) where he retired from the race and finished fifth (respectively).

The year 1966 would prove to be a watershed for Bucknam. In addition to two F1 drives, he made his first visit to Indianapolis, where he failed to qualify his Western Racing Associates Lola-Chevrolet. To his credit, the car was uncompetitive, the team inexperienced and he had never raced a single-seater on an oval. It also happened to be the same year Graham Hill won, with Jim Clark finishing in second, in their Lotus-Fords in what would be a year of change at the Speedway.

But greater success would come the next month for Bucknam. In truth Indy and F1 were sideshows to a bigger challenge, for Bucknam was working with Carroll Shelby and Dick Hutcherson on the Ford GT40 Mk.II. While Shelby was Ford’s frontman and the key organizer of Ford’s assault on LeMans, it was Hutcherson who can be credited with much of the development work of the GT40, and Bucknam who logged many test miles developing the car.

Their reward was to be named Ford’s third entry at the 24 hour race. Neither had any misconceptions about what was expected of them. They were entered under the Holman & Moody moniker, therefore not an “official” Shelby/Ford entry, and they were not to pass the leading two Fords, raced by Bruce McLaren, Chris Amon, Ken Miles and Denny Hulme.

But, thanks to their mechanical sensitivity, these two drivers, who had never before seen LeMans or competed in such a long endurance race, finished third, as asked, albeit 12 laps down, owing to mechanical trouble during the race.

Hutcherson would move on to success in NASCAR, as a driver, team owner and parts supplier, while Bucknam turned his attention to USAC.

In 1967, with backing from Vita Fresh Orange Juice, Bucknam raced a Gerhardt-Ford in five USAC events, including the 1967 Indianapolis 500, where he once again did not qualify. As in 1966, the team was hastily-prepared and just not ready in the face of stiff competition. His best result that season was third place at St. Jovite.
He would make the famous 500 mile race in 1968, finishing in 21st place because of a fuel leak. A podium followed at Mosport, another at St. Jovite before he took his first win in USAC competition at Brooklyn, Michigan, in the first race at the new track.

In 1969, he competed in just three USAC Indycar races, finishing 30th at Indy after suffered a burned piston. Single seaters beckoned him two more years, in 1970 and 1971, where he competed in five more events, all with mixed results and in undeveloped chassis.

This was in stark contrast to the success Bucknam would find in the new Trans-Am racing series in the late 60s.

In between all of this, Ronnie continued to race with success in USAC, particularly in California, where he turned his attentions full-time in the early 70s.

Though he had long-retired from racing, Ronnie did make appearance in vintage racing events, including a “street race” for classic F1 cars held in the 80s around the Tacoma Dome in Washington State as sanctioned by the SCCA’s North West Region.

Sadly, Bucknam passed away in the early 90s at the age of 57 of diabetes. His son, Jeff Bucknum, became another second-generation driver to take part in the Indycar series a few years ago, and even drove one of his dad’s Honda F1 cars before practice for the 2005 Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 at the Twin-Ring Motegi, where Honda keeps its motor racing collection.