It was the beginning of a true Hollywood story. In the next two years Ronnie just dominated West Coast racing, first in an Austin Healey 3000 in 1962 followed by the newly introduced MGB in 1963. In those two years Ronnie won 52 of 56 events. He was a West Coast star for sure.Then his world, and the racing world indeed, would be turned upside down with a call from Honda asking him to help develop and then race for Honda… in Formula One! Honda was just beginning to manufacture automobiles and knew California would be one of the first major markets. The fact that Ronnie had never set foot in an open wheel race car seemed to matter little to Honda, so it was off to Japan to test the radical transverse V12 Honda and prepare to the 1964 F1 season.
If all that is not enough to impress, his debut for Honda was on the 14-mile, 140-turn Nurburgring in Germany, known then as now as the toughest road course ever. For the next three partial seasons he competed for Honda until a change in rules caused a change in Honda’s direction.From there Ronnie was selected as Ford factory driver for the GT40 LeMans program, finishing on the Podium in 1966 during Ford’s sweep. He returned to LeMans the following year and led the event until mechanical issues dropped him to 46th. Even with that handicap he finished 6th.
1968 saw an introduction to IndyCars where he qualified and raced the Indy 500. Later in the year he guided his mount to victory in the inaugural IndyCar event at the Michigan International Speedway.
1969 saw success in TransAm and Ronnie cinched the TransAm Manufacturer Championship for Chevrolet and Roger Penske.Ronnie competed in three Indy 500s, was an over all victor at Sebring and accumulated many other impressive achievements in his career.
Ronnie Bucknum passed away in 1992 from complications of diabetes. Ronnie left a legacy of excellence, versatility and pure raw desire to be the best.