Kevin Fandozzi, who earned the 41st annual RRDC Mark Donohue Award for his Touring 3 class victory at the 2011 SCCA National Championship Runoffs last September, was presented the award at RRDC’s annual dinner prior to the running of the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 At Daytona.

David Donohue (left) and Scott Pruett (right) present Kevin Fandozzi wih the Mark Donohue Award.

Every year, the RRDC Mark Donohue Award is an engraved glass top mounted on a selected racing-experienced wheel, provided by an RRDC member. The 2011 wheel was donated by Grand-Am team owner Chip Ganassi. It had seen racing action on the Target Chip Ganassi with Felix  Sabates Lexus Riley that won both the 2007 and 2008 Rolex 24 At Daytona races. RRDC member Scott Pruett, who was on board for both victories, made the presentation, alongside Mark’s son David,

“It’s a privilege for me to present this award to Kevin in my dad’s name for all that he represented, especially within the SCCA community,” said David.

Added Pruett: “Looking around the room and seeing an unbelievable group of drivers who represent the heritage and history of the RRDC is very exciting for me. I feel honored just to be here.

“It’s exciting also for us, especially Chip as the leader of the Ganassi organization, to give something to the RRDC on behalf of our team, and something that is significant. We’ve been fortunate to have won the Rolex 24 At Daytona several times. In fact, the 01 car finishing every lap of this race for the last four years has been nothing short of spectacular.

While the Daytona 24-Hour Race was celebrating its 50th Anniversary, over 190 RRDC members gathered in the the Speedway's prestigious 500 Club for the Road Racing Drivers Club Annual Dinner - and a celebration of the RRDC'S 60th Anniversary.

On hand were an amazing group of racing luminaries from yesterday and today, Including:

All time 24-Hour winner Hurley Haywood - Can-Am and Trans-Am legend George Follmer -  Former 24-Hour winners Brian Redman, Derek Bell, Scott Pruett, David Donohue and Graham Rahal .

Indy-500 winners Dario Franchitti, Scott Dixon, Juan Pablo Montoya (and of course Bobby Rahal) - Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray -  Championship Grand-Am and IndyCar Team Owner Chip Ganassi, as well as IMSA founder John Bishop.

Speed TV had their own table which included Bob Varrsha, David Hobbs, Calvin Fish, Dorsey Shroeder, Chris Neville, Brian Til, and Leigh Diffey.

Special thanks go to David Donohue and Vicki O'Connor who co-chaired the event.

RRDC MEMBERS COME UP BIG IN ROLEX 24-HOUR.

AJ (left) and Justin (right).

RRDC members AJ Almendinger and Justin Wilson scored the overall Daytona Prototype victory, while Andy Lally led the way in the most competitive GT field ever.

Other top RRDC finishers included:  Ryan Dalziel- second in DP,  Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti fourth, Darren Law and David Donohue fifth, Scott Pruett, Joey Hand and Graham Rahal sixth.

RAHAL on SPEED  - SAFE IS FAST:

Our President appeared on the Daytona SPEED broadcast and described the amazing success of the RRDC Safe is Fast online symposium program:

To view Bobby's Speed TV's interview, go to :   http://youtu.be/yjv89xXCXvs

George Follmer, who has competed in virtually every form of auto racing and is considered one of the sport's living legends, was honored by the Road Racing Drivers Club with the 2012 Phil Hill Award.


RRDC president Bobby Rahal presented Follmer with the award at a dinner prior to the running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the season opener of the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.

The Phil Hill Award has been presented annually since 1993 to the person who the RRDC feels has rendered outstanding service to road racing. The recipient may be a driver, entrant or outstanding member of a sanctioning body.

It is named in honor of America’s first Formula 1 World Champion (in 1961), and is not only a tribute to his masterful accomplishments on the race track, it also recognizes his contributions as a great ambassador for the sport. Hill passed away in 2008.

"I got to know Phil Hill towards the end of his career, his life," said Rahal. "What a gentleman he was. What was so great about Phil Hill was not that he took on the world, and he did - he was the first U.S. F1 champion, multi-time winner of LeMans, won the Nurburgring 1000, Brands Hatch - but that no matter what he got into he won. Above all that, he was a very educated guy, and a gentleman in the finest sense of the word. He exemplified what is great about American motor racing.

California native Follmer  is the only professional racing driver from the United States to compete in Indy Cars, NASCAR, Formula 1, the World Endurance Championship, Can-Am, Trans-Am and IMSA.

In his first racing season, in 1960, he was named the California Sports Car Club's Rookie of the Year, followed by Driver of the Year and the SCCA U.S. Road Racing Championship (USRRC) title in 1965. Through the '60s and '70s he won the '66 Sebring 12-hour race, was the '68 Trans-Am runner-up to his teammate Mark Donohue and set nine Can-Am track records between '66-'71. In '69 he drove the only stock-block-powered car to win a race in USAC Indy Car history, and in '70 notched two Formula 5000 wins. In 1972 he became the first and only driver to win both the Trans-Am and Can-Am titles. His first Formula 1 start in 1973 resulted in a sixth-place finish for the UOP Shadow team at the South African GP, followed by a third at the Spanish Grand Prix. Also that year he placed second in Can-Am, second in the IROC Series, and competed in the World Endurance Championship for Porsche.

"It's my pleasure to present the Phil Hill Award to a guy who, you name it, has won it," added Rahal. "George Follmer was a champion who lived through the greatest era of sports-car racing, the 'glory years' of the '60s and '70s."

"It's a very big honor to get an award from the RRDC, because it's such a highly-regarded organization of race-car drivers and it's always important to be recognized by your peers," said Follmer. "I've had a lot of admiration for Phil, because he was a California guy, and I was one of those guys. He was a world champion and I remember watching him before I ever started racing, in Santa Barbara and Pomona in Southern California. I knew then he was a great race car driver. It's a great honor to receive this award in his name."

Past RRDC Phil Hill Award Winners include:

1993 John Bishop
1994 Juan Manuel Fangio II
1995 Leo Mehl
1996 Charlie Slater
1997 Danny Sullivan
1998 Rob Dyson
1999 Bob Fergus
2000 Elliott Forbes Robinson
2001 Bill France
2002 Jim Downing
2003 Derek Bell
2004 Brian Redman
2005 Jim France
2006 Roger Werner
2007 Skip Barber
2008 Roger Penske
2009 Bob Bondurant
2010 Nick Craw
2011 Rick Mears



Five-time SCCA national champion Don Knowles was named the recipient of the 2011 Bob Akin Award by the Road Racing Drivers Club at a dinner prior to the running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the season opener of the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.

Each recipient of this honor, considered the top award in motorsports for amateur, vintage/historic or semi-professional drivers, is selected by Akin's son Bobby, RRDC members Brian Redman and Archie Urciuoli, and approved by RRDC president Bobby Rahal.

Don Knowles (center) receives the Bob Akin award from Archie Urciuoli and RRDC president Bobby Rahal.

The distinctive trophy was conceived by the RRDC in 2003 to honor the memory of longtime RRDC member and past president Bob Akin, who lost his life in a racing accident in 2002.

The trophy was designed by Steuben Glass in Corning, N.Y., and is given to a driver who best exemplifies the extraordinary qualities and characteristics that Akin represented, including a passion for motorsports and automobiles, a high level of sportsmanship and fair play, and who has contributed to the sport of motor racing.

Knowles has competed in over 350 races in his racing career, and along with his five SCCA national championships (three in SSB and two in T2), has won 14 24-hour races, has 35 victories in five professional series, including a record 19 in the Escort Endurance Series, and was a member of the Corvette Land Speed Record team. The former associate Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Interior and staffer on the U.S. Senate Committee of Appropriations was featured in Sports Illustrated 20 years ago and more recently as 'Dandy Don' in Road & Track magazine.

Knowles was presented the award by Urciuoli and Rahal. "It's unfortunate that we lost Bob in an accident in 2002. He represented so many good things and epitomized a true gentleman in the sport," said Rahal. "Don Knowles exemplifies those qualities."

Added Urciuoli: "We lost a great personal friend and competitor in Bob Akin 10 years ago this April. He had a great 40-year career as an amateur racer. He didn’t make his living as a driver, but he was distinguished as a driver. He was a gentleman, a great sportsman and he gave a lot back to our sport.

"Several aspects define the Bob Akin Award," continued Urciuoli. "They include a passion for motorsports, sportsmanship and fair play. Don is known as a good guy who races hard, clean and smart. In terms of contribution to the sport, he’s involved in driver training for 20-30 days a year, does testing and development for historic races and is an author of many articles about our sport."

"The first thing about the award is that it honors Bob Akin," said Knowles. "He was a great competitor, a good friend, and a wonderful, erudite racer. And it’s a good thing for racers to think about sportsmanship every so often. For me, growing up in rural North Carolina, to be able to drive starting with a '55 Studebaker pickup and ending up racing different cars all over the country, it's just wonderful to be recognized by my peers. It's like the 'Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval,' and I appreciate it and will treasure it."

Past RRDC Bob Akin Award honorees:

2003 – Sam Posey

2004 - Charlie Gibson

2005 – John Fitch

2006 – Jim Haynes

2007 – Cameron Argetsinger

2008 – Jim Downing

2009 – Steven J. Earle

2010 – Augie Pabst

DEADLINE for reservation: Friday, January 20, 2012, 5 p.m. ET

Dinner date:    January 25, 2012

Time:               5 p.m., cocktails; 7:30 p.m., dinner

Also: Please be prepared to pose for an RRDC member group shot at 7 p.m.

Place:             Daytona 500 Club, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, Fla.

Cost:               $75 per person by check payable to RRDC, or $100 at the door – cash only

Space is still available. If you have not already made a reservation and sent in your payment, please email the attached RRDC banquet form to Chris Jarrett by Friday, January 20, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , then mail your check and form to:

RRDC
c/o John Fergus
8377 Green Meadows Drive North, Suite A
Lewis Center, Ohio 43035

Or, you may fax the form to Chris Jarrett at 740-201-0501.

Please be sure to indicate your choice of meal: Mahi-Mahi or Beef Wellington on the form.

You may also pay at the door once the reservation is made (check or cash), or indicate on the form that the “check is in the mail.” However, if a reservation is not received by January 20, the cost will be $100 at the door, cash only.

Note: Race weekend credentials will only be available at the dinner check-in and only to members who paid their 2012 dues.

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