Credit: Bondurant School of High Performance Driving

This past weekend (November 12) saw the passing of racing great Bob Bondurant at age 88. Bondurant had been a top driver in the 50’s and 60’s for Ferrari and Carroll Shelby, and won 30 out of 32 races in a Corvette. From there he started racing for Shelby and switched to Cobras. After U.S. wins driving Cobras, Bondurant went to Europe for the 1964 season, where he competed in races that are now legend: Spa, Nurburgring, and the Targa Florio. But it was his class victory driving the Cobra Daytona Coupe at Le Mans that year that may have been his crowning achievement on a racetrack.

In 1967, a fateful race at Watkins Glen, his steering arm broke at 150mph and his car flipped eight times, injuring his back, ribs and legs. Witnesses were sure he had died in the crash, but Bob woke up in the hospital, where he vividly remembered a conversation with God explaining to Bob that he was needed more on Earth and to start a driving and safety school to save thousands of lives of those otherwise dying on the highways and in motorsports.

Answering the call, on February 14, 1968, Bob founded The Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving. The doors opened at Orange County International Raceway, near Los Angeles, with three students. The next week there were two students, Paul Newman and Robert Wagner, training for the film Winning. Bondurant was technical advisor, camera car driver, and actor-instructor for the film. Ever since then, both Bondurant and his school have enjoyed success after success. For 50 years, it earned and held a reputation as the number-one racing school in the world, crediting Bob as “the global expert authority on driver training and safety.”

Clint Eastwood in a Bondurant trainer car.

In 1990 our paths crossed. His handlers tried to book an in-studio interview on our Dallas radio station, Y-95 KHYI. I agreed to the booking and took the information to the morning show and program director who met me with blank stares. “Who the f*** is Bob Restaurant?”. I tried to point out his big Hollywood connections and the stories he could tell, but it fell on deaf ears. When Bondurant came for the interview, we did it in my off-air studio and I assured him it would air on the next day’s morning show. Bob had such a gentle demeanor, and in his black suit and tie he looked like Chrysler CEO Lee Iaccoca (a reference that made more sense in 1990). We had a grand old time talking about racing and Paul Newman and when the interview was over, he asked me what car I drove. I proudly told him I had a brand new Mitsubishi Eclipse GSX turbo (nicknamed the ‘Rice Rocket’) and he got this sly grin on his face. “Do you wanna go out and do some 180s in it?”. Oh, hell yeah, racing legend driving my car? We headed for the elevator….

Not the Rice Rocket, but a resonable facsimile.

Once in the parking garage, Bob walked up to my car and leaned on the hood, bouncing it up and down a few times to check the suspension. He repeated this at all four corners of the car, and then moved into the driver’s seat. “You need to move your seat up closer, so your arms have this much bend to them when you grip the wheel.” He was the Master, I was Grasshopper. He backed the Mitsu out and drove it to the upper deck of the parking garage where it was raining lightly. Pulling into an open lane, he accelerated quickly to 50 miles an hour directly toward a four foot concrete wall. He slammed on the brakes and we slid quite a distance before stopping mere inches from the wall (and a four story drop on the other side of that wall!). I nearly blacked out. But there was no time for that, no we were headed backwards full speed when he turned the wheel and and yanked the emergency brake, putting us into a 90 degree bank. This genteel 57 year old now was driving like he was at LeMans and I had no choice but to trust him with my life. After a while, when it was obvious he was an expert at what he was doing, it really began to be a lot of fun.

One of the courses his racing school taught was “Terrorist Evasion Tactics” for chauffeurs. He spoke to me as if he were my father telling me to bring the car back with a full tank. “If you are ever in danger from someone pursuing you, and it doesn’t look like you can outrun them, do this: Slam on the brakes. When they pull up beside you, put it in reverse and pop the clutch. When you get to about 30 miles an hour, let off the gas and the front of the car will lift. Turn your wheel to the left while shifting into first gear. The car will spin around and when you are pointed in the right place pop the clutch, and you’ll have a huge head start on the bad guys!” He then performed this move in a full parking lot in the rain. Was I scared? Only my dry cleaner knows for sure.

I happened to find this fun graphic of what Bondurant was describing, so I hope this helps.

This maneuver is known as a J-Turn, or a “Rockford Turn”, named after James Garner’s character on “The Rockford Files” who did J-Turns frequently. And guess who taught James Garner how to do it. Yup.

Bob was doing a promotional tour for his new racing school location in Phoenix, and made me the offer to come out for a free day of driving on him. My boss would not let me have time off to take him up on the offer, and it’s still one of those things I kick myself for not doing it anyway.

I’m glad I had the experience I did with Bob, and prayers to his family and staff for their loss. Thanks.

Mr. Bob's Wild Ride