A Brief Profile
 

Michael Schlee

Racing fans in Canada know the name Ron Fellows. In fact, racing fans around the world know the name Ron Fellows. Albeit from his successes in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, NASCAR or SCCA Trans-Am, Ron has made his mark in the motorsports world. In fact the terms icon or living legend are not that far off mark when talking about Mr Fellows’ accomplishments.

Ron Fellows

Starting his professional racing career in 1986 with the Players GM Series, Ron has spent the past 23 years racking up victory after victory. Some of his key accomplishments include 2 GTS Class wins at the 24 hours of Le Mans, 2 ALMS GTS Class Co-Championships, 4 NASCAR Nationwide Series wins, 2 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series wins and 19 SCCA Trans-Am Series wins.

Despite his success over the past few decades, Ron remains genuine and down to earth. This was evident during the NASCAR event at Watkins Glen that I was able to attend a few weeks ago.

I was hanging out in pit road between the NASCAR Sprint Cup practice and the NASCAR Nationwide Series race. The 17 drivers who were doing ‘double duty’ had to run from their Cup cars to attend the Nationwide drivers meeting. After the meeting, they had to run back to their Cup cars to finish the practice session. During this chaotic transition, Ron was one of the few drivers took the time to sign a few autographs for his fans.

Ron Fellows Signing Autographs

During the Watkins Glen Nationwide race later that day, Ron suffered a very unfortunate and controversial pit road penalty that took him out of contention for the win. The fact he was still able to overcome this and finish 5th in itself is amazing.

Prior to this race being run, Ron had committed to an autograph session at the Chevrolet Motorsports Merchandise Hauler 30 minutes post race. Now most people would be angry, upset and unhappy after losing a race due to a controversial pit road ruling. Some may not even show up to the autograph session altogether. Not Ron though, he was there prompt and ready to interact with his fans. Example: I overheard a fellow Canadian fan ask Ron how he did in Cup practice the day before.  The fan said  “I got here late and missed it”. Having qualified poorly Ron jokingly responded “I probably should have missed it as well”.

I was at this autograph session early and stood 4th in line. When I was able to meet Ron I mentioned an email I had sent him a few weeks earlier. Right away he remembered who I was and we had a brief conversation. Anyone who has met Ron for more then 5 seconds can attest that he is a genuinely nice guy. Want proof? Ron Fellows is the only driver to have been awarded the American Le Mans Series ‘Most Popular Driver Award’ 4 years in a row (2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007) as voted by the fans.

#09 Miccosukee Chevrolet

Over the years Ron hasn’t forgotten his Canadian roots. He has helped establish the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship which is designed to help young Canadian Race Car Drivers develop into the next international superstars.

For more information on Ron Fellows click the link below.

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Sources – Corvette Racing, Wikipedia, RonFellows.com