As part of your ACO USA membership you’re invited to join Evening With A Legend, a series of presentations exclusive to ACO USA Members where a Legend of the famous 24 Hours of LeMans race will share stories and highlights of the big event. Previous Guests featured on ACO USA’s Evening With A Legend Series

Jim Busby

In 1978, Jim Busby debut in the Le Mans 24H in a Porsche 935 from Kremer Racing, and finished in 6th position overall. His enduring association with BFGoodrich began with the 1982 Le Mans 24H when his Porsche 924 Carrera GTR won the GT class using BFG’s road-specification tires; and they remain his sponsors and tire suppliers during his 1984 return to Le Mans with a Group C2 Lola-Mazda. In subsequent seasons he concentrated on managing the team, and perhaps his finest victory came in the 1989 Daytona 24H when John Andretti, Bob Wollek and Derek Bell shared the win in the Miller High Life Porsche 962. Jim sold his team in 1990, and move on to other projects and racing. Busby himself may not admit it, but he is regarded as one of the worlds best P

This Evening With A Legend was hosted by David Spitzer of the ACO USA.

Doc Bundy

Doc Bundy‘s motorsports career began as a wheel polisher and technician for Porsche driver Peter Gregg in 1973. The following year, he moved to Al Holbert Racing, where he spent the next five years preparing cars. In 1980, Bundy began driving for Holbert Racing in a Porsche 924, capturing a National Championship as a rookie. He followed that by driving a Porsche 924 Turbo and took a class win in the GTO Category at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Over the next few years, he would drive for Lotus, Jaguar, Ford, and Chevrolet (Corvette), topped with a season racing a Porsche 962. Bundy shared driving duties in the Hendrick Motorsports IMSA Chevrolet Corvette GTP with Sarel Van Der Merwe from 1986 through the 1988 season when Hendrick abandoned the Corvette project. He was involved in a serious crash with Lyn St. James and Chip Robinson at the 1986 Riverside Grand Prix.

This Evening With A Legend was hosted by David Spitzer of the ACO USA.

In 1982, Bundy raced and won SCCA TransAm competition, in GTP driving the well-known group 44 Jaguar, in GTO with a Mustang, GTP Corvette, Showroom Stock, and has won Road Atlanta and Miami in a Lotus X180R. In 1992, Bundy was crowned Bridgestone Supercar Champion.

In the early 1990s, Bundy drove the Esprit X180R for Lotus as the team’s number one driver in IMSA’s Bridgestone Supercar Championship, winning the Driver’s Title and Manufacturer’s Championship for Lotus in 1992. Lotus teammates Andy Pilgrim and David Murry featured prominently in the standings, with additional varied drivers that included Paul Newman.

Bundy drove in the 1997 24 Hours of Le Mans in a David Price Racing Panoz Esperante GTR-1. He currently drives Lotus Elite, Lotus 23B, and 1978–79 John Player Special (Car #1) for Regogo Racing Team.

Ben Keating

Ben Keating is an American racing driver and business owner operating out of Victoria, Texas. Keating is the owner of 28 car auto dealerships across Texas, as part of The Keating Auto Group. Since starting auto racing in 2006, he has competed in many auto races worldwide, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Daytona, Twelve hours of Sebring, and most recently the World Endurance Championship. He as competed in the 24 hours of LeMans 9 times, with 2 wins under his belt, 1 with Aston Martin, and most recently with Team Corvette. He is the only American driver to have won multiple World Championships. Keating began racing in 2006 after receiving a weekend track driving course as a Christmas present from his wife.

This Evening With A Legend was hosted by Ruben Sanchez of the ACO USA.

Rick Knoop

Rick Knoop’s first professional wins came in 1979 in IMSA Goodrich Radial Challenge 6-hour at Talladega in an AMC Concord, followed by GTU win at Road America in a Mazda RX-7. Won a Camel GTU class race at Pocono in 1981. First major win was 1983 Rolex 24 at Daytona’s GTO class in Mazda RX-7. Also that year won GTO class at Mosport. Won Group C2 class in 1984 24 Hours of Le Mans with Jim Busby in a Lola T-616, then won The Longest Day at Nelson Ledges in a Porsche with Busby and Fred Baker. Also drove selected Winston Cup races in 1981 and 1987. Since then has been frequent competitor in Historic Stock Car Series, plus Vintage and Historic races.

This Evening With A Legend was hosted by Crew Chief Eric from The Motoring Podcast Network.

Mario Andretti

Mario Andretti competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in four decades. In 1966 he shared a Holman Moody Ford Mk II with Lucien Bianchi. They retired after their car dropped a valve at 10:30 pm. In 1967, during a 3:30 am pit stop, a mechanic inadvertently installed a front brake pad backward on his Ford MkIV. As Andretti passed under the Dunlop Bridge before the Esses, he touched his brake pedal for the first time since leaving the pits. The front wheel instantly locked, turning the car hard into the dirt embankment at 150 mph (240 km/h). The wreckage slid to a stop with Andretti badly shaken, the car sideways to oncoming traffic and the track nearly blocked. His teammates, Jo Schlesser and Roger McCluskey, crashed trying to avoid Andretti’s car. McCluskey pulled Andretti to safety, and Andretti was taken to hospital for x-rays.

Andretti did not return to Le Mans until his full-time Formula One career was over. In 1982, he partnered with son Michael in a Mirage M12 Ford. They qualified in ninth place, but the pair found their car being removed from the starting grid 80 minutes before the start of the race, as an official discovered an oil cooler that was mounted behind the gearbox, which was against the rules. The car had passed initial inspection four days before the race. Despite protests and complaints, Andretti’s entry was removed altogether, replaced by a Porsche 924 Carrera GTR. Their return in the following year was more successful as they finished third. The father/son team returned in 1988 with Mario’s nephew John. They finished sixth in a factory Porsche 962. Following Mario’s retirement from full-time racing, he decided on a return to the circuit to add a Le Mans victory to his achievements. He returned in 1995 with a second-place finish. He said in a 2006 interview that he feels that the Courage Compétition team “lost [the 1995] race five times over” through poor organization. He had unsuccessful efforts in the following years with a thirteenth place in 1996, and then a DNF (Did Not Finish) for 1997. Andretti’s final appearance at Le Mans was at the 2000 race, six years after his retirement from full-time racing, when he drove the Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S at the age of 60, finishing 15th.

This Evening With A Legend was hosted by Crew Chief Eric from The Motoring Podcast Network.

Lyn St. James

Lyn St. James is an American professional race car driver. She competed in the IndyCar series, with eleven CART and five Indy Racing League starts to her name. Lyn is one of nine women who have qualified for the Indianapolis 500, and became the first woman to win the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year award (oldest to win the award at 45, a record she held for 30 years until Jimmie Johnson won it when he was 46 in 2022). She also has two class victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and won the GTO class, partnering with Calvin Fish and Robby Gordon, at the 1990 12 Hours of Sebring. Additionally she has competed in endurance racing in Europe, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, once in 1989 and then again in 1991, and the 24 Hours of Nürburgring.

This Evening With A Legend was hosted by Crew Chief Eric from The Motoring Podcast Network.

This evening with a Legend is also sponsored by Lyn’s organization, Women In Motorsports North America (WIMNA).

WINMA is a community of professional women and men devoted to supporting opportunities for women across all disciplines of motorsport by creating an inclusive, resourceful environment to foster mentorship, advocacy, education, and growth, thereby ensuring the continued strength and successful future of our sport. Officially founded in April of 2022, Women in Motorsports North of America is an official 501c3 not for profit organization. Because of its partners, WMNA is proud of what it’s been able to accomplish. Each year, over 450 women and men from all disciplines of motorsports attend their annual summit. Attendees are open to industry executives, drivers, team members, OEM sponsors, racetrack representatives and anyone working in the sport or wanting to learn more about opportunities in Motorsport. If you’d like to learn more about women in Motorsports North America, be sure to log on to www.womeninmotorsportsna.com or follow them on social media @womeninmotorsportsna on Instagram and Facebook.

Rob Dyson

Rob Dyson is a New York based businessman and retired professional racing driver with a long association with Watkins Glen International and the International Motor Racing Research Center. Following completion of his licensing school at Watkins Glen in 1974, Dyson began competing in amateur SCCA competition. In 1981 he won the Sports Car Club of America’s GT2 national championship.

Dyson began racing professionally in IMSA GTO and the SCCA Trans-Am Series in 1982. The following year, to support his professional racing efforts, Dyson founded the Dyson Racing Team, which over the next few years grew to be one of America’s premier sports car racing teams. From their base in Poughkeepsie, over the course of nearly four decades the team won 19 championships, 72 race victories, started 72 times from the pole and achieved 224 podium finishes. Among the team’s notable accomplishments is a pair of overall victories in America’s premier endurance race, the Rolex 24, at Daytona International Speedway. In 1986 he found himself behind the wheel of a Porsche 956 at the famed Circuit de la Sarthe: Le Mans.

The team fielded cars during the heyday of the IMSA Camel GT, winning its first time out with a Porsche 962 at Lime Rock Park. Under Dyson’s leadership the team went on to successfully field entries in Indy car, the World Sports Car Championship, the United States Road Racing Championship, the American Le Mans Series (where the team scored two championships), the Rolex Sports Car Series, and the Pirelli World Challenge, where the team scored Bentley’s first-ever North American race victory.

During his 21 seasons as a professional racing driver Dyson drove in 92 races, scoring four overall race wins (including the 1997 Rolex 24 at Daytona) and a total of 18 podium finishes. Dyson continued to compete episodically in professional racing through 2007 and today remains active driving his collection of vintage Indy cars in a variety of demonstration events. Dyson’s personal historic Indy car collection ranges from a 1913 Isotta Fraschini tipo IM to Johnny Rutherford’s 1978 Budweiser McLaren M24B, and includes the 1961 Kimberly Cooper Climax, the first successful rear-engine car to compete in the 500.

Named chairman of the board of directors of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum in 2021 following a decade as a member of the board, Dyson is guiding the institution through its $89 million transformational renovation as it charts its future path as the repository of the history and related artifacts of America’s oldest active and most storied racing facility.

In 2011 Dyson donated to the IMRRC the historic archives of National Speed Sport News, America’s premier motorsports news publication since the late 1930s.

Dyson is the chairman and chief executive officer of Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation, a privately-owned international holding company.

This Evening With A Legend was hosted by Crew Chief Eric from The Motoring Podcast Network.

This EWAL was co-sponsored by the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC).

Andy Pilgrim

Andy Pilgrim, whose resume includes wins at the 12 hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, the Rolex 24, GT races on 5 continents, the Pikes Peak Hill-climb, NASCAR and 6 finishes (with 5 podiums) at the 24 hours of Le Mans. He is best known for his days racing with Team Cadillac and Corvette Racing and we’re honored to have him with us to share his stories about racing at Le Mans (1996-2003). This Evening With A Legend was hosted by Crew Chief Eric from The Motoring Podcast Network.

The Camoradi Corvette

Please join us for a very special presentation about the amazing history of Camoradi USA Racing’s 1960 Corvette and the colorful cast of characters surrounding it. The car was built for international competition under the auspices of Chevrolet General Manager Ed Cole and Corvette Chief Engineer Zora Duntov and went on to race successfully in Havana, Daytona, Sebring, Nürburgring, Sweden, and Le Mans. The only thing more amazing than this car’s creation and race record is its survival. On the way to Britain’s famed Goodwood circuit in August 1960 it was crashed hard and left for dead but miraculously, the shattered remains were preserved and discovered some thirty years later by Loren Lundberg, an unbelievably tenacious Corvette enthusiast from Glendale, Arizona. Learn how Loren found and rescued the car, and how he and current caretaker Dominick Testa went to great lengths to restore it and make sure its incredible story would not be forgotten. This Evening With A Legend was hosted by Crew Chief Eric from The Motoring Podcast Network.

Chuck Schroedel: Chuck was part of the Camoradi Corvette’s crew at Le Mans in 1960
Dominick Testa: Dominick is the Camoradi Corvette’s current caretaker
Richard Prince: Richard is a Corvette historian

This EWAL is co-sponsored by the International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC).

David Murry

Since 1981, when the Atlanta resident first stepped into a Formula Ford, Murry built a reputation as a fast and consistent racing driver. In addition to his professional and technical expertise, he has become known as one of the “good guys” in the often wacky world of motorsports.

Murry’s career began in Formula Fords, leading to the Sports Renault series. From 1981 to 1991, while driving everything he could get his hands on, he won numerous races and the 1985 Sports Renault Championship.

1991 saw the beginning of David’s long tern relationship with manufacturers. He drove an Esprit for the Lotus factory and immediately won two races, so impressing Porsche that they hired him away from Lotus as a factory driver. Driving for the Porsche factory, David won the World Challenge Championship in a Porsche 911 Turbo. David also drove for the Porsche factory at LeMans in their LMP1 car competing for the overall win. BMW then approached David contracting him to drive their BMW M3-GTR.

In 2009, late in his successful driving career, David started “David Murry Track Days” and it continues to be his primary focus today.

Membership into the Automobile Club de l’Ouest – the founder and organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans – is open to all! The Club hosts events in Le Mans and around the world, attracting fans who enjoy their shared passion for motoring and motor racing. Tired of sitting in the pits. Explore the many advantages of becoming an ACO Member today!