KEEPING THE SPIRIT ALIVE SINCE 1999
Dick Atkins
23/4/1936 - 13/11/1966
One of the best sprint car drivers of his era and was just begining to shine in the USAC Championships when he was killed at Ascot Park when Don Branson's car bounced off the wall back into his path. Branson died instantly and Atkins passed away the next day from what at first were believed to be burns. However an autosy revealed that the cause of death was a fractured skull.
Dick Atkins died 55 years ago, he was 30 , He would have been 85.
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Good looking and popular with the crowds of California race fans, Richard Charles (Dick) Atkins was one of the best sprint car drivers of his era and was just begining to shine in the USAC Championships. Atkins won the Sacramento Mile, champ-dirt car race in the heydey of many super talents.In 1966 he qualified for the 1966 Indy 500, but was later 'bumped' and didn't race and just three weeks before his fatal accident he won his first USAC Championship race. Then on 12 November 1966, Don Branson lost it in a corner at Ascot Park (Gardena). Branson's car bounced off the wall back into the path of Atkins. Branson was killed instantly and Atkins died the next day from what at first were believed to be burns. However an autosy revealed that the cause of death was a fracture to the rear of his skull.
Soon after this accident, his close friend J. C. Agajanian, called on USAC to make rubber bladders in fuel tanks madatory.
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Renaud de Montaignac 1851 - 1898 -
Wilhelm Werner 1874 - 1947 -
Bob Burman 1884 - 1916 -
Tony Sugden 1932 -
Larry Rice 1946 - 2009
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Ronnie Bucknum 1936 - 1992
Ronnie Bucknum was a Formula One driver who participated in 11 Grands Prix, debuting on August 2, 1964 driving for Honda. After Formula One, Bucknum drove in the USAC Championship Car series, racing between 1967-1970 with 23 starts. He had one win, the 1968 Michigan 500. He also drove a Carroll Shelby GT40 to third place at Le Mans in 1966. He died from complications from diabetes. -
Jim Hall 1935
A former F1 driver, Jim Hall was the owner and driving force of Chaparral Cars. An early adopter of aerodynamics applied to race cars, he was the leading proponent of that technology for an entire decade. He dominated sports car racing in the USA in 1965 winning 16 races. -
Peter Revson 1939 - 1974
Revson was heir to the Revlon cosmetics fortune. He was one of the best American sports car drivers of the 1960s. He raced in F1 for McLaren winning the British and Canadian Grands Prix in 1973. He was killed in testing for the 1974 South African Grand Prix at Kyalami. -
Derek Bell 1941
A former Formula One driver from England who raced for the Ferrari, McLaren, Surtees and Tecno. Bell is best know for his sportscar racing, winning Le Mans five times and the Daytona 24 hour race, three times. -
Bob Bondurant 1933
Bob Bondurant was a Formula 1 driver who raced for the Ferrari, Lotus, BRM and Eagle teams. Now famous for his racing schools where he continues to teach, time permitting, and race in select vintage racing events.