| Ron's Bio |
Driver Profile: Ron Fellows
Birthdate: Sept. 28, 1959 24 Hours of Le Mans Record
American Le Mans Series Career Record
Career Highlights
Ron Fellows is a charter member of the championship-winning Corvette Racing team. He did the initial testing and development with the Corvette C5-R, and scored Corvette Racing’s first ALMS victory in September 2000 at Texas Motor Speedway. Fellows is recognized as one of North America’s most versatile road racing drivers; winning in series that span the spectrum of motorsports, from NASCAR to the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A native of Windsor, Ontario, Fellows developed an early love for auto racing, competing first in karts, followed by Formula 1600 and Formula 2000. After a nine-year stint as a gas pipeline worker, he returned to racing in the early '80s and launched his professional driving career. Fellows found early success in his first level of professional competition, the Player’s/GM Challenge series for production Camaros, where he won the drivers championship in 1989. Fellows’ success continued in SCCA Trans-Am racing, where he won 19 races in 95 starts. He performed with distinction in sports prototype racing, NASCAR Craftsman Truck, NASCAR Nationwide Series and the NASCAR Cup Series. In the late ’90s Fellows became the primary development driver for GM Racing’s Corvette C5-R program. That association produced victories at the 24 Hours of Daytona, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 12 Hours of Sebring, and virtually every road racing circuit in North America.Fellows won the ALMS GTS drivers championship in 2002 and shared the title with teammate Johnny O’Connell in 2003-04. He and O'Connell finished as runners-up in the GT1 drivers championship to their Corvette Racing teammates Oliver Gavin and Olivier Beretta in 2005 and 2007. In addition to his duties with the factory Corvette Racing program, the Canadian also competed in selected NASCAR Cup events, consistently piloting a Chevrolet to the front of the pack in road racing events. He won back-to-back SCCA SPEED World Challenge races at Mosport in 2004-05 driving Team Cadillac's CTS-V race car, and scored a spectacular win at Long Beach in 2006 with a last-lap pass. In 2007, Fellows began a new phase in his career as an ambassador for Corvette and a technical advisor to GM Racing. He focused on endurance events with teammates Johnny O'Connell and Jan Magnussen, and ran the Mosport round of the ALMS at his home track with former teammate Andy Pilgrim. Fellows drove the final stint at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in a downpour, gaining as much as 30 seconds per lap on the class-leading Aston Martin before a safety car period ended his charge to the front. Fellows also drove a Cadillac CTS-V in selected SCCA SPEED World Challenge GT races, winning the pole in Long Beach, Calif., and finishing as runner-up in Toronto and Atlanta. In 2008 Ron continued his part time driving role with Corvette Racing , scoring wins at Sebring and Petit LeMans and finishing 2nd in class at LeMans. In NASCAR Sprint Cup competiton Ron reunited with Dale Earnhardt Incorporated to compete at Sonoma and Watkins Glen. The highlight of the season was a NASCAR Nationwide Series win in Montreal, Quebec on the famed Circuit Gilles Villeneuve driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr. and JR Motorsports. 2009 will see Ron out from behind the wheel of the Corvette. He will continue to work with the team in an advisory role while continuing to be an ambassador for Corvette. Ron Is not done driving quite yet, as he pursues NASCAR opportunities. Unfinished business would include a NASCAR Sprint Cup victory. Fans voted Fellows "Most Popular Driver" in the ALMS in 2004-07 – the only driver to win the prestigious award four consecutive times. He was named to the AARWBA All America Racing Team in 2002, 2003 and 2004. In 2007, Chevrolet introduced the limited edition Ron Fellows ALMS GT1 Champion Corvette Z06, the first signed special edition in Corvette’s history. A resident of Mississauga, Ontario, he has been instrumental in setting up the Sunoco Ron Fellows Karting Championship, a series that helps young Canadian drivers make a connection to professional racing.
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