Ron Fellows

Ron Fellows
Born	September 28, 1959 (1959-09-28) Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Achievements	2001 24 Hours of Daytona overall co-winner 2001, 2003 American Le Mans Series GTS class winner 2001, 2002, 2004 GTS class co-winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2002, 2004 GTS class winner at the 12 Hours of Sebring
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
23 race(s) run over 15 year(s)
2010 position	72nd
Best finish	54th - 2007
First race	1995 The Bud At The Glen (Watkins Glen)
Last race	2011 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen (Watkins Glen
Wins Top tens Poles 0 5 0
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
21 race(s) run over 12 year(s)
2010 position	78th
Best finish	78th - 1998, 2010
First race	1997 Lysol 200 (Watkins Glen)
Last race	2011 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal)
First win	1998 Lysol 200 (Watkins Glen)
Last win	2008 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal)
Wins Top tens Poles 4 12 2
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career
15 race(s) run over 4 year(s)
2000 position	80th
Best finish	35th - 1999
First race	1997 Pronto Auto Parts 400K (Texas)
Last race	2000 Bully Hill Vineyards 150 (Watkins Glen)
First win	1997 Parts America 150 (Watkins Glen)
Last win	1999 Bully Hill Vineyards 150 (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 2 5 3
Statistics current as of November 12, 2011.

For the NFL player, see Ron Fellows (American football).

Ron Fellows (born September 28, 1959 in Windsor, Ontario) is an accomplished Canadian SCCA Trans-Am, IMSA, and American Le Mans Series driver, and a NASCAR Road course ringer.

Early career

He began his career in Karts, which lead to Formula Ford 1600 and Formula Ford 2000. When funds for these projects ran low, he left racing for a 9 year stint as gas pipeline worker. Fellows returned to the track in the 1980s with help from driving school instructor Richard Spenard. He made his professional debut in 1986 in the Player's GM Challenge, driving a showroom stock Chevrolet Camaro.

Sports car racing

He had a dominant 1989 season, capturing both the title at Mosport Park and his first SCCA Trans-Am Series race during the same weekend. His career skyrocketed as he became one of the most successful drivers in the history of Trans Am, with 19 wins in 95 starts.

Fellows then had 2 starts in the legendary Ferrari 333SP, including a 1997 win at Mosport Park in the Professional Sports Car Series.

1998-2001

In 1998, Ron Fellows began his long association with GM's Corvette Racing program, with the historic Chevrolet Corvette C5.R. He was also briefly involved with the development of the Cadillac LMP program. At the 2000 Rolex 24 at Daytona, he made history by setting the closest margin of victory in the history of the event, 31 seconds behind the winning Dodge Viper GTS-R of Olivier Beretta, Dominique Dupuy and Karl Wendlinger. Ron Fellows and Corvette Racing fared better the next year, winning overall with Chris Kneifel, Johnny O'Connell, and Franck Freon. Later that year in June, Corvette Racing achieved its ultimate goal, a GTS class win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with Scott Pruett and Johnny O'Connell. Corvette Racing also captured the American Le Mans Series GTS title that same year.

2002-2004

In 2002, the Corvette C5.R once again dominated the American Le Mans Series season, with a GTS class win at the 12 Hours of Sebring, along with a repeat of their 24 Hours of Le Mans GTS class victory. For the 2003 season, Corvette Racing won the American Le Mans Series GTS title with a very close down to the wire fight with the Prodrive Ferrari 550 team. In 2004 Corvette Racing continued to dominate the American Le Mans Series GTS class, including another GTS class win at the 12 Hours of Sebring. Fellows also competed in one NASCAR Nextel Cup race at Watkins Glen, where he started 42nd and climbed his way up to 2nd place.

2005

In 2005, Corvette Racing debuted the revolutionary Chevrolet Corvette C6.R at the 12 Hours of Sebring, with high expectations. A tire blow out erased their chances of capturing the GT1 (was GTS) win, with the Prodrive Aston Martin DBR9 taking the class win. However later that year, the tides would turn as Corvette Racing won their 3rd 24 Hours of Le Mans class title in 6 years, beating the Aston Martin DBR9's with superior reliability and strategy. Although Ron was not driving the winning Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, he ran a respectable race in the #63 car.

2006

In 2006, Ron returned for a full season with Corvette Racing. However, a dark cloud loomed over the 2006 season as a result of the controversy surrounding IMSA's performance balancing. Corvette Racing's opposition during 2006 was the Prodrive Aston Martin team, which ran two full-season cars on Pirelli tires. The Pirelli tires were their Achilles heel, as they were not as competitive as the Michelin tires on the Corvette. Prodrive expressed their disdain for their disadvantage, and IMSA, the ALMS sanctioning body, introduced a number of penalties for the Corvette Racing team, to 'balance' the performance. Despite this controversy, Ron remained optimistic and still carried himself with the professionalism and class for which he is known. Despite the penalties, Corvette Racing prevailed, winning their fifth ALMS championship. Corvette Racing also went on to win their fourth 24 Hours of Le Mans in six years. However, Ron did not have the best luck in 2006, with the title going to the sister car driven by Jan Magnussen, Olivier Beretta and Oliver Gavin.

2007

Ron is back with Corvette Racing in a limited supporting role in the American Le Mans Series. He will be the third driver for the three long-distance races, and will compete at Mosport, his home race. He will sit out the other races, providing technical input and experienced advice to the team from behind the wall.

NASCAR

Fellows has had various stints in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series, and Sprint Cup Series, as a "Road Course Ringer". He has 2 wins and 3 poles in the Camping World Truck Series, winning twice at Watkins Glen. He has had even greater success in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, where he has 4 wins and two poles in 6 starts. He was also the first non-American to win a NASCAR Nationwide Series event. As of November 22, 2011, Fellows holds the record for most wins by a foreign-born driver in NASCAR's top three series (Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Camping World Trucks) with six - four in Nationwide and two in Trucks.

On August 2, 2008, Ron won a rain shortened NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the #5 GoDaddy.com Chevrolet for Dale Earnhardt Jr's JR Motorsports team. This race made history as the first points paying race to be run on Goodyear rain tires. NASCAR races are generally red flagged for rain. This victory marked Ron's fourth NASCAR Nationwide series win, all coming on road courses. This also tied him for first in the Nationwide Series for most road course wins. He is tied with Terry Labonte with 4.

Fellows returned to NASCAR in 2011 with JR Motorsports. Driving the #7 AER Manufacturing Chevrolet, he was in contention to win the Bucyrus 200 at Road America. He took the lead from Justin Allgaier, who had run out of fuel previously. Incidentally, Fellows passed both Allgaier and Reed Sorenson to take the lead. However, NASCAR and ESPN saw that Fellows had passed both drivers under caution, which is illegal in NASCAR. Believing that Sorenson slowed due to being out of fuel, Fellows drove past them at nearly race speed, though NASCAR rules stipulate that a driver must maintain reasonable speed while under the caution flag. As a result, Fellows was relegated to second place post-race, handing the win to Sorenson. Notably, Fellows maintains that he should have won the race.

Other activities

GM has created Ron Fellows edition Corvette Z06 in 2008, with a signature trim package. It features unique white paint and Grand Sport hash marks on the front left fender.

He also supports many charities and programs and, like many Canadians, he has a deep passion for hockey, especially the Toronto Maple Leafs. Ron lives outside of Toronto with his wife and three children.

Images

• 

  2010 Nationwide car at Road America

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2000	LMGTS	63	G	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Chris Kneifel Justin Bell	326	11th	4th
2001	LMGTS	63	G	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Scott Pruett Johnny O'Connell	278	8th	1st
2002	LMGTS	63	G	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Johnny O'Connell Oliver Gavin	335	11th	1st
2003	LMGTS	53	G	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Johnny O'Connell Franck Fréon	326	12th	3rd
2004	LMGTS	63	M	Chevrolet Corvette C5-R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Max Papis Johnny O'Connell	334	8th	2nd
2005	LMGT1	63	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Max Papis Johnny O'Connell	347	6th	2nd
2006	LMGT1	63	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Johnny O'Connell Max Papis	327	12th	7th
2007	LMGT1	63	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	342	6th	2nd
2008	LMGT1	63	M	Chevrolet Corvette C6.R Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0L V8	Corvette Racing	Johnny O'Connell Jan Magnussen	344	14th	2nd

See also

List of Canadians in NASCAR

External links

• Official Site
• Corvette Racing Team Website
• NASCAR driver's statistics at racing-reference.info
• Official Artwork - The Color of Victory