Chaparral creator Jim Hall was honored by the Road Racing Drivers Club during the 4th annual RRDC Dinner at the Long Beach Hilton on the Thursday evening prior to the 38th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. The dinner, which has quickly become a highlight of Long Beach’s Grand Prix weekend, was emceed by RRDC President Bobby Rahal and featured drivers who once drove with and for Hall, including Roger Penske, Brian Redman, Johnny Rutherford and Gil de Ferran. Additionally, Chevrolet racing boss Mark Kent presented Hall with a plaque commemorating his “tremendous contribution to auto racing.”
On display in the Hilton’s courtyard were Hall’s high-winged Chaparral 2E Can-Am car and the 2K Indycar with which Rutherford won the Indy 500 and the U.S. National Championship in 1980, while the walls of the banquet hall itself were adorned with photographs and paintings from Hall’s career, all of which were auctioned off to benefit the RRDC’s young driver initiatives, including its new www.SAFEisFAST.com program and its ongoing support of the Team USA Scholarship for helping American drivers race in Europe.
The winners of 13 Indy 500s were among the audience as in addition to Rutherford, Rahal and de Ferran those on hand included Parnelli Jones, Rick Mears, Dario Franchitti and Danny Sullivan. On the eve of his 81st birthday, Dan Gurney, the first RRDC Long Beach honoree, joined Jones and Penske in the audience so that all three of the club’s previous featured Long Beach guests were on hand to salute Hall.
