#RonFellows

“When I come back, I want to be private-jet-rich,” Ron Fellows tells me from the pit lanes of Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (a legendary track that he owns), looking up at a brand new race control center that he built, about to step into a Corvette Z06 that bears his racing school’s name.

Ask any pro racer about the most intimidating tracks on this continent and the list will invariably include Mosport.

Chevrolet is kicking in cash to give Corvette buyers a 60 percent discount on learning how to drive their new sports car. 

Canadian readers will be happy to know that the 2014 Canadian International Auto Show is opening this weekend in Toronto. World premieres may be few (or entirely nonexistent) but there’s still plenty to see and do – and a lot of first time Canadian reveals. Here’s our take on the most important and interesting items at the show this year.

Several years ago NASCAR headed North and crossed the border into Canada, with the Nationwide series running on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in downtown Montreal. Now it appears as though NASCAR may be signing a second venue just outside the nation’s largest city.

While it may seem that most of Chevrolet’s attention is on their Camaro model for this year’s SEMA Show, they did announce a pair of Corvettes that will be shown off on the show floor.

Chevrolet is doing it big at the 2011 SEMA Show as it will releases multiple Camaros and Corvettes this year. Chris Perry, the vice president of Chevrolet global marketing and strategy, says, “Go to any Corvette or Camaro enthusiast event and you will have a hard time finding a factory-stock vehicle. These are cars that owners treat as canvases to express their personalization and high-performance dreams– and have been for decades. The SEMA Show is the perfect venue to test new customization concepts and to inspire new owners to start modifying their cars.”

Former Corvette Racing driver and motorsports icon Ron Fellows recently had the pleasure of being inducted into Corvette’s Hall of Fame. And as if that wasn’t a big enough honor for Fellows, he was also presented with this wicked 2012 Corvette Z06 at the National Corvette Museum’s 17th Annual Labor Day celebration. This particular Chevy Corvette has been dubbed the SEMA/Spring Mountain Special Edition and chances are we’ll be seeing it in action at the Ron Fellows Performance Driving School right outside Las Vegas at Spring Mountain Raceway – not to mention at the upcoming SEMA Show in November.

The special edition 2012 Z06 features a carbon fiber hood and full-body racing stripes. On all four corners are black wheels with a red stripe, borrowed from the Centennial Edition, while the interior features embroidered seats with “100 Years” on them. Displayed prominently on the side of the car is Ron Fellows’ #3 racing number which is complemented by graphics stating “Hall of Fame”. In the rear, the Vette has graphics from Mosport Raceway, which Ron co-owns, plus logos from his own driving school.

[Source: Corvette Blogger]

Check out the video after the jump:

He’s not just the “Mayor of Mosport” any more. Racing legend Ron Fellows is now the proud owner of his home track just outside Toronto, Canada.

The last installment of Corvette Racing saw the team highlighting the little things they do to make the Corvette ALMS cars just a little more green. Come on guys, maybe the Sierra Club is interested, but chances are, if you’re checking out ‘Vette videos on Youtube, you’re not too interested in how the headlights can reduce C02 emissions.

Don’t think the Corvette folks are unaware of this either. Episode 5 of the Corvette Racing Series is a total departure from the previous “socially responsible” episode, with awesome footage of vintage Corvettes at LeMans, old-timer legends like Dick Guldstrand talking about how racing used to be, Ron Fellows giving his impressions of the old LeMans Corvettes, and of course, lots and lots of V8 rumbling, possibly the best antidote to anything that uses “green” as an adjective.

Hit the jump to see Episode 5 of The Corvette Racing Series

Ron Fellows may have retired from full-time racing duties with Corvette Racing and the American Le Mans Series, but he proved this weekend that he’s still the Mayor of Mosport in a Corvette.

Ok, so we busted out the pun bazooka on the title of this post, but we think you’ll forgive us once you watch the video (after the jump). Driver Saeed AlMouri may not have the smooth at-the-limit control of Jensen Button or the flawless heel & toe downshifting ability of Ron Fellows, but he scores full marks for aggression and courage from behind the wheel of his  Radical SR3 around the sandy Zain Reem Circuit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

To be fair to AlMouri, apparently there was a serious sandstorm prior to the race, so his early spin off into the sand was no doubt aided by the traction-destroying grit blowing around on the track surface. And to his credit he does a very entertaining job of working his way back through the field after the off-track excursion, where you can see some of the sand blowing around in the wake of the cars ahead of him.

All in all, a very entertaining ride-along in the desert in one radical machine!

See the video after the jump:

Chevy has just released a new video highlighting the Corvette Grand Sport, hosted by none-other than legendary Corvette racer Ron Fellows. A man who knows his Vettes, Fellows has won at Le Mans, Daytona and Sebring, taking home several championships in ALMS. Fellows walks viewers through the car’s long list of track-ready features and then gets out for a test at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch.

The Grand sport replaces the Z51 model and offers performance closer in line to the Z06, thanks to a revised suspension, wider tires, bigger brakes, shorter gear ratios and a few other toys as well.

Suspension upgrades include new spring, shock and stabilizer bar specifications, helping the Grand Sport to achieve 1.0 g under cornering. Also helping out in that department are some 18-inch front and and 19-inch rear wheels with 275/35/18 front and massive 325/30/19 rear tires.

Inside those wheels is a big surprise as well, with a serious brake kit that includes six-piston front calipers with 14-inch rotors and four-piston rear calipers with 13.4-inch rotors.

Power comes in the form of an LS3 V8 with 430hp and 424 ft-lbs of torque. An optional exhaust system will up those numbers slightly to 436 and 428. The Grand Sport will be offered as a six-speed manual or automatic and thanks to new gear ratios for the manual and a new rear axle ratio for the automatic, Chevy says the Grand Sport will shave 0.2 seconds off the 60 mph sprint of a standard LS3 Vette.

Automatic models will come with paddle shifters, but for those who want to take their car out on the track, the manual is the only option… thanks to a few added goodies. Six-speed stick-shift models will get a dry-sump oiling system, a differential cooler and a rear-mounted battery for better weight distribution.

But why read when you can watch? See after the jump for the video: