Ronald James Bucknum (April 5, 1936 – April 23, 1992) was an American race car driver, born in

Alhambra, California Alhambra (, , ; from "Alhambra") is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately east from the downtown Los Angeles civic center. It was incorporated on July 11, 190 ...

. Bucknum participated in 11

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on August 2, 1964. He scored a total of two championship points. At the 1964 German Grand Prix, he became the first person to drive a Honda-engined car in Formula One. After Formula One, Bucknum drove in the USAC

Championship Car American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sanctioned by IndyCar a ...

series, racing in the 1967–1970 seasons with 23 starts, including the

Indianapolis 500 The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...

in 1968–1970. He finished in the top ten 10 times, with his one victory coming at Michigan International Speedway in 1968. He was the father of Jeff Bucknum, an

Indy Racing League IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...

and

American Le Mans Series The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...

driver. Ronnie Bucknum died in

San Luis Obispo, California ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

following complications from diabetes.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

( key)

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete USAC Championship Car results

Indianapolis 500 results

References

External links

Profile at historicracing.com
1936 births 1992 deaths 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers American Formula One drivers Indianapolis 500 drivers Sportspeople from Alhambra, California Racing drivers from California Trans-Am Series drivers Honda Formula One drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Long stubs with short prose {{F1-bio-stub