Ronny Hissom.....
place in my memory. Along with Jim Hall and Hap Sharp, he was one of the original partners and drivers in the Midland born and bred Chaparral Racing. Ronny passed away last Thursday at the age of 68. An age that sounds, comparatively, ever more young.
Ronny was an avid sports car enthusiast and a nationally ranked polo player, who driving along with Hall and Sharp, won the 1965 12 hour endurance race at Sebring, one of the first of a string of important racing victories for the Chaparrals. This was during the golden age of American sports car racing when a team comprised of very talented amateurs from a small West Texas town could compete on the world stage with the major entities in the sport like Ford and Ferrari.
As I've mentioned before, while growing up here these young men were idols to us teenage boys in Midland. We used to see them around town, our Dad's knew some of them and we followed their racing exploits around the world with utter fascination. It was a real pleasure to get to talk with Ronny last Spring at the opening of the Chaparral Museum. He is the gentleman in the center in my photo above, seated between other notable Chaparral drivers Phil Hill and Brian Redman. In fact, Ronny was standing right next to me when I took these photos of Jim Hall preparing to drive the Chaparral 2F out of the garage for the last time.
Another loss in the passing of an era.
Humorous update: I had lunch today with several people who knew Ronny Hissom very well. The subject of his passing arose and so did this verified story from some years back.
It seems that Ronny and some associates from Midland were in New York decades ago and were having lunch at the famed "21 Club". When Ronny visited the men's room, he found himself face to face with none other than the legendary Aristotle Onassis. Ronny approached Mr. Onassis and said, "Sir, I'm Ronny Hissom visiting from Texas with business associates and it would be a great honor and enhance my standing among these men if you would come to my table and act like you know me. My close friends call me "Hiss".
Sure enough several moments later Mr. Onassis arrived at the table and announced, "Hiss good to see you, where have you been....give me a call sometime soon". Whereupon "Hiss" said to Mr. Onassis, "Ari, dammit can't you see we're busy right now, please don't interrupt"!
My kinda' guy....
 | Recently I have wondered if I should entitle this publication the Medical, Memorial and Obituary Blog. I won't but I would be remiss in not mentioning the passing of Ronny Hissom. Unless you are a sports car racing enthusiast Ronny's name will not be familiar to you. Even if you live in Midland you may not know of him, but Ronny has a special |
Ronny was an avid sports car enthusiast and a nationally ranked polo player, who driving along with Hall and Sharp, won the 1965 12 hour endurance race at Sebring, one of the first of a string of important racing victories for the Chaparrals. This was during the golden age of American sports car racing when a team comprised of very talented amateurs from a small West Texas town could compete on the world stage with the major entities in the sport like Ford and Ferrari.
As I've mentioned before, while growing up here these young men were idols to us teenage boys in Midland. We used to see them around town, our Dad's knew some of them and we followed their racing exploits around the world with utter fascination. It was a real pleasure to get to talk with Ronny last Spring at the opening of the Chaparral Museum. He is the gentleman in the center in my photo above, seated between other notable Chaparral drivers Phil Hill and Brian Redman. In fact, Ronny was standing right next to me when I took these photos of Jim Hall preparing to drive the Chaparral 2F out of the garage for the last time.
Another loss in the passing of an era.
Humorous update: I had lunch today with several people who knew Ronny Hissom very well. The subject of his passing arose and so did this verified story from some years back.
It seems that Ronny and some associates from Midland were in New York decades ago and were having lunch at the famed "21 Club". When Ronny visited the men's room, he found himself face to face with none other than the legendary Aristotle Onassis. Ronny approached Mr. Onassis and said, "Sir, I'm Ronny Hissom visiting from Texas with business associates and it would be a great honor and enhance my standing among these men if you would come to my table and act like you know me. My close friends call me "Hiss".
Sure enough several moments later Mr. Onassis arrived at the table and announced, "Hiss good to see you, where have you been....give me a call sometime soon". Whereupon "Hiss" said to Mr. Onassis, "Ari, dammit can't you see we're busy right now, please don't interrupt"!
My kinda' guy....
