Gordie Bonin
keeping the drive alive.
From his runner-up appearance at the 1972 Nationals until hislast national event victory in 1994 in Columbus, Gordie Boninwas one of drag racing's more successful Funny Car drivers,compiling a 9-3 record in final-round appearances at majorraces. For a spell in the 1970s, he consistently recorded thefastest Funny Car clockings, earning him the nickname "240Gordie”. Bonin was born in Prince Albert, SK and grew up inRed Deer, AB.,often attended drag racesin Edmonton andCalgary, Alta. His first street car was a '56 Chevy, which wasreplaced in 1967 by a '67 Pontiac with a 327-cidChevy, then a'68 Chevelle Super Sport that ran 13-flat right out of the box. In 1969, Bonin campaigned an AMC Hurst/Scrambler, a factory-backed entry that ran out of the Rambler SaskatoonLtd. dealership in Canada.
After moving back to Red Deer in 1970, Bonin began racing in Jr. Fuel. Said Bonin, "I hooked up with Ted Sinclair, whoseC/MP'55 Chevy I had driven before. He had a Jr. Fuel dragster with a small-block Chevy on 100 percent nitro and a two-speed transmission. It ran in the low sevens at 190 mph. "In 1972, Bonin was chosen to drive Ron Hodgson's Pacemaker-backed Vega Funny Car. Said Bonin, "I got my license at LionsDrag Strip in Long Beach, Calif., and I went 205 mph on mythird run."
At the 1972 U.S. Nationals, Bonin qualified third with a 6.52and reached the final, where he lost to Ed McCulloch. "Thatrace was a big encouragement for me," said Bonin, "and itprompted me to become a full-time professional racer by driving Roland Leong's Revell-sponsored Hawaiian in 1973."
Bonin later regrouped with Hodgson, and in 1975, theyobtained the tuning services of Jerry Verheul. Said Bonin, "He had workedwith Jerry Ruth and had helped Frank Hallwin the 1973 championship with his Green Elephant car. We also got the Bubble-Up sponsorship in 1975, andthat helped out a lot."
Bonin won his first national event title at the 1977Gatornationals, running low e.t. (6.19) and topspeed (238.72) of the meet in theprocess. He later began to record240-mph clockings on a regular basis to inspire the "240Gordie" moniker. Said Bonin, "Don Prudhomme actually wasthe first over 240, but somehow '240 Prudhomme' didn'tsound right, so the name stuck with me." Ironically, Bonindefeated Prudhomme at the 1977 World Finals, and in 1979,he won the Gatornationals, U.S. Nationals, and World Finalsto finish third in the standings. "Winning Indy that year wasthe highlight of my career," said Bonin. "It was the 25thanniversary of the U.S. Nationals, we became the third Funny Car in the fives, and we set a new national speed record of 245.90 mph."
After winning the 1981 Gatornationals, Bonin found himself without a ride when Hodgson decided to get out of racing. He worked as a salesman for Hodgson 's Old Fort BrewingCo. in Prince George, B.C., then served as NHRA's directorof marketing and marketing services from 1983 to 1989.
In 1989, when Gary Ormsby could no longer drive because ofhis battle with cancer, Lee Beard selected Bonin to drive atthat year's Seattle national event, where he reached the semi-finals. In 1993, he drove Leong's Hawaiian Vacation-backedFunny Car to a Springnationals win over Gordon Mineo in thefinal. Bonin was then hired in 1994 as driver of the Candies &Hughes Smokin' Joe's Funny Car, which he drove to victories at the 1994 Mid-South Nationals and Springnationals.
When the Smokin' Joe's team later stopped racing, Boninagain was without a ride, but after joining Prolong SuperLubricants in 1999, he was chosen as a marketing tool toexpand the exposure of the company's products in Europe.
"[Former NHRAVice President] Carl Olson helped set up thatdeal," said Bonin. "He hooked me up with RuneFjeld, a Top Fuel car owner and tuner fromNorway. He assured me that Rune wasthe Austin Coil of Europe and that itwould be a good, safe ride.
" Bonin won three of the five eventsin the FIAEuropean Drag RacingTop Fuel series that year, scoringvictories in the Santa Pod openerinEngland; Alastaro, Finland; andGardemoen Racewayin Norway.
"I was flown to Monaco to accept myaward," said Bonin, "and it was a big crystalcup which is now housed at Olson's residence."
Bonin currently resides in Deer Park. Said Bonin, "I'm livingwith a wonderful lady named Diane, and I've had achance to stop and smell the roses. When I moved up here from San Diego, Calif.,I took the final trip on my motorcycle on Highway 395.
It was probably the best ride I've ever enjoyed, and I was taking in the scenery so much that I almost ran out of gas onseveral occasions, including one time where I had to share agas tank with a Cessna plane in Wagon Tire, Ore.
"Racing in the 1970s was absolutely the best of times, something I never wanted to end," he added. "We didn't havethe million-dollar sponsorships that everybody wished for backthen, but it wasn't any easier to race [with a lot of money]because there were a lot more competitive cars.
It was also a lot of fun living on the road with the guys. Thesedays, you don't see a bunch of drivers going into a restaurantand pulling five tables together, unless John Forcehappens tobe there."
Bonin occasionally makes laps with Ray Salter and ChuckPenney's Top Fuel car, but he hasn't competed full time on theNHRAcircuit since 1994. "I don't like to use the word 'retired,'"said Bonin. "And by that I mean if the right deal ever camealong, I'd jump at it in a heartbeat. I have never driven morethan 300 mph, but I'd sure like a shot at it."
My first real serious racecar was a brand new 1968Chevelle 396 that my father co-signed for me. ThankYou, Dad! I won my first drag racing trophy, a two-foot plastic one, with that car. It had 1004 mileson it when I won that trophy. (My dad still hasthose first trophies) I also lost my virginity inthat very car! I raced at Calgary, Edmonton,Saskatoon, Mission, & Seattle for about 5years in everything from my Chevelle to a friend’s AFuel dragster.
Early in 1972 I had just married and wasworking as a loan officer for BeneficialFinance. It was around midnight whenI received a call from Gordon Jenner. In his gruff voice he said. "I’ve beendown here in California with a newfunny car for a month. I have alreadyused three drums of fuel and this guy can’tdrive this car. He’s scared to death of it. Howwould you like to drive a funny car?
" Hmmm. Funny car? Opportunity knocking. I said"Yeah, I could do that." And he replies "Good! Call me inthe morning." Click! Oh yeah, like I’ll be able to sleep now! So I get hold of Jenner the next day and he supplies airfare from Calgary, with a return trip. Gotta have thatreturn trip! I fly to Los Angeles on Wednesday in my suitand tie carrying my briefcase. Jenner shows up dressed in T-shirt & jeans with a half-ton Chevy pickup & pull alongtrailer. We pile in the truck and it is off to Lion’s for theWednesday night show. In the pits I climb into the seatand check out the controls. This is cool but the seat is about three sizes too big forme. We start the car with me in the seat. Now this isbeginning to get cooler! You have to remember that this isbefore everyone on the team wore gas masks.
NHRA rules require two half-track passes and a full passto up grade my license from an AFuel car to a Funny Carlicense. "Two half-track passes and a full pass, that’s allyou gotta do other than the burnouts." Jenner says. Burnouts! This was getting cooler by the minute.
I borrow a fire suit from Murray Dyma (the guy thatowned the car but was afraid to floor it) that would fitthe Pillsbury doughboy. We start the car for our firstpass and the body comes down. I move toward theburnout box and hit it. Smoke in the cockpit,
I proceed to do a half-track burnout. How cool is that!They didn't tell me I didn't have to burnout to half-track. I back her up and Jenner's already got this shiteating grin going on. Move forward, stage, hit it! The car leaves clean, I reach for the shifter and I’mabout a foot short! Can’t reach the handle. Afterreturning to the pits, we borrow a torch and heat theshift handle to try and bend it so I can reach the thing. On the second pass I can just barely reach the shifter,so I step off the throttle, grab high gear, and hit itagain. We decide I need a pillow behind me so I canreach everything just right; no pillow, but a borrowedfire suit jacket from a friend in the pits suffices.
The final pass I run a 7.02 at 202mph. Steve Evans,who was running Lion’s at the time, comes up andsays "You guys should go to Seattle next weekend. I’ll call Bill Doner." I get a promise that Evans will signmy license application when I get one, and off we go.
Evans gave Jenner a phone number to contact Donerin Seattle. We packed up our stuff and headed to themotel. It's past midnight, but WHO can sleep??
In the morning, we head for Mike Libey's shop to workon the car. Jenner says to me, "You get to do the bottom end because if there is a fire it's your ass outthere." He went to call Bill Doner. As we tear down themotor Jenner comes back in and says "We're going toSeattle." Okay, How cool is that! I asked Gordon ifwe got the big guarantee money, he says no, butDoner gave us "four in free!"
On the way to Seattle I'm in the middle of bench seatsandwiched between two guys each way over 200lbs;
NOTvery cool. As we're going over the Grapevine, Iask to stop so I can get in the bed of the pickup andstretch out WITH my fire suit on; it was April you know. We run Seattle that weekend and I was runner up. How cool is that! I thought "This is easy." And the rest is history.
Join Gordie Bonin at Quicktimes Chrome Illusions Car Show April 7th & 8th in Red Deerat Westerner Park, Fri 6-10pmSaturday 10-10.....Be There!!!!Thanks Gordie, for the great memories.
(Reprint from Quick Times Magazine)