1997 | Ron Hill

Hill's father Russ, Sr., had raced on the West Coast since 1935 and Hill literally cut his teeth in his father's C Racing Runabout, biting the steering wheel.

No surprise that little Ron caught the racing bug. In 1955, his father signed him up (underage) and he won Region 12 High Points in AU. In 1956 he finished third in AU at the Stock Outboard Nationals. He was inducted into the Evinrude 100 MPH Club, several times in the Hall of Champions, and in 1967 won the John Ward Trophy. In one day he broke three kilo records, and was the first Outboard driver ever to lead the Parker Enduro.

In 1965-66, 1970 and 1977 he was D Runabout Champion. He served as Commodore of SCOA and five-time Region 12 Chairman. During these tenures he helped bring COBRA into APBA. He and his wife Barbara put on the APBA National Convention in Las Vegas; he worked with Earl Palmer to bring back the Halves Classic Race; he involved several manufacturers in Mod VP racing.

His son Chad also raced in APBA. In the early 1980s Ron created the Parker Mini Enduro, and the C-NOD (CP), 0-NOD (Sport C), and U-NOD (Mod C) classes. With Tom Ige, he generated the 20SSR and 20SSH Yamato classes and the Mod VP class. He fought for adoption of capsules and transom height rules. An APBA member for 42 years, he has inspired and helped many other drivers to participate in this sport.