Ron Grable, SCCA FA/F5000 and A Sedan National Champion passed away, on Oct 31, at age 85.
Photo: Hal Crocker
Born in 1933, in Sullivan, Indiana to parents, William and Ruth, Gable grew up Southern California. He joined the Navy and served aboard the USS Philippine Sea, during the Korean War. After the Navy he attended University of California San Diego, where he earned a BSME in Mechanical Engineering.
He spent the next 40 years in California, where he worked for various companies in the semiconductor industry, all the while competing in a variety of road racing cars and series.
Early success in a Porsche Speedster, led to rides and an eventual A Sedan National Championship in 1966, at the wheel of a Dodge Dart. Soon this would lead to Grable helping to create the Spectre HR1, a Chevy V-8 powered open-wheeled racer for the SCCA’s new Formula A (F5000) category, which Grable would drive to victory in the 1968 Run-Offs.
Over the coming years, Grable would race in the Can-Am, Trans-Am and NASCAR, as well as carve a place for himself as a competitive endurance racer in international events like the Sebring 12 Hours and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
After eventually hanging up his racing helmet in 1989, Grable started a new career in automotive journalism, as technical editor for Motor Trend Magazine, as well as numerous other automotive, aviation and motorcycle publications.
However, in 1993, Grable was injured in a motorcycle accident, which resulted in partial paralysis and forced him into retirement. Not long after, Grable would marry his longtime girlfriend, Sandra, whom he had known since 1973. They settled into a quiet, peaceful life in Prescott, Arizona, where she helped him regain much of his movement back.
Ron is survived by his wife, Sandra; son, Christian; daughter, Stacia; granddaughter, Alexandra; brother, Dennis Grable; and sister, Victoria Allen.
Log on to www.ruffnerwakelin.com to sign Grable’s funeral guestbook and share a memory with the family.
