CLASS RACER FORUM - GAS Ronda

I first met Gas Ronda in 1961 when he had a brand new Red Starliner Super Stock at Half Moon Bay drag strip. He always had class. He had a black turtle neck and grey slacks and loafers. He taught me how to power shift a 4 speed and I could shift my new 409 in '62 as fast as he could. We used to have breakfast in the coffee shop at Half Moon Bay drag strip/airport and that's when Gas first brought out his Thunderbolt. He raced Tommy Grove's "Melrose Missile" (the '63 car that he borrowed back from the new owner) Tommy beat Ronda's Thunderbolt running in the 11.70s. Gas could only run 11.90s. The next week at Fremont Tommy had the new '64 hardtop missile and he beat Butch Leal's new Thunderbolt. I have kept in touch with him when I ran my N/SS Thunderbolt at the California Hot Rod Reunion over the years. He would always hang out in our pit area and he still was the classy guy he always was. He lived a long life and none of us old time racers will ever forget him. RIP Gaspar Ronda. A great racer! I forgot to mention he did win the Super Stock World Championship with that Thunderbolt and he received a new Barracuda as a prize. He also won the Orange County Funny Car meet one year. That was one accomplishment he was most proud of.