DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 23, 2020) - Rob Dyson, retired American sports-car racing driver and owner of Dyson Racing, was named the 2019 recipient of the RRDC Bob Akin Award. He was presented the award at the annual Road Racing Drivers Club members' dinner on January 22, prior to the running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the season opener of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Each recipient of this honor, considered the top award in motorsports for amateur, vintage/historic or semi-professional drivers, is selected by Akin's son Bobby, RRDC members Brian Redman and Judy Stropus, and approved by RRDC president Bobby Rahal.
The distinctive trophy was conceived by the RRDC in 2003 to honor the memory of longtime RRDC member and past president Bob Akin, who lost his life in a racing accident in 2002.
It was designed by Steuben Glass in Corning, N.Y., and is given to a driver who best exemplifies the extraordinary qualities and characteristics that Akin represented, including a passion for motorsports and automobiles, a high level of sportsmanship and fair play, and who has contributed to the sport of motor racing and the community at large.
The primary award, etched with the names of the recipients, is displayed at the International Motor Racing Research Center in Watkins Glen, N.Y. Each honoree receives a smaller replica.
Dyson, 73, began competing in amateur SCCA competition in 1974 and in 1981 won the Sports Car Club of America's GT2 national championship.
He began racing professionally in IMSA GTO and the SCCA Trans-Am Series in 1982. Over the course of 21 seasons as a professional driver Dyson drove in 92 races, scoring four overall race wins (including the 1997 Rolex 24 at Daytona) and a total of 18 podium finishes.
Dyson continued to compete episodically in professional racing through 2007 and today remains active driving his collection of vintage Indy cars in a variety of demonstration events.
He is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dyson-Kissner-Moran Corporation, a privately-owned international holding company.
A longtime friend of Bob Akin's, Dyson was presented the Bob Akin Award by Bobby Akin, Stropus and Rahal.
"All past winners of this award have been deserving," said Akin. "However, even if you rounded them all up you would likely not have the parallels that Rob Dyson has with my father.
"Both hail from the Hudson Valley of New York. Both had the responsibility of running a family business and were driven to succeed. That drive to succeed delayed their racing careers. Both ran successful racing teams often competing against each other in Porsche 962s.
"Rob began racing in 1974 and won an SCCA National Championship. He began racing on a professional level in 1982, drove in 92 races, earning 18 podiums, the highlight being a win here at the Rolex 24.
"Oh, and one last parallel: our winner also has a son who races, Chris. He's a lot more serious than I, and, like me, calls his dad his best friend."
"He and I were such great friends," said Dyson of Bob Akin, "that we would get together often. We had an expression while we were running both against one another but kind of with one another: we wanted to keep the prize money on the East side of the Hudson River. And whenever either one of us did well, either in Daytona, Sebring, or any other race, we were pleased when one of us got into the prize money and we would often have lunch afterwards. And, if he did better than I did, he bought, and if I did better than he did, I bought. So, that's the way we worked."
On the significance of receiving this award, Dyson said, "It ignites a lot of great memories related to my racing career but even more great memories of my good friend Bob Akin. And the spirit and comradeship that we had as competitors and as friends during our lives on and off the race track.
"The only thing I'm sorry about is that he's not here today so that I could give him the Rob Dyson Award. Thank you so much."
Past RRDC Bob Akin Award honorees:
2003 - Sam Posey
2004 - Charlie Gibson
2005 - John Fitch
2006 - Jim Haynes
2007 - Cameron Argetsinger
2008 - Jim Downing
2009 - Steven J. Earle
2010 - Augie Pabst
2011 - Don Knowles
2012 - Miles Collier
2013 - Peter Sachs
2014 - Bill Warner
2015 - Judy Stropus
2016 - Murray Smith
2017 - Archie Urciuoli
2018 - Jeff Zwart
About the RRDC:The Road Racing Drivers Club was formed in 1952 as a way to give champion drivers a say in their sport, particularly in the areas of safety, and has evolved to serve the future of road racing by mentoring new drivers on both amateur and professional levels. The Club's membership includes leading industry professionals, race officials and motorsports journalists, in addition to prominent racing names.
In 2011, the FIA launched SAFEisFAST.com, a free online training program offered by the Mark Donohue Foundation and presented by Honda. More than 100 video tutorials taught by over 200 RRDC members and championship drivers from Formula 1, IndyCar, the WEC and IMSA, teach driving techniques, physical preparation, mental acuity, driver safety, car setup and racing sponsorship. New videos are released 8-10 times annually with top drivers regularly answering readers' questions through "Ask a Pro." To date, more than 750,000 racers in 174 countries have viewed over six million tutorials.
In 2017 The Mark Donohue Foundation, a 501(C)(3) organization, was formed to support the SAFEisFAST.com program and to help ensure its operations. http://www.rrdc.org/mark-donohue-foundation/.
Bobby Rahal is President, John Fergus is Vice President/Treasurer, and Tom Davey is Secretary.
The RRDC presents three annual awards: the Phil Hill Award, the Mark Donohue Award, and the Bob Akin Award, and supports the Team USA Scholarship, which has been assisting young Americans in the early stages of their careers since 1990. The RRDC also honors icons of the sport at its annual dinner at the Long Beach (Calif.) Grand Prix. Honorees have been Dan Gurney, Parnelli Jones, Roger Penske, Jim Hall, Brian Redman, Mario Andretti, Bobby Unser, George Follmer, Emerson Fittipaldi, Johnny Rutherford and David Hobbs.
Article By:
Judy Stropus
Membership in the RRDC is by invitation only. For more information, visit www.rrdc.org.
From left: Bobby Rahal, Judy Stropus, Rob Dyson and Bobby Akin. Brian Cleary photo.