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Bob Oker at Santa Barbara - August 1958 event

Jim Weismann loaned me the print-from-a-slide he had made in October, 1958. He said the cowboy-hatted man in a long-sleeved white shirt at the right edge of the cropped version is driver Bob Oker. The person seated in the Aston Martin was not identified. The fuel supplier is  known.

    Scan: photo of the Oker-driven Aston Martin at Santa Barbara - original picture    Scan: photo of the Oker-driven Aston Martin at Santa Barbara - cropped version, Bill Stoops in the driver seat
(Long loads on the larger versions - 100+K)

Direct scan from the 8x10 print
Click pictures for BIG views
Cropped verson
(Bill Stoops in the driver seat)
Another Bob Oker photo (Back to Torrey Pines 4 page)
This morning, 6 March 2002, an e-mail from Bill Oker, Bob's son:

Good Morning Frank,

I'm glad Jim offered up this picture...I didn't have any from this race which I believe was the last time they ran the DBR2. I do have the program from this event which has a short paragraph on Dad in it. Did you know that this car sold at auction in England a while back for about 2.5 million pounds! This was chassis number 2 of 3 they made. Symbolic Auto in La Jolla had one of these. I saw it at the San Diego auto show a few years ago.

As Mike (Savin) has pointed out, and after checking with Mom, I do think that the guy in the car is Bill Stoops. He was a friend of Dad's and a pit crew member. He did a lot of the "grunt" stuff...load and unload the car, drive the tow vehicle, reduce the amount of beer in the cooler...he also cooked for the crew...he owned a bar and restaurant (and a "GO-GO" dancer club!) I can't confirm that the guy in the cowboy hat is Dad. Maybe, but I don't recall him ever wearing cowboy hats...he was more likely to wear a Sombrero. Thanks again...see ya at the stadium sometime...

Bill

Scan: August 1958 Santa Barbara races page from Art Evans' book

Art Evans' The Fabulous Fifties—Sports Car Races in Southern California book offers one page on what seem to be the first races held under a scheme of performance-based classifications (as opposed to division by engine swept volume). There is just one reference to three Aston Martins in a description of the main event.

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