Bill Pollack (July 7, 1925 - July 16, 2017) was an American racing driver.

Racing career

Bill Pollack was a competitor in the early days of the post World War II California sports car culture and racing. Bill started his racing career in 1950. He would go on to win at the

Pebble Beach Road Races The "Del Monte Trophy" was held on the twisty, leafy, and very narrow town roads in Pebble Beach, California from 1950 through 1956. The races were managed under the auspices of the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America), as were most races from that da ...

in an

Allard J2 The Allard J2 is a sports roadster that was made by Allard. The J2 was mainly intended for the American market. Since 1981, replicas of the later J2X have been manufactured by a succession of companies in Canada, whilst a continuation of the o ...

. The Allard was owned by Tom Carstens'. Bill also won at other California venues of that time: Pebble Beach,

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the development ...

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the c ...

, Torrey Pines,

Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom *Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk *Stockton, Chirbu ...

, Madera, Willow Springs, Palm Springs, and the Santa Barbara road races. Bill who was a contemporary of

Phil Hill Philip Toll Hill Jr. (April 20, 1927 – August 28, 2008) was an American automobile racing driver. He was one of two American drivers to win the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, and the only one who was born in the United States ( ...

, Carroll Shelby,

Ken Miles Kenneth Henry Jarvis Miles (1 November 1918 – 17 August 1966) was a British-American sports car racing engineer and driver best known for his motorsport career in the US and with American teams on the international scene. He is an inducte ...

Jack McAfee Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, i ...

and the other names of that era. Phil Hill, of course, went on to become the first and only U.S. born world grand prix champion. Bill is also credited with designing the

race course A race track (racetrack, racing track or racing circuit) is a facility built for racing of vehicles, athletes, or animals (e.g. horse racing or greyhound racing). A race track also may feature grandstands or concourses. Race tracks are also use ...

at Willow Springs, California, which has been used for racing events, testing and movie shoots, including FORD vs FERRARI.

World War II years

Bill Pollack served in World War II as a B-26 Bomber pilot.

Published works

*''Red Wheels and White Sidewalls: Confessions of an Allard Racer'' (Brown Fox Books, 2004)

References

1925 births 2017 deaths American racing drivers {{US-autoracing-bio-stub