Rider, driver, stuntman, pioneer

In the 1950s and ‘60s, Bud Ekins was the man to beat in Southern California scrambles and desert races. Ekins won the Big Bear National Hare and Hound three times in six years (1954, 1957, 1959), and the prestigious Catalina Grand Prix (1955). During that same stretch, Ekins became the first American to podium on Europe’s World Championship Motocross Grand Prix circuit. In 1962 Ekins became the first American to win a gold medal at the International Six Days Trial (ISDT), repeating the feat in 1963, 1966 and ‘67. He became Steve McQueen’s racing mentor and performed stunts in over 200 films, including the unforgettable fence jump in 1963’s The Great Escape. In 1966, Ekins captained a foursome that rode the Baja length in record time, setting the stage for the Baja 1000. In the late ‘60s, Ekins switched from motorcycles to trucks, winning the inaugural Baja 500 (1969). Ekins was inducted into the Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame, Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (1980) and AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame (1999).