Rocklin driver takes a star turn in ‘Ford v Ferrari’ as stunts take center stage
Tony Hunt used to rub tires with race car drivers. Now he’s rubbing elbows with Academy Award winners.
Hunt, a 48-year-old Rocklin resident, is a 10-time United States Auto Club champion who won both the USAC Western Sprint Car Series and USAC Western Classic Pavement championships in 2011 before getting into stunt driving full-time.
Hunt was the lead stunt driver for “Ford v Ferrari,” which was released in November and continues to draw rave reviews for its racing scenes that rival some of the best cinematic flicks of yesteryear, such as “Grand Prix,” starring James Garner, and “LeMans” with Steve McQueen.
Ford v Ferrari details the Ford Motor Company’s efforts to dethrone Ferrari as the world’s best racing team at the 24 Hours at LeMans, still the world’s best test of man and machine. The movie mostly takes place in 1966 and stars Matt Damon as Carroll Shelby and Christian Bale as Ken Miles. Shelby was hired by Ford to build the team and the car to beat Ferrari, and Shelby hired Miles to be the team’s top driver.
Hunt spent much of his time working alongside Damon and Bale, who he said were approachable and soaked up lots of Hunt’s racing knowledge. Hunt said Bale went to the Bob Bondurant School of High-Performance Driving in preparation for his role as Ken Miles. Hunt spent a lot of time showing Bale where the racing lines and braking zones were on the various tracks they used for filming. Sometimes Hunt would be in the lead while Bale followed, and other times Hunt would allow Bale to take the lead.
“He embraced everything I showed him,” Hunt said. “He knew the risks and responsibilities and got a lot of seat time. He was great to work with. A really nice guy. But you knew when (Damon and Bale) got into the zone. It was time to let them do their thing.”
Going back to 1966 France
The production crew built the entire three-story pit row to exact LeMans specifications at a private airstrip neat Magic Mountain, Hunt said. Auto Club Speedway in Fontana was used to simulate the Daytona International Speedway where the Ford team tested the new GT40 before moving on to France to take on the Italians.
“The size and scale were impressive,” Hunt said of the LeMans reproduction values. “It was pretty emotional when you get into the gear and behind the wheel with all these extras around dressed in period clothing. It was surreal. It was like we were back in 1966 France, at LeMans.”
Hunt said he spent three months in late 2018 on the movie, which was shot mostly in the Los Angeles area and on a rural road in Savannah, Georgia, to simulate the Mulsanne Straight, the famous 3.7-mile straightaway on the backside of LeMans.
“Doing 160 mph on a rural road in Georgia with car-to-car shots, if someone does something stupid, we’ll end up in the ditch and someone is going to get hurt,” Hunt said.
Hunt said that because the director, James Mangold, and the production team were sticklers for authenticity, the drivers did not use modern safety equipment such as HANS devices to protect the head and neck of the drivers, or elaborate on-board fire-suppression systems. That only heightened Hunt’s concentration level, he said.
“There were many days when I got back to the hotel emotionally drained because of the level of risk involved out there filming,” Hunt said. “There was a lot of danger in those cars, and they killed a lot of guys. ...
“We also had million-dollar cameras strapped to the cars most of the time,” Hunt said. “So, we didn’t do any stupid stuff. There were no egos out there trying to see who was fastest. We wouldn’t let any egos override safety concerns.”
Not that Robert Nagle would allow that on a movie with a $100 million budget.
Nagle is an Academy Award-winning stunt coordinator who led the drivers’ team and was responsible for all the driving action shots. Nagle won a technical achievement Oscar in 2015 for co-inventing a self-propelled, high-performance, drivable camera rig and vehicle platform called the Biscuit Jr. Several varieties of the Biscuit Jr. were used in the production of Ford v Ferrari. The rig allows a stunt driver to control the action of the vehicle while a mockup of the race car is bolted on, allowing for closeups of the actors in the car while a race is simulated, rather than relying on green-screen tricks or computer-generated images.
Working with a master stuntman
“There was no cut-and-dry straight answer to why I selected Tony for that part,” Nagle said. “There are so many variables to making that decision. It’s a mindset, experience, demeanor. Tony checked off all of those boxes and he really worked out well. We worked together on Herbie: Fully Loaded and I knew him as a really great guy.
“He’s a driver name who I’ve always kept in my back pocket and he’ll always be on my list.”
Nagle also signed several successful racers who played their race car driving fathers in the film. Alex Gurney played his father, Dan Gurney, one of the greatest American drivers of all time. Dan Gurney won races in Formula One, IndyCar, NASCAR, Can-Am and the Trans-America Series. His son won the 2007 and 2009 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers’ championship. Alex Gurney’s two victories bracketed Auburn driver Scott Pruett’s first Rolex Daytona Prototype drivers’ championship.
Derek Hill played his father, Phil Hill. Phil Hill is still the only American-born driver to win the Formula One World Driver’s Championship (1961). Derek Hill won the GTS3 class at the 1997 Daytona 24 Hours and the Sebring 12 Hours.
Jeff Bucknum played his father, Ronny Bucknum. The elder Bucknum raced In Formula One as well as IndyCar and Jeff Bucknum drove in the Indy Racing league and American LeMans.
Nagle raced in Sports Car Club of America and International Motor Sports Association races before establishing himself in Hollywood as perhaps the preeminent stunt coordinator. He said he’s at the point of his career where he gets to have a lot of creative and technical input with the second unit, which usually is comprised of the stunt crew.
“I had quite a bit of freedom on Ford v Ferrari,” Nagle said. “I wrote the story for each race down to the storyboards, and made sure all of the historical points were covered, although the Willow Springs race at the beginning of the movie was fictional.”
Hunt feels a connection to ‘Ford v Ferrari’
Hunt was so proud of his work that he rented out one of the theaters at the Palladio in Folsom for a special screening. He said it was a blast to invite his friends and family to the showing – the people who helped him in his racing career and now as a leading stunt driver.
Hunt also purchased one of the special Shelby Cobras used in the production and has it stored lovingly in his Rocklin garage. He originally thought the purchase price would be beyond his grasp, but made a phone call anyway.
“I figured the price would be too high. But I talked to my wife and told her what a connection it was to what I grew up doing,” Hunt said. “I haven’t put more than 100 miles on it since I bought it.”
Yes, it’s street legal, he said, and, no, he doesn’t have to get it smogged since it has a special California show car designation. Not that Hunt has a lot of time to tool around Rocklin. He’s never been busier.
“Since “Ford v Ferrari,” I’ve shot “Fast & Furious 9” and a couple of Netflix movies,” Hunt said. “I’m a privateer and I have to be super flexible. It’s just the business. I get a phone call and I jump.”
He’s still elated that Nagle called. The film was recently nominated for a Screen Actors’ Guild award for outstanding action performance by a stunt ensemble. And the heart of awards season is just around the corner.
“That kind of movie, being a racing professional, it’s just such an iconic story,” Hunt said. “And to be a part of it… thousands of racers would give their shifting hand to be a part of that movie and its lasting effect. It’s like “Grand Prix.” Movies like that, back in the day, still resonate, and I hope “Ford v Ferrari” will, too.”
This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 2:37 PM.