In the world of Rally racing, few compare with the great John Buffum. Born in Connecticut and based in Vermont since he began racing in 1964, he is directly responsible for winning no less than 60 national championships in the United States and Canada – including 24 as a driver – and has scored 123 overall victories in six countries. Buffum started in Autocross and Time-Speed-Distance events before trying Rally. He got his first taste of World Rally Championship competition while stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, overachieving with a 12th-place finish in the 1969 Monte Carlo Rally. He returned stateside in 1970, but since Pro Rally did not yet exist in the United States, he formed Libra Racing in his new home of Colchester, VT, and hit the road courses, winning SCCA’s Trans Am 2.5-Liter division championship in 1973. When Pro Rally came to North America, Buffum began setting records that may never be broken. Driving full-time from 1975 through 1987, he won 11 out of 13 SCCA national championships, three-straight crowns with the North American Rally Racing Association (NARRA), and nine North American Rally Cup (NARC) titles. During that period, he was a factory driver for both Triumph and Audi. ​Buffum and Audi tackled the famous Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, winning in 1982 and ‘83. He became the first – and remains the only – American to win in the FIA European Rally Championship, taking the 1983 Sachs Rally in Germany and the Cyprus Rally in 1984. Buffum went undefeated in 1987 to win his 11th SCCA championship before stepping away from driving full-time and taking over as series manager for the years 1988-92. He was later the president of the American Rally Association in 1994-95, and he was also was instrumental in the rebirth of the Mount Washington “Climb to the Clouds” while serving as Chief Steward in 1990-2000. Buffum guided his stepson, driver Paul Choiniere, with factory rides with Audi and Hyundai at Libra Racing from 1988-2002. Buffum’s team netted Choiniere 53 wins and eight SCCA titles, as well as a Canadian national title and three NARC crowns. Buffum drove occasionally through 2008, winning 16 events including the 1995 Rally of Incas in Peru, when he shattered the record time by more than two hours. Vermont SportsCar hired Buffum in 2004 to help launch the careers of mega-star Subaru drivers Travis Pastrana and Ken Block. Buffum later returned to Libra Racing to guide Mitsubishi driver Antonie L’Estage, winning a Rally America champion, five Canadian titles, and six NARC Cups. Buffum returned to VSC in 2014, and that team has won all but one national championship since 2006. ​ Buffum has been enshrined in the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame (2004), the SCCA Hall of Fame (2006), the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame (2014), the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame (2018), and is also a member of the prestigious Road Racing Driver’s Club.