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Bob Bondurant, a racecar driver-turned-instructor who taught and guided such actors as Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Christian Bale and Nicolas Cage for racing movies and other fast-car films, died Nov. 12 at an assisted living facility in Paradise Valley, Ariz. He was 88.

His death was announced by the Bondurant Racing School. His wife Pat Bondurant provided The New York Times with a death certificate indicating Bondurant suffered a “suspected immune reaction related to vaccinations.” The certificate lists cerebrovascular disease and cerebral arterial stenosis as underlying conditions.(The Times report did not specify the type of vaccination; according to the CDC, reports of death after Covid vaccination are rare.)

During his racing career of the 1950s and ’60s, Bondurant became one of the world’s most successful drivers, winning the National Corvette Title, Le Mans Gt, the World Championship and the Baja 500. Between 1961 and 1963, he won 30 out of 32 races in Corvettes, and...

Over a long career that stretches back 25 years, stuntman and stunt coordinator-turned-second-unit-director and actor Darrin Prescott has choreographed many a spectacular car chase and race in such testosterone-fueled movies as “Drive,” “Deadpool 2,” “Baby Driver” and “The Bourne Ultimatum,” which won him a Screen Actors Guild award as part of the stunt ensemble.

But when director James Mangold called him up to play famous racer Bob Bondurant and supervise the second-unit action crew for “Ford v Ferrari,” he knew it’d be a special job.

“He loved what we’d done on ‘Baby Driver,’ and when I asked him how we were going to handle all the classic race cars on this, he just said, ‘We’re going to build ‘em,’” Prescott says.

This was music to Prescott’s ears, as “Ford v Ferrari” chronicles the story of race car legends Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon) and Ken Miles (Christian Bale...