My old buddy, pal, mentor and financial advisor Jack Calabrese always is a wealth of knowledge whenever I get the chance to talk with him.
My old buddy, pal, mentor and financial advisor Jack Calabrese always seems to be a wealth of knowledge whenever I get the chance to talk with him.
The other day, when I told him that I had just celebrated another birthday and how I was amazed at being that old (79), he gave his opinion of old age. He put down his drink (we always drink non-alcoholic beverages, of course) and looked me in the eye and said, “Getting to old age is a great time, but once you get there it sucks.”
I thought about it for a while and felt like I just left one of those history museums that have the wax figures or statues that say some famous quote. I dropped the subject before I would have to admit that maybe I was getting close to making it to that old age time, and then Jack and I poured ourselves another drink with just a thimble full of the real stuff and went back to talking about how fast we were in our younger days.
I mention old age because when you get to be around my age you believe that all your old buddies and family will always be around and things will go on as usual. I guess this last month or so real life hit me, as I lost two of my old racing buddies that went up and down the road with me for so many years. I never considered they wouldn‘t always be here.
I got the call the other day that my old friend Tim Pangborn had died. It was a sad day for me and so many racers up this way in Wisconsin. The first time I met Tim was in the mid-‘70s when he started racing. It was a time when a lot of us young guys were just starting out and thought of nothing but the next time we could race. Tim, Stan Fox, Scott Dennison, Dave Wunrow, and even the famous Dr. Tyler started a group called “The Have At It Racers.”
We were a group that were ready to go racing anywhere, any place or anytime a race would pop up.
We usually traveled together and every once in a while Stan would get a double-deck trailer so we could take a couple cars together. Usually it gave Stan or me a great chance to avoid doing any driving by faking sleep when it was our turn to drive or pump gas and the party went on down the road.
Tim would usually go with Stan and I to Phoenix and California in the spring and fall every year to run the USAC races at Ascot and at Manzanita whenever they had something going with the midgets. We all stayed at Wayne Weiler‘s farm and worked on the cars there.
Tim had bought a car from Doug Caruthers and was starting to win races steadily. Back in Sun Prairie, he broke Billy Wood‘s one-lap track record that had stood for over 20 years. The Doctor was staying in Tim‘s basement that year and helped wrench his car. One night at the Prairie, Tim told the Doctor that he really wanted to get upside-down as he had never done that.
According to the Doctor, he told Tim that it was no problem and cranked a bunch of right rear weight in it and Tim promptly went out and turned the car over in just a couple of laps. I remember the night well and, luckily, I already had quite a few flips under my belt and didn‘t need any adjustments!
Tim, Stan and I were always looking for the big sponsor and ways to make money. It was always a competition to see if we could steal the other guy‘s sponsor or find that elusive set of brand new Ascot digger tires before the other guy. The new Ascots were worth a half-second when they were brand new as long as you didn‘t wear them out trying to run flat out at the Prairie and end up in the turn one hamburger stand.
Those were some of the most fun times of my life. I will miss both Stan and him and our years of travel together. Rest in peace, my pal.
Also, another good racer and good friend, Terry Wente, died at a way-too-young age last month. Terry came from such a great racing family, led by his father, the legendary Bob Wente. Terry and his brothers Mike and Bobby Jr. were all accomplished racers. Terry won some USAC races, and was in the hunt to the very end to win the USAC National midget title a few years back.
Dee Tattersall told me she basically helped raise Terry and his brothers, as they were around the tracks and knew all the brave drivers of that era of no roll cages. Bob Wente was friends with the Bob Tattersall, Mel Kenyon, Danny Frye and so many others. I always envied Terry for being able to grow up around those racers.
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