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As we settle in for the holidays, we pause to remember those who left the sport in the past year. This remains a labor of love, not journalism, so forgive any omissions.

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The northeast lost Tuck Hoffman, long time Modified owner and car builder.? Kyle Inman, 39, was a Dirt Modified regular who won Super Dirt Week Sportsman race in 2019.? Scott Bandzul, owned the Sheba Racing Modified team that fielded cars for Jeff Fuller, Rick Fuller, Steve Parks, and Mike Ewanistko.? Steve Clark was an Evergreen Raceway veteran.? Ron Hutter’s motors powered Modifieds for years, and race cars in general up and down the east coast.? Dave Grantz was a fixture in late models at Star and Hudson Speedway and NEAR Hall of Fame member.? Bill Roberts was a long time Waterford Speedbowl official. Modifed Legend Wild Bill Greco, 93, won over 300 features, many coming at his home track, Riverside Park.? Jeremy Pitcher was a champion in Fulton Speedway’s Sportsman division and a Small Block Super Modified driver at Oswego.? Don Moon made his bones at Plainville Stadium running Modifieds. Bob Vivari was a two time champion at Plainville.? ?Dave Tourigny was a NEAR Hall of Fame member and built modifieds for legends such as Fred DeSarro, Bugs Stevens, Ken Bouchard and Mike Stefanik. Lee Weldy was a long time Star Speedway competitor. Tom Kraft was a Long Island racing legend and the last winner at Islip Speedway.? Dick Swartzlander, 93, was a veteran Sprint Car racer at Williams Grove and throughout the Mid-Atlantic.? Marc Cunha was a long time official at Seekonk Speedway.? Bob Ziegler, 93, Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Famer, was a three time champion at Watertown, and promoter of Evans Mills Speedway after he retired from driving.? Leroy Felty, 94, was a legend in Pennsylvania racing.? Larry Johnston was a veteran Jennerstown and Latrobe Speedway driver.

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Leo Jackson was a long time Winston Cup car owner, running Harry Gant for a number of years.? Tom Reffner was a Wisconsin stock car legend.? Art Ball, 85, was a long time Ohio stock car driver.? Rick Townsend was a legendary Late Model chassis builder.? Federico Gutierrez, 17, who raced in the NASCAR Mexico series, died in a traffic accident that seriously injured his brother and fellow NASCAR driver, Max.? Trevor Boys, 65, was a Canadian regular on the Winston Cup circuit from 1982 to 1993, running 102 events.? Tony Hulin, 70, was a fixture at Caraway Speedway in NC for years.? George Wambold, 84, died in an accident at home.? ?A three time champion at Dorney Park Wambold came back to racing at Mahoning Valley when the track was resurrected in 1977.? A former Modified champion at the track in the 70’s, he took another title there in 1987. Tim Dwiggins was a long time Modified racer with the SMART tour.? Bay Darnell, 91, raced USAC stock cars.? Gary Rochelle, Jr., was the 2022 Street Stock Champion at New River Speedway in Jacksonville, NC.

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The Southern Gentleman, Freddy Smith, 76, won 785 career victories and the Dirt Track World Championship race a record five times, and he lived up to his nickname.

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Open Wheel lost Pepi Marchese, veteran midget driver.? Gary Zarounian, veteran USAC Midget and Silver Crown entrant had a Who’s Who of open wheel talent that drove for him over the years.? Legendary USAC mechanic and Hall of Famer Galen Fox, was 84.? A National Sprint Car and USAC Hall of Famer, Fox guided drivers to title wins in Sprint Cars, Silver Crown cars, and prepped cars for the Indy 500.? Ashlea Albertson, 24 was killed in road rage incident in Indiana where she was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her fiancé.? She drove for Tony Stewart in TQ midgets.? Roy Caruthers was part of a midget racing family.? He won the CORA championship and the Hoosier Dome Invitational in a long career.? Chuck Ciprich was a two time International Classic winner at Oswego.? Mickey Rupp, 87, parlayed a career as a go kart manufacturer into a one time start at Indy in 1965, where he finished sixth.? Bruce Kindberg was a Pine Brook and Sprint Car veteran.? Ron Sharkey was a long time car owner at Oswego.? Dean Hoag, 70, was a two time SBS Modified champion at Oswego Speedway also raced Supermodifieds there and is a member of the track’s Hall of Fame.? Dorsey Truitt, 90, was an ARDC Midget stalwart. Terry Farrar was a veteran California Midget racer.? Mike Murphy was a long time Oswego Supermodifed owner and tire specialist.? Bill Brown raced midgets and was a genius when it came to Sesco powerplans.

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Jim Reider was a giant in Midget Racing.? A former ARDC President, he won championships with Nick Fornoro, Jr., who also delivered two Night Before the 500 wins as well.? Pancho Carter provided Jim with his first Night Before the 500 win in the 1970’s.? His self named chassis became regular winners at midget events across the country.? Jim was also a member of the National Midget Hall of Fame.

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Bill Vukovich II, was 79.? He finished second in the Indy 500 in 1973, won of a BCRA midget championship and 27 USAC midget wins, and won his only Indy Car race in 1973 at Michigan.? Son of two time 500 winner Bill, and dad to Billy III, both sadly lost to racing.

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Road racing lost Dennis Aase, 80, who raced Porsche 911’s for years with IMSA before becoming part of Toyota’s GTU effort with Dan Gurney’s All American Racers.? Joe Buzzetta was a factory driver for Porsche in the 1960’s.? Ken Block, a veteran rally and rallycross competitor, died at 55 in a snowmobile accident.? Kyle LeDuc, 41, died of cancer.? He was a seven time Pro-4 off road champion.

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Jim Haynes, 89, was an SCCA national champion but best known for buying Lime Rock Park in the early 60’s and turning it into the road racing capital of the Northeast.? After leaving the Rock he was GM of Road America for a number of years.

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Across the pond(s) we lost Ken McAlpine, 102, the longest living Formula One participant.? He raced from 1952 to 1955, retiring to start a vineyard. He flew fighters in WWII and was the chairman of McAlpine Helicopters.? Bob Fearnley, 70, spent a long career in international racing, most notably as deputy team principal for the Force India Formula One team.? Michel Ferte, 64, was a French Formula 3 champion, Formula 3000 driver and endurance racer.? Roger Dorchy, 78, took his WM sports car to a record 251mph speed on the Mulsanne straight at Le Mans in 1988, a record that stands to this day.? Basil van Rooyen was a veteran South African driver.? Burkard Bovensiepen, founded the Alpina racing team, fielding BMW’s for years in Europe.? Erich Zakowsky, founded Zakspeed, an entrant in European sport car championships and Formula One.? George Fouche, 57, was a 13 time entrant at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Slim Borgudd, 76,? is best known as the drummer for Abba, but was a Formula 3 champion in Sweden and briefly dabbled in Formula One, driving for ATS and Tyrrell before moving to European Truck racing, where he was a four time champion.? David Price ran British Formula 3 teams, helping to launch the careers of Martin Brundle and Nigel Mansell, among others.? He won the British F3 championship in 1984 with Johnny Dumfries.? Jean Pierre Jabouille, 80, brought Renault back to victory lane in Formula One with his win in the 1979 French Grand Prix.? Steve Neal, 82, was an accomplished British Touring car racer and team owner, going on to win six titles.? John Wickham, 74, was co-founder of the Spirit F1 team and team manager for Bentley when they won Le Mans in 2003.? Rosemary Smith, 86, was a winning rally driver in the 60’s, hopped in an F1 Renault at age 80 in 2017 for a joyride, and founded a driving school when she retired.? Paul Bird, 56, was a legendary owner in British Supebike racing.

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Drag racing lost Rick Jackson, a longtime highly successful Top Alcohol Funny Car owner in NHRA.? Danny Goff, 61, was a veteran NC drag racer, and a wonderful guy.? Tim Lucas was a bracket racer at Fayetteville Drag Strip in NC.? Frank Aragona Jr., was a multiple time NHRA champion.? Dallas Jones ran Beech Bend Speedway Drag Strip in Kentucky from 1984. Bill Reichert, 71, was a veteran Top Alcohol Dragster racer in the NHRA, winner of over two dozen national events and over 50 regional events.

Jerry Bickel, 75, was a famed drag racing chassis builder.? David Batchelor was a PDRA Top Dragster competitor.? Shane McClelland, 48, was an accomplished Oklahoma drag racer who died in a boating accident.? Jim Bradshaw, Sr., owned Capitol Raceway drag strip.? George Rupert, 75, was a long time racer and the founder of Rupert Carburetors.? Rolly Doucette was an accomplished engine builder and a member of the Canadian Drag Racing Hall of Fame.? Cathi Maynard, 65, lost her long battle with MS, and was owner of Tony Schumacher’s Top Fuel Team.? Bill Richard, 73, was a 5 time Top Alcohol champion.? Paula Murphy, 95, was the first woman incensed by the NHRA to drive a funny car, starting her career in 1964.

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Don Schumacher, 79, won a bunch of championships as a driver in the 70’s, retired to build his business, then came back as a car owner for his son, Tony.? He fielded multiple Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars over the years, amassing 19 NHRA championships.

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Craig Breedlove, Mister America, died at 86. He was a five time Land Speed Record holder, trading it with Art Arfons during the 1960’s.

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It was a miserable year on track and in rallying.? Sam Fenech died in the crash of his drag car at Willowbank Raceway in Australia. ?K.E. Kumar was killed in a touring car race at Chennai circuit in India.? ?Stephen Douglas was killed in the crash of his stock car at Daylesford Speedway in Australia. Justin Owen, 26, was killed in the crash of his Sprint Car at the USAC opener at Lawrenceburg Speedway.? Craig Breen, 33, died in the crash of his Hyundai during testing for the World Rally Championship round in Croatia.?

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Dilano van t’Hoff, 18, was killed in a crash at Spa during a Formula Regional European Championship race.? Al Zukauskas, veteran jet car racer, died in a crash at Quaker City Motorsports Park.? Gary McMann, 74, was killed in the crash of his drag car at Tri-State Speedway in Iowa.? Keith Hallet, 74, was killed when the drag car he was helping to crew suddenly reversed on the starting line at Milan Dragway in Michigan.? Curt Burrell, 45, was killed in the crash of his Ford Mustang dragster at US 41 Dragway in Indiana.? Tony Positano was killed in the crash of his dragster at Toronto Motorsports Park.? Roger Twelvetrees, 77, was killed in a crash during a vintage event at Mallory Park in England.? Swiss drag racer Sakib Ahmetoic was killed at an event at the Zweibrucken airfield in Germany.? Ronnie Ruggiero, 37, was killed in the crash of his drag truck at Keystone Raceway in Pennsylvania.

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Mark Mathys, 62, was killed in a freak accident during qualifying for a GT3 race at Daytona Int’l Speedway when he stopped with a flat tire and exited the car.? Two other cars collided in the same spot, with one striking Mathys.?

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Late Model Legend Marty Ward, 58, died of a heart attack while competing in the Southeast Super Truck Series at Anderson Speedway in South Carolina.

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Motorcycling lost 38 riders in 2023 on circuits and the open roads and 21 drivers and co-drivers were killed in rallying accidents.

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The fourth estate lost Allen Brown, 75, who created a bible of motorsports; The National Speedway Directory and went on to publish “The History of American’s Speedways.”? Ken Meisenhelder was a fixture at northeast tracks as the founder of KGM Video. He also competed at the NASCAR Cup level prior to forming his video company.? Arthur Lawson, 50, died suddenly after his announcing duties were over at an event at Mooresville Dragway.? Bill John Huneke was a long time reporter who covered racing at East Windsor and Wall Stadium.? Carl Hess was a veteran Pennsylvania photographer.? Dick Pratt was New England Dragway’s first announcer.? John Jodauga, 77, was a gifted artist and illustrator who worked for NHRA’s National Dragster.

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Norris McDonald, 81, was part of the fabric of Oswego Speedway as an owner and driver, and veteran infield announcer.? For 15 years he conducted his grid walk at the Classic before the green flew, something you didn’t want to miss.

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Ken Squier, 88, was the dean of American broadcasters, and helped bring the Daytona 500 to the masses in the first live broadcast in 1979.? He became the voice of NASAR for decades.? But if you really wanted to see him in action, all you had to do was visit Thunder Road, the Vermont bullring he helped bring back.? His enthusiasm for short track racing never wavered.

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Jean Lynch, 88, was a member of the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. She was a board member for the All Star tour, a coordinator for Ohio Speedweeks, and held managerial positions at the East Bay Winternationals, Tri-City Speedway, Sharon Speedway, and West Virginia Motor Speedway.? Lucy Foyt, 84, was married to A.J. for 68 years.? One could argue she had the toughest job in motorsports.

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Marty Himes, 83, was a Long Island racer who dedicated his life to preserving the heritage of motorsports on the island through his museum.? He was the authority on the long, rich history of racing on the island, and he will be missed by many.

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It was a bad year for lost speedways.? Redline Raceway dragstrip in Caddo Mills TX closed.? Atco Dragway in New Jersey was sold to developers after 63 years of operation.? Emerald Coast Speedway in Florida was sold to an auto auction group.? Archerfield Speedway in Australia closed after 44 years. Sacramento Raceway Park dragstrip closed after over 50 years.? Five Mile Point Speedway was shuttered this year, and Rockford Speedway in Illinois closed after 76 years of operations.? Devil’s Bowl Speedway in Texas, spiritual home to the World of Outlaws, closed its doors after a long and storied history.? 411 Speedway, a dirt track with a long history in Tennessee, was sold to Copart.

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And what will we do without Drew Fornoro.

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Drew was a nine time NEMA Midget champion, winner of 85 features in NEMA, and a National Midget Hall of Fame and NEAR Hall of Fame member.? More than that, he was a loving son, husband, father, uncle, brother, and friend to so many, including me.? I still can’t believe he’s gone.

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As ever, I ask that we not dwell on the sadness of the loss of our friends, but oh, how they lived, and raise a glass to them all for Auld Lang Syne.

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Bonne Annee, Joyeux Noel

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Chris Romano

New Bern, NC.

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