Very saddened to hear...a legend for sure, glad I had the opportunity to talk to him a few times at the Nats. His last name .....pretty close to Buick...as he was for sure.
RIP AND GODSPEED, DAVE-I had not seen Dave in a couple years but Chris Lee has kept me in touch with the latest news. The first time I met Dave I was at Pomona Street Legal with my Orange 72 and Chris was driving the Red GS (now owned by Bruce, I believe) and like so many others, he just walked up and started chatting with me. Over time he helped with info and parts any time it was needed and was a genuinely nice man as well as a Buick Legend. I miss him....
This was a brainchild of dave's.......great fun. also the dinners in bowling green, dave and jim bell tell'in stories from the old day, never laughed to hard in my life...R.I.P
black one mine, white one was bruce kents old car....tractor and trailer was a rental. that after much work on bruce's part loading the car from the back, we finally figured out it was much easier to un-hook the tractor, lower the trailer all the way down and load them from the front...somewhere bruce has some 20ft homemade ramps when we could have used 10ft'ers...good times r.i.p dave
WOW, I can't believe it....my prayers go out to the family. Dave, Oliver, Jim, and many others have had many dinners and cold ones in BG. :beer Always one of the first to visit with, when arriving into the pits. The Buick community has lost a pioneer in Buick racing, a man that had forgotten more about Buick racing than most of us know today. We all need to be thankful that we had the opportunity to spend many good times with him and to listen to his stories. Which reminds me of one of the most unforgettable moments back many years ago going out to eat dinner in Columbus Ohio, sitting at a table surrounded by a bunch of racers that I had been reading in magazines for years who have represented the Buick gurus of the world. I look to my right and there sits Jim Bell, across from me is Oliver C. to my right is Dave, Jim Haas, Doug Jones and many others and I sat there that moment saying to myself is this for real or a dream...... God Bless you all this is hard to finish writing. Never forget! Fernando Alvare'
We will all miss Dave. I first meet him at Ollie's house in about 91' when (SoCal Grand Sports) we started the chapter. Always had time to talk any of the Buick guys. I recently had a call from Doug Jones ironically about 3 days ago. With Speed, below... God speed and prayers for all his family and loved ones!! Sam
ahh and get'in thrown out of the buick dealership in BG, dave had a "ok" from the service manager to use one of the lift's for a couple hours, that was until the owner of the dealership got there and the back-pedaling started, we almost had a police escort...good times... r.i.p
Very sad to hear, we have to be thankful for his loyalty to Buick and all he did. Part of a reason why we have the Buick community we do today and love our cars. Prayers for him and his family & friends!
It was Dave's attention to detail that Oliver's car go on first so that the black strip on the GSX started where the black stripe on the tractor left off. You couldn't have asked for a grander entrance than when that pulled into the pits. As I remember Chris, you got a bunch of thumbs up on that trip.
I remember you guys unloading in the grass at the end of the pits and Dave was nervous as could be. The was the year we P and G'd all of the cars in the class and Dave made us do it 3 or 4 times! I love that guy and am going to miss him every day. His phone calls filled with advice and suggestions I had to accept and adopt. I have two of his dipped 70 bumpers and the Nat Dragster he was featured in that he signed for me which are now among my most prized possessions. I just cant believe he is gone and Im not going to hear his voice again. Thats going to be tough to come to terms with.
A few of us were appropriately under dressed at Dave's services, honoring him by wearing hawaiian shirts. :grin: Here's a beer mug from the early 70s I ran across on Ebay awhile back, It has names of world champions on it. Enough said.
