Henry,
Thanks for sharing your story. When I read it I thought I should tell
mine too. But then I realized that mine differs in detail but not in
substance. There are probably 100 others like it. The man helped a lot
of us. I wonder how he found time to work on his own stuff. I really
enjoyed our many technical discussions. He was an integral part of my
camshaft project. I will miss him greatly.
Larry Young
Henry Frye wrote:
> I had a long time to reflect during my tow home from Grattan. If you
> think reading about this tragedy was tough, being there was no easier.
> On Sunday I knew Jack would have wanted me to go race, and even though
> my heart was not fully in it, I did. I ran a few laps of the enduro, but
> was determined to do us proud for the feature. Missed first overall by
> less than a tenth of a second to Rick Cook in his Lotus Super 7, and the
> two of us were 1.5 minutes ahead of third place. I think Jack would have
> smiled...
>
> For me, it all started in late 1998. Somehow I got accepted into this
> fraternity of misfits.
>
> I first met Jack and Joe in person at Mid-Ohio in June, 1999. It was at
> the SVRA event, billed as an MG/Triumph clash. I hadn't bought my race
> car yet, but was checking out the scene. This was when Sean and Joe were
> running #197 and Tony and Jack were running Old Blue. These guys didn't
> know me from Adam, but after some email exchanges and an invite, my wife
> Helen and I invade their world. While my memory for things like this is
> far from good, I do remember coming away from that weekend with a real
> feel of the camaraderie we all enjoy so much. Jack and Joe showed us
> their cars, they introduced us to the scene.
>
> In October 1999 I bought my yellow TR4 racecar. I had absolutely no clue
> what I was doing, and I bought a rather poor excuse of a racecar.
> (Sorry, Bruce, but by the time I got it, it was truly used up!) I had
> tons of questions, and Jack was my go-to guy. He answered every email,
> took every phone call. He always seemed genuinely excited when I called.
> That made me feel good.
>
> As I was slowly figuring out this racecar stuff, Tony had his fateful
> ride in Old Blue. Suddenly Jack and Tony had no racecar, and Tony set
> out in earnest to find a car for his own. Meanwhile, Jack starts to
> build New Blue. My race program was really struggling, but I reach a
> breakthrough and decide I am going to run the SVRA event at Road America
> in May, 2001. It just so happens, this is the inaugural outing for New
> Blue.
>
> Like every new racecar, New Blue has teething issues. Jack needs
> something, I am thinking maybe it was the top cover off the spare
> gearbox I was carrying, I can't say for sure. But whatever it was, I had
> it and Jack felt indebted to me for lending it to him. So he offers me
> the Sunday warm-up session in his brand spanking new racecar. Here I
> was, just barely off my rookie stripe, and I was offered a chance to
> drive Jack's new racecar. That was the kind of guy Jack was.
>
> And I was so naive I said yes. I brought his car back in no worse for
> wear, and learned what I was shooting for in the handling of my car. New
> Blue was my first experience with a neutral handling TR4 racecar, and an
> engine that ran right, all the time.
>
> The other thing I remember about that weekend is when the time sheets
> showed a practice session where I ran one magic lap in my car that was
> sub-three minutes, Jack had that famous twinkle in his eye when he told
> Joe and the rest of us, "That's it, no more help for this guy!" Of
> course, he was kidding. I think he might have been a bit proud,
> actually.
>
> When I said I planned on flying in to Hallet the year our feature event
> was there, both Jack and Tony said bring your driving gear. I got time
> in both their cars, and it saddens me that I was never able to
> reciprocate with Jack. The offer was there, but he never took me up on
> it. Tony did, and of course he beat my best time for the weekend in my
> car!
>
> Then there was that time I bought my street TR4 off eBay. Art DeArmond
> picked it up, and hauled from California to his shop in Iowa. I flew in
> with parts, tools and a cylinder head under my arm. Back in Art's shop
> we get the beast somewhat roadworthy and I start my drive to
> Connecticut. First stop, Geneseo, for my dose of that famous Drews
> hospitality. I got in late, but Jack drove out to Route 80 to guide me
> back to the house. He checks out the sorry looking excuse for a car, and
> I check out his workshop. We talked about the strange things that this
> hobby brings upon us, and he commented about how much joy he got out of
> the various characters that make up the fabric of our hobby. After a
> good nights rest, Francis made us a wonderful breakfast and they sent me
> on my way.
>
> As the tributes to Jack have poured in, I see this was not an unusual
> occurrence at the Drews house.
>
> Then there are the countless times I am working on something in my shop
> and I want to bounce an idea off somebody. Jack was still my go-to guy.
> Invariably, the conversation ended up going in ten different directions,
> and an hour or more would pass that seemed like ten minutes. As we were
> wrapping up the conversation, Jack always thanked me for calling. He
> always made me feel like he got as much out of the conversation as I
> did.
>
> I'm going to miss that. A lot. I also am going to miss him picking up
> the phone and hearing his greeting "Hello, this is Jack".
>
> Jack's approach to racing was what we all strive for. He was a mentor to
> all Triumph racers who knew him.
>
> He might have thought I graduated from his program, but nobody ever
> could.
>
> I am sure he's in a better place now, I am sure he's figuring out how to
> make that place better than it already was...
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