[jjones752]

A couple of years ago my wife and I went to a talk on the 500 that Gary gave in the basement of the bookstore in Irvington. Afterward, we came up and introduced ourselves and began chatting about Thunder, shared experiences at Ventura, how much he missed Larry and all manner of things until the bookstore owners tossed us out, and we continued talking like old friends on the sidewalk for at least another hour. His genuine warmth, ebullence and love of racing oozed gracefully out of every pore; I feel truly blessed for having had the opportunity to have shared that brief moment with him.