Sonny ates
 

Sonny ates passed away this morning in phoenix a great driver and good friend! Rip the king of the hills!:22:

Re: Sonny ates
 

Very Sad news. I will miss Sonny's smile.
:35:

Re: Sonny ates
 

One hell of a race driver an a super nice guy

Re: Sonny ates
 

Rest in peace , always enjoyed talking to him at the harf meetings :22:
DICK & JAN

Re: Sonny ates
 

Rest in peace Sonny, spent many a Sunday afternoon being entertained by your skills. :9:
David.

Re: Sonny ates
 

R I P Sonny

https://www.indianaopenwheel.com/showthread.php?t=27477

Re: Sonny ates
 

God speed, old, old friend, you will live on, in memory of better times. Bob

Re: Sonny ates
 

My favorite memories of Sonny Ates mostly involve having the privilege of watching him wheel the Iddings 93 around the high banks. Gee, has it really been 40-some years ago ?!
RIP :22:

Re: Sonny ates
 

RIP Sonny Ates. You were a class act. Racing has a giant Loss.

Lynn

Re: Sonny ates
 

Sonny Ates was kind and pleasant to visit with at the track. He was always respectful and available for an interview when my wife was writing for NSSN and there were few women reporters yet. He was truly a "Southern Gentleman" and I'll never forget those times at Dayton and Winchester when the big question was whether or not he would break the World Record for a half mile. For you younger guys, he did break it many times in the Iddings 93.
RIP old friend and thanks for the great memories. :22:

Vern Plotts

Re: Sonny ates
 

Three things stand out for me with Sonny; his infectious smile, his friendly personality, and gassing the beautiful Iddings 93.

One of me heroes for sure.

R.I.P Sonny.:13:

Re: Sonny ates
 

R.I.P. to a great race car driver.

Re: Sonny ates
 

He will be missed. He was one of the nicest drivers we had in our car. RIP

Re: Sonny ates
 

Another of my all time favorites, :13: First watched him in TQ's at Salem, then marveled at him in Iddings #93 car on the high banks (especially Dayton) and, of course, at the Speedway. Helluva shoe and as others have said above "a great guy". R.I.P. Sonny.

Re: Sonny ates
 

RIP Sonny Ates. Watching my first race at Funks Speedway Winchester in 1945. I saw many brave racers on the high banks and Sonny was the bravest of brave.

Re: Sonny ates
 

I think the first time I seen him race was in a TQ also, at the Rushville Fairgrounds. He was a very underrated driver in my opinion.

Rest in Peace, Sonny.:(

Re: Sonny ates
 

Very, very sad. I also had the pleasure of watching Sonny in the UMRA TQs. It was Paula Wathen Gross, daughter of the late Ray Gross, who informed me of his passing last night. Ray was the owner of Sonny's TQ, and a former president of UMRA.

Sonny won the first open wheel race I ever flagged, when I worked with UMRA in the early 60s.

And, everything everyone else has said is true. He was a gentleman, and he was unparalleled on the hills.

Re: Sonny ates
 

I enjoyed watching Sonny on many a Sunday afternoon at Salem as he wheeled the Iddings #93 to world record speeds on many an occasion. I sat beside the man that owned the Iddings car at the Four Crown this year. I can't tell you his name; it was composed of many syllables and hard to pronounce. He is 80 years old, lives in Greenville, OH and owns several businesses. I mentioned to him that I heard Sonny was experiencing health problems. He was not aware of it.
I'll bet Superduke or somebody out there knows who I'm talking about. Apparently he doesn't use a computer.

RIP, Sonny

Re: Sonny ates
 

the car is in the garst museum in greenville ohio! The iddding brothers owned the car and henry meyers of dayton was the builder and mech. A very smart man ahead of his time! So you set beside another bull *******!:22:

Re: Sonny ates
 

Re: Sonny ates
 

Sonny was a friend and mintor to me. He help get me my first USAC midget ride in 65. In 65, 66 I rode to many races with him in his VW, slept in the back seat many times. I never heard anyone say anything bad about him, on or off the race track. So besides being a great racer he was a great person. I will miss him greatly.
Jim Graybeal

Re: Sonny ates
 

In the mid 60's both Sonny Ates and Jimmy Graybeal drove my uncle's midget (Ted Hartley). Both were really good drivers and nice guys. I was just a teenage helper and they treated me like I was Clint Brawner. Sad to hear of Sonny's passing but great to hear that Jimmy is still around. I wonder if Jimmy remembers an indoor race at Fort Wayne in 1967 when he had to go to the hospital while we celebrated Ted's 65th birthday after the race!

Re: Sonny ates
 

That link to the Dayton Speedway website that Vukie posted is great. You can spend a lot of time on there. I would highly recommend it to anyone...tons of pics and tons of stories. The Dayton Speedway kept you on the edge of your seat whenever you were there. Seemed to be just as scary and exciting as Winchester...if not more. First place I ever attended a race at...I was 2 weeks old...in June of 1951!!

Tim Wolffrum aka Cowboy

Re: Sonny ates
 

Yes, I remember. Got put upsidedown in the heat race. No cage, open face helment, concrete floor, lots of stitches. Would have had more fun at the party.

Re: Sonny ates
 

Hello to all. My name is Adam, and I am Sonny Ates grandson. I just wanted to say thank you from our whole family for all the kind words and condolences. He was a great man, and will be greatly missed. He had a good life, many great friends/fans, and finally crossed the final finish line. Thank you all again so much.

Re: Sonny ates
 

Rest in peace Sonny. You will be missed. One of the truly nice gentlemen,and great Midget and Sprint driver.

Re: Sonny ates