[BrentTFunk]

I just wanted to thank Brett Bowman from the Kokomo Tribune and Kevin Oldham for the nice columns they wrote honoring Tony Elliott. Brett's was in Tuesdays Kokomo Tribune. Kevin's is currently on Hoseheads.

[kawkaw2]

Finally finishing this September summary one week after the Four Crown, unfortunately it was with an extremely heavy heart in the aftermath of the tragic plane crash that took the lives of four significant men on Friday afternoon, October 2nd. Learning of the incident while heading home from an epic contest concluding Gas City I-69 Speedway’s season, I was once again reminded that life is short and could end at any moment.



Flying from Warsaw, Indiana to Clemson, South Carolina for Saturday’s Notre Dame/Clemson football match, piloting the plane was 71 year-old Charlie Smith, a Warsaw city councilman who made his name from building a Tippecanoe Valley High School football program from scratch and winning a state championship within four years (1979), amassing an impressive 101-19-1 record over 12 years at two schools. Eventually moving on from teaching and coaching to become an executive at the Warsaw-based Lake City Bank, he was a seven-year veteran of aviation and was included by the FAA in the Airmen Certification Database. However, under cloudy conditions and flying with instruments only, his Piper PA-32 aircraft mysteriously went down in a remote area along the shores of Lake Hartwell, extremely close to the intended runway. Passengers included Charlie’s 44 year-old son Scott (a Warsaw attorney), another former Tippy Valley football coach in 51 year-old guidance counselor Scott Bibler, and two-time United States Auto Club sprint car champion and Indiana racing icon Tony Elliott.



With my wife’s family connected to the Smiths and Bibler, this incident cut even deeper when considering my 30 year association with Elliott, enjoying frequent interaction with the legend since beginning these blogs in 1999. As everyone reading this is fully aware, Tony was a truly special individual, much more than just a racer and businessman as he was a larger-than-life personality who still loomed large among long-time fans, even after he faded from regular sprint car competition in the mid-2000s. Tony remained active with annual Little 500 participation, but his highly successful trailer and golf cart business took him to races all over the globe and allowed fellow racers and fans to regularly interact with the man who was always smiling, joking, laughing, and pulling pranks when allowed the opportunity.



For as long as I have known him, Elliott had a unique energy and enthusiasm for life, so contagious that it simply made people want to be in his presence. To paraphrase a statement from my friend Brent Goodnight, Tony did a lot of living in his 54 years, always in search of a good time. The youngest 54 year-old I have ever encountered, nobody had more fun and his Facebook updates were frequent, detailing his extensive travels for business and pleasure.



Feeling an emptiness when he stopped competing regularly, that emptiness becomes infinitely vast when knowing that our interactions have suddenly ceased. For once in my life, I truly have no words to encompass my feelings. With my heart still pounding and stomach churning, shocked, numb, depressed, and devastated are adjectives that come to mind but just aren’t adequate enough to express my level of despair. There are no two ways about it: Tony Elliott had a huge impact on my life and I am going to miss him dearly. In addition to his legion of supporters that number in the thousands, I can’t imagine how his wife Cindy, three sons, and one daughter are coping right now, let alone his mother, one brother, and two sisters. It tears me up just thinking about it but when considering just how many people are affected by this tragedy, it should speak volumes on this man’s character and legacy.



One of the absolute best open wheel racers I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing, it didn’t matter when, where, or in what kind of car - Tony would figure out a way to win, especially in those final five laps when he would literally come out of nowhere to steal a feature victory. Much like Ron Shuman, Tony was a true “money” racer, a professional who kept his equipment intact and knew his way to the payoff window. Owning a huge desire to compete in the memory of his father Jim who was a three-time Warsaw Speedway sprint car champion, Tony was just 12 years of age when he lost his hero to a March 1973 accident, mauled by a car while straddling his motorcycle. Starting his own career at Warsaw as a street stock racer, it wasn’t long until the teenager was lured to sprint car competition. Eventually joining forces with car owner Paul Hazen, the same man with which his father enjoyed significant success, they dominated the local scene in no time flat. Tony and Paul had a slew of incredible seasons, but it was Elliott’s 1997 pairing with childhood friend Jeff Walker that sent him into another stratosphere, winning just about every big race from coast to coast from ’97 to 2004, including two USAC national championships, an Indiana Sprint Week title, and the famed Western World Championships at Manzanita. Twice a Hoosier Hundred and Sumar Classic winner for Gene Nolen, he was also a 1999 Ted Horn 100 winner at Du Quoin. Taking home some serious hardware after claiming huge midget and sprint events in both Australia and New Zealand, the Elliott name was worthy of worldwide respect, no doubt a future National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee.



However, it was his Sunday night Kokomo Speedway duels with Dave Darland and Kevin Thomas that served as my all-time favorite memories, to this day attempting to equal those ultimate highs experienced after each one of those epic battles. Feeling fortunate to have been a part of this era, despite my overwhelming feelings of sadness, the lone solace I can take from Tony Elliott’s untimely passing aligns with the theme for this particular article. Given life’s ultimate unpredictability, just like Tony we should be living and enjoying life as if the two minute warning has already been given. Rest in peace my friend – you will be missed but my countless fond memories will never be forgotten.

KO article in Hoseheads

[LB]

Amen ,,