Cody,
I'm glad you appreciate the kind words about your great-grandpa and took the time to respond; I'm also glad my memory is still as accurate as it is!
I got a chance to get to know your Dad and your grandfather Carl as well when he raced with us at Ventura. I think I mentioned on another post how Carl bought up all the Acro running gear when I parted out my unfinished TQ and took it back to Indiana to resell because there was a better market for the stuff there. He's another quality guy, proof that some of the nicest people you'll ever meet are Racers and some of the nicest Racers you'll ever meet are TQ Racers.
I also have a lot of fond memories about Friday. I always attended the TQ races at Rushville, every year. I always thought it was cool when he'd pull that #41 all the way from California. However, the biggest part for me happened on Sunday morning. They would always try to show up at church while they were town for a race. I would always go check out the car sitting on the open trailer, behind the camper. Our church was really small, but I sure felt like we were big shots on those mornings!
Friday reminded me a lot of AJ Watson, seems like there must be something in the air in California that makes a lot of people do similar things, I recall talking with Friday and Betty as they were getting ready to head back to Ca, he said they hadn't been water sking in a long time, and Betty was after him to stop at a friends house on the way back, he had a real ski boat, with a big blower on top, that ought to pull a couple of skiers pretty good, they couldn't wait to get back on the water, don't know how much of that was true, but he made it sound good anyway! Its nice to know that you effect so many peoples life, in a good way, while you are on this earth, and Friday and Betty surely are a great testiment to that. Bob
"Being old, isn't half as much fun, as getting there"! Ole Robert I!
The friend with the boat was his son (me) in Little Rock, AR...a 14 1/2' flat bottom with a 425 HP small block he and I built in 1971. When I started racing in 2004 (age 58 and still going strong) the boat went back to California to my son Mark who also races. The boat is still running and wicked quick. Cody Nigh did a great job of capturing a lot of the family history, but failed to mention that he and sister (Carly) are racers and champions along with most those mentioned in his post. Dad ran his last race at the age of 71 before getting into RC Boats and winning a national championship with NAMBA in his second year. Forget which year, but had 3 family championships in 3 different classes...quite a legacy. Now reunited with his favorite crew chief...the ultimate win!
I figured someone would come forward, and I thought he said the boat belonged to his son, but that's been a few weeks ago! and at 76, I never know for sure if I actually remember things exactly right, but sounds like in this case I had the story correct. Thanks for sharing your father with us Hoosiers, and mother, we sure were blessed to have them in "the neighborhood". It was our pleasure, and we'll miss them, just as you will. Bob
"Being old, isn't half as much fun, as getting there"! Ole Robert I!
Sorry to hear of Friday's passing. I too raced with Friday and the California gang when they came to Indiana for the summer fair races. Friday and his wife were some of the nicest people we ever met. Friday always had some great stories to tell. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him.
Extremely sorry to hear about Friday's passing; my sympathies go out to his family.
I was fortunate to purchase Friday's classic Valvoline-schemed #41 UMRA TQ midget when he retired in the late '80's. Being my first race car, I will always be especially fond of it. One thing that a basic glance of the car would not expose to the naked eye was that Friday was the consummate engineer: he would literally spend hours and hours and hours creating his own custom pieces for the car, as opposed to buying 'off the shelf' parts. As an example, the fiberglass tail tank shell that displayed the unique '41' was in fact simply a cover for an intricately designed fuel cell, constructed of plywood, lots of fiberglass, and a steel propane tank. He surely had spent a week on this project alone, but it was really pretty ingenious. I also clearly remember the travel trailer he & Betty travelled from California to spend the summers in Indiana in, hopping from race to race, driving the TQ up the drop ramp tailgate he had also constructed by cutting out the rear door of the trailer.
I am very thankful and feel blessed for the friendships I have made and continue to make in the racing world, and Friday was one of the first ones I made in the open wheel world.
Does anyone have any more pics they can post on here of Friday and some of the cars he drove? I still remember the yellow #41 he drove. It was before the white #41 car.
Thanks.
