It was a sunny Sunday in mid-October, I can’t remember the exact year but I am going to guess around 1982, and I was driving down a two-lane highway in western Illinois. The sun was high in the sky around noontime and I was marveling at the colors of the leaves as I was nearing my destination, a racetrack near Mount Olive that was holding a Fall Special. I had seen an ad for this show in Speed Sport and I was excited to see several drivers in action that I had only read about before even if it would take four hours to get there.
When I was within about fifteen miles of the track I came up behind a vehicle that had Iowa plates and as I pulled out to pass it I noticed the familiar face behind the wheel. It was that guy, the guy that I saw at seemingly every race that I attended whether it would be close to home or at some farther off track. I smiled and waved at him as I went by and he did the same. As I parked my car I noticed him pulling into the lot as well so I paused figuring that I should introduce myself to this person who was obviously every bit as much addicted to this sport of short track racing as I was, or even more. I approached him with my hand out and I said “I swear I see you all over the place, my name is Jeff Br..” and as he shook my hand he laughed and said “I know who you are, I read your column in Hawkeye Racing News, I’m Gary Storey.”
We sat together in the stands that day and while the racing action on the big sun-baked half-mile left a little to be desired, the stories that he shared that day made the four hour trip very much worth it. From that point on we would always try to catch up with each other a bit when we would see each other at the races. Sometimes I would sit with him, but most of the time I wouldn’t because, frankly, the guy was nearly always surrounded by his racing friends. He had a bunch of them and it was easy to see why. Gary would always greet you with a smile and that oh so distinctive laugh of his. Then he would ask you what you thought about a show that he knew you had recently attended. Then he would tell you about some of the places that he had been recently. Gary was the true definition of a “SuperFan”, and not just because he went to a bunch of races each year. He truly loved a night at the races and even if the show was a stinker, he would still be able to tell you something he liked about it after he told you why it was a stinker!! I valued Gary’s opinion so much that I often asked him for his thoughts on how we were handling the NKF Tour events. And, from the stories of his travels I have actually made it a point to visit some tracks that Gary really loved, and I have even avoided one or two that Gary didn’t really like. One of the main reasons that I continued to subscribe to Speed Sport News for so many years was just to see that one paragraph summary of Gary’s thoughts from his travels when they tabulated the SuperFan rankings.
On Monday night, September 20th, the USMTS ran a show at Oskaloosa and I thought about leaving early enough so that I could pay a visit to Gary at the Hospice House in town before heading out to the track. It was a very busy day at work and I did not leave Mt. Pleasant until after five o’clock so I instead went straight to the track. I thought of Gary as I climbed the steps of the grandstands heading for that section near the top where all of the people that he basically introduced me to over the years still sit (a couple of them also write for Positively Racing) and I thought of how much Gary would have enjoyed having a Monday night race in late September to add to his total. I smiled when the thought came to me and I could almost hear his laugh as I settled into my seat.
Oh, how I will miss that laugh…..
Rest in peace Gary, your racing friends love you and will miss you greatly!
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