Checkered Flag
Dan Robson 1951-2022
To all NC Region members and friends: We lost a true Racer and friend on Saturday morning April 2nd. Dan Robson, aka “Mad Man Dan” and “Dan the Man” passed away peacefully at the Hospice section of the Durham VA Hospital. Although he lived alone for most of his life, he did not die alone,…
Read MoreIn Memoriam: Sara Brookfield
reprinted with permission from the December 2020 issue of the WDCR Straightpipe newsletter By Janet Toland SCCA lost a friend and a part of our family. Sara Brookfield, 69, of Wardensville, West Virginia, passed away Saturday morning following a head on collision near her home. Her husband, Bob Brookfield, another long time SCCA volunteer, remains…
Read MoreHayden Beatty, one of NCR’s founding fathers, has died…plus, memories of Hayden and pics of his cars
Hayden Beatty was one of North Carolina Region’s founding fathers. In 1955, 16 members of the Sports Car Club of North Carolina petitioned the SCCA to become the North Carolina Region and Hayden was one of those. Perhaps his member number, 932, would be the give-away for his long involvement in the Club, but it wouldn’t…
Read MoreBuddy Matthews 1942-2018
Alfred “Buddy” Matthews, long time NCR member, racer, Chief of Tech, former RE and current Chapter Coordinator for the West Chapter tragically lost his life in a traffic accident on Monday, December 3rd. Buddy was RE from 1987 through 1994, Assistant RE in 1986, and seemingly Chief of Tech or co-chief forever (officially since 1989). He…
Read MoreJames Arthur Buckberry: July 3, 1950 – July 7, 2016
by Bruce Dover
James Buckberry was many things to many people. He was a caring and loving father…”hard on the outside, but good on the inside”, to his son Justin. He was a proud grandfather to Owen and had just been told, about a week before he died, that there was another grandchild on the way. To his co-workers at Dell and elsewhere, he went by the nickname of “London”. In conversation, he was always ready with a witty comeback, followed by a big smile and laugh.
To those of us who worked with him through SCCA, he was a conscientious Starter with a penchant for enforcing pit out blend line violations. He even had custom shirts printed with “Don’t Violate Me” on the front, along with a diagram of the Blend line at pit out. He had one for Carolina Motorsports Park, in Kershaw, SC and one for VIR and loved to attend the morning Driver’s meeting at both tracks to show them off to the drivers and warn them of the consequences for the violation. He served as Chief Starter at both of those tracks. And, drivers knew when they saw him in the Start stand as they rolled down the straightaway looking for a green flag to start their race, that if they weren’t lined up properly, all they’d see was that big cowboy hat shaking back and forth, telling them to go around and try again. To Jamie D., he was a mentor, who helped usher Jamie from raw rookie (and I do mean raw!) all the way to his National license. There were lots of bumps along the way, but James was always there for Jamie. He was a unique individual and he will be sorely missed.
Checkered Flag
There have been a couple of recent passings of note to the racing community and we’d like to share them with you here.
(Thanks to Buddy Matthews and Jerry Pell for bringing them to my attention — Ed.)
The following is reprinted from MMR – My Motorsports Resources
Read MoreWe’ve Lost Sam Overstreet!
The North Carolina Region has lost a dear friend. Sam Overstreet passed away early Friday morning, March 20th, after a lengthy illness. No services are planned and her husband, Mo, asks that you not contact him by phone. Also, if you’re going to send a card, don’t send a sad, gloomy one…try to be positive, maybe a fond remembrance of Sam. Mo’s had enough “sad” lately!
Jack Rafferty, Jan 4, 1940 – Feb 5, 2015
Jack Rafferty, long-time Tech volunteer and former racer has died as the result of a stroke. He was 75 years old.
There will be a visitation at Lowe Funeral Home, 2205 S. Church Street in Burlington on Sunday, February 8th from 3:00 to 3:45pm, followed by the funeral service at 4:00pm.
Read MoreSolo Champion, James Feinberg Passes
The Turn @ MCAS Cherry Point, June 22, 2014 — The SCCA Solo community and NC Region lost one of its most beloved members this morning as James Feinberg passed, surrounded by Solo friends. James succumbed to an undetermined condition while hospitalized after collapsing at this event on Sunday.
Feinberg, seen below after winning the Super Challenge at the DC Pro, claimed a Solo National Championship in 2011. More than a fierce competitor behind the wheel, however, James was known nationwide as a magnetic personality within our sport. Jim always met our community and approached competition with a smile.
Thanks to SoloMatters.com
We’ll miss you, Phil
by James Shanks
The North Carolina Region has lost one of its great souls. On August 20th of this year, Phil Hennrich passed away from natural causes. Near the end, he was not able to recognize his oldest friends, but we all remember him. It’s truly amazing how many people with a long history in this Region have said to me, when I would ask how they got started in the Club, “Phil Hennrich was the first member of NCR I ever met,” and following that they’d have a story about a race at Rockingham or a solo in the Raleigh area. From his earliest days, and he joined in April of 1974, Phil volunteered his time to make this Club a success. He was an active driver, the Region’s Treasurer for many years before computerization and afterward, the radio guy, and basically the go-to guy. He worked tirelessly at VIR when the Region presented that facility with its gazebo corner stations in 2002, helping to transport them and set them up and practically single-handedly built the South Course Start stand. Always ready to pitch in and help, that was Phil. We gave him a Lifetime Service award in 2005 (below, that’s then RE Kaye Fairer presenting it), but it wasn’t enough.
We’ll miss you, Phil. I’d say more, but I cannot match the eloquence and poignancy of the eulogy written by his closest friend, Chuck Stanley, our former Flag Chief.
Over to you, Chuck…