By Bob Marlow | January 1, 2026
Those We Lost 2025
Kenneth Brenn, the owner of the Midget racer with which Rodger Ward won a “Formula Libre” race at Lime Rock Park, besting a Formula One-winning Maserati and a host of other cars. Brenn was a nationally-known and championship-winning race car owner and a widely-respected gentleman.
Martin Truex, Sr., father of 2017 NASCAR Cup champion Martin Truex, Jr., and himself a championship-winning racer in the Modified ranks as well as a winner in what was then called the NASCAR Busch North series.
Will Cagle, a Florida-based stock-car racer who invaded the northeast tracks in the 1960s and who enjoyed a Hall of Fame career well into the 1980s. Cagle amassed more than 450 race victories and more than a dozen individual track championships.
Howard Kaeding, patriarch of a three-generation California racing family. Kaeding won three California NASCAR supermodified championships from 1970-72, and captured the track championship at the now-defunct San Jose Speedway in 1973 and 1974. Kaeding raced until he was 65 years old, and was followed into the sport by his sons Brent and Joel and his grandson, Bud.
Hal Sperlich, an innovative auto product planner, responsible for two of history’s most influential vehicles, the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler minivan. Don Runkle, a former vice president at General Motors, said “At GM we were always chasing Hal Sperlich.”
Richard M. Langworth, a celebrated author/historian whose work on a dozen books about Winston Churchill earned him the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) from Queen Elizabeth II, but who was a car guy through and through. Langworth was the founder or the Corvair Society of America, was editor of The Packard Cormorant magazine, and a Trustee of the Packard Motorcar Foundation in Detroit. His auto-related works won awards from the Antique Automobile Club of America, Society of Automotive Historians, Old Cars Weekly, the Packard Club and the Graphic Arts Association of New Hampshire.
Gene Hackman, the celebrated actor who, at the height of his fame, competed in SCCA Formula Ford racing, drove a Toyota in the 24 Hours of Daytona, and won the Long Beach Grand Prix Celebrity Race.
Lee Kunzman, a four-time starter in the Indianapolis 500 whose best racing success came in the USAC Midget and Sprint series, where he won a combined 30 races. Kunzman was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2006.
Bob Sharp, a Connecticut Rambler and Datsun salesman who won the Sports Car Club of America National Championship six times racing for Datsun. His success led to greater factory support for his team and paved the way for Nissan to support other Datsun campaigners around the country.
Gene Winfield, the iconic custom car builder who was also a racer, a hot rodder, a mentor, and a showman. Winfield built custom cars for individual customers and for movies, television shows and commercials. Winfield famously said “Every day is a school day,” and was a friend and inspiration to everyone in the automotive hobby.
Eddie Jordan, former Formula 1 team owner who established the Jordan Grand Prix team in the early 1990s which launched the F1 career of Michael Schumacher. Numerous big-name drivers cut their teeth with Jordan, among them Jean Alesi, Stefan Johansson, Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello. The team won four grands prix and entered 250 races before it was sold at the end of 2005.
Shigeaki Hattori, a Japanese-born racer who competed in 33 IndyCar series events over multiple seasons, including two starts in the Indianapolis 500, in 2002 and 2003. Hattori raced subsequently in the NASCAR Truck series and later founded Hattori Racing Enterprises, achieving success as a team owner.
Al Pearce, an old-school newspaperman who covered NASCAR racing for more than a half-century, including 56 consecutive Daytona 500s. Pearce, a North Carolina native, was a member of the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Ed Pink, a racing engine builder nicknamed “The Old Master.” His engines were top performers from the drag strips to the ovals. Starting on the dry lakes and moving to drag strips, Pink opened Ed Pink Racing Engines in 1961 and was a force on the drag racing scene through the 1960s and 1970s. The company moved into Can-Am and Formula 5000 racing during the 1970s and later built engines for Indy cars as well as USAC midgets and sprint cars. Pink was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2012, and just a year later, he was inducted into the SEMA Hall of Fame.
Jochen Mass, a German-born Formula One driver in the years 1973 to 1982, including a victory in the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix, eight podium finishes, and a career-best sixth in the 1977 World Drivers’ Championship. Mass was also a winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1989 with Sauber.
Gibson “Gib” Hufstader, an engineer who was hired at General Motors in 1950, working first on projects such as M48 Patton tanks and air-suspension systems before joining joined the Corvette team in 1964, where he remained he retiring in 1995. Along the way earned seven U.S. patents and developed lightweight magnesium castings for Corvette production. Hufstader also drove Tony DeLorenzo’s Owens-Corning Corvette at the 12 Hours of Sebring in1969 and later competing in vintage races in a 1967 427-powered Corvette of his own.
John “Ace” Lane, Jr., a second-generation racing photographer in the Mid-Atlantic states who followed his father into photography and who, like his father, collected multiple awards and Hall of Fame inductions over the course of his career. Lane covered all the regional short tracks as well as IndyCar and NASCAR.
Ed Delporte, a behind-the-scenes figure in IndyCar racing for over 30 years and an electronics engineers for Ed Carpenter Racing. Deporte was one of ECR’s original employees and had been with the team since its first race.
Brian Wilson, an influential musical innovator who co-founded Beach Boys, and whose compositions for the group created the enduring 1960s southern California cars-and-surf sound. His work with included such hits as “Surfer Girl”, “California Girls”, and “Good Vibrations,” but also included “Little Deuce Coupe,” “409,” “Shut Down,” “Fun, Fun Fun,” and “In My Car.”
Bert Emick, former head of the All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series and that rare figure in racing who was admired and respected by the competitors, the race track operators and the fans. He was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2000.
David Schultz, longtime columnist for Hemmings Classic Car and a champion of the “Full Classic” cars as defined by the Classic Car Club of America. An owner, enthusiast, and historian, Schultz supported the hobby through his work with a number of American automobile museums and concours d’elegance events.
Ron Hoettels, founder of Speed Engineering Service Co. (SESCO), which designed and built racing engines for the national midget classes. Based on one half of a Chevy V8, Hoettels’ engine effectively replaced the long-dominant Offenhouser engine in midget racing and remained competitive for decades.
Anders Clausager, a leading authority on the British Motor Industry and former Head Archivist of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust. After stints in vehicle design at Volkswagen and BL, Clausager became the first Archivist for Heritage Motor Centre (now the British Motor Museum) before joining the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust.
Walker Evans, a highly successful and influential off-road racer driver and 2004 inductee into the Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame. Over the course of his career, Evans earned 142 victories, 21 championships and nine Baja 1000 wins. His consistent success in off-road racing earned him the nickname “The Legend.”
Chris Raschke, a member of the Speed Demon land-speed racing team. Raschke died while attempting to break a record at the annual Bonneville Salt Flats Speed Week in Utah. He got his start in racing in the early 1980s at California’s Ventura Raceway before moving on to drag racing and then land-speed racing.
Jack Duffy, a veteran short-track racer from New Jersey whose’ career began in the 1950s and who continued racing into the 21st century. Nicknamed the “King of Cool” for his unflappable demeanor, Duffy raced the last classic coupe-bodied Modified at Daytona in 1974 and won the only auto race ever conducted inside New York’s Madison Square Garden.
Howard Augustine Wheeler Jr., better known as “Humpy,” the longtime president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway. Wheeler was a respected and highly successful event promoter, who blended old-school circus-barker hype with fan-friendly modern innovations.
Jim Howe, a quintessential Vermonter and natural-born mechanic who began working for Hemmings Motor News in the mid-1980s and wrote a popular “Howe-To” advice column through his retirement in 2018.
John Penton, an off-road motorcycle racing champion and creator of the innovative Penton Sport Cycle. The International Six Days Trials in Germany was a passion for Penton and led him to creating his own motorcycles suited to the tough competition. Pentons won national and international titles through the 1970s.
Tsutomu “Tom” Matano, best known as the designer of the Mazda Miata, but who worked previously for GM, Volvo, and BMW before joining Mazda in 1983. Matano served as Mazda’s Chief Designer for North American Operations, then as Vice President of Design, and eventually the Executive Vice President of Western Operations for Mazda R&D North America, Inc., as well as the Executive Designer and Director of Mazda North American Operations.
Keith Waltz, a career motorsports journalist first hired by Chris Economaki at the National Speed Sport News before moving to Cotter Communication to work for NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip. Waltz later joined the communications team at Charlotte Motor Speedway working under iconic promoter H.A. “Humpy” Wheeler. In 2018 Waltz returned to Speed Sport as a columnist and copy editor, while also taking on similar work for NASCAR Pole Position Magazine.
Bobby Allen, a highly successful and highly respected Sprint Car racer from Central Pennsylvania, who won the 1990 Knoxville Nationals and well over 100 additional races, while building, maintaining, and driving his own cars. After retiring as a driver Allen remained active in the sport and, at age 81, fielded two cars in the Williams Grove National Open just one day before his passing.
Raymond R. Boissoneau, a lifelong New Englander who a enjoyed a lengthy and successful career in electronics and who founded and maintained Autopac Gallery in Laconia, New Hampshire, an outstanding collection of racing cars, street cars, military vehicles, memorabilia and more.
Daniel J. “Dan” Kanter, who along with his brother, Fred, started Packard Industries in Boonton, New Jersey, which grew into a global source for Packard parts and additional antique auto parts.
Russell Van Sauers, an automotive illustrator whose work appeared in publications from Popular Mechanics to Hemmings Motor News, and who created art for automakers including Ford, Dodge, Volvo, Porsche and other auto-related entities.
Al Speyer, who, during a 39-year career with Firestone oversaw that company’s racing activities in Formula 1, IncyCar, IMSA, SCCA, Trans-Am, and its Firestone Firehawk Endurance Series. Under Speyer’s leadership, Goodyear left IndyCar after Firestone won multiple series championships in the late 1990s in a head-to-head contest.
Walter Goodwin, owner of Race Car Restorations in Indianapolis and an authority on vintage Indy car history and restoration. Goodwin was a participant at Goodwood and Pebble Beach, had cars displayed in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, and had more than 40 stunning restorations to his credit.
Allan Pagan, owner of one of the smaller Indy Car teams in the 1990s but who claimed a second-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 in 1998 with driver Jeff Ward. Pagan formed the racing team with his father, Jack, making their first start in the 1993 Indy 500 and their last at Indy in 2000. Jeff Andretti, Roberto Guerrero, Stevie Reeves and Richie Hearn were among Pagan’s drivers in both the CART and IRL series.
Michael Annett, a two-time race winner in the ARCA Menards Series, at the Talladega Superspeedway and the Daytona International Speedway, and who drove in more than 400 NASCAR national series’ races between 2008 and 2021. The native of Des Moines, Iowa, was just 39 years of age at the time of his passing.
Greg Biffle, a Washington native who earned the 2000 NASCAR Truck Series championship and the 2002 NASCAR Xfinity Series title, and who won 19 races in NASCAR’s Cup series. Nicknamed “The Biff,” Biffle earned the Myers Brothers Award as the result of his relief efforts to the North Carolina and Tennessee mountains following Hurricane Helene in 2024. Biffle flew hundreds of missions in his helicopter, shuttling supplies to those in need. Biffle lost his life, along with his wife and children, in an plane crash only a week before Christmas.