red anderson passes.
 

i was just informed by fellow racer james caro that long time div 4 tech man red anderson passed. no other info yet. and long time div 4 director dale ham passed around christmas. we have lost three div 4 greats within a couple of months.that sucks i know we are all getting old but they were all great men RIP to all of them.

Re: red anderson passes.
 

That does suck! Three great guys gone! Before I got to know Red, he really made me nervous during tear downs.

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he made everyone nervous in teardown when him and westley got done with you if you were wright you were wright. i remember one time i was helping sid go through teardown with his aspen red told sid this cam is to close sid. sid asked red to close under or over.it is one thow under.well red it is legal.red gave sid one of those looks like ok smart ***.

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One thing you could be sure of in Div 4 was you could go anyplace else and be fine. Also that everybody else around here was local too. I saw guys from other divisions set records here and fail the tear down. "I passed last time I tore down at home!" lol

First time I met Wesley, I set the record at Houma, and he watched Red check me out. Just a quiet kid then. You don't have to wonder what he's thinking now. Lmao

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RIP. Red was a great Div.4 techman. If Red like you, you knew. If he didn't,well you most likely was the cause. RIP my friend.

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You got that right Sammy. I got one of those speeches when I set my first record and the combustion chamber came up dead on. Scared the hell out of me. Always made a little room after that.
Really sad to here this Red and Dale will surely be missed. Red, Dale and Chuck really were the "Good Guys" of div. 4.

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Your exactly correct Bobby. Red was really sharp. Machined a lot of his cam checking fixtures himself at a freind's machine shop. Very talented man. And you are right, if he didn't like you it was because you had given him a reason. He didn't have much use for guys he caught cheating. He was a good man.

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I think Red made most of the special checking tools most tech guys used for checking cams,deck etc.He gave me a scare one time when i drove 1000 plus miles to race in Div.4 when he told me if i could not produce my membership card, i was going home!!!

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Racers in Heaven will be treated fairly but better get their s**t straight and play by the rules with Chuck, Red, and Dale up there. Red used his sterness to make sure you were never tempted to cross the line. We will allways remember them.

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RIP Red you gave me a hard time on my first record setting day but was fair and gave me an atta boy for setting the record thanks

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X2! Three great guys!

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Sorry to hear this.

First time I met Red was in teardown at Indy. I watched him use these really cool tools to make the engine measurements and got good explinations of each job.
When he was done, he'd take me over to his car, open the trunk, and show me the tools offering to sell me them.
Each year, he would have a new one for a particular job.
As Lyn said, they were the tools the tech guys were using.
He would tell me I could buy them and have the same ( and correct tools) as tech was using.

Fortunately for me, his legacy lives on as I still have and use his tools.

FJ

Re: red anderson passes.
 

i have one of every tool red made for stock elem.i even have one of those tricky cam checking tools that would check lift overlap and duration.he did not make many but i have one. it is a work of art.the most memorable check i ever had with red and westley was when i was running for the world championship he pulled me and speedy emmons down and parked us head to head and says take um apart boy's we are gonna be here a wile.we both passed.and for me it was the forth time that year.poor motor about wore out the bolts that year.i was buying gasket's by the truck load.but it was all worth it.

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Does anyone know when and where the funeral arrangments are going to be made?

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Like Sammy, I have one of every tool Red made as far as I know. I also have one of the Camshaft duration-overlap checking tools and it is an inspired piece. I feel such a loss from his passing. Red and I used to have dinner together occaisionally when he would pass through Little Rock. The volume of stories that go with that man would fill a museum all by themselves. He was so key to making Stock Eliminator respectible in the early days. I first met him in 1967 at a seminar that he, Chuck and Dale Ham gave for a drag racing car club we started in Little Rock with the encouragement of Bob Ayres. I still have some old b&w pictures of a cylinder head display Red brought to demonstrate a legal valve job and the camshaft checking procedures. It's hard to believe these three are now gone. I still remember that funny voice of his when he would quietly say, "Dwight, you and I need to have a talk." I knew I was about to get a lesson, warning or scolding, or all three. But I also knew he was being a real Father figure in trying to keep me out of trouble. He was the authority as far as I was concerned.

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Red was always more than fair with me. Never a problem. Always honest, fair and technically correct. A great guy.

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First points race at TX Motorplex Red tosses us for black painted headlights on the C/S Chevelle we were running......mild customizing we say....don't come back unless the paint is off says Red......Mickey Mouse rules is our response......next week a call from Farmer saying "we don't have MM rules, change it"

About a year or so later we are stacked at a mall in Houston waiting for tech, and here comes Red up the line, we're hiding behind the trailer hoping he techs someone else, but no, here he comes with his hand out welcomes us like nothing happened, friends ever since.....sorry to hear of his passing

Heard some stories about Red's travels however.....

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I have known Red for a very long time. It sure is sad for him to pass away. He is in a better place.

Red has forgot more information than most tech officials will ever know!

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I got to know Chuck and Red quite well during my days of managing the Federal-Mogul Sportsman Series. I was blessed to attend all D4 events in 1997-98 and hung out with these guys at the scales and teardown.

The stories they told were awesome - I so wished I recorded them.

Godspeed Gentlemen.

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What a great guy. Red was honest, fair, tough and friendly. Even though you were his friend there were no favorites in his tear down. RIP old friend.

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I just heard the sad news about the death of Red Anderson. Everybody has to die, but no one should have to suffer. I sincerely hope Red did not suffer and passed in his sleep. Like everyone, I have my Red Anderson stories too. My 55 Chevy ran so poorly for a long time and then we went to Jim Walbel for help. Almost over night our car jumped up and started to run 3 tenths under the record. We went to a points meet in Bowling Green Ky and set a record in Q/S. A rules change the next year and we were running Super Stock T. We found much better heads we could run on the car and almost instantly put us running 12:50's. Red was waiting for us at a points meet at Laplace. Car was still on the truck and Red wanted to see the casting numbers on those heads! It was in black and white that we could run those heads. But no one could find those castings. You could not order them new. You just had to find them in a junk yard. They came on a 1959 Chevy 283. Boy, did they flow! We ended up setting the record that weekend and
Red Tossed me and my partner for the heads due to the valve job top angle. We went to the Gator Nationals the next week and qualified # 5. The car was checked out and the heads passed tech. Not another problem out of Red Anderson.

I long for those days, like many other racers on this site. I am very sorry to learn of the passing of Red, Dale and Chuck Nelson. Those guys are tops in my book and I hope to see them again one day. God Bless them!

Happy New Year everyone.

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well said johnny well said !!!

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I'm Red's son-in-law, just found this thread, and shared with his family. I wanted to let everyone know that reading the stories has been a real blessing to his family and they find great comfort in knowing that he was so loved in the NHRA community. He often spoke fondly of his NHRA days, and those experiences and friendships were an important part of his life.

Interestingly enough, we always thought he was just tough on us, so it's good to know that he treated everyone the same. I've been married to his oldest daughter for 32 years and initially didn't think he liked me very well, but over the years we grew closer and come to realize that he really did care about me and treated me like a son and I looked up to him as a father figure. He was awesome to me and our children, and I couldn't have asked for a better father-in-law.

Just wanted to let everyone know that although Red had a lot of health issues, he was tough to the very end and died peacefully with his family by his side. I'm sure he's in heaven now making sure everyone is following the rules and telling them how to do their jobs!

Family visitation has been set for Wed, Jan 2 from 5-7 pm (CST). Funeral service is set for Thurs, Jan 3 at 2 pm (CST). Both will be held at Turrentine Jackson Morrow Funeral Home in McKinney, Tx. Here's the link to their website and you should be able to read his obituary on-line tomorrow. http://www.turrentinejacksonmorrow.com/

Also, I found this great photo on-line of Division 4 Tech Team that Red was a member of. If anyone has any NHRA pictures of Red that they could share with the family it would be greatly appreciated.

Re: red anderson passes.
 

Family visitation has been set for Wed, Jan 2 from 5-7 pm (CST). Funeral service is set for Thurs, Jan 3 at 2 pm (CST). Both will be held at Turrentine Jackson Morrow Funeral Home in McKinney, Tx. Here's the link to their website and you should be able to read his obituary on-line tomorrow.
http://www.turrentinejacksonmorrow.com/

Re: red anderson passes.
 

Thank you Danny.

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X 2 danny mr red was a great friend and a father figure to me also. he was TOUGH but fair to me.i would allways ask don about red and he would keep me informed.i have missed red for a while now sorry for your loss and he will be missed.RIP mr red we will miss you.

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More Red Anderson pictures from his NHRA days.

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I am saddened to hear that one of my true hero's of our sport has passed on. Red not only was a expert tech man but he also was very ingenious. I still use the custom made checking tools to aid me in assembling motors he had made for me almost 40 years ago. These where truly state of art for the times. Red was definetly a great influence on the sport and kept everyone on the straight and narrow. When Red checked you in tear down you knew you had been checked by the best. He was tough but always had the time to explain the proper way of doing things; checking volumes , piston domes, stroke, deck etc. I learned alot from the guy, he really knew his stuff. ...Hope to see you in tear down someday again Red (my piston domes will be right) Bill Davis

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wow thanks danny for the memories look at those old pics now that is how i will allways remember mr red and the rest of the div 4 members that we knew from the past. thanks for the memories if you have more pic's please post them.

Re: red anderson passes.
 

A few more Red Anderson pics. I believe these to be all NHRA.

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check out the old pic with gerry dieck.and some moore good old pic's of red!