The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hello,Hank passed away this morning at home in his sleep .An IHRA tech man as well as racer from jr stock,super stock and super rod.A life long racer .

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hank was a great friend to many of us. His knowledge and kindness will be missed. May God bless his family.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hank will be missed by our family. Racing will not be the same without him.
It was always a pleasure to talk to him about all kinds of things, not just racing. My condolences to all of his friends and family. God Bless.

Eddie Bolton

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

sad news indeed....Hank was a true gentleman

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...79784375_n.jpg

My last photo of Hank Blankenship, as he scaled cars at the 2012 IHRA Pro-Am event at Darlington, SC.

Probably my favorite memory was setting the SS/BX record in Adger Smith's Camaro at Milan. As a Modified car, 'teardown' was just a P&G, pump for cubic inches. Hank held the long tube as we pumped the motor, and his thumb traced across the chart. He looked at the engine. He ran his thumb across the chart. He looked at the engine. He looked at the chart. He looked at the engine. He looked at the chart. With a sigh, he quietly proclaimed, "It's too big." Adger grinned and wagged his finger, "Uh-uh! Six cylinder!" "Oh!" Hank grabbed a calculator and ran the figures manually, and discovered we were actually a couple cubes shy of the 277ci we claimed. Adger grins again and says, "Hey, I can go take some weight out!" "Oh, no you don't!" said Hank.

Godspeed, Hank. You will be missed.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

So sad to hear this.Hank was a very bright beacon for the IHRA and drag racing .
Jeff Ross

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

such sad news Hank was more then a tech man , He was a friend. Miss u buddy
Bobby Butler

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Sad News, What a nice guy , RIP Hank , Prayers got out to Hank's Family..

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

I/we (myself, Mom and Billy Nees) tore down at Beaver Springs in 2004 for a National Record (I wanted/needed the points that came with records back then). Once we got the car all apart, everything inspected and deemed legal and ready, Hank walks up to Mom, puts his arm around her, and says "OK Mom, now that everything is legal, the driver is not permitted to touch anything--YOU have to put it all back together". The look on my Mom's face was priceless...LOL.

R.I.P. Mr Blankenship. You will be missed.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hank will be truly missed.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Sad news indeed. Hank was a truly nice person and gentleman. I will miss seeing him at the race track. My story of Hank was from this past year, I was attempting to leave the track and had pulled my motorhome onto the return road to exit. When I hit the pavement near the tech building I thought I heard something dragging but wasn't sure because I still had the generator running. Hank flagged me down and sure enough the exhaust pipe had fell off the generator. After some quick work rigging it up in the rain I was on my way but not before Hank told me, "He might start taking a better look at my car in the future." Godspeed Hank.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hank was a great person .

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hank was not only a great man and a great friend but an incredibly tough racer.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

OMG ! Drag racing has lost a true gentilman. I have lost a great friend. Never knew he was ill. Talked to him on the phone before thanks giving and all seemed great. He was happy with his new marrage. IHRA has lost a great ambassador. RIP old friend.
Terry

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hank was so special to each and everyone of us. He will be sadly missed.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Sad news,I thought the world of Hank.
I always looked forward to visiting with Hank.
RIP Hank ,Shirley will be glad to see ya.
Will someone post arrangements when they are available
Mike Taylor 3601

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

My heart sank when I read this. Hank was truly a friend to many.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

very sad news. he will be truly missed. Hank was one of the best. condolences to his family. i don't think anyone that raced with ihra will forget him or Shirley. Godspeed my friend

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hank was one of the best, his will be a tough act to follow. Going to miss seeing him at the races.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

RIP my friend..........I worked with Hank at IHRA for over 14 years,.. He was instrumental in my knowledge of s/ss cars.....We used to check the qualifying sheets together to make sure class and indexes were right among a lot of other class things (tear downs and ect...).........A very good friend and mentor to say the least..............Lost for words and such a shock to here this sad news ... I was just around the corner talking to Hank in the pic Michael posted earlier..........Godspeed my friend.............................you will never be forgotten...

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hank always had a story from "back in the day". He was a bright spot w/in IHRA racing and will truely be missed. RIP Hank

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

RIP Hank

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Sorry to hear this, Hank will be missed.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Funeral arrangements are posted on Shortridge and Ramey funeral homes web site.It is in Grundy Virginia.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Rip He will greatly missed god bless

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Very sad news! Hank was a true gentleman. IHRA has lost one of their BEST!

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Very sad. The IHRA wont be the same without Hank. He was always great to deal with and very kind. I will miss him.

Daren

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

This IS very SAD news.

I always felt that Hank was an original. A true car guy who loved what he did. He seemed to be as excited for someone when they set a record as they were. And I will never forget the handshake and smile when he handed you the contingency forms, you sure felt that he meant the congratulations from the bottom of his heart. He leaves some very tough shoes to fill at IHRA. Godspeed good friend, I am grateful to have crossed your path.

Venice Perno
SS/CS 3041

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Hank was a large part of the "friendlyness" of IHRA. He will certainly be missed by us all.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Really going to miss Hank at the races,always pleasent and happy.He always worked with you if there was a small problem.IHRA and racers lost a very good man.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

My first time at an IHRA event, Hank was the guy who made me feel welcome. He knew my car, having teched it many times for a previous owner. It was as if he were re-uniting with an old friend. The man was a terrific ambassador for the IHRA nation and always seemed to enjoy the Canadian races. I will really miss Hank's good natured approach to a tough job. Gone far too soon.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Shirley and hank they lit the room wow only 61 too .raiser and I on our way to Kentucky to pay respects. RIP. hank

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

While I didn't race that much with IHRA, Hank always made me feel welcome when I did. He was a true gentleman.

Godspeed.

Al Corda

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

UNBELIEVABLE! My favorite memory of Hank was at Jacksonville. After moving the A/mod record I went to tech to be pumped and Hank asked "now how big did you say that motor is?" I said "how accurate is your p&ger?" He didn't find that as funny as i did, anyway while he made the 1st attempt to pump it my engine blew the seal out of the checker and i caught it. Hank laughed and said " well you still have great reflexes.....pity you won't be able to use them at this race....your motor is TOO big!" I did NOT find that as funny as he did. Many good memories! RIP.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Was so sorry to learn this morning that Mr. Hank passed away. Him and Dad were good friends and have some great memories.... So glad dad got to see him at the Division 9 Coastal Plains race. Prayers go out to the family.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

I talked with Hank last year, don't remember which race it was. He told me that he had remarried, showed me pictures of him and his new wife. He seemed very proud of his new bride and I know that he was very happy. Sure is sad to hear of Hank's passing. He was a good friend to me.
Allen Lambert

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Sincere condolences to his family and friends. Always friendly, helpful and hard-working, IHRA couldn't have asked for a better representative. I will miss him at the races. RIP

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

Another from our racing family is called home. Goodbye my friend.

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

GodSpeed Hank.
Hank and Shirley were two of the people that gave IHRA the "family feeling" that it had for years...
You will be missed.
Ken Graham and family

Re: The passing of Hank Blankenship
 

RIP, Hank will be missed ... One of Real good guys in Racing ...