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.