Tom's Candle
Tom's Candle
I was just made aware of the existence of this web sight honoring my long time friend and racing buddy.
I attended the Run-Offs every year but the first that Tom competed in.
It was a sad day when Tom finally decided that he couldn't compete another year. I sorrowfully watched Tom grow weaker and weaker, and was not surprised when he said, "I can't do it anymore"
It was one of the saddest days of my life, the morning that I found him passed away.
I don't think I will ever meet anyone like him again in my lifetime.
I think one of the best testimonies, that describes the kind of guy Tom was, was the year that he loaned his spare car to Al Beasly so he could compete in the CSR race. Beasley had wrecked his car in the DSR race earlier in the week.
All of TRACER team misses being with you guys, and gals at the Run-Offs. I get real melancholy about this time every year.
We still have the hot tub, the War Wagon, and all of Tom's cars in a makeshift museum in Modesto.
Good Luck this year.
-- Ed Brown
Word has just reached the Web Team that longtime SFR member Tom Foster of Tracer Racing passed away on September 22nd from complications of diabetes. We don't have any other information at this time, but we'll post it here as soon as we get updates.
This article about Tom was published in the SF Chronicle on September 30th.
It's so hard to digest this news on the eve of leaving for the Run-offs. So
much of what has become the Run-offs legend is spun with the thread of the
Team Tracer legend. When Chuck & Tom came North to play with us they always
spread the wealth well, and were first in line when it was fund raiser time
here. Not to mention the machine shop was always open to all. (Especially
the low bucks, bottom feeders like myself).
Last year when they did not make the Run-offs, right up until the start of
the CSR race I half-expected to see the station wagon show at the last
minute with the hot tub in tow, because you knew one hell-of-a-party was
sure to follow.
The naysayers would like to say they almost killed CSR but with the cup
half-full tradition I would like to say that they raised the bar for all.
They lifted the SFR and all left coast club racing to new heights. They
loved racing and it showed! Not by necessarily being better than someone
else but by just being the best they could be.
The story is not over but this page has turned . . . . .the sons (&
daughters) and soon the grandsons will hear tell of the tales of the
Tracers. So the story and legend has just begun.
Rest in Peace Tom, club racing misses you already, people like you do
indeed come once in a lifetime.
Because you will be remembered not just for the Run-Offs victories, the
wins and the records, but for the parties, the good times and the way you
lived this club racing life we all live.
H. Duck Allen
Email The Web Team to share your memories of Tom.
