I am starting a thread for people to post their favorite DaveO stories, pictures or rememberances.
One of my favorite memories of DaveO will be the day I got in the ECTA 200 Club at Maxton in September of 2006. I had lots of help from DaveO on the tuning end, and lots of help from Scott Guhrie on the riding end. DaveO gave me his personal 200 Club hat, which I still have. I wrote on the label the date and Dave's name. It really meant and means a lot to me.
Then exactly a year later, I remember the day his son Josh got in the 200 Club. That was a special day, as all of you know who were there. My first question to Dave was "Do you want your hat back so you can give it to Josh?". He just started laughing at me, and said "No, Walt, that one's yours, I have another one I'll give him!".
My nickname for him was Obi-Wan, or "OB" for short. Dave got a kick out of that. That comes from one very late night (and we've all been there, eh, Todd?) when I called him up, after exhausting every other resource I had. He picked up the phone and I said "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope!". I can't tell you how many times I would get a phone call from him, (especially when he knew I was stressing), and I would hear "OB here checking in, what's going on Special K?". It's hard for me to imagine I won't ever hear that again.
A week ago a friend called me while I was at a barbecue. I could hear the panic in his voice, because mine has sounded like that on too many occaisions! I knew he was getting his bike dynoed that day. He had one week to go 'till Maxton. He is one of the smartest people I know and a great wrench. He barely said hello. Then, this is a quote: "I need Obi-Wans number! I'm on the dyno and we can't figure out this electrical gremlin!". I started laughing and gave it to him. He told me later, within 30 seconds Dave diagnosed the problem, 3 states away, over the phone! Unbeleivable.
He recently GAVE me his stock crankshaft off of his bike after I messed up mine. He wouldn't take any money for it. So I bought him an American Express gift card in his name instead. That way he'd HAVE to take it! He appreciated it.
As I said before, it was always a real dilemma for me when it was dinner time if the if Dave AND the Guthries were in town. Who do I sit next to? If I sat next to Dave, I would learn more about engine building, tuning, etc. in 2
hours than I would learn on my own in 2
months. But if I sat next to Scott & Ellen, I would hear some of the best stories form a lifetime of land speed racing from places like Bonneville, etc., in addition to picking up riding tips and Class strategies. So, if my bike was running good, I sat next to the Guthries. If my bike was having issues, I sat next to Dave. Either way I liked just being around him anyways. All of us who knew him remember what a great sense of humor he had.
Speaking of which, I remember the night before Maxton when I was trying to get my ignition kill system to work. So I kept starting and stopping my bike. It was 20 degrees out. I had the garage door open a little bit, but not enough. The exhaust got sucked into the basement, and set off the CO2 alarm. This is at 2 AM. The firetrucks and police come, get everyone out of the house, ventilalte it, etc. If you could have SEEN the look my wife was giving me from the front seat of that police cruiser with our 2 kids in her lap! The phrase "If looks could kill" would immediately come to mind! Of course, I knew Dave was driving down to Maxton at that hour of the night, so after everything calmed down I called him and told him what had happened. I can still hear him laughing, and telling everyone else in the truck what happened. I think he made me tell him twice. Needless to say, by the time I got to Maxton the next day, even the food vendor guy was saying to me "Hey, I heard the fire department was at your house last night!". Dave loved that story and would frequently kid me about it, or work it into some other joke. He was the best.
I also recently posted how my son and I went down to Atco Raceway this month to see Dave. In between his busy schedule of trying to help everyone out, he still found time to take me and my son around to all the top manufacturers like Brock, and all the top riders like the Gadsens. We got t-shirts, posters, hats autographs, pictures, etc. Dave made us feel like celebrities down there. He was in as much demand by the pros at the dragstrip as he is at LSR venues like Maxton and Bonneville.
I will miss you Dave. I will always remember you and the great times we had. You were a really good friend.
Walt
