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Close to 400 of Danny Pressnall's friends and associates attended his funeral today.
The Painter of Racing Dreams . . . Danny “The Prez” Pressnall
Known to his immediate family as Dad, Daddy, "The Hippie"- Husband, best friend - and comedian.
Known to his customers as “The Prez”, man with the airbrush, the cool dude that painted their first racer and helmet.
Known throughout the Motorsports industry as a paint theme designer, and the “Guru of the Gradient”.
Danny was known to all of those as mentor, friend, advisor, listener, comedian, and soundboard. And to some the master of BS, as he joked about the PhD standing for “Piled Higher and Deeper”
To Chili Bowl fans, Danny’s “Pro Helmet Designs” booth was the first stop, as it stood each year greeting race fans at the entrance to the Trade Show. Fans who became friends with the ever smiling Danny Pressnall.
To a large number of those people Danny was the catalyst for introduction of the cross-connections of motorsports promoters, track management, series owners, production teams, team owners, sponsors, advertisers, everyday folks, executives, presidents of corporations, business owners and anyone he felt would benefit from his networking match-making.
Danny Pressnall was the man behind the motorsports scene, that in his unique way, influenced and at times assisted in directing the production of numerous events, by his influence and listening abilities.
What appeared on the outside was his comical attitude, artistic expertise, and a keen eye to apply people's dreams on various shaped objects. Not a flat perfect canvas, but a canvas that many times was scarred from battles on racetracks that thrilled thousands, and attracted race fans. Scars that were never truly healed from time or the tender massaging of the artists tools, but intertwined within the new season’s design, like hand straightened body armor.
Those designs applied by Danny Pressnall, reflected the passion of the racers that fit the obtuse shapes of the canvas in the form of racecars, motorcycles, vehicles of all kinds, helmets, and other objects.
Two unique requests that the Prez accomplished included being commissioned to restore the giant guitars at the Tulsa Hard Rock Hotel, to painting designs on a pair of custom bowling shoes.
Gone from this physical world, but his personal influence, artistic designs, and concepts live on in people's lives, and in his artwork.
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