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Glenn Howard, a longtime supporter of racing, passed away at 5:15 this morning and funeral arrangements are pending.

Glenn operated So-Cal Performance for many years and was also the President of SCRA. He will be missed by the racing community.

God Speed....

Here is an article on Glenn penned by Norm Bogan..

GLENN HOWARD AND SO-CAL PERFORMANCE

Growing up in southern California’s South Bay during the forties and fifties, there was a natural fascination for fast cars in the heyday of hot rods, custom cars, dry lakes and street racing. Oval track competition was somewhat foreign, since the Howard family was not interested in motoracing.

About 1954, Howard got involved with a neighbor, who had purchased a Jalopy and needed someone to tow it to the Orange Show Fairgrounds in San Bernardino. There was no trailer, just a chain, as they journeyed down the old highways through small communities along the way.

It wasn’t long until Glenn purchased a Jalopy racer and began competing with his neighbor at venues such as Culver City, Gardena Stadium and Western Speedway among others. By now, Glenn had drunk the Kool-Aid and was hooked for life on auto racing. He advanced to the Modifieds, which were similar to the sprint cars, but sporting roll cages and wings. When the Modified group folded in 1969, racers removed the cages and wings and joined the California Racing Association, running as sprint cars. After a short career as a sprint car racer, Glenn’s wife urged him to stick with his day job as a Brake and Front-End specialist at a Firestone dealership. This triggered a call to his son, Gary in the Midwest offering him the much-coveted ride with Dad, now acting as the Car Owner. Howard got his wife Pat a job at Ascot as a scorer for CAR, which helped to keep her involved in their love of Super-Modified racing.

After retiring from Firestone, Glenn converted from brake and front-end work to running a racing shop, maintaining his car and building his own engines. Howard befriended Paul Wiessner of Atlas Engine Rebuilders, who encouraged him to look into distribution of speed parts. One of Glenn’s first forays into this venue was obtaining good quality flat and round aluminum bar stock, which was difficult to obtain in Australia, then shipping it in 20-foot containers to be machined into items such as racing spindles and suspension parts.

Glenn shared fond memories of traveling to Knoxville Nationals in Iowa with his son, Steve in 1977, where they suffered mechanical maladies and missed the show. Returning the following year, they journeyed as a couple of vagabonds, in the nature of the original outlaws. For two and one-half months, they stopped at tracks throughout the Midwest from Memphis to Canada, making enough money to get them to the next show. They only spent two nights at a motel during this period. Often they slept in their truck or were offered lodging at someone’s home. When they returned to Southern California, they were only $100 in the hole.

In 1980, Glenn, through his years of racing involvement, recognized the need to be able to obtain both new and used parts to keep racing teams going at the track and during the week. He would buy a used complete racecar and then part it out selling a reliable used part to a struggling team. He merged this new operation with So-Cal Fuels, which serviced Ascot Park, Drag racers and Off-Road competitors. The new firm was So-Cal Performance and Howard soon established ties with various suppliers of racing parts and materials, making it available to the local competitors. One of his early products was a Styrofoam Mud Plug, used to prevent mud from collecting inside the wheel and causing it to go unbalanced. He and his wife, Pat produced these at home in the evenings, with Glenn cutting them out on his machine and Pat handling the packaging.

While Glenn surveyed the needs of his customers, adding new lines of supplies, Pat managed the books. Three of his leading product suppliers are Sander Engineering, MPD products and Hoosier Tires. The business has always catered to his first love of open wheel racing, but has continued to expand the business, first established as So-Cal Fuels. Drag racing and off-road racing are also big customers of So-Cal Performance. The Howards provide fuel and tires for both of these lines of competition. In fact, Steve Howard now works in the business and has become a specialist at mounting and balancing the big drag tires. Glenn has relocated twice since he began after the buildings were sold and he was forced to move. He now owns the building, so he has a kinder, gentler landlord.

In late 1993, there was much unrest in the southern California sprint car-racing scene. Howard drawing on his business savvy and an affinity for the open-wheel racers was one of the individuals who spearheaded the creation of the Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA). Howard was elected President of the Club and negotiated for a schedule that would both showcase the racers and provide them with a sensible agenda of competition throughout the year.

So-Cal Performance became a tire and fuel supplier for Irwindale Speedway when it was opened in 1999. This added a number of lines of stock car products to the inventory. So-Cal has provided an “at track” service for the racers available at many venues. The Howards know the racers and the racers know they will receive prompt and correct customer service.

Since Steve joined the family business, he has added a section for racing books, magazines and periodicals. Also now on board, is a line of racing apparel, especially for women.

Glenn mentioned a couple of gratifying experiences from his racing years. First was when his son, Gary set the first nineteen second lap at Ascot in Glenn’s car and later when Steve also joined the Nineteen Second Club. He has fond memories of the journey that he and Steve took in 1978, racing with the best drivers in the country on nearly a daily basis. They got to see much of the country and established long-lasting friendships that still exist today.

Pat and Glenn have been married 57 years and have built their Mom and Pop business into a successful family enterprise. The family has three sons, three granddaughters, two great grandsons and one great granddaughter. So-Cal Performance is nearly three decades old now and success can be traced to a simple motto of “Treat the customer well and the sales will be there.”

Oh by the way, that neighbor who first got Glenn Howard to tow his racecar was some guy named Parnelli Jones.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Pat, Steve, Gary and Mike.

Brett, Brody and the rest of the Roa Family

Brett

www.brodyroa.com

When we got in to sprints in the late 80s Glenn was one of the first to help us out.our prayers go out to the Howard Family GOD SPEED Glenn The Shockley Family

Our sincerest condolences go out to the entire Howard family. Glenn will surely be missed by many in the racing community.

Jimmy and June Gardner

RIP Chet and Mark.  You might be gone but never will 
be forgotten.

To Steve and family our thoughts and prayers are with you. Glenn was a great guy and we enjoyed talking to him at Perris when we raced there.

John Linda & Evan Suggs

Glenn Howard was a class act, and has done so much for racing in Southern California and wherever him and his sons raced in this country. He will be sorely missed by us, and by the racing community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Pat, Gary, Steve and Mike.

Stan And Sandra Hansen

To the Howard family, Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

The Argo Family

Jenn

This note is from Dave Anderson, who volunteered to help Glenn with the SCRA Report during the first two years of the SCRA.

------------------------------------------------

To Steve Howard and the Howard Family,

I dropped off the sprint car racing scene several years ago when my family and I moved to Texas. I was deeply saddened when I read of Glenn's death. Years ago, I wanted to help with the SCRA and contacted Glenn to see how I could get involved. After he gained my trust, he gave me the chance to help write and do all the editing for the SCRA Report. While the reason I wanted to help with report was because of my love for sprint car racing, clearly the reason I put so much effort into it for two years right up to the end of Glenn's presidency was solely because of his genuine appreciation of my effort and my respect for Glenn as a simply wonderful man. I loved working for Glenn and admired him tremendously. I will always be grateful for Glenn's (and your) opportunity for me to be involved with the SCRA. My sincere thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. Race tracks come and go; associations come and go, but the influence of gentlemen like Glenn live forever.

Sincerely,

Dave Anderson

The news of Glen's death came to me during the pit meeting at Manzy. Although I have known and raced with Glen since the 60's in the modifieds I really enjoyed getting to spend a little time with him during the races over the past few years at Perris. I was really glad to see him at the Chilli Bowl year befor last, ( I believe). Our prayers go out to all in the Howard family. Rest in peace Glen. The Stansberry Family.

GLENN HOWARD, DEAD AT 76
By Robert Mayson

Lakewood, Calif.....Glenn Howard, who has been a well-known figure in the Southern California racing scene for over 50 years passed away September 22 at the age of 76.

Perhaps best known for co-founding the Sprint Car Racing Association (SCRA) in 1993, Howard served as the club's first president until the end of the 1997 season. During his time as SCRA President, Howard oversaw 134 races, at 16 different venues, and helped the club reach national prominence seemingly overnight.

Howard began his involvement in motorsports in the mid-50's driving jalopies at Southern California tracks like Culver City Speedway and Gardena Stadium. Howard moved to the modified ranks in 1960 before joining the California Racing Association (CRA) sprint car series in 1967. Eye surgery two years early eventually led to Howard hanging up his helmet for good by the end of the 1972 season.

As a car owner, Howard earned the first of his six CRA feature wins at the 605 Speedway in Irwindale, Calif., with his son Gary as the driver on April 19, 1975. To say it was a spectacular win would be a considerable understatement. Celebrating his 25th birthday, Gary had led every lap of the main event until contact with the second-place car during the last lap of the race sent him sliding along the pavement on his roll-cage after flipping his dad's popular white No. 94 car. Even though Gary took a trip to the hospital, he was declared the winner thanks to a 10:30 p.m. curfew.

Less than a year later, Howard's car became the first car to break the 19-second barrier at Ascot Park (Gardena, Calif.). Gary's time of 19.827 seconds would stand as the one-lap mark at Ascot for 2 ½ years before being broken. Howard's youngest son Steve also drove the family sprinter and, like his brother, recorded three CRA feature wins for his dad.

In 1980, Howard merged his So-Cal Fuels business, which serviced Ascot Park, with his newly formed So-Cal Performance business, which still today provides racing parts and supplies not only to open wheel racers, but to stock car, drag and off-road racers as well.

Since its gates opened in 1996, Howard's So-Cal Performance has been the most prominent fuel and tire supplier at the Perris Auto Speedway (Perris, Calif.). So-Cal Performance was also the first fuel and tire provider when Irwindale Speedway opened in 1999.

Remaining active in the form of racing he loved the most, Howard served on the USAC/CRA Sprint Car Competition Committee from it's inception in 2004 until the time he lost his battle with cancer.

Howard is survived by his wife of 57 years Pat, his sons Gary, Mike and Steve, granddaughters Katie, Sandra and Sheila, great-grandsons Ace and Tommy, and great-granddaughter Amanda.

Services are planned Wednesday at 11:30 am at Calvary Baptist Church, 14722 Clark Avenue, Bellflower, CA 90706. In lieu of flowers, please donate to St. Jude's Children's Hospital or Victory Junction Gang.

(Special thanks to Norm Bogan)

We would like to extend our sincere condolences to the entire Howard family, We have all lost a good friend. Our thoughts and prayers will be with you today as you say goodbye to him.

Jim & Sandra Bartosh