Larry Frank, 1962 Southern 500 winner, has passed.
I wrote a closing to an article I did in Racing Collectibles Price Guide back in the early ninties that ended, similarly to Jimmy Durante's TV show closing "Good Night Mrs. Calabash, where ever you are, with the line, "and goodnight Larry Frank, wherever you are."It took a quirk of fate five or six years for his search for me to let me know just where he was.
I was working with Racing Collectibles Club of America on their initial diecast release, a '63 Ford Sportsroof Grand Nartional Racecar when mine and Larry's paths finally crossed at a show in Charlotte NC. His '63 Daytona racer was one of the versions I was working on. He and his lovely wife were signing autographs in a big tent with several others for a vintage race car show that B.D. McClure and Alex Beam was putting on at McClure's memoriabilia shop just across from the Charlotte Motor Speedway.
He told me that he had been looking for me ever since the article ran and we had a great time during the weeklong event. He gave me several autographed photos and we bench raced and swapped stories like old friends. I never got to show him the model of his '62 because we lost touch when I left RCCA and I'll always regret I didn't get the location of his body shop in time to send him a photo disc with the models.
The real racers are few and getting fewer. We should make sure, if and when we have the chance, to let them know just how much they mean to us. And good night, Larry Frank, wherever you are, my good and cherished friend.
