thebajarunner - 2-23-2005 at 06:27 PM
caught this obit in the National Speed Sport News this week:
Don Francisco, 87
Don Francisco, a pioneering hot-rod engine builder, race promoter and technical writer passed away Jan. 29. He was 87
Francisco met Bill Burke in the 1940s and built the engine for Burke's Belly Tank. Wally Parks drove the car, and when Parks became the editor of Hot
Rod Magazine in 1946 he hired Francisco as the technical editor.
He was also a pilot, and worked for Bill Stroppe and Clay Smith in the Pan-American Road Race. He was later a partner in the Baja
500, the Mexican 1000, Dam 500 and Parker 500.
Francisco was inducted into the Dry Lakes Hall of Fame.
A memorial service will be held Feb. 26 at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona, CA.
and thebajarunner adds to that.... "Don was a good guy, loved Baja, loved off road racing, got a bad deal when he was squeezed out at the end."
Baja Arriba!!