Another Friend Gone

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We lost another true car guy.

Keith Bacon of Palmyra, IL passed away Monday morning at his home. Keith had some health issues over the past couple of years but had apparently overcome most of them and looked and acted great when we last saw him at our Dragway Reunion on Sept. 9th.

Keith was a long-time friend of ours and had raced at all three of our strips, all the way back to the late 50’s – early 60’s when we raced on hard-packed clay. Keith was also a regular at other tracks in Central Illinois including Assumption, St.Louis (Gateway), Springfield, Beardstown, and the rear windows of his ’62 BelAir was absolutely covered with Class Winner stickers from Alton Dragway. Keith also set 24 AHRA and IHRA National Records with 23 AHRA and NHRA Class Wins, and was the 1971 AHRA Spring Nationals Stock Eliminator.

He still owned his ’62 BelAir and drove it to our Reunions, a one-way trip of fifty plus miles. This year Keith donated a number of highly prized items for our auction which benefits the local youth leagues. One of the Good Guys in the car hobby, Keith will be missed by many, many people. At only 59 years of age, it hits a little close to home.

Good friends are a treasure, and as such, should be held close. I’m blessed to have known Keith.

Godspeed my friend.