sad news

[zukitek]

Guys and Gals,

I am sorry to bear this news .This weekend at the Crow Mountain Hillclimb ....Rich Shafer of Shafer Industries was going up the mountain in his GT1 Camaro on an untimed practice run and crashed at corner 3 at an estimated speed of 50 MPH into a rock face.It was a severe impact .

Details of his injurys and what led to his crash is undetermined at this time but I am sad to say that he subsequently died 5 hours later from what was reported as internal injurys sustained in that crash.

I am deeply saddened and affected by this as I am sure many others are .Please remember the Shafer family and the Time Trials community in your prayers as this is a tragic loss.

Sincerely,

Ricky Ragan,
RE,ALSCCA

[ThumbsUp]

Those of us who had the privlidge of knowing Rich over the years know what a great loss to the SCCA racing community this is. I have many fond memories of Rich; we worked and laughed together many times. He and I always made it a point to connect at every event. I will miss his always smiling face at the next event, wherever and whenever that is.

As a tribute to Rich, the records show that the first run of the day on Sunday was made by a GT-1 Camaro, about a minute and a half of silence that would normally have been filled with the ground pounding sound of a thunderous but beautiful noise. That run was followed by a tribute parade lap up the mountain by all the competitors; workers by the side of the road, hats offs, all remembering a great competitor, a hell of a driver, a really nice guy, and a friend.

Rich, you will be missed.

[chuck schultz]

Rich was also awarded the King of the Hill trophy, by acclimation of the drivers present at the awards ceremony.

RIP, Rich.

[zukitek]

I wish I had stayed for trophys .I was so near tears that I just got in the car and hit the road.Thanks for that Chuck,That is the way it would have been .

RR

[EvoLady]

Very sad news indeed. It breaks my heart to lose such a great guy, my prayers are with his family and close friends. We will greatly miss seeing that ground pounder flying around the track!

[JohnW8]

I'm still at a loss for words regarding the passing of Rich Shafer. He was a strong supporter of Time Trials and fast competitor. I only had the opportunity to speak with Rich a couple of times but he was good guy who loved what he was doing. We will all miss him very much.

Keep him and his family in your prayers.

Godspeed Rich!

[toddgreene]

I barely met him...but am fully aware of the support, personally and financially, he has given for this sport.

Everyone on the GrassrootMotorsports and SpecMiata sites has only great things to say about him.

A truly sad story.

Todd

[MWenning]

My favorite Rich Shafer story. We were at CMP for a TT and were staying at the same hotel. Sunday morning at breakfast he saw me come into the resturant and invited me to sit with he and Butch Kummer. We got to talking about the course and there was one turn I was having problems with. He said this is how you do that corner, grabbed pen and a napkin a drew the line, break point and apex. It worked super. I thanked him profusely and he just said "you're welcome". Modest, friendly and a good guy.
Our prayers to his family.
Mike Wenning

[rheacerdave]

Services for Rich Shafer SUNDAY

Thought I'd pass this along, and Yes, he was a great guy.
Flowers are to be sent to:

Christ Our Hope Lutheran Church Flowers are to be sent to:

Christ Our Hope Lutheran Church

Link


2165 Highway 138 SW
Riverdale, GA 30296-1700
(770) 997-7117

And should not be delivered until 1pm on Sunday.

In lieu of flowers donations can be accepted and should be sent to Christ Our
Hope Lutheran in the name of Rich Shafer. These donations will be used for
causes dear to Rich's heart.

Regards,


Tony Blackburn
Vice President of Sales and Marketing
Shafer Enterprises, LLC
800-345-3176

****************************
AS OF MONDAY NIGHT
Service at 2pm EST
Reception at 4pm EST
*****************************

[chuck schultz]

Here's the link to the church - http://www.christourhope.org/

[hsrgt3]

Rich's kindness to me over the years was endless and without price or expectation. His heart was generous with kindness and love and now my heart is sad. Not long ago we were talking about how he saw me struggling with the heat at a race one day many years ago. Thanks to him I had a "Cool Shirt" that day and took one home with me that saw many years of use. I remember thinking I should contact him. I never did. God bless his family and friends.