David Loring

[Purple Frog]

Very sad to report the untimely passing of David Loring. Glen Phillips called Rand, Rand called me.

I had the pleasure to meet this gentleman many times starting back in 1977.

He was 2nd at the 1977 Runoffs in FF in an exciting race where he did score the fastest lap driving the beautiful Eagle.

He came back in 1978 and won the national championship in FF driving the Eagle. He won going away in what has been said to be the biggest lead in Runoffs history. While not the designer of the Eagle he was for the most part the constructor.

He really was all smiles at the FF40th. And, last year he was wrenching for a team at one of our Watkins Glen races.

A great wrench and fabricator. In later years always dapper in a sportcoat if he was in public.
Quite a rich history:

http://davidloringracing.com/about-davidloring.html

We will miss him.

[rwindle]

Very sad to hear the news of David Loring's passing. My deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

[allof6]

Had the pleasure of knowing him during the the IMSA Camel Lites days when he ran his Denalli Lites car.

[DaveW]

Wow... One of the "naturals" for sure. He was a unique multi-talented individual. Too bad he is gone so young.

RIP, David.

[flat tappet]

David was a legend when I was in my early 20's and visiting LRP often during the mid/late 60's. A total class act......and so talented. I am sure Skip Barber and Mike Rand will take this hard.What a loss!!

[kea]

I will always remember the Atlanta Run-offs when he just disappeared and the team-mates who everyone expected that one of them would win, were left wondering what went wrong.
He always had the time to talk if I called.
Another nice guywho will bemissed.

[Wes Allen]

Sad to hear this news. While I never saw him race, I talked with him several times with questions regarding our Eagle restoration. He was always willing to help. Great guy, he will be missed. Rest in peace

[Gokart Mozart]

John Higgins and I were just discussing Loring today at the Dayton Concours d'Elegance, this comes as a total shock...I credit David's design features on the Eagle from saving me from further harm last year.

Rest in peace.

[FVRacer21]

Still can't make sense of this.

The stories are still coming back.

Until then:


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...9692/index.htm

Chris Z

[Scott Gesford]

Rand introduced me to David at the Glen a few years back. I was like a school girl at a Justin Beiber concert, "OMG, David Loring, I used to read about you in On Track, loved the Eagle, and the Imsa Lights car ect, etc" He seemed amazed that I knew anything about him. Cool Guy.

[Purple Frog]

One reason i have reserved the number 48 in the SEDIV for about the last decade...

[Scott Gesford]

One reason i have reserved the number 48 in the SEDIV for about the last decade...

That car was so ugly it was cool. The ADF's however were my favorites.

[LanceKTM950]

Damn, another of my heroes gone....

[Don Denomme]

David has been a good and close friend for many years. Rick Hiland and I spent time this last winter at David's shop working on one of his customer cars. Had a chance to speak with him a bit at the 30th Historic Festival at Lime Rock just this past Labor Day. This is more than shocking. He lived in the North Conway, NH area and I will try and post additional info on services in the morning.

Don

[provamo]

How sad..............................i met David (and his cool mom) at Harewood Acres in Ontario Canada where we both started racing Autodynamics Formula Vees in 1969 (we were too young to compete in the states)

[Don Denomme]

http://autodynamics-reunion.com

[bryancohnracing]

Just learned of this today. Sad when your hero's pass away.

[Purple Frog]

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no353.html

[marshall9]

R.I.P. Mr. Loring. Condolences to his family, friends and many fans.

[stonebridge20]

http://www.gordonkirby.com/categorie..._is_no353.html

Funny thing about the article for me is the mention of David and John Paul Sr and their "relationship". In a complete blizzard when I was at David's shop in NH picking up my Ralt RT1 which I bought from a customer of his and he was NOT happy about, he had to share some stories with me about the car as he drove that same car for Paul Sr back in the day. I think he was stalling me so the snow could pile up a bit more for my tow back to Connecticut just to show his appreciation. The story that will stick with me forever is when racing the car for Paul Sr, David put in a less than great race in the Ralt. Sr told David he wanted to talk to him in the transporter. Sr had David go in the transporter first and slammed the door behind him, locking David in until the next morning! David said that it was a very motivating experiance for him!

David, you will be missed.

[tstarke4]

Great article. Thanks for posting it.

[Offcamber1]

I remember watching him race at the support FF races for the 71 Can Am and F1 race at Mosport. Always at the sharp end of the field, everyone figured he was F1 material for sure.

Bad news. Condolences to his family.

[steve kramer]

Great article. Thanks for posting it.

+1
extremely interesting. I remember IMSA at MidO in my youth, and that is where i know the name, David Loring from. Condolences to his family and friends.

[rickcaponefa18]

David Loreing will be missed. He was such a sweet guy and talented racer. A little know fact is that when Gurney decided to suspend the Eagle ff project, David stole the car and headed to Road Atlnta and won the chamsionship, he said he had to win or be fired. David worked for me for part a a year coaching ff drives in my shop. My deepest regerets to his family he will be missed but not forgotten. RIP david.

[marc sproule]

GKirby is an old and close friend of mine and DL was his best friend. I met DL through Kirbs and we became good friends.

My daughter met him when she was in grade school and when I told her of his passing she said it bluntly and well,... "that sucks".

Indeed.

I will miss you DL.

[dereklola]

I had the pleasure, and I mean that sincerely, of being paddocked next David and Pete Argetsinger two consecutive years at the Road America vintage race a few years back. You'd have thought we were life-long friends the way they be-friended us. Both were "good guys" and real gentlemen as well as talented racers. Great memories. RIP.

[Purple Frog]

David H. Loring, 61, of Chocorua passed away Friday night, September 14, 2012 at Memorial Hospital in North Conway, New Hampshire.
David was raised in Concord, Massachusetts, but spent his summers at his family home in Chocorua. He was highly respected for his car building and restoration work, as well as being recognized as a championship-winning driver.

Loring’s career began in 1968 at Auto dynamics of Marblehead, Mass., which was the largest manufacturer of racing automobiles in the U.S. at the time. From there his career in racing took off. In 1969, he won the Canadian Regional Championship in Formula Ford. In 1971, Loring won 23 out of 28 races in North America as well as capturing four championships including the Canadian National Championship for Formula Ford, and the IMSA Formula 100 Championship.

In 1972, he was selected the Most Talented Upcoming Driver by British Motor Racing Press. From 1972-77, Loring turned his talents to car building on various Formula 5000 and Formula Atlantic cars. One of the most rewarding achievements of Loring’s career arrived in 1978, when he captured the SCCA National Formula Ford Championship in Dan Gurney’s Eagle—a car he helped to design and build. The Gurney team won the championship by the greatest margin in run-off history.

After his success with the Eagle, Loring turned his talents to instructing other young drivers at the Skip Barber Racing School for a few years. However, he was unable to keep his hands off the wheel—Loring re-entered the racing fold to build and develop the Denali for Pierre Honegger from 1985-87. After several successful years driving the Denali and competing in the Hong Kong 555 Rally, Loring signed with Essex Racing and drove their Camel Light car to victory at Daytona, Sebring, West Palm Beach, and Columbus in 1988. He was selected the Norelco Outstanding Driver in the series while co-driving the championship car.

In 1989, Loring drove for both the Ferrari and the Mazda teams and finished successfully throughout the year. From 1990 to 1992, Loring drove for Leitzinger Racing in their factory sponsored Nissan 240SX in the IMSA GTU program.

In 1992, Loring won the Exxon Supreme IMSA GTU series, winning at Sebring and Miami for the third year in a row. He later turned his talents toward coaching young drivers and building vintage racing teams. He opened David Loring Racing in early 2002 to develop racing programs for vintage cars as well as to provide auto restoration services.

He is survived by his wife, Kathryn; two sons, Evan and Aleks; his sister, Katherine Amador; brothers, Stephen, Charles, Andrew, and Eric, and let us not forget his dog, Sniffer. A memorial service will be held at St. Andrews in the Valley on Saturday, September 22nd at 4:30pm.
The Furber and White Funeral Home in North Conway is in charge of arrangements.

[Michael Rand]

Additional to the Mike Eakins post, Gordon Kirby told me the service is to be at 4:30PM on Saturday September 22 at St Andrews in the Valley, which is listed as in West Ossipee but actually may be in Tamworth, or at least right between those two small New Hampshire towns. Close by, to the northeast, of New Hampshire Lake District, centered around Lake Winnipesaukee.
Of course the National Championship Runoffs are that weekend as are the closer to home NARRC Runoffs at Lime Rock. But if anyone would understand why there are many missing racing friends and faces from this service because they are racing it would certainly be David Loring.
Glenn Phillips and I are hosting our own David Loring rememberance at Lime Rock at the NARRC event, details to be announced as and when they are further discussed.One thing is for certain. This will be after the on track activity is over on Friday the 21st and it will be wet, as in the time honored tradition of hoisting numerous cold ones in Davids memory. Rarely has there been a man who enjoyed his beer more than David. Potato cannons welcome.
Additionally I will be presenting the David Loring Racers Award at the F2000/F1600 season end party at the Watkins Gle. Media Center Sunday October 14. The criteria for this are known only to me and David.

[Michael Rand]

I admit the Bricklin stories are a nostalgia trip but this deal for Loring is this Saturday, the family does want this info out there for all interested.
Thanks to all.

[Bob Coury]

So sorry to hear the news. I ran against David years ago at a Nelson Ledges National. Fast forward to somewhere around 2002 or so, when I bumped into him at a Moroso event where I [FONT=Verdana]reintroduced myself. We had a short, but great conversation about the FF days.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana]RIP David[/FONT]

[eric loring]

I just wanted to thank all of you for posting such kind words about my big brother David. His twin brother Stephen during his service last saturday talked about how surprised and honored David would be looking down and realizing just how many friends he had. The church was overflowed with people watching on a screen outside, people from all over the world made the journey to that little church nestled into the woods of New Hampshire. Amazing, it did not surprise me this outpouring of friends, I knew it, he was my hero too, i miss him. These stories and posts help heal this huge wound. From all of us in the Loring clan we thank you and as David would say, "drive fast and take lots of chances"
:

[eric loring]

Just a few pictures that I would like to share.

[Higgs Murphy]

Well, where do I start? In my brief driving career in FF, David was one of the few drivers I was ever concerned about. We both had the same outlook, which is to say, there is only winning that matters. We drove with abandon and all the young skills we possessed. We all dreamed of F1 and were sure someone would notice our raw talent. I put racing aside after I could no longer afford it and for a time could not bear to even watch it on tv. David kept soldiering on and it is this that I admire him most for. I searched him out in the paddock at Sebring in 1992 when he was racing a Nissan in the IMSA series. It was the first time I had been to a track in about 20 years. I thought he had finally made it and I was glad. I'm glad the picture was posted from those early FF days at Mosport. It took me back. Goodbye to a fierce and dedicated competitor. See you on the other side David.
Higgs Murphy

[glenn cooper]

but someone long ago told me that it was David who "came up" or at least was credited with the concept of not braking for Rd Atl T1 on the start, 'cause you are going so much slower into T1 as opposed to a hot lap.

It works oh-so-well.

RIP Racer...

[provamo]

just ran across this online

[Swift17]

...... I think it would be a fine tribute for one of the "new" New England tracks in remembering one of their own to name a corner for David .......

I have not been to Thompson but maybe, by example, the "Diving Turn" could be renamed to "David's Drop" / "David's Dip" / "Loring's Leap" etc.

..........and isn't their a new road race track under construction in Maine?

[dereklola]

Just came across this pic of David taken in 2007 - he was at Watkins Glen driving a Spice GTP car in an Historic enduro.

[richardlwitt]

We would unload the FV from the trailer, look longingly at all the Van Diemans, Lola's, Crossle's and a good friend would remind me. You can't win in the NE if you buy a FF your last name doesn't start with an "L" (Loring - Lobenberg). Great racers, great races, great memories.