Alden Wells

[pacratt]

You all may remember Alden as the little old man (with the orange wiffle-bat) in charge of the grid at Blackhawk.
He was also a longtime Formula Vee racer with Midwestern Council (close to 50 years).

From Chicagoland Sports Car Club's Facebook page:
"It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Alden Harcourt Wells. Alden died at Advocate Condell Medical Center a little before 3pm today. He passed about 20 minutes after Lois, her son Todd, and her daughter-in-law Natascha said their goodbyes.
At Alden’s request there will not be a memorial service. He will be buried in the Harcourt Family plot in Kingston, NY next to his mother. His brother Terry and Lois’s family will release an obituary and more information in the coming days."

[butch deer]

I first met Alden in 1958. He had an interest is sports car racing and had worked a corner or two with friends. About 1960 he joined the Army and I didn't see him for 3 or 4 years. In 1964 he purchased a Beach FV and started racing. The Beach was replaced by a new Zink C4 in 1970. Alden ran with the Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs and some SCCA. He holds a record of sorts for running every MWSCC race for some 30 plus straight years. Most of that time with the same 1970 Zink. (I believe that car may have more race miles on it than any other car in the US) At the same time as all this racing Alden served on the Board of the MWCSCC and Chicagoland Sports Car Club numerous times. When he was unable to race he worked Grid and other positions right up to the time his health took over. I have never known anyone to put as much effort into racing as Alden. His presence will be sadly missed by all those who knew him over more than 50 years in the sport.

[racersonly]

I met Alden at my very first MC drivers school in 1978. He's been a dear friend ever since. I will miss him.

[dc]

Sad to hear.

Alden was my very first instructor with MC in 1998. As cranky as he was with me (I kept accidentally calling him Elden), there was an enormous charm about him. His tattered FV looked like it had every bit of 500,000 race miles on it, too.

I won’t ever forget a moment on my first “station wagon run” with Alden as my instructor at Blackhawk. There were 3 of us students in the car with him as he was describing the track to everyone. It wasn’t my first time on Blackhawk, so I was pretty comfortable with each corner already but not ready for the speeds I would soon be hitting them, by any means—I did my first school in a Continental.

As we headed out on track for the slow station wagon runs, Alden begins to describe how to take each corner of the track. By turn 4, I looked around to the other students in the car and got returning quizzical looks. He was telling us that every corner was “flat out” and second gear. By turn 5 we asked him what kind of car he drives, and he answered “Formula Vee, why?"

I think there was a Production Corvette driver and a SRF guy in the back seat, and we explained that many of the corners he said were flat out were going to be fairly difficult in cars like the Corvette and Formula Continental.

He had thought all of his students that weekend were all Vee drivers.

[Daytonagt]

Alden was one of the first people I met in Council. He was both my son's instructor and there were none finer in my opinion. I spent countless hours in the tech shed with both Alden and his wife Lois and even though the last years of his life were challenged with health issues for both he never complained once. Even with his own personal struggles the only worries he had were for Lois. In the grand story of Council one of the great charictors has been lost . I will miss Alden dearly !

Tim McCarter

[hdsporty1988]

Like others, I first met Alden at a Midwestern Council driver's school. This was back in April, 1987. I was a total newbie with a 78 Tiga club ford coming from an autocross background. The thing about Alden then and I found when later serving as an instructor with him was that he truly wanted to help the students improve. He always provided fair critiques in a very non judgemental fashion. Truly one of the nicest men to walk this earth.

[xmazdatracy]

I had met Alden a few years prior, but the most memorable is when I brought my (new then) girlfriend to the track for the first time and both Alden and Lois shared their couples story of love and life at the track. I can’t tell you how many brownie points that got me, but for sure it worked. 13 years later and I am still with said girlfriend.

Ill miss the orange bat and free golf balls. With Tim retired and Frank and Alden gone the tech barn is not the same.