Don Hanley

[cory mcleod]

Don Hanley, owner of Race Cars of the Future and manufacturer of Red Devil race cars passed away on January 30. Don was one of the original manufacturers at the beginning of F500 (aka F440) in the early 1980s and his Red Devil F500s won the Runoffs in 4 consecutive decades. His impact on the class is immeasurable and he will always be part of the class DNA.

Not only did I purchase 3 Red Devils from Don over the years, but have been honored and blessed by his friendship since 1996. My favorite Don Hanley story is from one of the early-2000s Runoffs. Charlie Schlissmann (sp?) and I were both driving Red Devils and I t-boned him when he spun in T1 during early qualifying. We called Don together and each read our list of parts needed to get back on track. Don had some of the parts on the shelf, dropped whatever he was doing to fabricate the others and shipped everything to us overnight. We were both back on track for Thursday qualifying.

I could go on forever about Don's deep love for F500 and service to his customers, but will end with his favorite phrase during all of our conversations over the years, "I'll help you out in any way that I can."

In case anyone wants to leave comments on Don's obituary, here is the link.

https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries...ry?id=32651094

Cory

[Phil Creighton]

So much of our racing in Sediv open wheel racing came because of this guy and the drivers he brought into the sport.
RIP Don

[mmi16]

I had 84 and 86 Red Devils - Don DID help every way he could even when his 'on the shelf' parts were many years beyond what I was running - he fabricated what I needed and got it too me 'post haste'. Race On Don!