Greg Rice

[Steve Bamford]

It is with a heavy heart that I write of the passing of Greg Rice. If he knew I was posting of his passing he would probably give me a hard time but I know the community here would want to know. Never one to mince his words, he did choose them
carefully as he was always trying to make improvements for the classes he participated in. Not everyone saw it that way however he cared for improving racing.

Greg was by my side from the start of my racing career till the end so I spent a lot of time at & away from the race track with him.

Even though I have not seen Greg in many years we would stay in touch from time to time and was enjoyable to watch his social media posts seeing the Rice Race Prep team continuing to win many races.

RIP Greg & Godspeed.

[DaveW]

I am VERY sorry to hear that. He was someone I admired greatly, both for his amazing setup ability and for bring VERY direct and to the point. Although I didn't get to know him as well as I would have liked to, he and I got along well whenever we interacted. I will miss him.

RIP, Greg.

[stonebridge20]

This is sad news to hear. He put up a hell of a fight. I met Greg years before Apexspeed came to be. The Greg I knew face to face was quite different than the Greg sometimes posting here on Apex but I guess that could be said about a few of us here. I had great respect for Greg and his passion for the sport and for his knowledge of almost every aspect of it.
We've lost one of the good one's
Godspeed Greg.

[FVEE56]

I'm so sorry to hear this. I raced with Greg through the years. He will be missed.

[veeten]

We were with Greg at Pitt this year and We said our farewell then. He surprised me at the Glen 2 weeks ago with a request
for crew passes. Greg wanted to see his vee friends and our 30 car field. Unfortunately the weather got bad and he could not make the trip. Greg set high standards for himself and any racer he care about. He made many of us better at driving and set up
with direct information. His humor and knowledge will live on.

[CheckeredFlag]

So sad to hear of this. When we started looking around at prep shops to get into racing, Greg was the first we met with; Scott Rettich was the second. While we opted not to run FRP with Greg, I've always enjoyed watching his cars go by with that huge RICE livery at the SCCA events he did go to.

Now both he and Scott are no longer with us.

Rest in peace, dear gentleman, and godspeed.

[provamo]

although somewhat controversial I appreciated his forthrightness

only met him once at his shop but he was gracious

[Bob Wright]

Greg was a mainstay with FRP, both F1600 and F2000 dating back to the early years of the Series. He was also a competitive driver I personally raced with dating back into the 1980's. As a prep shop owner, his cars were always competitive, and he brought any number of great young drivers to the Series. More important, he made them better.

Greg was one of the important contributors to junior open wheel racing in North America along with Rob St Claire, Glenn Phillips, Joe Stimola, and Kris Kaiser who all departed way too early.

RIP

[sagero]

Sorry to hear Greg is gone. It’s too early.
While in the past decade he was focused on F1600 and Continental, he made some time to improve the setup on my Vee. Not only did the car work better but he shared a number of ideas, and in the process removed some of the mystery of how and what works for a relative newbie. He made himself available frequently for advice. I felt blessed to have his attention. I learned a lot and will continue to share what he taught me.
Cheers, Greg.

[GT1Vette]

Never met Greg in person and only knew him through his posts here and the occasional email when I was working for the National Office. Certainly opinionated, but I appreciated his forthrightness and looked forward to those exchanges.

RIP...

[lucky13]

Greg was a 100% racer and a tough competitor. He will be missed by a lot of people for a long time. RIP

[tlracer]

So sorry to read this. Being on the other side of the pond, I only 'met' Greg through posts on Apexspeed, where he came across as hugely experienced, forthright and called things as he saw them. Certainly he seems like no-one could ever say "Greg who..?" and to make that kind of mark on others is to me a huge positive! I respected that and will miss his wealth of information. RIP.

[butch deer]

I have known Greg for probably close to 40 years. He was always a fierce competitor, opinionated on the rules , and talented mechanic. While sometimes controversial he always wanted the sport to be better. He will be missed in this community. RIP Greg.

[B Reid]

So sorry to get this news this morning. Greg was such a resource for his customers and competitors alike, will be sorely missed in the FRP paddock. He always was helpful and entertaining in his own way and we enjoyed to opportunity to paddock near him when possible.

RIP Greg.

[PRS82F]

Gonna miss his comments and opinions. He was always helpful to me when I had questions when I owned Shirley and when I moved to FF. Cheers Greg.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Diamond Level Motorsports]

It's so strange that I was just thinking about Greg the other day. I had not seen, or heard, much from him within the racing community recently.

Always enjoyed chatting with him and he used to purchase alot of his vinyl graphics from me.

Thanks Steve for posting this info! Hope you are well.

God Speed to you sir!

[nbrigido]

Greg has been there since day one of my short time racing. He was there with the Knowledge, Experience, Guidance and Reprimand when necessary. He was straight forward and direct, but that was Greg. Never ran away from what he thought was right. He was always there to help and always a phone call away.


Greg did what he loved most, I lost a friend, and the entire racing community has lost a racer and champion of the sport. We will always have his memories.

RIP Greg.

[Jim Nash]

For a guy with great knowledge of car set-up, fabrication, and the overall skill of knowing how to "go racing" properly, Greg never took himself too seriously. With the online nickname "Problem child" and calling his self built FV's Shirley McLane, he knew well that in the end it's supposed to fun. Big loss to the open wheel community.

Thanks Greg! RIP.

Jim

[Robins Ken]

Difficult news to digest.
Greg was an expat Canadian I met in 1984 when he ran a Tiga F2000 against the 'big boys' in Canadian Tire F2000. A very early version of FRP. He worked hard and chased his dream. He lived most of that season in his van. Drove as a courier in Toronto to pay the bills.
His posts on Apexspeed are controversial and legendary as are his spats with SCCA.
RIP Greg. You have earned it.

[jsteeb]

I introduced myself to Greg during the early days of Formula First. He tolerated me ogling his car and bouncing around ideas I had for my own build. I was always struck by his passion for engineering and innovation, and loved that he never stopped trying to squeeze that last tenth out his car! When I scrapped my own build and decided to instead convert my FV to FST, Greg hit me up to say he was moving to FF and ask if I wanted any of his FST parts. Little did I know that deal included a year or two of Greg’s online friendship, coaching, consulting, advising, and general encouragement! In that short time, Greg influenced the way I thought about my own race car, and helped me evolve my program to the next level. I’ve always appreciated that! Especially because I was nobody to him… not a long-time friend, not an east coast guy, not a Canadian, not a customer… Just some dude that stumbled into his paddock spot one day. He still took the time to share his knowledge and help me out. That's just how he was. We've lost a good one. Godspeed Greg.

[Steve Demeter]

Vayaa Con Dios Greg. You will be missed

[Rick Iverson]

Greg added a great deal to the fight. EXTREMELY knowledgeable and always willingly shared his insights. In dealing with a VERY competitive environment, quite exceptional.

RIP, Pally.

[BLS]

That is such sad news. I always read what he had to say on any subject. He was a respected racer and he earned the respect. I never met him, just read him here and at the FV website. He always shared his considerable experience freely. RIP Mr. Rice.

[rick payne_75]

Rest in peace Greg

[mmi16]

Sorry to hear of Greg's passing

Remember his 'Shirly McLane' Formula V with its pink wheels

Solid competitor - will be missed.

[TimH]

Godspeed Greg.

We're all a little poorer now.

[F1600nut]

When we were first starting out in F1600, we returned to our car in the morning to find four partly used tires to put on our car. Greg had seen that we needed them. He hardly knew us. The “Tire Fairy” had visited. A very kind man. RIP.

[DaveW]

When we were first starting out in F1600, we returned to our car in the morning to find four partly used tires to put on our car. Greg had seen that we needed them. He hardly knew us. The “Tire Fairy” had visited. A very kind man. RIP.

In spite of mostly catering to well-funded and highly-talented drivers in the last decade +, Greg was, IMO, always a fan of the "underdog," especially since that described him early on. That was a big part of his personality.

[E1pix]

While I never met Greg, this is extremely sad news.

We talked once when an old friend from Indy Lights in the ‘80s and ‘90s was considering getting back into “Formula Ford,” and asked me to help find options for him after his being away from Club racing for decades.

Greg’s passions for racing and racers was obvious, and those same passions sometimes got misinterpreted on this forum, if not even by his username.

I recognized all that as a great and rare thing, and so very reminiscent of an old friend and mentor who ran a Ford prep shop all through the ‘70s and ‘80s and won the Runoffs twice. To me, Greg was of those same roots and it was great to see that spirit still alive in a class I’ve been a fan of since its inception. His work to further the careers of young upstarts, all the way to England, reminded many of us of the grand old days, and the ladder changes so prevalent today.

Straight shooters are a dying breed, and true passion so often misunderstood. The world and racing needs more Gregs, and more John Barkers.

The other thing I found so endearing was Greg’s “moving up” to the FF world, but never forgetting his origins in Vee. He was tickled when we’d finally bought a Vee, and equally distressed when having to sell it. True Passion.

I also sensed some recent urgency in his attempts to sell off his team and equipment, and sincerely hope someone continues his hard-earned legacy.

Race in Peace, Greg, our little corners of the world will never forget you.

[bassracer]

In spite of mostly catering to well-funded and highly-talented drivers in the last decade +, Greg was, IMO, always a fan of the "underdog," especially since that described him early on. That was a big part of his personality.

I met Greg while searching for advice on puzzling brake issue as a runoffs rookie in 2017. He was paddocked near me and I thought "geeze don't want to waste his time" but he went out of his way to understand and explain his experiences with advice. It worked, and when I returned to thank him he continued to show interest in where I was going and encouraged me to try f1600. I'll never forget the positive vibes, and pretty much spoke with him at any event we were at. Good guy.

[veeten]

The stories of Greg's help to new racers is worthy of him being in the FV HOF.
He was so much more than the Problem Child!!

[Steve Bamford]

I met Greg one day in New York State when I went to look at a FV he had for sale. Probably back in Spring 2009 or a year earlier or later I assume. Greg was showing myself & my coworker who was also interested in racing all about the FV and how to maintain it, after an hour or so I realized the mechanical end was beyond my scope of knowledge. I was still interested in racing & wanted to buy the car & asked him if he would consider prepping the car & maintaining it for me. He wasn't trying to sell his services to me, I reached out to him to see if he would.

We started in the F1200 Series in Ontario where Greg would maintain the car & bring it the races for me. My first race it was wet, the start was waved off so we went around for another lap to restart. I was middle to back of the pack and was wanting to move up so I made sure to accelerate hard at the start & put it directly into the wall ruining the car. I thought that was the end the car & my racing. That night it snowed as it was early May at Mosport. Greg & Carlos spent all afternoon & till around midnight rebuilding the car so I could attempt to run again the next day. Even though I wanted to quit and not bother after all the effort Greg put in to rebuild the car I knew I had to go out again...

Greg became a coach to me taking me from the back of the pack to being able to lead & win races at most levels we competed at. It was only because of his knowledge and people he brought in to help me grow as a driver that we were able to achieve things beyond my first expectations.

He would always offer help to those who he thought needed it & tried hard for the underdog as many have written here already.

I've watched all the Runoff's Greg's teams were participating in and was over the moon when they won. Greg made racing possible for many drivers that did not have huge budgets, he always found ways to make things as affordable as possible.

Probably the hardest working team in the paddock, not knocking other teams, just that usually his team was the last to leave the track and one of the first to show up in the AM to make sure everything was correct & ready to go.

I'm glad I asked Greg that one faithful day if he would consider running me, I'm pretty confident I would have not stuck with racing as long as I did if he had of turned me down. Lots of great, amazing memories I will take with me for the rest of my life thanks to Greg.

Hopefully he gets that HOF award, he was builder of many classes and deserves it in my opinion.

Thank you Greg for everything...till we meet again

[reidhazelton]

It's no secret Greg and I rarely agreed, but I appreciated his goal was to always make things (racing) better for other people. To me, that's a mark of what makes someone a quality human being - when we can put aside what might be best for our personal situation and advocate for the situation that has the greatest positive effect on the largest group of people. Greg always did that.

I wish those who knew him, loved him, and are left morning his loss the very best. He certainly helped improve motorsport and leaves a void which will be hard to fill.

Goodspeed, Greg.

[Roux]

In spite of mostly catering to well-funded and highly-talented drivers in the last decade +, Greg was, IMO, always a fan of the "underdog," especially since that described him early on. That was a big part of his personality.

I talked to Greg about renting from him when my car was late getting ready for the season a few years ago. Instead he motivated me to get the car done and get it to the FRP events without using my cash so easily. Always helped me. Made sure I knew that take-off tires were there if I wanted them. Dave hit it right on the nose, he looked after more than just his customers. I miss him! RIP Greg.

[brian styczynski]

I never met Greg, but am sorry he is gone. I should have found time at the June Sprints to track him down and thank him for all the little nuggets of FV wisdom he has left on this forum the last 10+ years.

The winner of today's USF Pro 2000 race, and Rice Runoff winner, dedicated the race to him, video cued up to Simon on podium.....
https://www.youtube.com/live/792-ymy...x00a_iS&t=3502

[veeten]

Kyle Kirkwood is on Front row at todays Toronto Indy race. He had a win in Greg's Car. Not sure when or where. Lots of great drivers went through Rice Race Prep over the years, Hope Carlos can keep the team going.

[Jonathan Lee]

Kyle Kirkwood is on Front row at todays Toronto Indy race. He had a win in Greg's Car. Not sure when or where. Lots of great drivers went through Rice Race Prep over the years, Hope Carlos can keep the team going.

A lot of drivers have gone through RRP, but if I'm not mistaken - Kirkwood drove for Chastain (who greg later bought the car from)

[Jonathan Lee]

Greg had a good run, from starting his arrive n drive program in 2018 he has introduced numerous young drivers to 1600 racing. He really enjoyed his team until the end. I first met him in 2019, and every year since then – he offered me a fulltime ride in his car, basically for free.

From my eyes, he was an older guy who wanted to live out his life aspirations until the end, he loved racing, and didn’t mind helping out the “young guys” if he could get the driver he wanted in his blue mygales.

I knew about his condition for a long time, he put up a strong fight and lasted longer than he originally thought. Between racing and going to his lake house with his wife, those were the main things that kept him going.

Greg would want his cars to continue running on track and contribute to filling the field. If you want to help Greg out now, you can do so by spreading the word about the cars he has for sale.

[aslocum]

Heard the news when watching USF PRO 2000 to cheer on Simon Sikes who later won it and dedicated the win to Greg. Greg was definitely passionate about the sport. Will miss him. Godspeed, Greg.