Hey everyone. We have a seasoned racer local to Firebird Raceway here in Boise that could use a little help. Larry Hale, who is 86 years of age was recently displaced from the home he was sharing with his son when his son abruptly sold the place and told Larry he had ten days to find a place to live. Without getting into the gory details of the situation, Larry was essentially left homeless. While we are working on a permanent housing situation for Larry, he needs glasses, hearing aides, as well as some other basic needs.

Larry is also a racer. We all know that having a purpose and staying active promotes longevity. In addition to helping with some of Larry's basic needs, we would also like to help him keep active in racing. Larry has been racing since it's inception. He may not be as well known as a Herb McCandless, but make no mistake, he's a pioneer in the sport. He started racing at age 14 at Santa Ana drag strip in California running flat head Fords. He then switched to running cars with Cadillac engines and currently campaigns a Studebaker Lark VIII with a Cadillac engine and tows to and from the track with his Cadillac powered 65 El Camino and open trailer. He's towed from here in Idaho to Fontana, Vegas, Seattle, Woodburn, OR and Salt Lake.

I've started a GoFundMe campaign to help raise money for Larry. If you are gracious enough to help, it would be greatly appreciated. If it's not in your budget, you can help by sharing the link below to your personal social media so we can try to meet our goal. Included in the GoFundMe is a link to a newspaper story from 2017 that you might enjoy reading about Larry. Thank you!

https://gofund.me/1e1fa4e4

Where is Larry living now?

He's staying with my brother and his family at the moment. We are looking for a permanent home for him. Thought we had one lined up, but it didn't work out.

I met Larry Hale at the old LACR track in the 90's when his Stude was black and he was almost always taking home some money. At a DRR race there I broke the 3rd member in my Ranchero along with a few other things, and Larry helped me with a great deal on a nodular 9" all set up ready to go. He was moving to Idaho and didn't want to take it with him.
He is a talented guy that you could really trust for good advice.
I'm happy to know he is still around and wants to race a little longer, makes him a hero to me.
I always looked forward to seeing him at thanksgiving time in Vegas and watching him take on the young guys!
He also used to work on my buddy Harold Owens' magnetos for his "IT'S ONLY MONEY" dragster back in the Top Gas West days. At 84, Harold has nothing but praise for Larry Hale, who often said "racing saved my life".

I will try to help out the fund.
I thought about also sharing a few choice words for any d-bag son who would cause his 86 year old father to be suddenly homeless,
but I'm sure that azz-wipe is not one among us here, and I'm also quite certain I would be preaching to the choir...

quote:

Originally posted by double trouble:
I met Larry Hale at the old LACR track in the 90's when his Stude was black and he was almost always taking home some money. At a DRR race there I broke the 3rd member in my Ranchero along with a few other things, and Larry helped me with a great deal on a nodular 9" all set up ready to go. He was moving to Idaho and didn't want to take it with him.
He is a talented guy that you could really trust for good advice.
I'm happy to know he is still around and wants to race a little longer, makes him a hero to me.
I always looked forward to seeing him at thanksgiving time in Vegas and watching him take on the young guys!
He also used to work on my buddy Harold Owens' magnetos for his "IT'S ONLY MONEY" dragster back in the Top Gas West days. At 84, Harold has nothing but praise for Larry Hale, who often said "racing saved my life".

It's very enjoyable to listen to Larry talk about his racing ventures over the years. He's talked about his days working on magnetos and owning his own transmission shop back in the day. There's certainly a lot of history with him!

quote:

Originally posted by FootbrakeJim:
I will try to help out the fund.
I thought about also sharing a few choice words for any d-bag son who would cause his 86 year old father to be suddenly homeless,
but I'm sure that azz-wipe is not one among us here, and I'm also quite certain I would be preaching to the choir...

Any help is greatly appreciated. Even if it's just sharing the gofundme link on your personal social media pages.

quote:

Originally posted by FootbrakeJim:
I will try to help out the fund.
I thought about also sharing a few choice words for any d-bag son who would cause his 86 year old father to be suddenly homeless,
but I'm sure that azz-wipe is not one among us here, and I'm also quite certain I would be preaching to the choir...

You can bet there's more to this story. Two sides to every story, you're hearing only one.

quote:

Originally posted by SS427IMP:
You can bet there's more to this story. Two sides to every story, you're hearing only one.

Not going to disagree with you, and I should have kept my opinion out of it. Unfortunate circumstance either way. My Apologies.

quote:

Originally posted by SS427IMP:

quote:

Originally posted by 1320racer:

quote:

Originally posted by SS427IMP:
You can bet there's more to this story. Two sides to every story, you're hearing only one.

3 sides, the father’s, the son’s and the truth and I ain’t giving anyone $ that will use it to race!

So NO, I won’t help nor share the link.

Which is worse, people asking for a handout/$ for anything and everything or the fools that donate it?

OUCH!! But I agree. Shouldn't the homeless old guy be using his race money to find a place to live first? Priorities. Still, I wish him well.

I will be happy to help out and share the link. Larry and I ran around the same circle back in the day. Can't say I remember meeting him but I sure remember the car and the name.

Tell Larry best of luck and I hope he can get a nice place to stay and a new pair of glasses that he needs.

Larry Hale recognition.

https://firebirdonline.com/new...lkDsxlVATUhJkCqz0AKs

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DragRaceResults,