Phil passed away last night. I met him right here when he was still living in Kansas and working for Cessna . In 2014 he came out to AZ to work for Learjet. He will be missed by all who knew him. Condolences to his family . May he rest in peace.

looks like the last time he posted here was early May and that was only a few posts since welcoming me back here in April. Was he ill?

RIP Phil

Ed a three year fight with cancer, he was a heavy hitter in his Beretta. I believe in 2015 he had Won Divison 7 pro at ET finals and went on to Pomona .

Our condolences to Phil's family, rest in peace Mr. Watkins.

Bob

condolences to family

Wow, always enjoyed conversations with him. He was a customer for around 20 years. Good racer.

Phill was our tech inspector at Wichita International Raceway for a number of years before moving to Arizona. He was always friendly and personable. He ran a competitive car (the midnight machine el Camino and later a beretta, and his daughter ran Jrs. It was a loss to our local racing community when he relocated, and a bigger loss now that he is gone. Godspeed Phil, you will be missed.

^^^ Yes, I met Phil when he was working Tech at WIR, in the late 90's. He would sometimes drive up the KS Turnpike to race with us at HPT, and he was a hitter in that El Camino. I qualified for the E.T. Finals 10 straight years before moving to TX in '08, and seemed like he was always there representing Wichita. Last time I really got to visit with him, he won the Division V Finals in Pro ET with the ElCo, up in Brainerd, MN in 2005. Super nice guy, never met anyone who didn't like him. We kept in touch via FB, and he wished me a HBD earlier this year. I thanked him, but I didn't know he had been fighting Pancreatic Cancer. That is the kind of guy he was, humble and never made anything about himself. RIP Midnight Machine.