Dave Panas

[Purple Frog]

Sad to report Dave Panas died unexpectedly today.

Dave had a racing background. In later years was a very good Steward.
He has been the Chief Steward for the F2000 Championship Series and F1600 Championship Series (FRP) since its inception.

I worked closely with him for about 7 years. All i can say is that he was a true gentleman who devoted much of his life to making it possible for others to enjoy the sport.

[Bob Wright]

The motorsports community has lost an irreplaceable resource with a deep well of knowledge and experience.

Dave was the original Chief Steward of the FRP Series and helped mold it into what it is today. He had a clear vision of what was needed and what was lacking in other venues at the time. He was also one of the iron men of the series, not missing a single weekend until just recently because of medical issues that may have been part of why I write this today.

All of us in the Series will sorely miss him.

[DaveW]

Damn ! I'm at a loss for what to say...

That is very shocking. Sherrie and I thought he was a super person and an excellent steward. We will really miss him.

[Lenny T.]

RIP Dave . You will be missed by the FRP family .

[Dan Pyanowski]

Such sad news. Dave was a great Stewart and I always looked forward to seeing him at the races. He always had a commanding presence when addressing the group at drivers’ meeting - firm, but fair.

[veeten]

Dave was part of so much racing in N.E
It was always a pleasure to catch up on
our N.J friends at FRP events.
Sherman & Tonie

[Brian Graham]

Very sorry to hear this, Dave was one of the faces I looked forward to seeing when we were running the FRP series. A fair and common sense guy who will be missed. Respect.

Brian.

[problemchild]

RIP Dave!

[driver68]

Sad. I enjoyed talking with Dave as he was a true FRP constant presence. I was pleased to see him at the track a few times last year after some real struggles. He was a racer.

[Roux]

Sad news. He was always involved and doing good for the racers.

[stonebridge20]

Really sad news. Dave was a huge presence here in the NeDiv
Such a fair and friendly Steward.
Rest in peace old friend.

[Beartrax]

Dave always had a big smile and a warm welcome every time I saw him. The racing world will not be the same without him.

[E1pix]

I didn't know Dave but very sorry for your loss, everyone!

[Pi_guy]

Dave was a one of a kind.
One of my favorite times with Dave was making Shrimp Scampi for dinner at John Fitch's house, that was a night of stories.

You will be missed.

[B Reid]

So Sorry to hear this. Seeing Dave and Lenore at the FRP weekends was always such a pleasure, part of the fabric of the event. Sincere condolences to his family and friends.

[Scott Gesford]

Sad to hear. Really good guy.

[Steve Bamford]

Sad news. Rest In Peace Dave. I appreciated all your help making FRP events enjoyable by using common sense in dealing with issues a Steward has to. You will be missed.

[Purple Frog]

One learns a lot about somebody when you are connected by radio 8 hours a day for 4 days in a row, seven or eight weekends per year. Especially if you also had a "secret back channel".

When the team is putting on races with 30 some odd cars on the course, driven by the full range of characters, decisions have to be made on the fly, sometimes in just seconds. (the leader is already at T9, send out the safety car or not?, call for a black all or leave it double yellow?, yadda yadda)

I always said FRP was a case of "Racers putting on races". And Dave was one of those racers. Just remember he had to deal with both Rand and I on the same channel. Ask our first wives how much fun that can be. For the most part Dave was the calming voice. Rand or i would have our hair on fire, and Dave would be calm. It was a pure sit-com. We were constantly telling Dave he was too much of a "white shirt", he was constantly telling us that as cowboys we needed to get off our horses. Amazing how it all worked out.

I can remember clearly hundreds of incidents where decisions had to be made. And for the most part I guess we did a pretty good job, many times because of Dave's calm input. When it came to on track protests, Dave was as careful as could be to try to get all the info and make a reasonable decision.

When, there was time between sessions, many times Dave would call a meeting and ask the drivers for their input on things like scheduling issues, etc. That created a collabortive environment.

Dave also let each specialty run their own show. He didn't try to be a tech inspector, a timing and scoring guru, or registrar. He would check in with everybody before any reults became final.

During their long and happy marriage Lenore was almost always at the track with Dave. She was probably the best registrar any series could have, and I believe set the standard for "customer service". They were quite the team. They donated more time to the advancement of the sport than many of us could ever imagine.

Our hearts go out to Lenore in this time of deep loss.

[DaveW]

...Our hearts go out to Lenore in this time of deep loss.

Sherrie and me also - I should have said that.

[BGilkes]

Terribly sad news to hear. As others have said and I can only echo, Dave not being at events in the north east or FRP is a huge loss both from a racers perspective as he was a truly excellent steward and from a personal perspective he was just a warm, fun racing person to be around.
I was on the wrong side of his professional side twice, but in each case he listened was calm, fair ...... and right both times!!

Lenore my deepest sympathies and I really hope that you will be at the track again this year, but in the meantime remember all the good memories and the people all over North America that have you both in their thoughts.

Brent/Megan

[Mike Scanlan]

Really tough news to process, it seemed like he'd turned a corner in his recovery. Our thoughts and hugs go out to Lenore and the family. Dave and I went way back and I never had a problem bringing an issue to him, just left it with him and knew the right thing would be done and be done fairly, whether out in the open or behind the scene when that was appropriate. Dave will be sorely missed.

[FVRacer21]

https://oaklandmemorial.com/tribute/.../obituary.html

[Pi_guy]

Just as a reminder.
The service is in a few hours....