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| Remembering And Honoring Bob Snodgrass |
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© Andrew S. Hartwell
The morning started with a gloomy and dark rain falling down hard upon the green grass that surrounds this beautiful race track in the Virginia countryside. Rain was appropriate to start a weekend that found many racers and fans lamenting the recent loss of Bob Snodgrass at the age of 64. His was a presence in the paddock that commanded attention like no other. Not for reasons of pompous or grandiose intent, but rather for the level of enthusiasm and encouragement he exuded every day. He touched the lives of many and many remember him with sincere fondness.
While his loss will continue to be felt for a long time, it is inevitable that the sport of racing continues despite any setback, and thus it was appropriate for the rain to end early and give way to the warming rays of the Virginia sun. The racers all took their place on the track and continued on with their pursuit of fast perfection just as they would have were Bob Snodgrass still perched on a bench alongside his team engineers under the Brumos Awning in pit lane.
In practice today, the Brumos Porsche-Riley's (#58 & #59) appeared on track with these words written on the sides: In memory of Bob Snodgrass .
We spoke with a few people at the track this weekend and they expressed their feelings of loss and admiration for the man who contributed mightily to the benefit of those in need, both inside the community of racing and the greater community of life at large. A few of the sentiments we heard today are presented here as a way of honoring the man who lived such an honorable life.
Dorsey Schroeder: Surprisingly I never drove for Bob but we go all the way back to when I started in racing in 1971. He was one of the few people who I can say was always there. To envision him not being at a race track is pretty hard to deal with. We have lost a great person. He was a part of racing's family and always will be. It is inconceivable to go to an event and not have Bob there.
Chris Dyson: I drove for Bob up at Watkins Glen in 2003, at the Six Hours. I was an outsider, new to the team, and Bob made me feel right at home. He was a larger than life character and a complete enthusiast. I think this is a huge loss. He was a great promoter and a great spokesman for racing and he brought the Brumos name back into it, keeping it vibrant and sustaining a legacy that was started back in the 1970s. We are all sorry he is gone.
Tommy Riggins: I drove for Bob as a stand-in at the 2004 Rolex 24 Hours. But I had known Bob for years before that race. We were both involved in vintage racing and we both worked in Jacksonville, Florida. He was quite a philanthropist and any time I went to a particular community function I would almost always see him there. He was quite an individual in the Jacksonville community and that is something a lot of people in the racing community didn't know about him.
At Daytona we thought he was looking better and that he was coming along, and we were all pulling for him to get well. His loss is very unfortunate for all of us.
We made one quick tour through the Brumos pit today and it was obvious that this team was going about the business of preparing for a race in a very quiet and reserved manner. Even the noise of spinning lug nuts being tightened by an air gun as wheels were being replaced seemed to be somehow muffled as if in deference to his memory. What greater gesture of respect could they have shown but to quietly carry on the professional example that Bob Snodgrass had set for them for so many years?
Rest in peace Bob.
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