I hope this group understands and appreciates the significance of the hotrod life that Gary Meadors led. For those who can go back to the late 70's / early 80's...the car scene was not nearly as robust [or as fun] as it is today. On a national scale, there was NHRA drag racing, a few Car Craft Street Machine Nationals, some NSRA Street Rod events [pre 48 ONLY]...and that was about it. When Gary decided it was time to bring some life to all the "regular" hotrodders out there who wanted to mingle with like minded people, the Goodguys organization was born. Even for some of you who have rarely / never been to a Goodguys event, you have undoubtedly been influenced by those events. In my personal experience, Gary was always the one who nurtured fresh ideas about how to have fun with cars...the most obvious example being the Goodguys Autocross Series that he agreed to allow us to launch at his Nashville event in 2006. The success of that quickly inspired a change of build direction for their Street Machine of the Year awards at the Columbus show, migrating from polished waxers to some of the most aggressively functional vehicles ever built. Even if Gary did not necessarily share our specific taste in build styles [he wasn't much on air suspension for example, he thought the cars looked "broken" ] he certainly supported the diversity of true hotrodders everywhere. His vision launched and accelerated the careers of some very talented people...Troy Trepanier. Alan Johnson, Roy Brizio, Mike and Jim Ring, Dave Lane, Chris Smith, Kyle and Stacy Tucker, Jeremy and Phil Gerber, Bobby Alloway, Boyd Coddington, Rodger Lee, Justin Padfield, Jesse Greening, Tim and Carrie Strange, Chad Reynolds, and a slew of other people that I have not been able to mention. Some of these names you may recognize, some you may not, but every one has influenced our little segment of this hobby in a very positive manner. And to clarify...he and the Goodguys organization have been [and continue to be] absolutely crucial and critical to the success of Sharon and I, and the entire Air Ride Technologies / RideTech organization. Without his vision and support I am confident that we would not survived, let alone thrived over the last 20 years.
Gary leaves behind his wife of over 50 years Marilyn [who was usually attached to his side at most Goodguys shows] and his sons Marty and Marc as well as their families. He also leaves behind a VERY talented and dedicated family of Goodguys employees who embraced his vision of having fun with hotrods. Marc has run the Goodguys operation for a few years now and done it with a similar passion as Gary. While I will miss chatting with Gary about the business of hotrods, I look forward to continuing to enjoy the fruits of his passion, his vision, and his hard work that have inspired most of us to excel at this car thing.
Rest peacefully sir...I assure you I will create some tire smoke in your honor this summer...and have a good time doing it!
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Bret Voelkel
President
RideTech
Air Ride Technologies, Inc.
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Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
Hybrid Mode
