Folks Of Interest RICH GUASCO - PURE HELL - PASSED AWAY

Just saw a post on FB from Pure Hell Racing that Rich Guasco passed away. do not know how to post link.

 

Oh crap. Sorry to hear

 

Sad news. Rip.

Chris

 

https://www.facebook.com/Pure-Hell-Racing-100057493726050/

 

He had a good life. R.I.P.

 

Had a "Pure Hell" of a Life!!

 

Crap! Not good. What an icon in drag racing. A real Hot Rodder. I met him at a gas station in B'field-I said, "Rich Guasco, You're a real hero!" He quipped, "I'm nothing of the sort!" Of course. Love Pure Hell. He'll be missed.

 

My condolences to his family, friends and many fans. I remember seeing photos like those of him and his car in Hot Rod magazine as a kid. Even then I figured he had to have a big pair to drive a car like that as he did.

 

I usually don't post of people's passings.......
I met Rich about 3 miles from my home at a show one day.... Obviously, he had a connection. He was there with his roadster. He had a table set up, and all history displayed.
I walked up, and he was alone, sitting. I, of course, said hello, and how you doing......
Then , it hit............. I remarked that I knew who he was, and I guess I said something along the lines of "your ball's must be made of steel"..... He laughed, and said take a seat here.
We had a good conversation for about an hour or so..... I said, I don't want to mess up your game, and he said= NO, your good........... He asked about my ride, and came and checked it out.
I will say this= He was a nice man, articulate, and very humble. NO fame and fortune gone to his head......
BUT, from history that I have read, kinda one of those= If you Fuck with the bull, you get the horns".....
I have Pure Hell displayed in my glass case, since the day it came out.............That has been at least 25+ years ago.
I just went and stared at it today....

 

Godspeed Rich.
I’ve mentioned this before but I think it deserves to be repeated-
At an Indy Good Guys event in the ‘90’s Pure Hell was a featured attraction. I had been following the car since the ‘60’s and I head over to their pit to buy another T-shirt. Crew guy says, sold out but Rich yells to him “Give him a crew shirt!” Same money and a treasured memento. Thanks for sixty years of memories Rich.

 

RIP

 

Another Humble Genius gone, RIP Mr. Guasco.

 

A noteable 1320 crusader. A great show. RIP

 

Send your condolences, mourn and pray but spend time with your heroes while you can. Time waits for no man.

 

Living in Pleasanton for 50 + years I’ve had many encounters with Rich. Either having a tow, getting parts at his wrecking yard or just bumping into him around town. Great guy.

 

Rip.





Bones

 

Sincere Condolences to his family, friends, and all his loyal fans. Godspeed!

 

I saw Pure Hell run at Fremont many times. I'll never forget the time at a Goodguy's show at Pleasanton, they fired up Pure Hell and drove it through the fairgrounds, Awsome times. RIP.

 

So sad to hear of his passing. He was a great guy and friend.

Here is a Rich Guasco story that shows the kind of guy he was.
We were at The Adams Mark Hotel in Indy waiting to go out to dinner. Rich spots a guy walking from the parking lot with grease stains on his white pants and walking like he was beat down. The guy was carrying a briefcase with AA written on the side. Rich said to me, "look at this poor bastard, he looks like he lost his best friend. Probably a racer ....... Rich noticed the AA on the side of the briefcase and said, how'd you do today"? The guy looked up and said, It was miserable, we couldn't even go 200 MPH. Rich asked,"'what are you running"? the guy answered a Chrysler ! So Rich continued the ask question like how much nitro are you using, what pump do you have, what pill and how much lead. what kind of injectors and do you have a computer on the car? The guy looked at Rich and asked, Do you race? And Rich responded with "I use to a little bit". At this point Rich say, do you have a pen and paper? yeah the guy replies. Rich says take this down........ Get this pump, use this pill, use this much nitro, set the timing at this degree. use these injectors and get a computer. If you use this combo you'll hit 200 + mph every time. That will give you a start to build on. The guy was so excited with the info and said, Hey man thanks, what is your name. Rich response with "Rich Guasco" ! The guy almost fell over.
Holy crap !!! Thee Rich Guasco? great to meet you and thanks man. As the guy walked away shaking his head, I said to Rich what a great jesture it was to give the guy a good set up. He said, "Yeah it may help him get where he wants to be. It took me years to figure it out and more money than I want to think about". That was the Rich Guasco I will always remember !! He was a real character that was a lot of fun to be around. I will miss him ...........
My condolences to the family. RIP Rich

 

RIP Rich...thanks for all you did.

 

Very sorry, we lost another one.

 

I was about 10 I guess, I made a "book" out of plywood and hinges- very crude.. Anyway, I took pictures out of Hot Rod mags and pasted them to the pages. Before each "section" was a title page, which I wrote "Pure Hell" on . My dad found that book and I started to get in trouble for using bad language!! RIP Rich, I wonder if he knew the memories he made on kids who are now old men!

 

That photo of the early Pure Hell with the Chevy, it is missing one of the exhaust pipes.