Shirl Greer

[WCB]

R.I.P. Shirl......

You were Great......

TENSION...................

[draglist]

Farewell, Shirl. You came from out of Division 2 and showed 'em all at the World Finals one year. My condolences to Brian, Rusty, and all of Shirl's family, friends, and thousands of fans. bp

[Pappy1]

R.I.P. Shirl

[RH]

One of the greats and a fearless competitor.
One of my favorite memories is of seeing Shirl setting the IHRA 1/8th mile record in his Chain Lightning Mustang at Sumerduck Va.
Another legend leaves us.
RIP Shirl.

Ron

[Jack Redd]

JA Shirl was a great guy, racer and a friend of mine. My prayers to Brian and family. Man almost a whole month without a lost and now -this. Whole lot of lost racers now in "Heaven Dragway".
JAck

[SLICK VIC]

R.I.P. Shirl Greer,..I will always remember you at Seattle in the seventies.

God Speed,..and prayers to all of your Family and friends

Vic

[Diana The Doc]

I enjoyed meeting Shirl Greer several years ago at E'Town's Funny Car Reunion event... On our Funny Car Reunion Raw DVD, there's a beautiful close-up shot of Shirl, smiling, sitting in his Mustang, being pulled through the staging lanes... Shirl was quite a character-- I also remember he had a colorful crew guy with him, unfortunately I don't recall the crew guy's name, but those two guys were lots of fun to be around-- I could never quite understand why some of the nostalgia internet snerts didn't have any respect for those guys-- Just don't seem right-- They were very nice to me... Shirl Greer dressed himself for the FCR like famed Hawaiian lounge singer, Don Ho, with a "loud" printed button shirt (a shirt louder than most of the event's Funny Cars!)... As many of you already know, Shirl won the NHRA Funny Car Championship in 1974, so there's no denying that he had "chops" as far as his driving skills go... The "Chained Lightening" cars always looked sharp-- I absolutely adore the paint schemes of those 'Stangs-- A very eye-pleasing design-- Very creative... My sincere condolences to his family... I believe that many hardcore drag racing fans will remember Shirl Greer for a long time-- I know that I certainly will... We're going to miss him... Diana

[WildcatOne]

My sincere condolences to the Greer family and to all of Drag Racing. He was a man of great power and courage and a friend to us all. He brought us all together in spirit. Rest in peace, Mr. Greer. WC1

[Barb]

He always had a smile on his face, a song in his heart and he kept us all laughing. God speed Shirl

[Becky White]

I remember seeing Shirl at Farmington way back when. It was a track they came to quite often. Years later, when Van and Rusty's mom (Dee) and I became fast friends, she would tell me some of their adventures. I have written about one of them in one of my stories...I don't remember which. If it isn't one that's already on my blog, it will be put there soon. When I would go to the races at Bristol or Rogersville, Dee always provided me a room wherever she was working and would try to take one day off work so we could go out 'touring' the countryside and spend some quality time together. I took a kazillion photos on those rides and we always had a blast. She knew the history of the area and I LOVE history so she always gave me a GRAND tour. We loved those old crooked mountain roads and the scenery and she told me about the hell of driving across the Blue Ridge to get to Farmington and other tracks to the east. She said the curves were so sharp they could hang out the windows of the truck and wax the race car on the way home from the races!!! I believe it! I drove that old 421 one time...just because of all the tales I'd heard about it. It is the ONLY road I've EVER been on where the curve was so sharp and the mountain so steep, I had to stop my little Omni and put it all the way back into first gear! I cannot imagine the hell the older racers went through to get to and from the races even on good roads. There was NO such thing as a 4-lane highway, let alone interstates, no enclosed trailers, hell, some of them didn't even HAVE a trailer, they just used a towbar...I did! Racers today have NO clue what those guys and gals went through to do what they loved and provide us with the entertainment us car hounds couldn't live without. There are a few of them on here who could tell you...like Jack Redd. The only good thing about it was the gas was CHEAP!

Y'all may not remember this fact but Shirl Greer drove the first car down Bristol Dragway ever in a competition run. I think people should remember things like that. And if I'm not wrong, Rusty brought that same old heavy Chrysler to the track at the first Super Chevy race after Bruton Smith bought Bristol. He took that old tank and nearly burned the tires off it in the water box and made a run, the fans loved it...of course the announcer was helping. They also had Shirl to come out on the track and walk down it so everyone could see the first person down that track ever.,,he waved to the crowds and they all went crazy. I took a bunch of photos...we had a lot of fun that weekend with all that. I sure do miss all my racing friends...especially the tall tales! I have a blog I hope y'all will visit, it is: http://quicktimesracingnews.blogspot.com. There isn't much there right now, but there will be quite soon. Becky White