RIP Frank Grossi
 

Not really sure its my place, but I feel everyone in our community should be made aware that Frank Grossi passed away yesterday. Frank hadn't been physically too great for a while, but he had driven his car as recently as a year ago I believe.

Obviously many here know Frank a lot better than I do, but I did know him pretty well. Always a tough competitor on the track and always a fun conversation in the pits. Loved to hold a stack and had a great sense of humor.

One of my fondest memories of Frank would probably be when he beat me at Tucson one time with a .50 something RT (not .000 yet, still .500). Prior to that, I had always greeted him with something like "Fearless Francois" and a handshake. After that, it was always "Fearless F'ing Five 0 Francois", and we'd have a chuckle.

A really good guy. Prayers to his friends and family. This side up...

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Sorry to hear. Just shows the age of a lot of the racers in our classes. Many of the greats passing. RIP Frank!!

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Indeed, a sad day for the racing fraternity. Frank has always been a fierce competitor as well as a truly nice person. Heartfelt condolences to the entire Grossi family!

c

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

My condolences and prayers to the Grossi family!

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

It's hard to type when you have tears in your eyes and can't see the screen clearly. Frank was one of the nicest guys I've ever met, and I already miss him. He was always my toughest race as I always had to race him heads up. (same class). The record as I remember it is, 1 win (me), 49 wins (him). This side up...

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

R.I.P. Frank. May your family and MANY friends find comfort at this difficult time.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

I’ve been very fortunate to race with quite a few different people and going to the races with Frank was as good as it gets.

I remember racing class with him in Vegas and we needed to move up and Frank was nowhere to be found. Finally located him over a couple of lanes showing someone the pictures of his dogs on his phone.

Frank was a great man and a fierce competitor and it was a pleasure to call him a friend!

My condolences to the Grossi family. R.I.P. Uncle Frank!

Pirate

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Rest In Peace

One of the good ones...

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

My one and only Division win was against Frank in Sacramento in 1995. Frank asked me in the lanes to not be in a hurry as he needed time. Next thing I knew he was firing motor up and I just finished checking tire pressure. I rushed to get in car and get to water box. After I talked to him about not being in a hurry and we had a good laugh about it. RIP

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Very sad news. As other have noted, a very nice man and a heck of a racer.
For those who remember, he beat Rick Houser in the 1983 World Finals (last race at OCIR) for his only national event win. RIP

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Go with God, Neighbor.
Prayers to the family.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Sad to hear. Frank was pretty legendary as a member of the California contingent of serious Super Stock racers. May you rest in peace, Frank.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Sory to hear this ,didn't know him ,but saw him race.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Very sad news, RIP Frank

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Sad RIP. MY condolences to the Grossi family!

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

I didn’t know Frank well, but the few times I was around him ....I realized what a wonderful man he was....Godspeed.....

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Prayers going out for Frank and Family

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

So sorry to hear Frank was a true gentleman of our sport and a great competitor

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

As good as they get
R.I.P. Frank

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Sorry to hear of Franks` passing. Prayers for his friends and family. We are all a day closer, and we could and should be prepared for eternity.

https://bible.org/article/Gods-plan-salvation

Mike A114

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Praying for the Holy Spirit to be their comforter in this time of loss.
I knew and liked Frank Grossi......I am sure their family (Sante/Darin Grossi)
will continue the family tradition of racing (As I hope my sons will also do for me).

Irving Family Racing

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Real sorry to see this. I first met Frank when I was a lot younger, as I raced with and hung around Tony Janes and Chuck Norton and others, and Frank was as nice to me as he could be. He loved racing, he loved Super Stock, he loved his fellow racers, and he obviously loved his dogs. He will be missed. Hope his sons carry on with our sport.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Harvey Lawson introduced me to Frank at Orange County International Raceway and said they were building a 1969 SS/EA Camero together like in 1982, Frank was a gentleman too the end, his kind words, generosity and sense of humor never wavered toward me, I will miss our racing each other and that friendly smile, thanks for being my friend, ps Kevin I remember that 1983 win at Orange County, I was doing good at that race until I raced Frank in the quarter final, now Frank is up there with Harvey again, God Speed my friend, Fred Moreno

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Thanks Dan for starting this. Frank was as good a friend as anyone could have. I'm going to miss him a lot. He had great humor, wit and he was always at least one step ahead of you. I was with him when he won Columbus in 99. He loved racing.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

RIP Frank Grossi and may Michael the Archangel watch over the family

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

RIP Frank and condolences to his and the extended Grossi family.

If it wasn't for the Grossi family I would never had been a drag racer, it was Jim Jr. (Frank's nephew) that I worked with and got me going to the racers with him, his brothers
Darin and Santee, their dad Big Jim and of course, Uncle Frank back in the late '80s, we obviously became very close.

Just like everyone else has said, what a great guy with his helpful soul, wit and sarcasm to keep things interesting. You will be missed.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Sorry to hear this, and condolences to his family.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Sad Day. Great guy. you will be missed.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Godspeed my friend!

Al Corda

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Thank you Dan for starting this thread. The heart warming comments from so many friends are much appreciated. We will be sure his wife Sharon, daughter Amy and son Kevin see everyone's memories of him.

Frank is the twin brother of my dad Jim sr. They were partners in a farming business that my brothers Jim jr and Sante all starting working on as early as 10 years old. I started out making 50 cents an hour, Jim a bit more. We worked long hours 7 days a week which allowed Jim to build a 427 1972 Camaro at 16 years old and me a V8 Vega at 14. Frank and my dad raced in the 1960's but had given it up for family and business. It didn't take long for both of them to get the bug again, that's when Frank partnered with Harvey Lawson on his candie apple SS/EA 1969 427 Camaro. His Camaro was covered in Car Craft magazine which declared it the most beautiful Camaro in the world. My dad soon built a 1967 Camaro stocker for Jim. Frank gave me a 1984 Cutlass stocker to get me going. This was the beginning of an incredible life full of great friendships among our racing family.

Fortunately, Frank and my dad had one last trip to Indy last year. He hated to miss any races and always raced with class. Drag racing brought him joy even when he couldn't make it to the track in the last year of his life.

A Celebration of Life will be on Saturday, August 31st 10:00 am at Draper Mortuary in Ontario CA. Everyone is invited to come out a share memories of Frank with family and friends.

Darin Grossi

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Thank you for posting this Dan. Frank deserves all of the time and kind words in this thread. Darin, thank you for sharing some history and also the service day/time.

Frank Grossi was a great racer and above that, a wonderful person and friend. I am so thankful that we got to share so many family, particularly racing memories with Frank. There can be many many pages written on Frank's character and the man he was as well as his great sense of humor. The man that Frank was and the life he lived is reflected in his entire family, from wife Sharon to son Kevin, daughter Amy, Frank's twin brother Jim and each of his sons - Jim, Darin and Sante. Each of the Grossi family members are among the most amazing people I have ever been blessed to know and call friends. I hope and pray that we have the opportunity to share many more great conversations and memories together and that we will always speak about Frank and remember him also.

Could write pages about Franks great sense of humor but this one story has been on my mind the most this past few days. We all attended a race in Houston Texas in the late 1990's - Frank, Big Jim, Jimmy, my dad, myself and other friends from southern California. We made a visit to one of our favorite places, Dairy Queen. There were a few of us in each (2) rental vehicle as we drove through the drive-through. I was riding with Frank in the second car when he rear-ended my dad in the drive-through line and started to push him forward, my dad proceeded to place his rental car in reverse and push back and the two cars started smoking the tires against each other and then filled the drive-through window and the whole dairy queen with tire smoke. Hilarious to see grown 50 year old men do this...certainly not as funny for those inside the DQ! LOL After the burnouts we pulled up to the window to get our orders and yet again it was my turn to buy as I lost another bet to Frank! As stated earlier in this thread, Frank was always one step ahead and unfortunately I did not realize this until several years had past and all bets were lost to Frank haha. The bill was around $20, I handed the person at the drive-through a $100 bill to get change and Frank took off and yelled out the window "keep the change" and peeled out and left. It was worth every laugh and fun time with Frank & family.

God Bless you Frank and your family always. You will always be missed and always thought of.

Jimmy DeFrank & Family.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

I can't say enough good things about Mr. Frank, without being repetitious ,

So, RIP, my friend.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Rip

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

AW Dang Dang it. Very sad. Frank was always nice to me. We'd talk engine stuff. And I told him I was building a Sunfire like his and was coming after him. He liked that. always with a laugh or chuckle. Now I'll never get the chance. Time for another goal. RIP Frank. You were great. I've got a cool picture of him giving Art Peterson grief when he won at Pomona by breaking on the starting line, then Gary with the '64 Comet, Ol' Smokey ran it out the back door and broke out.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Very sad to hear the news about Frank.I met Frank,Jim Sr.,and Jim Jr. back in 1993 at the Winternationals. We spent several evenings and days exchanging notes about life and drag racing. I immediately considered them my friends then and now.My condolences to Franks wife and all of the Grossi's.Frank was a great man! Just ask Abe Loewen.He will be missed.Bobby and Nancy Rashid.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

RIP

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

Allen Wade asked me to post a picture of his 69 Camaro. Formerly raced by Frank.

http://imgur.com/gallery/Omev74H



Allen is planning on bringing it out to the World Finals this year.

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

so sorry to hear this sad news nice guy great racer always said hello ----rip frank

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

So sad to learn of Frank Grossi passing. I first met Frank when his nephew Darin became the driver of my Cuda. What a time we had. The Grossi Family took me in like I was one of their own and I experienced the most fun I ever had. Frank was the character of the group. He made reservations for dinners, always at a good place and motels where ever we were going to race. Never had to worry about a room because Frank always had us covered.
I saw Frank at his best when he won the race and at his worst when he was hanging upside down in the car at the finish line at Sonoma. Frank got a helicopter ride that day to the hospital in Napa to get checked out. When Darin and I arrived at the hospital, we walked into Franks room and the first thing he said was "I guess I put on a pretty good show" with a big grin on his face.
My condolences to Sharon, Big Jim, Darin, Jim jr, Sante and the rest of the family. They are a special group of people.
RIP Frank until we meet again.

Dave Schmitz

Re: RIP Frank Grossi
 

i cant say anything different than everyone else has already said. the GROSSI family are very special people friendly to all. Frank will be missed by everyone that knew him. we got to meet them in the early 80s when we both ran ss/ea (he was faster) dad kept in touch till his passing the WOOD family will miss him..........