This is from Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins Facebook page: Some very sad news to report. Bill Jenkins passed away early this morning. We have truely lost a great man. Godspeed Bill and THANK YOU for everything.
I heard he was sick and in the hospital near Philly but this is still sad news Grumpy used to do a lot of match races (best 2 out of 3) at a strip here in PA called Numidia Dragways back in the mid 70's. He was a crowd pleaser for sure with his many versions of Grumpy's Toy.
Here is a good read on his history, it would be a tall order to fill his shoes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Jenkins_(drag_racer)
Had the pleasure of working beside Grumpy in 1994. I was with the small independent Pro Stock team of Ash & Worden. We used Jenkins power. Had some great conversations with him and many memories from those race weekends. RIP Grumpy
Sad news He was an exceptional Man, Who Lived for 82 Years in the Fast Lane Gods Reaction Time was a Little Faster this time But, Im sure He has Big plans for Him up there Probably start out with some shifting lessons from Grumpy. RIP GRUMPY
Soory to read of his passing. He was surly one of the greats in Drag racing. Watched him many a time. Was a great competitor right to the end.
He may have been from the other camp, but he was a great one. I remember reading about the Vega, and wanted one to build. I finally did build one, but never finished it. A lot of my drag racing heroes all already gone, this is just another one of them. Makes me feel old for some reason......
This is very sad news for racing fans. I spent some time hanging out around Grumpy as a youngster in the pits at Cecil County back in the 60's and 70's. A tid bit of humor to share of my great memories of Grumpy. It was the 1970 season, Grumpy and Sam Auxier Jr were the main attraction that weekend. Grumpy had his Vega and Sam had his Maverick. Well Sam launched that monster, hooked hard and ripped the rear axle perches off the tubes and trashed the floor boards, he was done. Grumpy made an announcement to anyone who wanted to challange him it would be one run and winner takes all. A young kid stepped up to the task. He had a Dark Green 428 Firebird named "Passionate Poncho". As most of you know Grumpy always had a cigar in his mouth and this time was no different. They ran heads up and the kid just flat out smoked him. When Grumpy came back into the pits he cut it to short and ran over the megaphone pipe sicking out the back of a pretty quick little VW Beetle and snapped it off along with the flange casting on the heads. When he got out of the car the first thing we all noticed was his cigar was gone. We asked him where his cigar was and all he said was "It's a good thing it wasn't lit, I swallowed it". Followed by "Damn that kids good". RIP Peace Grump and thanks for the shifting hints my friend. God Bless.
Ok, Im really bothered by this because besides getting the who is that from my daughters while we were talking about Grumpy on our recent drive to Dearborn (closest Place to Heaven on Earth) I realized again how screwed up our society has become you have a Movie star or Musician that either Screws there Life up or Kills them selves by pumping illegal substances, missusing something, or just out and out being in moral even Sports Stars, Political Leaders it doesnt matter if they do something wrong or Die its all over the news and a Icon to Drag racing, Hot Rodding, Nascar, Racing, and the performance world About the only thing that has not really become corrupt Dies and nothing, so from I am disturbed by this come on they say as American as apple Pie but, there just overpayed for doing what they enjoyed. How about a little respect and aknoledgement for the ones that Over Pay for doing what they enjoy doing maybe if there was and more people were like the Drag Racing and Hot Rod community this Country would be different place and People would help out one another. How many times Have you lent some one a tool or a hand when there in need of it..Thank you for letting me vent on this and GRUMPY Jenkins you will be missed greatly by Sport u gave so much to making it all buisness and no nonsense.
Wnen I first saw Grumpy run he was driving his Vega. From that day forward, I had that same need to build a V8 Vega or Pinto. I actually helped a friend of mine build a 427 Turbo 400 powered 77 Vega but never got to my own. When my 72 Gran Torino finally rotted apart enough for me to pull out the drivetrain and junk the rest, I thought once again "Big Motor - Little Car". I Looked for a Pinto or a 65 Falcon with no luck - only this 70 Maverick was offered to me------- for free. So now thinking back, I might not have my Maverick now if it wasn't for Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins
Sad to hear this news about Grumpy. I was at the Gatornationals about 5 years ago, and while we were walking through the Pro Stock pits, we got to Larry Morgans camp. Much to my surprise, who was working with him? .... Bob Glidden and Grumpy Jenkins !?! ... never thought I would ever see that. As Larry was autographing my shirt, I loudly asked, to be sure they all heard me, "How'd you ever get these two to work with you, at the same time?" ... his reply, "Dunno' ... guess they feel sorry for me ..." ... a good laugh for all. RIP Grumpy.
