Dear VARA members,
Some of you may have already heard about John Giller our pace car driver, but for others this will come as a complete shock. John has not been at our last two VARA events as he had a sudden and devastating diagnosis of terminal lung cancer. He spent 5 weeks at Hoag Hospital and has been sent home for hospice. Although I have known about this since just after our Auto Club speedway event, John needed his time. John is now ready to hear from his friends at VARA. John has been such a long time VARA family member volunteer and supporter. I am certain many of you would like to send your thoughts of love and support to John at this very difficult time. Anyone of you who had family and friends enjoy a special pace car ride with John or you racers who were always looked after by John, please take the time to let him know how much you care about him. Last Saturday October 3, Dan and I had the privilege to attend a beautiful ceremony where John and his long time love Leslie were married. It was such an honor to be there and to see them both. John and Leslie are planning on attending our Big Bore Bash event on Saturday November 7th, you can be sure we will do something special in his honor at this race.

It would be great if you could post a note to John here on the message board or you can send him an email at jsgiller@earthlink.net" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false - He does have a spam filter on his email so you may need to respond to an email to get it through to him. You can send a card or letter to 940 Irvine Ave # A110 Newport Beach, CA 92663. Which ever way you prefer to reach out to John, I am certain it would mean the world to him. In times like these, I am astounded by a person's strength. I had the opportunity to have a nice long chat with John last Saturday. He is at peace and thankful for all the wonderful things in his life including VARA. For me, I am blessed to have John as my friend and I am praying for a miracle. We love you John!

John,

Thank you so much for all your help and support on and off the track. You are one hell of a man and my family and I thank you for all you have done for us. Spending time with you and the LD gang in the pits after the races was one of the reasons I showed up at the track. There are some people you just meet at the track that make a long lasting impression on you.... You are one of them. The way you treated my children, the pace car rides, the racing advice and the great friendship means so much to me.

Thank you for everything you have done for us.

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your entire family.

Love ya Buddy..
Mark Scott & the Scott Family

John,

As someone who has benefited greatly from your generosity, I want to say thanks. You've taken virtually everyone I've known who's come to the track around for a hot lap or pace lap; always smiling and offering great info too. Plus, you're always super-friendly on the grid, which helps calm the nerves of us drivers.

VARA is a better club because of you; please know this!

Michelle & Chris Horn

John;
Be assured that Karen's and my prayers and thoughts are with you. We as drivers want to thank you so much for the fine job you have done and your generosity and kindness in taking various family members around the track in the pace car. In each and every case they made a point of telling us what a professional job you did and how informative you were about why you drive a specific line. It has been a pleasure to be able to spend time with you at the races and share views on racing in general.
Murray and Karen Chalmers

I write this sad condolence from a hotel room in suburban Boston... I'm here to visit my older brother at his death's bed. He has terminal cancer, as does John. I'll be missing the Jeff Saltman Memorial..
My only relationship with John has been the smile and wave on the grid... John & I both know that this seemingly casual relationship is more than it would seem. Without John's enthusiastic participation (along with countless other volenteers!) we would not be able to jump out of the real world, and into a barrel of monkeys to have the times of our lives...
Thank you John, and know that we all, drivers, workers, and spectators, owe you a large measure of gratitude... but you know that already, don't you! Love you man...
Rick Clemente

A SHORT STORY about John... John has been a great spokes person for vintage racing by giving spectators and friends rides in the pace car on race weekend... Maybe any person could drive the pace car, but only "JOHN" could make a experience seem more real and exciting. WE have had him chauffer literally hundreds of customers, clients and friends in the pace car, and everyone had a wonderful experience and came back with a fabulous story. Usually the pace car ride was the highlight of their weekend at the track!
At the Spring BUTTONWILLOW race, we had a new photographer and fan with us, TOM.... Tom had heard about the pace car rides from our other photo guy, ROY.. Tom wanted very much to experience this thrill ride. After a brief intro to JOHN.. Tom piled into the back of the pace car with his 90 lbs of cameras and lens. I was on the pole for the race and Tom was hoping for some very special close up shots looking back from the pace car at the race cars... Well he got the shots and a heck of a roller coaster ride looking backwards through the esses at BUTTONWILLOW. When John came to a stop in the pits, old Tom thanked him and hurried off to a secluded grassy area. Seems that the backwards ride was a bit more than old TOM'S stomach could take, and he did not want to let anyone know that lunch was up again ......HA HA HA.. It was a huge thrill for Tom and you would have thought he was riding in the INDY 500 pace car!!! TOM gushed about the ride the rest of the weekend, and he said a little discomfort and embarrassment was well worth it....
Another good story was about ROY. Roy was a first time visitor to vintage races this year at our ROUTE 66 event and he has come to 3 VARA events since then with us. I think he has riden with John each and every time, plus done some noontime drive arounds. Well Roy also went with us to Laguna Seca for the UNCORKED event with our INDY car. So Roy singed up to ride in teh UNCORKED pace car during our event. Well anyway, after our race, "ROY" came back to our pits and he had a very sour look on his face. He then explained that the pace car ride was awful..too slow... and the driver did not even follow the proper line like "JOHN" does ! WE went into much deeeper detail of why JOHN is a better pace car driver and gives a much better ride !.....me, I am laughing my ass off... Because he was right as rain!.....

JOHN thanks for adding color , and speed, and noise to so many peoples lives...

TEAM SABINA

John, many members of my family have benefited from the time you took for pace laps and hot laps. You are one of the keystones of the VARA family, who welcome any and all gearheads to join them. I would bet there are hundreds, if not thousands, who have loved their rides in the pace car. I'm looking forward to seeing you at Big Bore Bash, my brother!

I have had the job of taking photos from all types of pace cars with all type of drivers at tracks all over the US. John is the best he is safe and fun. The one thing I could count on is that ea lap is going to be the same when you are on your knees backwords holding your gear trying not to drop anything and get the shot you want a good driver. You are one of the few people that go out of your way to make sure that other people come first. You know you helped me with the hard times I had ove the last few years I will never forget them. It is time to let us help you with any thing you want or need.
Thank you for all you have done for all of us...........
Wayne

Hi John, I have so many things I want to say to you, so many memories to share with you but how can a person express what it takes years to build. You are my buddy, my pal, my friend. My heart aches at this news of your medical situation. I am grateful to know of this however so myself, Larry and others can share our joy in knowing you, loving you and being together in this process called life.

Your hugs will be the best part of what I will hold in my heart. Next will be your smile. Then that John Wayne style you have at sliding up next to me and saying something quiet so only we could hear like, "if you come back in 2 races, I'll be sure and get your friends in the pace car".

John your just the best and if we could have your pace car bronzed we would, but I don't think Tuttle Click would approve.

I hope to see you at Willow if its in the cards for you to be here. I want and need one more big hug from you my friend. My love, my blessings, my heart are with you and with Leslie, today, tommorrow and always.

Sue Hasseler (pink suit)
Datsun 510

Just saw this on the Caring Bridge site:

John Giller passed away today 21 November 2009

A Moment of Silence...