John Shoemaker Passed Away Today

John Shoemaker of American Eagle fame died today in a racing accident at the March Meet. Rest In Peace John

 

I read this on DRC. Very Sad day for sure.

Our condolences to his family and God Speed for John. May he rest in peace.

 

Very sad indeed. Prayers out to wife Judy and the crew and family.

 

John Shoemaker

Oh my God; Judy, I'm thinking of you. What a loss to the history of this sport. There are no better people in the sport than John and Judy. I last chatted with John at Mission B.C. last year just before he headed out to display/fire the car down town. His enthusiasm was like that of a teenager going on a date. We are all less with your loss.
Jeff Johnsen

 

This is such sad news. When my dad phoned me earlier today from Bakersfield and told me, I couldn't believe it. John is a gentleman and a great racer, and we'll miss him a lot. We went to a lot of the same races together in the 80's and 90's, and have the utmost respect for John and his wife.

I'm so sorry Judee, please call us if you need anything.

 

Condolences and prayers go out to John's family and friend's.

 

John and Judy are two of the nicest people in dragracing. John always had a smile on his face and never had a bad word to say about anyone. He was truely a gentleman.

Judy I'm very sorry for your loss.

Lawren

 

john

one of the best moments of my life was helping john and judy when they won the winternationals in tad . i always get a smile when i think of you guys, be strong judy. lynn engels

 

From Phoenix Motorsports

I happened to go over to the classified section and thought it only right to copy and repost this for The Shoemaker Family from Phoenix Motorsports.


Yesterday John Shoemaker passed in a top end crash in his Nostalga AA/F dragster in Bakersfield. He was a great man, husband, chassis builder and racer, he will be deeply missed. I always enjoyed watching his lovely wife Judy back up the American Eagle dragster, with a small American flag held high above her head, a tradition carried by Judy for coutless years, you guys are a class act. Godspeed John Shoemaker, rest in peace.

Last edited by PHOENIX MOTORSPORTS : Today at 03:17 PM. Reason: Text

 

Wow, what a shame! I never met John Shoemaker, only that I remember seeing him run back in the mid 80's when I first started following drag racing seriously. He'll surely be missed!

 

john will be missed

Wow, what a shock. John was a real nice guy and dedicated racer. Judee, our prayers go out to you and your family that God will help you find the strength you need in this most difficult time. Rest in peace John.

 

Here's a photo of John back in his "Clark Kent" glasses days that I dug out of one of our photo albums. We will all miss you John.

 

I was shocked to hear the sad news of John's passing.

John raced quite a bit in Division 6, Top Alcohol Dragster, and we raced him often. He and Judee were some of the people who I looked forward to seeing at the track, and there are a number of great memories.

I remember one year in Yakima, when they were getting the car ready for the Final Round. Judee had a handful of contingency stickers, and John was quickly putting them on. Judee asked John, 'do we have Hooker or Headman headers?', and John replied 'Hooker on one side, Headman on the other!'.

Another time, several years later, I was in the staging lanes in Medford, near the end of the day, and I saw John pulling up in his tow vehicle, with his TAD. On the windshield it said "LIC" which ment they were going to make a licensing run. I walked up and asked John, 'Man, is this one of those deals where you get so old, they make you take your drivers license again?'. Judee got quite a laugh, and John just smiled that smile of his. Turns out they were letting Mike Austin, one of their long time crew guys make licensing runs. Mike competes today in TAD.

John's T/F car above is beautiful.

Our thoughts and prayers will be with Judee, and the rest of John's family and friends.

- Godspeed, John

 

John Shoemaker

On behalf of Mark Niver's Billet Bullet team, we wish to send out our deepest condolences to Judee and all of the Shoemaker family. Godspeed John.

 

John Shoemaker

We used to race against John a lot in the 90's and always respected the man for what he was able to do with what he had. John was a fierce competitor and will by missed by the Hyland Family.

 

It seem's like yesterday we were celebrating John's 65th Birthday... Randy made cake and everything!!
John got a laugh about it all, and now we say goodbye-
All my love and thanks to John and Judee...
RIP- John