R.I.P. Bobby Martindale

We at DePerno racing are deeply deeply sadden!! For today we lost not only a great driver but also a great friend. Bobby Martindale. He drove our car for only one year, but touched our hearts for a lifetime. I can say racing for our team will NEVER be the same. We will continue to ask Bobby for his help and wisdom. We will miss you and love you forever GOD SPEED BOBBY!

 

Very sad news indeed! Godspeed to the Martindale family!

 

Deepest Sympathies

Dale and I send our deepest sympathies to Bobby's family and team. What a horrible accident. All we can hope for is that he felt nothing that happened. I spoke to him at the beginning of this season and he was so excited to get out and race this year. We have all lost a friend.
Godspeed Bobby!

 

Lost another friend today. Godspeed Bobby, RIP buddy.

 

RIP Bobby... Definately not something you want to hear about just before you go to bed... You were a driven racer who won't be forgotten... My thoughts go to his wife, family, and friends tonight...

CJ Curtsinger

 

What a shame. Bobby seemed like a great guy, although I didn't know him personally.

Bobby was a frequent contributor on ITA.com. Ironically, this is one topic I remember him posting on.
http://www.insidetopalcohol.com/showthread.php?t=17283




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Condolences to the Martindale Family and Friends.
I check the Race results daily and as I was at Atco yesterday did not see this VERY SAD news until this morning. I did not know Bobby very well but got to meet him this year at the Atlanta Nats. What sticks in my mind is to see Bobby you would never know the kind of person he was. There was a team there from CA that the owner needed to get his F/C to a body shop a few hours from the track. None of his own team was offering to take the car, Bobby was just there talking with another team and offered to take the car himself. What a guy, even bigger heart may you rest in peace.
Kurt

 

"News" like this is never easy to accept...knew Bobby for some 40 years...dating back to our years with the Tom"Smoker"Smith...East Coast Fuel Funny Car Circuit ("Tonka" Mustang) ...Bobby was truly a "salt of the earth guy"... a good,good "dude"...he had such incredible passion & dedication to be a funny car "guy"...never really had the mean$...but boy, he did have the "Heart"...he always found a way to get out there ...when he could...if only, I'd had his resolve...I had/have the means..it just ceased being "fun" for me... some time ago...Bobby will surely be missed by many...and I feel the void already...God Speed my friend..I'll deeply miss the "times"...and those "marathon" phone calls...with all our love and prayers to/for you and your family... I've always been a "lucky" guy..."just lucky" enough...to have had your friendship...Drake Viscome

 

Man talk about a prophetic post! What a Damn shame!

 

Bunny

Hearing about Bobby's crash through an RFC Pastor on Saturday really makes you do some deep down sole searching. I have raced many times with him in my 43 years of competition. To everyone that knew him, was aware of the fact that his heart was a bunch bigger than his pocketbook. Bobby, like a lot of us "More Mature", drivers, (by our ages only), want to race for as long as we can do so, without being a danger to fellow racers or ourselves. Sometimes wether you are young or "more mature" your "want to" takes over your "can do", always trying to compete without the necessary funds, parts and crew.
. Being one of the "Bobby's" myself, I feel that we have to find some good from his death. Maybe it is a message for all of us to check everything on our cars twice. No, we can not stop our engines from failing, like Bobby's or Scott's, but we can be sure that we done everything that we could, as a team to make sure that we done our part to be safe, no matter how big your wallet is. To all Crew that works on a racecar...remember that you are in charge of a driver's life. Being a crew member is more than "profiling". To all of us Car owners/drivers, the days are over that we look at a part on our car and say "Oh, it's OK for one more run! Bobby and I always joked that we were going to race for as long as "God allowed us to, as long as the charge cards lasted and if we were still having fun!!~" I know I am speaking for Bobby, when I say HE WAS STILL HAVING FUN.! Bunny

 

I was on Bobby's "crew" this weekend. I'm building a TAD and Bobby and I had talked a couple of times about doing some parts swapping. He offered to let me help out this weekend so I could learn some of the race procedure. Two other guys were there that had only been with Bobby for one other race. Bobby understood our lack of experience and supervised us and double checked our work closely. He adjusted the clutch and did a pill change. We test ran the car 4 times because Bobby wanted to tweak the clutch and fuel injection. The fuel shut-off and mag kill worked flawlessly each time. We even bled the brakes because he thought they seemed a little soft. They were fine after. We checked the chute cables and Bobby supervised packing them.

I looked in the car and saw that he had the pour in place seat, helmet pads, roll bar shields, Stroud belts. He was wearing a Simpson suit, Impact helmet and Hans devise. While the car might have been less than state-of-the-art, he took safety very seriously. Nothing could have survived the pine forest after the catch fence at that speed.

I had only met him Friday, but he impressed me in that short amount of time. He was friendly, funny, patient, and knowledgable. When we finally got back to the pits after the crash, there were about 50 people there to help us tear down the pits. The mood was somber, but it was easy to see that many people loved Bobby.

 

Tony Schumacher-My Hero
Bunny Burkett- My Heroine
Spending time with either one of them... PRICELESS!!!!
Bunny, Thank you very much for that touching emotional tribute to Bobby Martindale. I did not know Bobby at all. Had heard of him. I never got the honor to ever watch him race. I am almost certain that Bobby is up there in that great BIG Drag Strip in the Sky-Smiling down on all of us.
Thank you Bunny Burkett!!!!

 

God Speed.

Rip Mr. Martindale, May god be with you and your loveones.

 

My Freind ,we Love You

Bobby,
I remember the nite not to long ago we were getting our Outlaw T.A.D. ready to go to Outer Banks.We were eating seafood and telling old war stories,what touched me the most was how much you still hurt after loosing your daughter.
You told me that you looked forward to seeing her again and it brought a tear to my eyes as i have in them writing you this letter.I know you are reading this now as i know when you were not working on racecars you were on Insidetopalcohol.com.
Well Ol'freind the only thing I see positive out of this is I know in my heart that you are happy now.
Bobby,
Kim and I will always have a place in our hearts for you my freind,God Bless you buddy,tell your daughter we said hi,we love you.
Thank you for all your help and freindship over the years.

Ellis & Kim Vial
A.D.R.L. Pro-Xtreme #119

 

I never met Bobby nor many of the members here, but we all share a love for the sport and from being a driver to being crew we are all family at heart.

I know WE lost a family member this week and can only hope this doesn,t happen again....RIP Bobby

 

R.I.P. Bobby, you will be missed terribly.

All of your friends @ Brothers Powder Coating are in shock at this terrible tragedy. We remember you fondly for who you were, and how any one you talked to instantly liked you from the start. You said this was your final year in tribute to your daughter Nikki, but we didn't want to let you leave us this soon. Now we know you are beside her looking over all of us as we struggle in our everyday lives, missing the smile you put on all of our faces as we think of you. One day we will be there with you at the big track in the sky, so until then - GODSPEED BOBBY!!!

 

We're all gonna miss ya,God bless and rest in peace.

 

in memory

How to celibrate a life..I've spent the past two days trying to understand this tragedy and the impact of a life..Bobby's love of dragracing and funnycars in partcular, spanned several decades. For you kids in the sport,he started when funny cars were fun! A time when you could load your car on a hauler, take your best buddy and pick up another on the way to the races. A time when winning wasn't the "only" thing. The goal was to go fast and have a good time. For the past 20 years that I've been around funny cars, he's tried to keep that feeling around him. It was not unusual for Bobby to show up a day early with the car in pieces and build it right there,smiling and laughing the whole time.He was always welcome where ever he went and that love of racing was infectious. He never had the newest stuff, but he would give up what you needed to make the next round without a second thought.When he came and asked for help, it was an honor to oblige him.It has been a privledge to know him, A privledge to stage next to him. I'll miss him but I know he's in good company. Pete ,Dick,Charlie,Tim,RC., Kosty,Rich,Scott,Jungle,what a group!
But knowing him, I'll bet he has a matchrace already booked..(my guess is
Jungle).Now back to the next generation,please honor his memory by
stepping back from the competition long enough to be sure you are having fun.Be diligent about your safety and that of your competition.
Rest in peace Bobby... until we race again.

 

service

Bobby Joe Martindale will be laid to rest on Friday. Services will be at Morrissett Funeral Home in Richmond,VA Thursday 5-8