Last Friday was a sad day as it was announced that Gene Cook had passed away, the very next day news came through that we had also lost Bill Jane.

Two important figures of the Stock Car scene in Australia, Gene among his many achievements was one of the longest active Stock Car drivers in Australia and was the second last person to win a race for Ford on the Thunderdome and Bill was a well-respected, hardworking man who among achievements worked hard on trying to save Stock Car racing from its eventual fall in the late 90s, the archived editions of Motorsport News tells of his work and the level of respect people had for him.

Some thoughts have been expressed in posts comments about what Gene had done outside of the race car, there is a time and a place to discuss actions that were taken by people in life, publishing these thoughts on posts about their death are not the time or the place to do that, those posts are for condolences and memories, not an opportunity to sink the boot in.

Coming up on November 22 at Calder Park Raceway is a Track Day and that is good news for those who love or are curious about Richard White Racing as the #3 Lumina will be there doing laps of the circuit as part of their Team Ride Day.

If you’re interested in finding out all about Richard White Racing and Stock Cars Australia, come along to Calder Park, watch the action and have a chat with Richard.

Meanwhile, over at Jake Frisch Motorsport, work continues on the Pontiac, a racing pedal box has been acquired by the team and so another piece of the puzzle is ready to put into place.

The championship stories of Danny Burgess and Colin Matton have been well received with 62 reads apiece which is very good for them both, coming up next are the stories of Scott Nind and Michael Rice.

We got some information on the ex-Ian Thomas #2 Lumina that Zac has sitting under cover, living out its days comfortably under shelter.

While looking for information on Aroneck Racing, we came across posts by Danny Crump who was team manager of the team, so a message was sent to him and to our great surprise, we got an answer back.

“Car 3 was a superspeedway car. Jerry O’Neil drove the car at Daytona, Atlanta and Charlotte. It was a good car prepared by Doug Taylor. Originally it was an Oldsmobile.“

So, there we have it fellow humans, the car was one that was used at Daytona, Atlanta and Charlotte by Aroneck Racing and put together by the highly regarded Doug Taylor.

Zac has the #1 Commodore and the #27 Monte Carlo being prepared for 2025 action, but he also has a small line of cars waiting for their turn to get restored and returned to the track including the #19 Pontiac Grand Prix that was a regular contender for wins by Mark Harrison.

The car has a long way to go, and it will take a couple of years, it got crumpled in the back post V8 Stock Cars and other things in the car will need doing but it is still a beautiful looking car as you can see.

Don’t forget if you’re thinking of getting yourself a post-Christmas present, do consider buying one of the many fantastic vehicles that are for sale.

You could be the new owner of a Toyota chassis, an Oldsmobile roller, one of the best OzTrucks in Australia, one of few Trucks in country or a ready to go Ford Falcon Sportsman.

If you want to sell your vehicle, drop a line and we’ll promote it for you for free, don’t forget to tell us if it has been sold.

Word is that an ex-Bill Elliott #11 Ford Thunderbird is for sale in New Zealand in the 30k-40k range, it is a good idea to look around at overseas sales as well as local because you may find a vehicle at just the right price after factoring in currency and shipping.

Imagine a future SCA round with Chevrolet, Ford, Dodge and Pontiac in it and there’s the ex-Marcos Ambrose Toyota chassis for $12,000, so many possibilities.

We’re still looking for anybody who has information on the whereabouts of the #05 Commodore, this is the car that burned at the Thunderdome and was rebuilt for competition, the Commodore has not been heard about since the late 90s.

As usual, we’re still looking for the confirmed origins of the #3 Lumina, above was the #3 Lumina in a previous life, the Brad Jones ride car ‘George’, every week we’re here searching for the one person who knows (those who have owned it don’t know) and can help us prove what the car was before Brad Jones got it.

As mentioned, many times before, we’ve looked at Ron Goodman’s Oldsmobile, Walter Giles cars as it said to be his show car, any NASTRAK car that was photographed, and we’ve even looked at the Country Time Pontiac as well as any car that has had the usage of pink.

Does anybody know where the Walter Giles show car went after he left the sport? That’s another thing to track down.

Hopefully we can find somebody who worked on Ron Goodman’s team in 1992 that can confirm whether the Oldsmobile that had raced on the Gold Coast in 1992 was given back to George Elliot or confirm that it was actually turned into the #05 Commodore, there is conflicting information on that.

As you can see, the light pink in the interior of the car goes right to the very bottom of the #3 Lumina, somebody has to recognise this shade of pink on a car, it is not common.

We probably do have all the answers right in front of us but without proof, it is merely speculation and anybody who has watched Pawn Stars knows that a paper trail is important with valuable items.

That’s the news and views for this week, drop a line if you would like us to keep people updated with car statuses, wanting to sell a car, wanting to buy a car or just feel like writing in.

We have six editions to go for this year and we’re looking forward to telling you more news, views and other information.

See you next week.