A Tribute to Jimmy Thrall by a mechanic version 1.2.2   22Jun2006
James Price Thrall, 1954-2004, passed away in an accident at his shop in Reno, Nevada. He will be deeply missed by his family and friends.    This wrench first met Jimmy on a race team in 1978. Jimmy gave the impression right away that he was strong, talented, able to make things happen, and willing to sacrifice personally to get the job done. He became a good friend who stayed in touch for 26 years.
Jimmy loved to hunt, and was careful, methodical, and determined. When a hunt was successful, Jimmy provided food, not just a trophy.	Here's Jimmy double-teaming a tire change when his friend's car cut a right front on the way to deer hunting in Oregon. The stopwatch was running...
	Jimmy's toughness, generosity, and unique abilities were legendary.    During qualifying for the 1979 Indianapolis 500, Jimmy's teammates accidentally ran him over with a Vollstedt/AMC in pit lane. Jimmy flung himself to the side onto the ground & rolled with the car to minimize injury, and did not want to be fussed over after the car spat him out. Everyone else insisted, and Jimmy was drug off to the track hospital where he was officially pronounced OK with only bruises and cuts. The race car did not fare so well in the confrontation and had been returned to the garage for repairs. When Jimmy walked in, he found his teammates standing around feeling awful, ("We HURT Jimmy!"), and doing nothing. He inquired sternly, "Why aren't you FIXING the car?!", and began disassembling it himself.    (Read the whole story about how we ran over Jimmy.) When others suffered misfortune, Jimmy was quick to help. When one of his sisters lost her home to fire, Jimmy gave her his mobile home, sending it from Reno to Oregon.    At a big oval track, a team showed up with an 11-year-old car that was set up for road racing. Jimmy went over and advised them on what they needed to do right away, such as take out the limited slip differential, put in a spool, and stagger the rear tires. They followed Jimmy's advice and their car gained seventy miles per hour.    On another occasion at Indy, the car and team were waiting in the qualifying line, and Jimmy was sitting on the ground with his back up against the side of the right rear. Asleep. He and his teammates had all been up late the night before working on the cars. They were tired, but none of the rest of them could even think of napping because Offys, Cosworths and stock blocks were blasting by at 180+ miles per hour. People walking by were envious. One of them said, "Man, I wish I could do that!".    Once when a race car fell off its quick jack during a pit stop, Jimmy leapt over the car and picked it up so his teammate could finish his tire change. Another teammate stated, "Now THERE'S a RACER."
Jimmy was usually not comfortable being a motorsports spectator, he wanted to be in the race, but when he could join a passle of friends in the stands, it was time to enjoy. Once, he provided his motorhome at trackside at the Portland IMSA GTP event to his family and friends while he worked the whole weekend in the pits.	Jimmy and one of his teammates surrounded by millions of dollars of race equipment, much of which Jimmy built. He was a skilled welder, machinist, metal bender, electrician, driver, mechanic, seat-of-the-pants designer, and much more.
Not only was Jimmy not afraid of difficult work, fun, daunting deadlines, and success, he wasn't afraid of cameras!	Jimmy all suited up for pit stops at a Fontana race. In another era, he probably would've been doing pit stops in a T-shirt and shorts.
Jimmy's uniqueness showed in the way he talked, too. Who could say these quite like he did: Hey, what's up? What it is. Another PERFECT part. No tunes, no work. They'll make more. Hindsight being the exact science it is ... Wrong answer. Good answer! Somebody's gotta do it. The SKY is falling! As it should be. Whasshappening? Make up my mind! The smoke got out. Whose little girl are you? Yellow! Yellow! Yellow! I just did. Time to regroup! What are you STUPID??? What he said.
In high school, Jimmy was often heard to say: I just don't UNDERSTAND it!    When asked about some of the antics that he was involved in during high school, Jimmy would say, like Sgt. Schultz on Hogan's Heroes: I know NOTHINGGGGG

Jimmy took on some of All American Racers' biggest and most unusual projects, including this enormous 5-axis milling machine, big enough to cut a whole car. He had never built one before, but that didn't stop him. When the nearly finished machine didn't have the reach to finish cutting one end of its own huge hold-down table, Jimmy did it by hand, and it was John Henry versus the steam hammer. Jimmy was not defeated.

Jimmy could make the sparks fly. When something needed to be done right away and work right, Jimmy was our man.

Jimmy drew his signature smiley face on his track box. He was generous with his personal tools, loaning them to those who needed them, and quickly & without regret bending & cutting them into special tools for difficult jobs.	Some of the many trophies Jimmy helped win during the years he was at Dan Gurney's All American Racers. Jimmy collected much hardware of his own competing in off-road events with his 4-wheel-drive off-road 1956 Corvette. Once, when he was moving, he pitched a 55-gallon drum full of trophies he'd garnered.
Jimmy Then and Now Life brought us a racer and friend, Who brought us racing and life. He helped us win our battles, Sharing our troubles and strife. After hunting and fabbing and wrenching, And reeling us in a shark stew, We'd hear Jimmy's voice at the lunch truck: "I'll have some red dye number two." Death took away our teammate, Against his powerful will. He left not of his choosing; Of life he'd not his fill. Goodbye, our racing companion, Who warned us not to whine. From over the wall he tells us, "Heaven's rides are top-of-the-line!"
	Farewell, Jimmy
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