12 replies to this topic

[Shruska55]

The Leader of the Pack is gone.

 

Chris Tanner, the intrepid host of the Tyler Slot Car Model Racing Club, passed away in his sleep last evening at home. His strength and courage in overcoming his physical limitations to achieve his life goals is a testament to his celebration of life.

 

Please take a moment of silence for Chris Tanner today. He will be miss by all who knew him, loved him and called him friend.

 

 

 

[aquavelvis]

Sorry to hear of this. I was privileged to race and hang with Chris at tracks in Buffalo and Dallas several years ago. He was a very nice man. 

[MSwiss]

Sad news.

 

He was a real slot racing enthusiast, and a great guy to converse with by PM.

 

May Chris rest in peace.

[Phil Smith]

Never met him, but heard good things about him from my local friends that raced with him.

 

RIP, Chris.

[Cheater]

Chris entered his birthday as Feb 23, 1956, in his Slotblog profile, so I have changed the subject line to reflect that.

[Tim Neja]

So sorry to hear another of our slot racing brethren has passed. Prayers for his family.

 

RIP, Chris.

[Tex]

I'm heartbroken. Chris and his Tyler gang introduced me and others to the joys of racing realistic harbody cars and we showed him and his guys what Retro cars were. He had a great sense of humor and was a tough competitor... no quarter taken or given.

 

He was a very fast racer and it was mind-boggling how he was able to do all his own car setup by himself. His house was filled, every room, with slot cars and models of all kinds... cars, planes, tanks, you name it. And R/C stuff too. We'll miss him terribly.

 

RIP, Chris; save us a spot at the driver's panel.

[Cheater]

Here is Chris's obituary:

 

Cristopher Dale Tanner of Tyler, Texas, passed away in his sleep on Monday, April 11, 2022, at the age of 66. Chris was born in Atlanta, Georgia, and lived there until he was 12 and the family moved to Tyler. After arriving in Tyler in January of 1969, Chris was injured in a diving accident in July 1969 and was paralyzed from the neck down at the age of 13. That was the beginning of his 53 years in a wheelchair.

 

Chris graduated from Robert E. Lee high school in 1974 and attended college at Ryder University in New Jersey, as his family moved there for a short time. Chris finished his college at UT Tyler, obtained his CPA license, and began his career as an accountant. He had his own practice for years and did very well. As he got old his physical energy began to diminish and eventually he had to give up full-time work. He still continued to work for DeLong Enterprise and that ended on Monday when he passed away.

 

He worked for the DeLongs for over 40 years and had a very close relationship with them and especially Billy. Billy would come by and see Chris usually once a week and spent time talking about all the world's problems. Our mom took very good care of Chris until she could no longer physically do so and our dad lived with him for several years before he passed away. Chris has been living by himself since 2006. He had a caregiver that came in the morning to get him up and put him at bed at night but otherwise he functioned very well on his own up until the last year. Chris’s last caregiver, Katrina, came every day for the past eight years!

 

Chris’s love and passion was slot car racing which began about 25 years ago. This is what kept Chris going. And his racing buddies became a family. These group of guys took such good care of Chris and we are forever grateful. Chris was also an obsessive model collector and we have rooms and rooms of models to show for it!

 

Chris Is survived by his brother Greg (Bonita) Tanner of Tyler and sister Terry White (Tom) of Amarillo, Texas, and many nieces and nephews. A special thank you to David Berry who went above and beyond what a normal friend does for you.

 

There will be a graveside service Saturday, April 16, at 10:30 AM and then everyone is invited back to his house for slot car racing and lunch.

[Dennis David]

After the graveside service there will be slot car racing at his house. How appropriate and in loving memory.

[Tex]

Once the graveside services concluded, I didn't hang around; I didn't know the vast majority of the people there (except the slot racers), so I headed for Chris' house. Being the first one to arrive there, I went into the garage where the track was, turned on the lights and shut the door. I sat there looking around. It was so still and quiet. I realized I would never be back at Chris' place again.

[Horsepower]

Once the graveside services concluded, I didn't hang around; I didn't know the vast majority of the people there (except the slot racers), so I headed for Chris' house. Being the first one to arrive there, I went into the garage where the track was, turned on the lights and shut the door. I sat there looking around. It was so still and quiet. I realized I would never be back at Chris' place again.

 

Very nice, Tex, and well spoken. It is sad, but at the very least it seems he had many good people there for him, and I suspect far more waiting for him on the other side. Don't forget to turn out the lights. 

[Tex]

There are plans to move the track to one of the racers' property who regularly raced at Chris' place. It will still be a two-hour drive or so for me but at least I'll be able to get my slot car fix once in a while.

 

I backed away from serious competitive slot racing a couple years ago, only going to Chris' place in Tyler once every four-five months to "play with toy cars." Once set up, hardbody cars require little attention.

 

I think back to when I re-discovered slot cars at River Oaks Motor Speedway (suburb of Ft. Worth) back in the summer of 2006. I think back on the journey I took from then to now. I went totally whole-hog in when I read about the SoCal guys scratchbuilding chassis in the early D3 days. My mind exploded and I knew I had to scratchbuild again. I didn't know where to get scratchbuilding parts as ROMS didn't have any at the time. I contacted the Buena Park owners (I forget... Chris Gallegos?) and had parts mailed to me. I looked at pics of the chassis the SoCal guys were building and I built two very crude D3 Can-Am chassis and hung all the parts on them. I wanted to have McLaren M6 bodies on both cars. I think JK was the only people who had a McLaren M6 body; it was so unscale that it more resembled a McLaren M8 but I used them anyway. I built two cars because I figured just me running a scratchbuilt D3-style Can-Am car would generate minimal interest from the locals who raced flexis and wing cars. I figured if I built two cars, I could drive one and loan the other one out to anyone interested. It worked.

 

We held our first official D3 Can-Am race in April of 2007. Texas Retro racing grew and even flourished for a while. Actually, I shouldn't use past-tense there; Retro racing is still around at Dallas Slot Cars... it is only me that stepped away. During those years up until two years or so ago, I raced Retro heavily and even raced flexis quite a bit. Chris Tanner and the other Tyler racers introduced us DFW area racers to the joys of hardbody slot cars. As the Grateful Dead sang... "what a long strange trip it's been."

 

But I've stepped away from serious slot racing competition. And I've stepped away from playing music for the time being.

 

My passion now is golf! I practice every day. I play twice a week. I joined a group called "The Grint Tour" and play in nine monthly tournaments. I actually won my flight during the tournament a week ago! Don't get too excited; I am a bogey golfer and my handicap hovers between 18-19 right now. I do think, though, that I will fulfill a lifelong dream of beaking 80 within the next year, albeit on a relatively short course (under 6000 yards).

 

I want to enjoy every day on earth I have left. I was diagnosed with an advanced case of an aggressive form of prostate cancer in late 2001. We've fought it off with drug therapies, surgery, and radiation in the intervening years. In mid-2018, we found out that I will never be fully cured of the cancer... it will eventually take me down. But I have a few years left, maybe as many as five-six.

 

Enjoy every day, folks; there are no guarantees. I heard an old Pink Floyd song earlier, "Time." I get melancholy every time I hear it 'cause there is a line in it that describes part of my life... "no one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun."

 

Get after it, boys; the beer truck may run you over tomorrow.

[Uncle Fred]

I am shocked and deeply saddened to hear of Chris passing. The last time I saw him was when he beat me for the B Main win in Can-Am at Dallas. He would be parked at the end of the console and use a long controller wire extension. I blocked his view whenever I could! 

 

He was a true enthusiast and gentleman who overcame much to compete as well as he did.

 

RIP, Chris...