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Checkered Flag in Hand
Posted 14 January 2020 - 07:30 AM
On 12/3/2019, Todd Messinger posted that he had been diagnosed with ALS. At our last night's event, I was told that he had passed. Todd was a skilled modeler, racer, and historian. He was a mainstay at Pelican Park Speedway in Eugene Oregon. He will be sorely missed by the slot car community and all of his friends and family.
RIP, friend.
Below is an image of Todd (left) and Mike Nabor snapped in November of 2008 after winning the four-hour "Turkey Nite" enduro.
Rich Vecchio
Headmaster of the asylum
Posted 14 January 2020 - 07:53 AM
So sorry to hear this, Rich.
Todd was a very early member here at Slotblog, having joined in February 2006.
Gregory Wells
Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap
Grand Champion Poster
Posted 14 January 2020 - 08:48 AM
My condolences, Rich...
Age scrubs away speed!
Posted 14 January 2020 - 09:09 AM
Todd was a very good spokesperson for slot car racing. I've seen him on various boards for at least 20 years. I'll miss his posts which I enjoyed reading. My condolences to his family.
From what I saw in photos, Todd had quite the collection of slot car racers.
Posting Leader
Posted 14 January 2020 - 09:58 AM
Sorry for Todd's family and sorry for his loss to us slotters.
Being a real scale builder he got a couple 1/25 resin bodies from me 25 years ago or more. He only wanted 1/25, no 1/24. I had done a couple pretty crude bodies. Doug Haines started doing lots of 1/25 about that time and he supplied most of the Pelican Park guys after that. That early connection led to following the great builds and racing that Todd and the Pelican Park guys did. He was a great modeler and great advocate for scale race cars and had the ties going back to the early '60s.
Knowing how cruel ALS is. I was really sorry to see him get afflicted with this terrible disease. Thankfully he did have to live a few years with no physical abilities. I believe Todd was 83.
MB
Matt Bishop
Headmaster of the asylum
Posted 14 January 2020 - 10:10 AM
Todd listed his birthdate in his Slotblog profile as August 9, 1938, so he was 81 when he passed.
Gregory Wells
Never forget that first place goes to the racer with the MOST laps, not the racer with the FASTEST lap
Grand Champion Poster
Posted 14 January 2020 - 11:24 AM
RIP to Todd. Prayers for his family. I hope I can reach 81 also! God bless.
Race Leader
Posted 14 January 2020 - 12:33 PM
My condolences to Todd's family.
I met him when we both raced at MESAC in the 1970s, he was a nice guy and a very good builder and racer of scale cars.
RIP, Todd.
Grand Champion Poster
Posted 14 January 2020 - 01:33 PM
I've always wanted to meet Todd and I've always wanted to go to Pelican Park.
I'm sure we would have talked for hours, but not about slot cars; we'd have talked about flying.
RIP, Todd.
Jim "Butch" Dunaway
I don't always go the extra mile, but when I do it's because I missed my exit.
All my life I've strived to keep from becoming a millionaire, so far I've succeeded.
There are three kinds of people in the world, those that are good at math and those that aren't.
No matter how big of a hammer you use, you can't pound common sense into stupid people, believe me, I've tried.
Race Leader
Posted 31 January 2020 - 12:41 AM
Todd was both gracious and helpful in answering my questions about MESAC and Pelican for a couple of my research papers on slot cars over the years. He will be missed.
Eddie
