There’s an old saying that things, good or bad, occur in threes.
After what happened from Oct. 9 to Oct. 21, I’m convinced there’s a lot of truth in that old adage.
During those two weeks in October, three close friends passed away — Bobby Batson, Ray Cooper and Shav Glick.
All three were talented at what they did and contributed to motorsports during their brief time on Earth.
Batson, besides being a journalist and a college sports information director at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., was the director of information at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Cooper started off as a sportswriter at the Greensboro (N.C.) News & Record before becoming a manufacturer public relations rep for Chevrolet and Dodge. Cooper set the benchmark for the industry in that category.
Glick was one of the best writers — bar none — I’ve ever read. He could do things with the English language in his reporting of motorsports that were heads and heels over his competitors.
He worked for the Los Angeles Times for a large part of his career. Glick’s writing will live forever.
Batson died in Concord, N.C., Cooper in Greensboro, N.C., and Glick in Los Angeles.
While I ran with Batson and Cooper and have stories of each I’ll remember, it was Glick who was the most interesting and intriguing.
A lot of people never got to read any of Glick’s work because there was very little circulation of the Times in the South or East. We got to read his stuff when we went west for races.
Some of us were more fortunate.
At one time, Union Oil, through its 76 brand, sponsored the Union-76 Panel of Experts, consisting of motorsports writers who would, from time-to-time, predict the outcome of certain NASCAR Winston Cup races.
Glick was a member of the panel that disbanded when Union pulled out of the sport.
Each February, prior to the Daytona 500, Union-76 would host a private dinner for members of the panel.
That gave Glick and Chris Economaki, editor of National Speed Sport News, a chance to trade war stories.
What Economaki covered in the East and Midwest, Glick covered in the West and Southwest.
Between the two they had motorsports covered from coast to coast, and their stories were interesting and worth listening to.
Norm Frosher, a writer from Gainesville, Fla., and also a member of the 76 panel, introduced me to Glick.
With Frosher, Glick, Steve Earwood (now running the dragstrip in Rockingham, N.C.) and a couple of others, we set out one night from Daytona Beach, Fla., to New Smyrna Beach (Fla.) Speedway.
I don’t think we were all that interested in what racing there was, but it was more of a chance to socialize and drink a couple of beers. It was fun to see Dick Trickle battle the late Richie Evans.
Earwood almost wrecked the car I was driving, bumping me from behind, until Frosher reminded him it was my personal car, not a rental like Earwood’s.
From there, I played golf with Glick on several occasions after that and he was much more the golfer than I ever hoped to be.
At one time, Tom Higgins, who retired from The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, and I covered every NASCAR Cup race for about 15-16 years. Well, every time during those Union-76 panel dinners, Glick, Economaki and I would sit together.
Frosher tried to figure out, at one time, how many races the three of us had covered but couldn’t come up with a figure.
I’ll guarantee you, I couldn’t hold a candle to Economaki or Glick and never will try.
They’re two of the best.
So were Ray Cooper and Bobby Batson.