Ray Nichels Has Passed Away

[OneBadSuperbird]

Ray Nichels of Nichels Engineering fame passed away Friday.  I got to meet Eay at the Daytona/Superbird Auto Club National Meet in 2002 in Indianapolis and he was one cool old dude.  Below is his death notice and a pic of the #99 Charlie Glotzbach Daytona that was fielded by Nichels Engineering.  R.I.P. Ray...

Raymond Nichels

Raymond "Ray" Nichels, age 83, of Merrillville, IN, passed away on Friday,  November 25, 2005. He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Eleanor (nee  Govert); two children: Terry (Kathy) Nichels of Highland and Vickie (Bill)  Masters of GA; 10 beloved grandchildren and 12 beloved great-grandchildren;  brother, Albert (Maxine) Nichels of Griffith; brother-in-law, Vince Sell of  Merrillville and numerous nieces and nephews. Preceded in death by his brother,  Roy Nichels and sister, Grace Sell. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday,  November 29, 2005 at 9:00 a.m. at Our Lady of Consolation Catholic Church, 8303  Taft St., Merrillville with Rev. Joseph Vamos, officiating. At rest Chapel Lawn  Memorial Gardens, Schererville. Friends may visit with the family on Monday from  2 to 8 p.m. at the Lincoln Ridge Funeral Home, 7607 W. Lincoln Highway,  Schererville. (US Route 30 east of Cline Avenue) and also at Our Lady of  Consolation Church on Tuesday from 8:30 a.m. until the time of service. Wake  prayer service Monday evening at 5:00 p.m. Ray was the founder and owner of  Nichels Engineering and Nichels Automotive Products. He was the former co-owner  of G. & N. Aircraft. He was also involved in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway  Auto Racing since 1949 as car owner and builder, as well as USAC and NASCAR  Stockcar divisions. He was a member of Our Lady of Consolation Church, a veteran  of WWII U.S. Coast Guard, American Legion Griffith Post #66. Ray also belonged  to many other racing groups and associations.

Memorials may be given to the St. Jude House of Crown Point or Our Lady of  Consolation Church.

Published in The Times from 11/27/2005

[Vainglory, Esq.]

Damn!  RIP.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

My condolences

[Ghoste]

Very sad.
I hate to say it, but we are reaching a point in our auto history where many of the pioneers and heroes from the golden age of American auto racing are getting up there.  Any chance you have to meet these guys, do it now.

[OneBadSuperbird]

Very sad.
I hate to say it, but we are reaching a point in our auto history where many of the pioneers and heroes from the golden age of American auto racing are getting up there.   Any chance you have to meet these guys, do it now.

You are SO right about that...

[Chryco Psycho]

Agreed fi you get a chance to cross paths with these people it needs to be done , I wonder how much longer Sox & Shelby will be around

[THE CHARGER PUNK]

MAN i wanted to meet that guy dammit i wanted to pick his brain on the nascar chargers in the 60's then again in the 60's he already looked old its amazing how long he lasted well thats 2 bad R.I.P ray R.I.P.-MATT

[Charger_Fan]

That's sad to hear. RIP.

[69_500]

That is definately sad to hear. I was looking forward to getting more chances to talk to him. Only had once chance to talk to him, and it wasn't 1 on 1. That and the fact that I was only about 7 or 8 at that time, so didn't really have any good questions to ask at that time anyways.

[Shakey]

Out of curiousity, what kinds of questions would you have or did you have for Ray Nichels?

[OneBadSuperbird]

Out of curiousity, what kinds of questions would you have or did you have for Ray Nichels?

Yeah, that's a good question...