I read today that the great Fred Mandoline passed away. He was a regular in all of the Midwest alcohol races regardless of sanctioning body and always a real threat. He was a mentor to several racers in the alcohol ranks and a great teacher and friend. He will be missed. Please share your thoughts and pictures.
Fred Mandoline passes
- Thread starter jgrigz
- Start date
Litefoot
Nitro Member
drag racer
Nitro Member
I recall Fred being the key cog in getting the Torstveit TAD program up and running and being very competitive back in the day. RIP
Yes Doctor Torstveit was more than competitive in his time in TAD. there were so many good racers in those days. it was great racing them.
Larry Sutton---
none
Nitro Member
Completely off topic, Dr. Torstveit sugically removed a piece of metal from my hand in Atlanta one year during a rain delay. Cut it out with a local anesthetic on Thursday, and removed the stiches on Sunday. All while smoking a cigerette, eating a donut, drinking coffee and telling me that I needed a healthier lifestyle.......
Love that guy!
Back on topic, Fred was a good dude, always friendly and helpful when I was the young punk asking questions and trying to learn.
Alan
Love that guy!
Back on topic, Fred was a good dude, always friendly and helpful when I was the young punk asking questions and trying to learn.
Alan
stitcherbob
Nitro Member
none
Nitro Member
That was Jeff & Donna Wilson’s NFC. We got Fred to set up the combination and the tune it. First full lap it ran 5.70 which at the time was pretty darn good. Fred definitely knew his stuff !
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drag racer
Nitro Member
I remember when Doc setup his race HQ at a rented house right across the street from a friend of mine - that's when I first knew of Doc T. Hung out there with Jeff several times with the dragster all the while he was driving that dually and gooseneck all the way out to Div. 2 and then back. Fun memories.
none
Nitro Member
Jeff is a great guy and super sharp. He worked his tail off on that deal.
Fred was in a partnerswith Reno menini. With it injected fuel funny car back in the day.
Fred was in a partnership with Reno Nanie with a injected funny car back in the day
T.Smith
Nitro Member
Fred was great friend and one of the smartest people I've ever met. Also, one of the very few in the racing world who called me by my first name, Reggie.
We obviously met through racing, but when we talked, we rarely discussed racing and that was just fine by me.
Many people don't know. Around 2002, the Zizzo's were thinking about quitting racing because they had no interest in putting a screw blower on their alky dragster or building an a/fuel dragster. Zizzo Sr. reached out to Fred for some advice on what to do. The advice was to go see Tim Wilkerson, he has a top fuel dragster in his shop that was being prepared for someone else to drive, but it didn't materialize. Here we are 22 years later.
I'm so glad I got to spend some time with him at Joliet this year. He will be missed by many.
We obviously met through racing, but when we talked, we rarely discussed racing and that was just fine by me.
Many people don't know. Around 2002, the Zizzo's were thinking about quitting racing because they had no interest in putting a screw blower on their alky dragster or building an a/fuel dragster. Zizzo Sr. reached out to Fred for some advice on what to do. The advice was to go see Tim Wilkerson, he has a top fuel dragster in his shop that was being prepared for someone else to drive, but it didn't materialize. Here we are 22 years later.
I'm so glad I got to spend some time with him at Joliet this year. He will be missed by many.
