42 replies to this topic

[AtlanticRacer]

31 October 1999 we lost one of the rising stars of Motorsport. We still miss him but remember his shining races. Anyone have Greg stories?

[Lotus23]

5 years already? Seems impossible.

I don't have any "up close" story about Greg, but I was at Homestead the afternoon he took pole position for the CART race with a new track record. His speed there was unequaled for several years and may still stand today.

[ehagar]

I really don't have very much to add, I never met him in person... other than I lived in New West (not far from Maple Ridge) when it happened. Its not the races I remember so much as the person and what he meant to Vancouver.

A friend of mine met him, at of all places, a tyre store. Was waiting in line like everyone else and my friend said he preferred not to be fussed over. Not the 'cocky' or 'arrogant' person that some people thought he was (I think his post race demenour was just his competitiveness being translated on the screen).

I remember hearing stories about this kid who was too young to drive on the streets riding his bicycle to the Vancouver Indy and trying to convince security that he really was a racecar driver.

He was very visible around the Vancouver area (you would see him at a Starbucks or anywhere around town). I think there was a bit of civic pride about a local boy doing good. He was a presence in the city, and after his death you could see just how much he was liked and respected in the Vancouver area.

I don't mean this as disrespect to other members of TNF, but he was, to me, Canada's best racing driver. I was young to even know what F1 was when Gilles died.

[Bluesmoke]

Wow! It's been 5 years, hasn't it?

I still have one his sunglasses that he gave me at the 98 Molson Indy Toronto.

[Niky]

Five years... oh my God!

I interviewed him a couple of times for a TV show. Very nice, always smiling, and very down to earth kind of kid. I remembered him as a very professional racer, and very focus on his racing career, although he had some extra time for joking. Once (I think it was at Detroit) we were looking for him for an interview and one of his team members told us where to find him, at the paddock parking lot. We walked down there and he was with another driver taking a look to a new Hummer (I think it was his)... They were laughing so hard they couldn’t talk. When they finally were able to say a word they confess they were trying to ‘measure’ how many girls they will be able to ‘carry’ inside the Hummer … in a comfortable position…

[BPTCCWSPBF]

There is an autographed pic of him on my wall right next to me. I was glad to be in the stands when he won his first race in 1997. I'll never forget finding the race on the radio after coming back from a fun family trip. Tom Michaels could barely speak. My family and I had no idea he had even crashed. The first words you hear "We have lost Greg Moore." My dad hasn't been as big a fan since. That race has been the only champcar race I haven't watched since 1996.

[Jordan191]

Originally posted by ehagar
I really don't have very much to add, I never met him in person... other than I lived in New West (not far from Maple Ridge) when it happened. Its not the races I remember so much as the person and what he meant to Vancouver.

A friend of mine met him, at of all places, a tyre store. Was waiting in line like everyone else and my friend said he preferred not to be fussed over. Not the 'cocky' or 'arrogant' person that some people thought he was (I think his post race demenour was just his competitiveness being translated on the screen).

I remember hearing stories about this kid who was too young to drive on the streets riding his bicycle to the Vancouver Indy and trying to convince security that he really was a racecar driver.

He was very visible around the Vancouver area (you would see him at a Starbucks or anywhere around town). I think there was a bit of civic pride about a local boy doing good. He was a presence in the city, and after his death you could see just how much he was liked and respected in the Vancouver area.

I don't mean this as disrespect to other members of TNF, but he was, to me, Canada's best racing driver. I was young to even know what F1 was when Gilles died.

I didn't know too much either when Gilles died. To me as well Greg Moore was Canada's best racing driver since Gilles.

[pacwest]

I live in New West now. When he died I was living in Port Coquitlam. I was simply stunned. I had these fantasies fo TWO Canadian drivers in F1. I went to his funeral and was just taken away at how many people from the public wanted to attend. They had to have two services for him.

I met Greg a couple times, he liked to party at Tommy's in Maple Ridge quite a bit. Dario liked to hang there with him. Greg was very well renowned for taking Talon's from Dad's dealership and breaking them. Center diff especially.

My friend Jay was a mechanic for him for some time. He lives in Maple Ridge as well. Jay spoke of just how in tune Greg was with his engine and suspension setup.

I worked at the Rival Ford dealer to the Moore Family's Dodge dealer, the stories of how the insurance money was used to start up the giant in-house financing and leasing departments etc. sorta of leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Not for how Rick spent the money, but that people just want to pick the family apart.

Greg was a good kid. He was going to make it.

[maxie]

I am from Hong Kong, and was a regular CART follower at that time.

It was during the lunch break when I logged onto the internet, and the headline on ESPN.com read something like "Greg Moore killed in crash". I was stunned. I couldn't believe he would be in such a huge accident. I couldn't believe he had died. I just still can't believe it. And I can't believe it was already 5 years ago.

[Henri Greuter]

A tragic loss CART never ever fully recovered from.
Rest in peace Greg,
.


Henri Greuter

[e34fanatic]

It`s nice that the man is remembered, because he was such a great talent. For me he showed the style I appreciate. It was some oval race, (if I recall correctly it was Rio) he was leading and there were only couple of laps to go. Out of the last corner, taken about 175 mph and fifth gear, his 900 BHP Reynard-Mercedes back end stepped out of line in big time. Greg coolly applied opposite-lock and managed not to kiss the barrier. The whole thing looked so dramatic, because tv-camera was located on top of that barrier. I almost ducked in front of my tv, because that race car was coming straight to camera, completely side-ways.

Off course Greg went on to win that race. After the race, interviewer asked, how much he needed to apply self-control during the race, which he had spoken before the race. Greg answered "None!" and laughed. So did eveyone else.

It is sad that the racing world lost Greg Moore five years ago, because his style in- and out of the car is very much missing in todays racing scene.

[SennasCat]

Class, style & speed. As echoed above, he was going to make it.

it was a rude shock to me. With our usual crap TV coverage, I jumped onto the 'net about 11am Sydney Australia time to see who won the championship. First thing I saw was 'Greg Moore killed'.

I never saw it coming.

I still follow CART/OWRS now but something was lost in and for me that day.

RIP Greg. You will be missed but not forgotten.

[BorderReiver]

5 Years? It seems somehow far more recent than that. A great talent who joins the ranks of the unfulfilled and lost, Pryce, Brise, Cevert, Castelotti, Rodriguez R, and Moore can all be mentioned in the same breath.

It was one of those accidents when you just know.

Rest In Peace Greg

[Eric McLoughlin]

Echo Border Reiver's thoughts. Saw the accident live on Eurosport and knew straight away that it was really bad.

[tweiss]

RIP Mr. Moore, it would have been great to see how he would have fared in F1. He is surely missed.

[Megatron]

I heard a story once that a person walked up to Greg at Fontana and asked him what his favorite color was. His response was "Today blue: Tomorrow Red". There was to be no tomorrow. He would have been a great addition to the long hall of winners at Penske.

It was a great loss to racing.

[Megatron]

Originally posted by BorderReiver
5 Years? It seems somehow far more recent than that. A great talent who joins the ranks of the unfulfilled and lost, Pryce, Brise, Cevert, Castelotti, Rodriguez R, and Moore can all be mentioned in the same breath.

It was one of those accidents when you just know.

Rest In Peace Greg

Yes, I think everyone knew when that car came to rest that it would be, at best, a severly life threatning injury. They withheld the name of the car for a few minutes, confirming either Moore or Carpentier.

PC's car was pulled into the pits a few laps latter.

Regarding F1, RPM2Night once reported around 1998 that Moore had talks with Ron Dennis about a test. I'm not sure that anything would have ever came from that as he was going to Honda power in 2000, but its just a tidbit.

I remember someone mentioned that Greg was such a jokester, he would not have liked those thousands of tears shed on that terrible day. People can be told that, but it doesn't help because Greg wasn't there in the flesh to tell them not too.

[Jordan191]

Originally posted by BorderReiver
5 Years? It seems somehow far more recent than that. A great talent who joins the ranks of the unfulfilled and lost, Pryce, Brise, Cevert, Castelotti, Rodriguez R, and Moore can all be mentioned in the same breath.

It was one of those accidents when you just know.

Rest In Peace Greg

Agreed. You can add to that the name of one Jeff Krosnoff.

[Keir]

Greg's accident was one of the most horrific crashes that I had ever seen. Hopefully we will never see it's like again!

[biercemountain]

Originally posted by Keir
Greg's accident was one of the most horrific crashes that I had ever seen. Hopefully we will never see it's like again!

Agreed Keir.

Even before the car had come to a stop, you just knew that poor Greg was probably dead.

What a pity. There was something so "likeable" about Greg both on and off the track.

[doggy]

greg was my favorite CART driver. when he came in i was intrigued with this kid who looked like a math geek, yet was a demon as a racer (kinda like PT in that regard). i pretty much stopped following CART since his fatal crash. not because i was disgusted with the series, somehow the passion was gone.

[Dino G]

Since tha fateful day, I always have a pit in my stomach when I hear the kids ding dong, as it was during the race and I just stopped going to the door....stunned...as my wife took over I watched that young man die in front of us.

He would have been a great F1 driver.

[MGAdams]

I quit racing Formula 1600, partly due to a young kid of 15 years old at the time that was cleaning up at almost every race he attended, and he didn't even have a license to drive on the streets.
I was fortunate a few years later to assemble a couple of new Formula 1600's in 1992, and put this same young Greg Moore out on the track in Calgary. He was everything you have previously said a quiet, likable young man outside of the car. And ... once in the car, his feedback for set-up was clear and concise. While we changed the car during testing ... he remained in the seat for quite extensive changes. His father Ric, was idolized and likely a huge motivator in Greg's success. We were very late getting the car and Greg to the race, and he did not have a qualifying time and started from the back of the pack, and as I helped with the final belts, he said "don't tell Dad, but I will take it easy the first few laps" He proceeded to pass about 4 cars before the first corner, and I can't recall how many others during the next laps, before someone shut the door and a front corner was torn-off. I don't think it was possible for Greg to " take it easy".
I too do not watch champcar racing with the same enthusiasm since the end of the 1999 season.

[Scudetto]

Can't believe it's been 5 years already. Greg was a class act, and modest young guy who let his driving speak for him. Motorsport, as a whole, suffered a great loss that day.

[Ghostrider]

Originally posted by Keir
Greg's accident was one of the most horrific crashes that I had ever seen. Hopefully we will never see it's like again!

Agree. I usually never react that strong when I see an accident, but when I saw Moore's, I felt very ill and nauseated immediately. It was terrifying.

[metz]

Greg Moore was the most down to earth guy you could ever meet. I was privilegned to do so 3 or 4 times. Every year, during our Toronto pit walk , he would remember us by name and greet us like friends and fans.
There was an in-door Go-cart track where he would sell some of his personal promotional items like hats and shirts, etc. I saw him there one evening giving driving tips to 3 or 4 terminally ill kids from Toronto Sick Childrens hospital. It was not a media event, just him and some parents. Just something he did quietly, cause thats the kind of guy he was.
Watching him race was something to remember. At Michigan Speedway he caught some bad air and spun out of control. Traveling sideways, backwards and sideways again he executed a perfect donut, joined the group and went on to win without missing a beat. Nobody in the stands was sitting down.
I have a framed snapshot of him, with my close to same age daughter, hanging in our recreation room.
It will be there forever.
We miss you Greg...

[alan_owens]

I met Greg and Patrick C a couple of times in Toronto. Great guy, great driver. May he rest in peace.

[gmf]

The family of Greg Moore would like to thank all the members who posted remembrances of Greg this past weekend. Your continued interest and support is much appreciated.

Greg Moore Foundation

FYI - To member "PacWest" ...not just entirely sure who "Jay" would be but not someone who worked on Greg's car that we are aware of. When and what car are you referring to?

[Dan_11]

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Juan & Greg were good friends.

[xflow7]

Yeah, tragic to lose Greg. The whole racing world really got ripped off on that deal. I had been watching the first several laps of the race on TV, then had to leave to go out to dinner, etc with my folks before the accident happened. Later on at the restaurant after dinner, I guess they showed a clip of the crash on the TV behind me and my Dad said, "Holy ****! Huge crash!" I turned around to look at the TV in time to see the Closed Captioning text saying Greg had been killed. I was devastated. I think it was after that accident (or Gonzalo Rodriguez's accident at Laguna) that Bobby Rahal said, "I hate this sport when it's like this." Pretty much summed it up for me.

Oh, and Dan_11, you've got to be kidding me. Four pics of JPM in a thread about remembering Greg Moore? You're unbelievable.

Dave

[holiday]

Originally posted by Dan_11
Juan & Greg were good friends.

Don't want to disturb the thread, but wasn't there a small scandal involving Juan Montoya's behaviour in the aftermath of Greg Moore's fatal crash. Wasn't he displaying sorrow and aguish before the TV cameras, but the moment they turned away his manner became at once pretty cheerful and happy?

[BorderReiver]

Originally posted by Dan_11
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Juan & Greg were good friends.

Dan_11

Seriously, I mean. Whats with you? Why try and turn this into a "all hail" JPM thread. I'd have understood a pic of Greg and Juan together. But "doesn't Juan look sad, isn't he lovely" is actually pretty damn offensive to the main topic here.

Stop advancing your agendas through very real and tragic loss will you?

[Sith]

I was at that race at Fontana in 99. Was even chatting to Greg in pitlane about his injured hand during the drivers intro before the race. All the drivers were coming up to him to see how he was. Looking back, it was as if they were saying goodbye. When the yellow caution period got longer and longer, that's when i was getting worried. Halfway through the race the announcer came over the P.A and said these (still) chilling words, "We regret to inform you that Greg Moore has passed away". The whole place went into shock!! After the race people were paying their respects outside the team motorhome, even the newly crowned Champion (JPM) came down to see the team. I've got home video footage of all the events from that day. There was even a service performed by CART when the race concluded, with a prayer, and a minutes silence.

It was a very numb feeling leaving the circuit.

[Ross Stonefeld]

Originally posted by Dan_11
Pic1

Thats Laguna, and the Gonzalo Rodriguez tribute

[#99]

cant believe its been 5 years - hell i was still at school at the time

i remember that race well - i missed the opening laps, and when i got home my mam told me that a driver had been taken to hospital. i thought nothing of it and watched the race. about 30 - 45 mins later i heard the announcement. not nice.

it must have been a doubly horrible blow for Roger Penske, as he watched his new driver crash to his death just weeks after Rodriguez was killed in one of his cars.

[BorderReiver]

Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld


Thats Laguna, and the Gonzalo Rodriguez tribute

Hell, he's right.

I wonder if Dan even knows what Greg looked like.

[TIPO61]

BorderReiver; Dan_11/dan2k...Stop advancing your agendas through very real and tragic loss will you?

He won't.
Pathetic.

[911]

For me, personally, I have good memories meeting him at Long Beach on several occasions and exchanging a few emails with him. My wife thought he was really cool and she became a fan of his. She got him to autograph a 1/18th scale car (the car he drove in 1998). October 31, 1999, was such a crappy day for all of us. It was very difficult to watch the rest of that race knowing that Greg had been killed.

[Dan_11]

I'm sorry guys. I truely am.

I just thought providing some pics might provide a different perspective. I just wanted to help.
I remember that web site had some pics.

[Dan_11]

Originally posted by BorderReiver


Hell, he's right.

I wonder if Dan even knows what Greg looked like.

I remember Greg as a good looking fella, just like me he was ladies man.

[Ross Stonefeld]

te transesso?

[StickShift]

Originally posted by Dan_11
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Juan & Greg were good friends.

[Rafaga]

Thanks, StickShift. I had that picture in my computer and i lost it to a virus some years ago. I really love that picture, even though i'm a JPM fan. I think it was a very funny moment (not for Greg, i think). Nevertheless, I think they were good friends.

We all miss you Greg.