RIP Ben W. Blake

[Moderator1]

Just heard from his daughter. Ben died this morning at 61. Cancer. Screw cancer.

Ben was the motorsports writer for a chunk of my time in Richmond. Did some work for several websites after leaving the paper there. Good, good guy. Knew his stuff. Had been ill in recent years.

Will post arrangements when I have them

 

[kleeda]

Ben was a friend, and very knowledgeable. This sucks.

 

[NNDman]

His byline was on nearly all motorsports stories in Richmond. Had no idea he was that age. Only a decade older than I am. RIP

 

[Drip]

I'm very saddened to hear of this. I share with Moddy many memories of working with Ben. He was a great guy who truly gave a damn about this business. I learned a lot of copy editing techniques from him and his work on motorsports was legendary. He will be missed. RIP to a good guy.

 

[smithsonryan]

Ben's work in RACER magazine helped me learn so much about all motorsports, not just NASCAR. That was his best work.

 

[Dave Caldwell]

I'm very sorry to hear about Ben's passing. I was always impressed how connected he was in the motorsports industry.

In fact, I was sitting across from Ben in the old infield workroom at Daytona late in the afternoon on Feb. 18, 2001. I'd walked over to Dale Earnhardt's garage, waiting for him to walk back with a big ol' grin after his last-lap crash. Earnhardt, of course, never came back, so I went back to the workroom. It was very quiet. Ben was on his cellphone, working his sources. At one point, I can remember him saying in a whisper, "They're saying it was pretty bad." Mike Helton didn't walk into the room to make the announcement until at least two hours later, but I'd known what was coming. I'll never forget Ben's line in a most memorable day.

RIP.