ralph

I'm still having a hard time believing this really happened. I'm devastated. Like many of us on here, I'm one of John's proteges. I had been racing mostly in Long Island and Lebanon Valley, when John PM'd me and invited me to come race in the Corvette Challenge. He told me he lived nearby and we could hook up and drive to the track together. He introduced me to most of you guys. He always seemed to be in a good mode; pulling some sort of prank or messing with people's heads. Over the years we became very good friends both inside and outside of racing. He taught both of my daughters how to drive and always had my back. We shared cars at the track when one of our rides was down, and we went to the bracket finals together if either of us made the team. He was like my uncle. I've got a huge hole in my heart that will never be filled.

RIP my good friend

boweryboy

Very sad news. While I "retired" from racing several years back to spend more time with my family and on my career, I still lurked and followed some of the racing news from a far

It always warmed my heart to see some of my fellow Corvette racers still following their passion . John was one of those guys that I would think about and would follow his exploits.

I raced with John for many years and he was always a blast to hang out with and always the life of the party. My thoughts and prayers are with John and his family. I'll honor John tomorrow in my own private way with a spirited ride in my C7 tomorrow thinking of him and how much he enjoyed the Corvette Life!

Rest in Peacw John and God be with you.

PatsLs1vette

Very sad news,prayers to the family.

98NYFINESTVETTE

Exactly put Marc, "ROB!!! Panuz, how ya doin, I have a question!!??"

Beach Bum

Very sad indeed. I only knew John from email and here, but every message of his dripped genuine personality. My prayers for his family and loved ones.

BOWTYE8

My prayers go out to him and his family. May he Rest in peace!

QuickBlack85

John will surely be missed he was a great and funny guy and always willing to help at the track.
I met John back in the 90's racing on Friday night, I was alone John came over and introduce himself and then took me over and introduce me to the other two Corvette guys who were there Dennis and John M. This was before the CC John and I were friends since.
I'm going to miss you John.

Harry7239

First and foremost, my sincere condolences go out to John's family & friends...

It's hard to believe that he's gone. My thoughts echo what many said before me, and that's simply because John treated everyone the same. When I was a shy 14 year old kid working the time card booth, John was one of the racers who would always treat me like a friend, and I'm grateful for that. It carried over to when I started racing. While we had some great races, the memorable moments were usually in the staging lanes, pits, or the grandstands. We all chase that adrenaline rush that comes with winning, but at the end of the day, life's all about people and it's what keeps us coming back as often as we do.

It was always a good time with John around and he certainly made the most of his days at the track. His success with his red C4 and later on his blue C6 are well documented, but I always thought it was cool how he'd occasionally bring out the Cavalier and cut .00x lights on the pro tree with a 16 second car. Some of you might also remember him bringing his gold Honda to import races a few years back. He'd leave the line in 2nd gear, run mid to high 19s, and win round after round after round while baffling the competition. Through it all, he always had a smile on his face because he was enjoying life even if he had an excuse not to, which is inspiring to say the least.

LS1LT1

Not that it matters at all right now but his red car was a C4 of course, and he did enjoy A LOT of racing successes with it as well as with the Cavalier and the Honda before it too.
Everything else you've said was 'spot on'.

Mike Campbell

I can only offer my condolences and prayers for his family. He was a special human being and I'm glad that I had the privilege of knowing and having him as a friend. I for one will never forget him. He treated me like a friend and always with respect from the first time I met him back in the early days of the CC and he'd always spend time to talk. I have a John Panuzzo Jr. Trophy I won for a perfect light one time and everytime I go into my garage it's there to remind me of him. It's a sad thing.

pablocruise

John is the reason I got my corvette into racing.

I'm out here on the West Coast and when I joined corvetteforum, I would see his red C4 with the Weld Prostar rims in his avatar. I just thought that was the neatest, most bad *** C4 I ever saw. I aspired to have a car like his and so I got Weld Prostars on my black '89 but it paled in comparison to his.

I would see his posts about the East Coast drag / corvette racing scene and wished we had something like that. Then, the West Coast So Cal Corvette Challenge emerged and of course, I wanted to be like him and raced here when I could.

I got hooked and had so much fun. I did blow up the engine in the car and it has sent me down a path of coming back better and badder so one day I hope to be back out racing.

In all these years I think I did mention all of this one time here or on nitromater; I always intended to let him know he had an impact on me all the way out here 3000 miles away.

Thank you John Panuzzo for inspiring me and a lot of other racers.

tektrans

I didnt know him real well-I had talked briefly with him in the lanes once or twice-my wife and I were in the stands on day (I wasnt racing that day).
He comes over with his grandaughter or niece or some little girl I dont remember exactly.
He says:
"hey hows it going-whats your name again?"
I say:
"Mark and this is my wife Nicole"
He says:
"Nice day huh?-hey let me ask you-would you mind watching my girl here while I go make a pass?"

Harry7239

Definitely a brain misfire on my behalf, pictured the car in my mind and remember it being a Torch Red '96, but it just didn't click at the time.

C5 Pete

Rest in peace, John. And my condolences to John's family.

John was a very special person, indeed. As everyone has said before me.

Today was a tough day to race. The last time I saw John, was a couple years ago. We were sitting on the bench at the front of the staging lanes and he was being himself. Making me laugh. We had great conversations in the few years that I've been racing the challenge series.

Today, every time I saw that bench, I though of him. It made me smile. A sad smile, but a smile, nonetheless.

Walter said some nice things for the moment of silence RP held just before the first round. I was in the first pair to go out. Damn, it was hard to see the tree.

John, your influence was far reaching, and you will be missed greatly by your family, friends, acquaintances, and people you've never met.

Ron Higgins

Very well said Pete, especially the bench

6spdg37s

so sad...my condolences to his family and friends...i am sure i crossed his path at the CC's a few times..RIP

Mike Beck

RIP John.

He was certainly a character! I rarely raced with him, but since I race on Saturday and Sunday at E-Town, I have seen him for years.

Got to race him once last year. He came over to me, wanted to try and mess with my head, looks at me, then says to me, "Who am I kidding, you're gonna mess with my head instead!".

He jokes around a bit, tells me to pick my lane, he was still in the Corvette Challenge, figured he would use our race as a time shot. I told him anything can happen John, do your thing, it's anyone's race. I think he was .00 red, came-out swinging for sure! He stops at my trailer, shakes my hand, then goes right back to work in the CC.

He will be missed by many, many people.

Please come out and show your support for John, his friends, and family next Saturday at Englishtown. Once things are finalized, I am sure Rob will start a thread for it.

DRIVER456

I was listening to him on the radio and he was even getting choked up and i got alittle tire smoke in my eye's,Made them alittle watery Could not see the tree to good either Pete.

onefast99

As many of the Corvette Challenge racers know JP was a huge help to me in getting the Challenge off the ground. I still remember one saturday afternoon we were racing at Englishtown and it was 95 degrees plus outside, he came into my trailer opened a beach chair up and sat in there for 2 hours talking about his son and his family. I was there when he ran over his first tag weather station, I appreciate everything JP did for me and how he educated me on drag racing. RIP my friend.

realcanuk

Condolences to the family. This is truly sad news. I did not know him personally, but "spoke" with him many times on the forums.
Truly a sad day.