98NYFINESTVETTE

I cannot write this without wiping away the tears. It saddens me to tell you we lost one of our own today. At or about 8:30am this morning 3/14/2014. How and why, we do not know. Please keep John and his family in your prayers.
John spoke to his friends and family last night and he was himself.
I will post funeral arrangements details when I receive them from the family.
Some people knew that John passed away this morning. We were not trying to keep it a secret from his friends. This information was not released to the public until we were assured that all his family members were notified.

If you have any questions please send them to me in a PM.
Thank you and GOD SPEED John, we/I will never forget you. No one will ever be able to fill your shoes.

John was one of our original founding members of the Corvette Challenge. He was always known to be a comedian in the pits and also in the lanes. I guess a trivia question for all of us would be "How many Tag Weather Stations did he run over at the track"

We are still collecting donations for John, all donations will be forwarded to his family.

R.I.P. John

Redvette_22

Thanks for posting Rob, I was waiting for clearance myself. He will be missed more then you can imagine and on the eve of the first Corvette Challenge of the season no less. A bad day for all.

YO-EL

I am deeply saddened to hear this... John was a mentor of mine 12 years ago when I started racing and always continued to help me and many others. He always called me and especially the the last 5 months probably 3 to 4 times a week. I am so sad, he will be missed immensely by everyone. John was a true legend! Personally I will never forget him my first final race was against John and I was shaking in my shoes knowing who I was lining up against. I will miss him terribly. Every time my phone rings I look down and I wish it was him just one more time...

October 2002... I will never forget you JP..

4DRUSH

Very sad

Anyone have pics of John, post them up, I know I would like to see some.

digivex

Deeply saddened to hear of John's passing. A really great guy who will be deeply missed by so many. We extend our prayers and sympathies to his family and friends and wish him Godspeed

Dave and Vivian

Dave-T

Very very sad. Just awful news. Since last Sept I have spoken to John at least twice a week. I still have the message that he sent me Sunday while he was going rounds. He will be missed. R.I.P. John

Turbo Bob

Today I lost a true friend. We will miss him terribly and the Corvette Challenge at E'town will never be the same.

Our condolences to John's family and friends.

Rest In Peace JP.

RichS

Really was shocked to hear the news. Prayers go out to his family. Rest in peace John.

tabbruzz

I can't believe this. So sorry to hear this. Prayers go out to his family..We will all miss him...tony

DRIVER456

I met John from racing in the CC and find out he didn't live to far from me and we became fiends.I don't know what else to say but I will miss that ol man.Like Bob said the CC won't be the same. R.I.P. jpee

Ron Higgins

J Pee was an original Prayers to his family. Rest in peace my friend

rushhour

All the years I raced against John - he was always a gentleman to me, win or lose.

John - the staging lanes won't be the same with out you. God speed.

And to your family our prayers are with you.

Steve

Vetter 1

I am without words and this is the last thing I expected to see and read. Especially when I spoke to him yesterday and he said he was okay and was well enough to check out of the hospital for rehab near his home in Somers. God speed Jpee!

mackeyred96

Writing this is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. John was more than a racer to me he was a true friend. We raced many many times and in the early days or red 96 C4s were very evenly matched and we had many a close race. I have great memories of John sleeping over at my house almost every Friday night so he could race on Saturday. The time I watched John wax my car thinking it was his and us all standing there letting him do it. John with his Velcro sneakers and apple juice. Yelling at John for Duck Hunting in the back of the staging lane. These were all great time I shared with a great man. My payers go out to Bert and his daughters. I loved that guy like a brother and I will miss him very much. RIP my friend.

ps, I have posted photo of JPee on my FB page please feel free to repost.

C5pilot

Terrible news. My thoughts and prayers are with Johns family and friends.

J Z06

I'm in shock and will pray for John's family and His soul, which touched all of us. His constant antics with mackeyred96 were hysterical! Those two were always at it. Detailing the wrong car, running over his weather station, the good memories are endless. I spoke to him about a month ago about getting together to detail his car. What a terrible loss. We will miss you! Rest in peace.

INSANITY

Rest in peace buddy i love ya…. I am heartbroken over this…...

YO-EL

Eric Fischer

I'd have to say JPee was instrumental in getting both my Dad and I into racing Corvettes. You see back in the day when the Corvette Challenge was on Friday nights and only had about 4 cars entered, this "hi energy" guy would keep coming over to us and urging us to enter into the Corvette Challenge. Eventually we did and now 5 Corvettes and 14 years later we are still racing.

The funny thing is though, and there are lots of funny things about John, is that when I would race my Mustang the following week, he would walk right by me without ever noticing me. I had to be standing next to a Vette before he would make the association

It just won't be the same at etown without him.

C5Captain

Mom called this morning, I was on my way to work she usually doesn't call at that time and I knew something was up. I was even blown away when I heard about the crash.

Although I don't get the opportunity to race with you guys every weekend, John was definitely an inspiration. He'd always come over to my pit and say hey "kid" how'd it run? Followed by an exorbitant explanation on how to improve every aspect of my run, taking the time away from what he needed to do to help in whatever way he could. John definitely loved to race.

Prayers for his family.

Godspeed John Panuzzo.