Jim Deist 1928-2009

Auto racing in general and drag racing in particular lost one of its best on March 9,2009 when safety pioneer Jim Deist passed away at his home in Glendale, CA surrounded by family and friends. Deist is credited with designing and implementing the first "drag chute" for safely stopping cars at speed. He also developed the first generation of fire suits and masks that allowed countless drivers to survive fires that so often plague race cars. It is fair to say Jim saved more lives than any man in the history of motorsports and he continued his trade to his dying day. His familiar face, sage advise and unique demeanor will be surely missed by all. Rest in peace and godspeed my friend.

"The Trackers Racing Team had a garage at the corner of Victory and Western in Glendale from 1960 to 1968. Jim came by frequently to see what was going on. In the early 60's he had a well worn Mercury station wagon with an engine that needed attention and several team members gave it an overhaul in return for a drag chute for the club car. Jim also worked with another member, Earl Lynch, on a paraglide project. They would go out to the Sepulveda Dam Basin a try out parachutes. Jim would tow the paraglider behind his station wagon. Another club member, Ken Ruffner, held the inboard flat bottom gas record with a Keith Black engined Sanger SK. Jim and Earl decided to go to Marine Stadium in Long Beach and demonstrate the paraglide being towed by a boat. They corralled someone with an outboard to give Earl a tow. It all started out well, but as soon as Earl was in the air and caught a good gust of air the outboard started to falter as it was too much for it to handle. Earl came down from about 30-40 feet up and went into the drink. It should be mentioned here that Earl was of fairly large girth and could not swim. Fortunately he was wearing a life jacket and after some trouble they got him in the boat. Soon after this Jim's business picked up and he lost interest in the paraglide project."

Dave W.