Paul Tariello - A Personal Remembrance

It is with great sadness that I have to report the passing of my friend and fellow board member Paul Tariello. Paul passed away December 30, 2003 at age 53 after a short illness. He was a great competitor, associate and friend. To all of our loss, he didn't win his final race but exhibited his usual and extraordinary courage and grace in the attempt.

Born in Niskayuna, Paul lived most of his life in Guilderland. He was a graduate of the Mont Pleasant High School Technical Program and received a BS in electrical engineering from the Indiana Institute of Technology in Fort Wayne where he was a member of the Sigma Pi Fraternity. He was employed by General Electric in Schenectady for over 27 years. (*from the Times Union)

Paul served as Activities director and then Assistant RE in 2002 and 2003. His major accomplishment was organizing the Banquet held in January, 2003. The event went off without a hitch. Paul even convinced his friend Chris Szwedo to be the guest speaker - a real treat. It seems that Paul had been instrumental in directing Chris to Lime Rock Park, inviting him to attend races as his guest. After these experiences with Paul, it dawned on him that there was a movie there. The result was "Lime Rock, the Secret Valley of Racing" which he showed at the banquet after which he answered questions from the members. One of the most memorable banquets and Paul's doing.

Paul was one of the most accomplished race drivers in the region. Throughout his racing career, Paul won many races in his 84' Reynard by dint of extraordinary talent, courage and some successful and innovative race car engineering.

I first met Paul at an SCCA meeting in 1988. Jack Hanifan told me that there was a new member who had just bought a Formula Ford and that I should talk to him. Jack introduced us and Paul invited me over to his house the following weekend to give my opinion about his new toy. When I looked at the car I was shocked. There was so much to be done. The car needed new spherical joints, new bearings, new hardware, disk rotors and general work on nearly every part of it. It was nowhere near ready to race.

Well, Paul reacted with the steady calm that I grew to know well and set about methodically repairing the car. In the space of a month or so, he had it apart, cleaned up and put back together. It was nearly perfect. I was amazed.

The first time out at a practice at Lime Rock, we had a motor problem that turned out to be minor but wasn't fixed until the next test day. The next Tuesday we were testing again. Before going out with a now properly working motor, I told him, "just go around, don't try for much speed until you get used to the car and see how it will handle". I wasn't too worried as Paul had taken a Skip Barber school and (IIRC) done a race or two. By the time I got to the pits, he was attacking the downhill, charging down the straight full chat and braking deep into big bend. On about the third lap, Paul came zooming down the hill and abruptly disappeared into a huge cloud of tire smoke – a monumental spin – but somehow he avoided the barriers and tire walls! After the car stopped sliding, he proceeded at a more modest pace to our pit. Luckily the tires were so hard that the weren’t flat spotted. After yelling at him for awhile, he went back out did uneventful and increasingly quick laps. M heart was in my throat watching him get sideways every time he went through the downhill but there were no more spins. I thought to myself that if he didn't scare himself silly or have a big crash he will be really really quick. I was right.

Paul's Second or third race in the Reynard was at Watkins Glen. I out qualified him by a few places. When the green flag dropped I soon saw the familure blue car in my mirrors. Then he was on me. We diced for a couple of laps changing positions about four or five times. I was held up a tad and that was all Paul needed. He motored passed me going into the ninety – and proceeded to disappear into the middle distance. That was the last time I was anywhere near Paul on the track.

I spent the next year trying to get the Crossle' to handle and only ran two races on a rapidly dwindling budget. Fixing the handling exposed other problems that I was attempting to sort out. I was competitive in the second half of the second race I ran that year but comprehensively destroyed my motor on the penultimate lap while running about sixth. Not having a racing budget since then, Paul and I looked forward to going head to head in the future. He thought the Crossle' would be competitive provided I got a good motor We talked about this often and with characteristic graciousness, he always agreed that we would be dicing up front and that he was looking forward to the day. I secretly doubted that I would have been able to run with Paul. I think he was a quicker driver than I, but it would have been fun trying. I think he thought that as well, but he was a modest man and never bragged.

Through the years, Paul developed as a driver and won many regionals. Lime Rock was his forte' and I don't think he ever finished out of the top five provided that he was running at the end and there were no mechanical problems to slow him down. It was fairly usual to see him leading the pack with ease, ten or more seconds ahead of second place. If I recall correctly, he started one race last on the grid and went on to win the thing.

They say the quick ones start out wild and then get smooth. This was certainly true of Paul!

A Power Systems Engineer by trade, Paul applied the same attention to detail and precision required when working with multi-million dollar electrical distribution systems to race car engineering. These careful habits would serve him well.

One of Paul's hobbies was the acquisition and restoration of used machine tools. Over the years he had accumulated the precision equipment required to do high quality fabrication and machining. He would put these tools to good use.

Since he always drove close to the edge, some damage was occasionally done to the car. There were also some chassis failures, one of which resulted in a really big crash at New Hampshire. Paul replaced he first broken pieces with commercial bits. After at least two failures with these pieces, he decided to fabricate his own suspension and chassis parts. This proved to be the start of a fair amount of re-engineering work that included narrowing the cross section of the car, designing new radiators, experimenting with Ackerman steering and widening the track. Although there were some initial cooling problems after the radiator modification, they were soon sorted out. The suspension and chassis modifications were up to the job and there were no problems at all with these critical components.

One of the projects that Paul had anticipated doing was to design and construct a FF from scratch. He had some interesting ideas that I would have loved to have seen implemented. Alas this is not to be.

After blowing my motor, I crewed for Paul when he raced at Lime Rock, particularly during the first few years he was racing. If you have ever been in Paul's paddock, you know that it was a festival of family and friends. Paul's mother and father (Anne and Paul Sr.) were his biggest boosters and would set up the two tables that were required for all of the friends and relatives that made each race into a happening. Of course Pat and the kids were there as well as Paul's sister, brother in law, cousins and more friends than one could count.

Paul was a pretty calm guy and I am not so calm. I used to get peeved when the family stuff went on towards when I though he should be leaving for the false grid. I'm afraid that I was sometimes a pest, but leaving early for the false grid allows some time in case anything should go wrong – like the occasional hard starting Formula Ford and I used to fret about it! More than once, Paul Sr. and I, after pulling the red wagon with the pit stuff halfway across LRP, would arrive at the false grid huffing and puffing like a couple of old locomotives just in time to start the car at the two minute warning. It was always close, but as far as I know, he never was late to the grid even when I wasn't there!

If you know Paul, you would know the definition of "organized". His shop and basement was neat beyond belief. Well, at least beyond my belief. Paul's shop reminded me of a FC competitor from years ago whose shop was referred to as the "white room", Paul was in that class. I am not so neat and organized and every now and then I used to have a bit of fun over our respective habits at Paul's expense. I would occasionally put my beer down directly on his shop bench, watching out of the corner of my eye as he surreptitiously moved the bottle back onto a shop rag and wiped the spot – no rings were allowed! It goes to his kindness that he didn't yell or pitch a fit (as I probably would have done). About the only thing that would irritate him to the extent of commenting was smoking in his vehicle. You could smoke in the shop or when out socially, but the car was off limits. And if one lit up, he would get really peeved. I only did it once and that was enough.

At a race at Lime Rock, I was bleeding the brakes while Paul attended to the family and friends. Paul had complained about braking problems and I set about attending to the brakes. It turned out that they just needed bleeding. Now there are two size bleed screws requiring different size wrenches and tubes on a FF. I laid out the necessary equipment and one brake was bled when I had to interrupt my work to visit the facilities. When I returned, all of the wrenches, plastic tubing, brake fluid and catch bottles were gone! Momentarily perplexed, I thought "Who would steal that stuff". It suddenly occurred to me that Paul probably put it all away! When I asked him, he admitted it! The wrenches were packed up and back in the tool box, the plastic hose was neatly coiled and the catch containers were in the trash. I was very peeved and went a rant about pre race preparation etc. etc. I was very stern indeed. I gathered everything up again and finished the brakes.

Then the race went off and Paul won it handily.

At the next Lime Rock event, I asked Paul somewhat testily "When did you last bleed the brakes?". He looked at me a little sideways and with a twinkle in his eye, replied: "If I tell you are you going to be mean to me?" We had a good laugh and I bled the brakes. This little exchange ended up being a standing joke.

Paul was a kind man. When my girlfriend was killed in an auto accident in 2001, Paul spontaneously exhibited this wonderful trait. He spent hours listening patiently to my no doubt maudlin ramblings and was a great help in getting me through a difficult period. I will never forget the sensitivity and empathy that was a hallmark of this extraordinary individual. A sad irony is that it was on the March 2003 anniversary of Evelyn's death that Paul was able to get in touch with me to tell me about his diagnosis.

Paul was phlegmatic and optimistic about the surgery that was to soon come and was planning for his eventual recovery. Early in his recuperation, he was still optimistic about getting well and continuing with racing. He told me that his time recuperating would "give me more time to work on the car".

I had been hectoring him for years about getting new dampers as the Reynard used to bounce up and down at the rear under the brakes so much that it was truly amazing. It was clear that Paul was to some extent carrying the car. Finally he got the dampers and was installing them for the 2003 season. Sadly, he never got a chance to try them out.

The wake was quite amazing. Paul had touched the lives so many people, more that I could have imagined. There were many Mo-Hud folks there, but a virtual hoard of other people had come to pay their last respects – at least two hundred. I arrived near the start and stayed for nearly two hours and people were still arriving. The funeral was also well attended despite the bad weather.

There were many photos displayed around the room. I did a double take at one as I recognized my old station wagon in the picture with my toolbox peeking out thought the open door. It reminded me of happier times that are gone forever. It was a particularly poignant moment and tears came unbidden.

Harry, Jack, Jim Gary and I went to the brunch held at the Glen Sanders Mansion after the funeral. We happened to sit at the table with Chris Szwedo and we had a chance to talk a little. His primary remembrance of Paul was of his "extraordinary kindness". Chris drove the fair distance from his home in bad weather to attend both the wake and funeral because "Paul would have done it for me".

I know I speak for the board of directors and the membership of Mo-Hud when I express our sincere condolences to Paul's wife Pat, his sons Paul and Nicholas, and to his parents Anne and Paul Sr.

He will be sorely missed.

Dave Wachtel
December, 2003

Notes:

TU article:
http://www.legacy.com/timesunion-albany/LegacySubPage2.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonId=1757880