One of our sponsors is the sons and grandsons of Stafford Plumbing, and on the Home page there is a memorial to Austin’s great grandfather, Robert Stafford, also known as Bob, or “The Chief.” Bob started Stafford Plumbing in the 1950s in Elk Grove, California. He was a very hard working plumbing contractor, with high ethics and work standards. Everyone in town knew of his honesty and very good work, so he was seldom without work.

About 1960, his eldest son, also a Bob, got interested in drag racing, and the first car to hit the tracks was a little coup, known as the “beetle”. From there it grew, through the years, to a class then known as “AA fuel”. Bob never stopped supporting his sons as by then the second son, Ron, had joined the team. The racing continued on, running many tracks throughout northern and southern California, until the late 1970s, when it became very apparent that the cost of being a back yard drag racer was becoming overwhelming to the back yard racer's wallet.

But it didn’t really stop there… Afterwards, the second son Ron, and his son also a Ron, continued on in a slightly different venture. Ron the dad, got into nostalgic drag racing, and his son Ron, went into chassis building for dragsters, and has become very successful. So actually, the racing never left the family.

When Austin became interested in Kart racing, the family seized the opportunity to become re-involved, and once again, here we go, only in a slightly different venture.

If great grandfather Bob had not been so supportive of his sons in the very beginning, there is a good chance that Austin would not be racing today. And so the legacy will continue on, with all the family involved with the love for the sport of racing and all that it encompasses.

Great grandfather, “The Chief” passed on, in January of 2006 at the age of 95. He is sadly missed by his family, extended family, and friends. His support for racing and for the love of family is being carried on by his sons, grandsons, and great grandsons, and now by Austin, the youngest racing, great grandson.

May God Bless our Family


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