John Paul Jr. fightinh Huntingtons Disease

[garyshell]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vKXE6EnTtg

Man can this guy EVER catch a break. First the jail time he had to do when he refused to testify against his scum bag father, then the Charlotte race and now this. I guess he has been suffering for a few years, but this was the first I heard of it. I remember watching him in IMSA.

What a shame.

Gary

[Otto-Matic]

John always made the most out of poor equipment. I think it was the Huntington's the really forced his hand at retirment. Too bad, it was a great story when he won an IRL race in '98. His Father may, o rmay not, still be alive. Thats a whole story onto itself.

[anthonyvop]

A dear friend of mine succumbed to Huntington's I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

F.Y.I.

John Paul Jr. was never jailed for refusing to testify against his father.
He was sentenced to 5 years for racketeering after a plea bargain with the feds.

[garyshell]

A dear friend of mine succumbed to Huntington's I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

F.Y.I.

John Paul Jr. was never jailed for refusing to testify against his father.
He was sentenced to 5 years for racketeering after a plea bargain with the feds.

Yep. Part of that deal was he wouldn't have to testify. He wasn't jailed because he refused to testify. He took the jail time so he didn't have to. You are right Anthony, there is a difference.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE6D7133AF93BA35756C0A9609482 60&scp=7&sq=%22john+paul%2C+sr.%22&st=nyt


Someone wondered about where Sr. is, apparently so do the authorities:
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081231/FREE/812319991
Gary

[anthonyvop]

Yep. Part of that deal was he wouldn't have to testify. He wasn't jailed because he refused to testify. He took the jail time so he didn't have to. You are right Anthony, there is a difference.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE6D7133AF93BA35756C0A9609482 60&scp=7&sq=%22john+paul%2C+sr.%22&st=nyt

Gary

The point I was trying to make is that people think that Jr. was some innocent who was just loyal to his father......He wasn't. If his only crime was refusing to testify he would have been held in contempt of court and would have served much less time.
He served his time and life goes on.

[garyshell]

The point I was trying to make is that people think that Jr. was some innocent who was just loyal to his father......He wasn't. If his only crime was refusing to testify he would have been held in contempt of court and would have served much less time.
He served his time and life goes on.


Agreed. But I do think he got swept up in his father's dealings and was unable to say no to him. That in no way absolves him of anything though.

Gary

[Mark in Oshawa]

He was an interesting character in an interesting time in motorsport. Shame to hear about the Huntingdon's. I believe this disease however is a genetic inheritence...there is a chance his dad may carry the gene and may have it...or not.

The two names I remember from that era of IMSA is The Pauls and the Whittingdons...and didn't they have a brush with the law?

[anthonyvop]

He was an interesting character in an interesting time in motorsport. Shame to hear about the Huntingdon's. I believe this disease however is a genetic inheritence...there is a chance his dad may carry the gene and may have it...or not.

The two names I remember from that era of IMSA is The Pauls and the Whittingdons...and didn't they have a brush with the law?


WHITTINGTON BROTHERS

Don and Bill Whittington won Le Mans in 1979 driving a Porsche 935 with Klaus Ludwig. They also raced in CART and Winston Cup events and shared one of Randy Lanier's IMSA Blue Thunder Marches in 1984. In 1982, Don, Bill and younger brother Dale became the first trio of brothers to start the same Indy 500. Dale crashed out as a result of Kevin Cogan's green-flag disaster. As bad as that was for Dale, it got worse. All three brothers soon were implicated in the federal investigation spurred by Lanier's smuggling operation.

Bill Whittington, now 59, pleaded guilty to income-tax evasion and conspiracy to smuggle marijuana in 1986. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and ordered to surrender aircraft, race cars and boats valued at $7 million. He was released from custody in November 1990 and currently manages a resort in Pagosa Springs, Colo. He did not return calls from AutoWeek.

Don Whittington, 61, pleaded guilty to money laundering in connection with his brother Bill's illegal activity. He was released from an 18-month federal sentence in March 1988. In the last several years, he has flown a hot-rod P-51 Mustang at Reno and other air races. He owns and operates World Jet, a charter and maintenance service at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport. He did not reply to messages left at World Jet.
Dale Whittington

Dale Whittington

Dale Whittington did not serve time in prison, and he raced sports cars as late as 2000. He was working for his brother at World Jet when his son discovered his body in his home on June 14, 2003. The Broward County, Fla., coroner attributed 43-year-old Dale's death to a drug overdose.


http://www.autoweek.com/article/20081231/FREE/812319991#ixzz0znd0hmKY

[Formuler1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vKXE6EnTtg headrest monitors (http://electronicfiend.com/car-headrest-monitors/)

Man can this guy EVER catch a break. First the jail time he had to do when he refused to testify against his scum bag father, then the Charlotte race and now this. I guess he has been suffering for a few years, but this was the first I heard of it. I remember watching him in IMSA.

What a shame.

Gary


Wow, some people just have the worst luck.