Our sport has lost a legend.
Many of you probably never heard of Jim "Puppet" DiTullio. Jim owned a shop named Race Visions in Buffalo, NY. He crafted some of the finest drag bikes that ever made a pass down a drag strip. His list of customers included Top Fuel drag bike racers Elmer Trett, Jim McClure and Larry "Spiderman" McBride. Some of his Pro Stock customers were Paul Gast, Dave Schultz and a host of others.
I was fortunate enough to have a Pro Gas bike (it can be seen on my page) built by Puppet. It always hooked hard, went straight and stopped easily. I never had a bad pass because of the bike. Puppet was an artist. My bike won several "Best Engineered", "Best Appearing" and "Best Prepared" awards because of the craftsmanship Jim built into it. I always felt safe on the bike, even at speeds in excess of 150 mph. The bike ran much better than ever expected, a tribute to Jim's skills.
Jim left us Monday, October 18, 2010, after a long illness. I don't pretend to have known him well, but I trusted him with my life. He was a "Gentle Giant" of a man, in his stature and his heart and spirit. Nobody who met him, couldn't like him. Those of us in the drag bike community have lost a friend. Those of you who didn't know Jim, don't know what you missed. It's more of a loss to you than you know.
Thanks for all you gave us, Puppet. We'll miss you deeply. My condolences to Jim's family and friends.
R.I.P. Jim