Hall of Fame drag racer Bobby Langley dies
He was a 16-time race winner, including a string of five consecutive Texas Championships at Caddo Mills and the 1964 AHRA World Championship, according to NHRA.com.
He was a member of the National Hot Rod Association's Division IV Hall of Fame.
He was born in Arlington on Dec. 26, 1931. In 1954, he and his brother attended a drag race, and Bobby decided to try it, entering his family's 1938 Lincoln, according to a biography dated Oct. 26, 2003, on nitrogeezers.com.
From there, he went on to build his own dragsters, including a line he called the Scorpion. His wife, Ruth, traveled to his races with him, and he was proud that she helped design the uniforms worn by his crew.
"When I was racing in the '50s and '60s, it was mostly for fun," Langley told NHRA.com in 2006. "I am surprised people come up to me today and say they remember the distinctive look of the car and the way the crew was dressed. The Scorpion was a popular car. It was in Life magazine twice! It was in the center of Car Craft. Lots of magazines ran articles and pictures."
Langley was employed for 32 years by General Dynamics.
He is survived by his wife, two children, four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
A visitation is scheduled from 6 to 8 tonight at Laurel Land Funeral Home in Fort Worth.
The funeral is at 10 a.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church of Everman.