Robert Daniel ‘Dan’ Ford, 78, of Huntersville, NC, died Friday, October 3, 2014, at his residence. He was drafted by the Army serving at White Sands, NM, building tracking systems for NASA. After he was honorably discharged, he went to work for Holman & Moody building cars for Ford Motor Company that ultimately won at Le Mans. He was a crew chief for Mario Andretti in 1967. He continued working on the sports car program at Sebring with drivers AJ Foyt, Mark Donahue, Paul Hawkins, and Lloyd Ruby. In 1968 he switched to the stock car program with drivers David Pearson, and Bobby Allison. Although he worked for only three other teams during his 41-year career – Ranier, DiGard, and ultimately Hendrick Motorsports – he worked with a number of drivers, including: Neil Bonnett, Darrell Waltrip, Ricky Rudd, Cale Yarborough, Joe Ruttman, Buddy Baker, Benny Parsons, Geoff Bodine, Terry Labonte, Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Mark Martin, and Brian Vickers. Dan was well-respected among his NASCAR peers, winning the Copenhagen-Skoal All Pro Award in either the General Mechanic or Gear and Transmission Specialist categories. These awards were given by peer review, and Dan won every year the awards were given, with one exception: when he lost to his good friend and colleague, Howard ‘Slick’ Poston. Upon his retirement in 2007, he divided his time between Huntersville and Sierra Vista, AZ. He loved the out-of-doors, enjoying hunting, and in his later years simply sitting outside reading a book or talking to the many visitors at Coronado National Memorial and the Friends of the San Pedro River where he and his wife, Bette, volunteered.(see full obituary, service info, online condolences and more at jamesfuneralhomelkn.com)
