Another sad R.I.P - Phil Simms

[Janni]

One of the most wonderful people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Philips Simms of Florida. Viper guy, racer, father, husband. All of these roles he did well.

I saw Libby Lashinsky's posting on Donna's Fb page (his wife) and was shocked to learn he died of a brain aneurysm on February 27th.

Phil ran an Hennessey 650R at Viper Days in the "early years" and was one of the fastest and coolest and most talented guys out there. He moved into SCCA and then Trans Am and raced a variety of cars ALL VERY WELL.

Phil drome the rig, worked on his car, knew how to wheel a race car like few I have ever met and was a genuinely WONDERFUL person.

We've lost a real great guy.

 

[swexlin]

Very sorry to hear this. Condolences to Phil's family.

 

[denniskgb]

Condolences to his family.

 

[JAY]

Sorry to hear ! Condolences to his family.

 

[Bonkers]

Feb 27th was a bad day for viper guys... this makes what, three now?

My condolences also go out to his family...

 

[LadyCruzer]

My husband and I visited Gary and Libby Lashinsky at their home last week, and Libby told me about Phil's passing. I'm sorry that we never got to meet him --he sounded like a wonderful person. I will send a notification out to our club about this in case anyone would like to send the family a card. Our deepest sympathies to his family during this difficult time.

 

[Janni]

Thank you so much - I need to get Phil and Donna's address - can you PM me it if you have it in your records?

He was a REALLY great guy. can't put it into words.

 

[SSSSE YA]

Prayers and condolences to his family.

 

[LadyCruzer]

I don't have Phil's address, since he was not a member in recent years. It is also a violation to share this type of information,which is considered personal. Privacy laws, and all the legal mumbo jumbo.Wonder if
you can google the information and get any info from the funeral home?

 

[Torquemonster06]

Very sad news. Our prayers are with his family. God Speed Phil.

 

[Janni]

Thanks - I'll get their address from Libby.

 

[Bill Pemberton Woodhouse]

Damn, haven't talked to Phil for a couple of years , but a really fun guy , and talented driver I knew from Viper Days and beyond. Big loss to the Viper and racing community ,as Phil was well liked in all circles. His family will be in my prayers and what an unfortunate loss. Simms and Mumford are sure to be racing around Heaven together --- that would be a race to see!!

 

[NO HEMI]

Sad indeed, My prayers are with his family!

 

[DrTaco]

Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

 

[HotRodMojo]

Hello folks. I'm new here. I have purchased Philip Simms' 650R last week. I have to admit I didn't realize at the time the significance of the car. Since then I have read up on as much is available online about it. I feel very honored to say I will keep his car in memory of him, though I might not deserve it. But I have always loved Vipers my entire life since they have came out, and I am very proud to say I sit in his seat of his Venom 650R. If you have stories of him and his car, I would love to hear them and carry on the stories to listening ears. It is almost a dream to me to own a Viper after 25 years of saving for it. I vow to honor it properly. I am excited to be apart of the Viper community. Thank you in advance!

 

[ViperJeff]

Congrats and Welcome to the Viper Club

 

[Kma4444]

I was fortunate to know Phil really well. I initially met him when he started coming to Justin Bell's driving school. I say started coming as he was a regular for a while. I rode with lots of folks working the school and I could tell from the first time I sat in the car with him that he was talented. I coached him quite a lot and we became friends. He helped us when we took the GTS-R to Homestead for the FIA GT race, it was cool to have "Phil's Trim" on our car.

When he decided to get a purpose built race car he called me and asked about some GT3 cars he knew I was building. I told him that honestly he needed a GT1 car as he was going to quickly get bored with the little GT3. He did and not unexpectedly he went very well in it. He traded the original car for another one that was a lot nicer and shortly after hired me to work with him full time on it. We had a lot of fun traveling around and Phil ALWAYS drove as quickly as he could, which was very well indeed.

I knew the car was close when he would come in and declare, "It's a piece of s^%t" Then his patented big grin. He never cut any corners with his racing, whatever he thought it took, he did it. Whether that was car prep, parts or training. I admired Phil a tremendous amount and had some great times with him. When he passed, a couple years ago, I was truly emotional. It was a shock and the world lost one of it's best.

Treat his Viper well, keep it perfect and like Phil, beat it senselessly, that would make him happy, to know someone is having fun with his toys.

 

[ViperJeff]

Very cool insight, thank you

 

[HotRodMojo]

Thanks Kmma444 for sharing. I will treat it with respect and am totally excited to try it out on a road track sometime. Maybe you know Kmma444, there is a silver button just below the dash dimmer that turns red when depressed and I hear what sounds like a relay click on under the hood. Do you know what this might be?

 

[Kma4444]

Sorry Mojo, I didn't do anything with Phil's Viper besides hang around it some. He had sold it when I went to work with him full time. It was just race cars and such by then. I know when he had it, only Hennessey worked on it. Phil would take it there in his trailer and wait on it in John's parking lot until it was finished. Probably the smart thing to do but he said John always treated him right. I have other stories from folks I worked with that differ from that but there you go.

 

[HotRodMojo]

Thanks Kma4444. While replacing my master cylinder this weekend, I figured out the button. Phil used to drag race the car and I think had this button installed to assist in burnouts. There is probably a name for it, but the button activates a solenoid that goes to the front brakes. I am not sure how it works yet but I imagine somehow it holds the front brakes without the rear brakes applied. Phil must have been a hell of a wheelman. I saw he logged some 10 second 1/4 mile times in it.

 

[ViperJeff]

Line lock....