- Date Of Birth: July 22, 1936
- Date Of Death: June 15, 2017
- State: New Mexico
Arlen Vanke, born in 1936 in Barberton, Ohio to Louis and Vilge Vanke, Arlen started drag racing as a teen. The first defining moment came when he had to tell his father that he broke the transmission in their first brand new car when it was less than a month old, with his not yet famous 1-2 power shift. To Arlen’s surprise, his father simply said, “It’s Tuesday, your mother don’t need the car ’til Friday.” Good Louie and his mother always supported their son’s ambition to become a drag racer, and become one he did, winning many national events and setting records all over the country.
He also did alot of nobody-befores-or-afters, such as winning all five national events in 1970 and sneaking out of the rehab hospital to attend recognition and important events as recent as last Father’s Day here in Akron for the historical drag racers marker at the Akron Municipal Airport and inducted into the Michigan Motorplex Hall of Fame last November.
