Remembering Glenn Sweet
Remembering Glenn Sweet
Glenn Sweet, best known as the car owner for legendary ARCA Late Model driver Danny Byrd, passed away Friday Feb. 6 at his home near Sebring, Florida. Sweet’s cars were familiar to race fans at Flat Rock and Toledo Speedway in the 1960s and 1970s, as Byrd racked up feature wins and track championships in the Walt Hickey Ford sponsored #08. Sweet is survived by his wife Clara, son, daughter, 3 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. A memorial service is to be scheduled for later this spring.
During the 60's it was Danny Byrd in his Edsel's and Fords giving Joy Fair all the competition he could handle. Danny in his Glen Sweet prepared late models was a consistent winner at Flat Rock, Toledo and always winning on the dirt at Mt Clemens Speedway. I loved to watch those ugly Edsel's tear up the local race tracks. Now, i just wonder how much all those Edsel's would be worth if they did not end up in the junk yard. Danny Byrd won races one summer driving with two broken wrists after a very hard hit into the wall at Mt Clemens Speedway. It brings back so many memories of the white #08 racing and winning in competition with Ray Nece, Artie Sommers, Marv Parenteau, others on dirt. Joy Fair, Dick Mitchell, Fran Harden, Joe Ruttman, and others at Flat Rock and Toledo. Glen Sweet was the glue that held that team together. They raced 3, 4 times every week, heading up to Spartan Speedway or Birch Run, over to Sandusky or Ft Wayne Indiana. I was lucky that my father Bill Jackson was a good friend to Glen Sweet and Danny Byrd. As a young kid I was totally hooked on racing and traveling to all these late model tracks and I still cannot get enough of the sport. My dad owned race cars driven by Homer Newland, Bill Douglas and George Cooper to name a few. I rooted for #08. My favorite car was the #08 Glen Sweet prepared Walt Hickey / Mayfair Auto Parts Ford race cars driven by Danny Byrd. Glen Sweet was a kind and very pleasant man to be around. He will be missed by all that had the pleasure of making his acquaintance.