Frank "Scoop" Vessels III (1952 – August 11, 2010) was an American off-road truck racer, winner of the 1977

Baja 1000 The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula, with a course of up to about 850 or more miles. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from ...

desert off-road race. He was sponsored by

BFGoodrich BFGoodrich is an American tire brand. Originally part of the industrial conglomerate Goodrich Corporation, it was acquired in 1990 (along with Uniroyal, then The Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company) by the French tire maker Michelin. BFGoodrich wa ...

Tires. Vessels was a participant in the formation of the

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Craftsman Truck Series The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is a pickup truck racing series owned and operated by the NASCAR, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), and is the only series in NASCAR to race production pickup truck-based stock car racing, s ...

in 1994. Frank earned the nickname "Scoop" from hanging around his grandfather's horse stalls as a kid.

Off-road racing

Vessels attained more than thirty off-road victories throughout his career, with at least one in every major off-road event. He was a four-time

SCORE SCORE may refer to: *SCORE (software), a music scorewriter program * SCORE (television), a weekend sports service of the defunct Financial News Network *SCORE! Educational Centers *SCORE International, an offroad racing organization *Sarawak Corrido ...

class champion. In 1974 Frank was named the "SCORE Rookie of the Year," and the "Off-Roadsman of the Year" by

SCORE International SCORE International (Southern California Off Road Enthusiasts) is an off-road racing sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing. Founded by Mickey Thompson in 1973, SCORE International was purchased from Sal Fish in late 2012. and is run ...

in 1978. One of his most important wins was at the 1977 Baja 1000. He won the event again in 1988.

Vessels' 1977 truck

The truck Vessels used for his 1977 win was a 1972

Ford F-100 The Ford F-Series is a series of light-duty trucks marketed and manufactured by Ford Motor Company since model year 1948 as a range of full-sized pickup trucks — positioned between Ford's Ford Ranger (T6), Ranger and Ford Super Duty, ...

built for him in 1976 by Bill Stroppe. The truck had a one-of-a-kind propane engine with an Impco fuel system. The truck was eventually sold by Vessels after years of racing. To help celebrate BFGoodrich's 20th anniversary in off-road racing, the company found and restored the truck for the 2005

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NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Several enthusiasts had the idea that led to the creation of the

, including Vessels. The intent was to expand the scope of truck racing. The first NASCAR-style truck made its appearance in 1994 at the

Daytona 500 The Daytona 500 is a NASCAR Cup Series motor race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is the first of two Cup races held every year at Daytona, the second being the Coke Zero Sugar 400, and one of three ...

. The Series was initially called the ''Super Truck Series'' but the name was changed in 1996.

Quarter horses

Vessels was also a breeder of

American Quarter Horses The American Quarter Horse, or Quarter Horse, is an American breed of horse that excels at sprinting short distances. Its name is derived from its ability to outrun other horse breeds in races of or less; some have been clocked at speeds up to . ...

. He was the president of the

American Quarter Horse Association The American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), based in Amarillo, Texas, United States, is an international organization dedicated to the preservation, improvement and record-keeping of the American Quarter Horse. The association sanctions many ...

from 2004–2005, and was a past president of the

California Thoroughbred Breeders Association The California Thoroughbred Breeders Association (CTBA), founded in 1937, is a non-profit organization committed to the advancement of thoroughbred breeding and racing in California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western Unite ...

. He ran the Vessels Stallion Farm for more than 20 years. The Vessels Stallion Farm logo appeared on the side of many of Frank's early trucks. Frank's grandfather, Frank Vessels Sr. was a prominent figure in American Quarter horse racing, and was the founder of the

Los Alamitos Race Course Los Alamitos Race Course is a horse racing track in Cypress, California. The track hosts both thoroughbred and quarter horse racing. The track has the distinction of holding four quarter horse stakes races with purses over $1 million, more than ...

, in

Cypress, California Cypress is a city in northwestern Orange County, California. Its population was 50,151 as of the 2020 census. History Cypress originally was nicknamed "Waterville" due to the preponderance of artesian wells in the area, but was incorporated ...

. Frank Sr. was inducted into the

American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame The American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and Museum was created by the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), based in Amarillo, Texas. Ground breaking construction of the Hall of Fame Museum began in 1989. The distinction is earned by people and ...

in 1989.

Death

Vessels died on August 11, 2010, when the

Aero Commander 500 The Aero Commander 500 family is a series of light twin piston-engined and turboprop aircraft originally built by the Aero Design and Engineering Company in the late 1940s, renamed the Aero Commander company in 1950, and later a division of Ro ...

airplane he was piloting crashed just outside

Burns, Oregon Burns is a city in and the county seat of Harney County, Oregon, Harney County, in the U.S. state of Oregon. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 2,730. Burns and the nearby city of Hines, Oregon, Hines are ...

. Vessels and one passenger were killed. He was 58 years old at the time of his death.

References