Checkered Flag - John Callis, Nascar Driver, Crew Chief, Mechanic and Gentleman

[BGlover67]

It saddens me to notify everyone here that long time SAAC member John Callis of Cornelius, NC passed away today, August 10th, 2026.  He bravely battled dementia and was lovingly cared for by his sister Patricia Callis Powell.

John was born on May 31st, 1949 and grew up in Orlando, Florida.  He was a Marine veteran of the Vietnam War.  His Nascar racing career began during the 1980 season and included competing in seven Sprint Cup Series events.

Besides racing, John worked for numerous championship teams including Blue Max (Rusty Wallace) in 1989 and Robert Yates Racing in 1999 where he stayed until retiring from Nascar in 2015.

Most notably, he was also a master mechanic and when Holman Moody needed a 427 engine built for their continuation GT40's, John was the man they called.

John loved Shelbys and Fords in general and his prized possession was a 1967 nightmist GT350. 

He will be greatly missed.  Funeral arrangements are to be announced.



Here is a pretty neat interview of John with a local Carolina radio show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZRu-awVFhk

[JD]

Rest in peace good man.

[Bill]

Sad, he was a great man with a lot of knowledge and a great sense of humor.

Our condolences to his family and friends.

[NC TRACKRAT]

A great loss in so many ways.  He will be sorely missed.

[pmustang]

John Callis was a badass!

Met him through Pete Geisler at Orlando Mustang

Every year I would fly out and do the Charlotte Autofair with Pete and the team. John would show up in the afternoon and we would go to dinner in the evenings. John had a MASSIVE Ford pickup dually and he would take us to where we were eating from the hotel and we would ride in the back. John wasn't hanging around. Abject terror and excitement in equal measures!

One day Pete mentioned John was selling a few engines and would I be interested.  I spoke to John and he said guys would bring in 5.0 used engines and start talking big HP. John would take their engines into stock and build up a proper engine with a stouter block. So in his spare time he would blueprint these engines and he had two in his way. I negotiated a price for both and paid John to crate them up. I shipped them to England and one went in my 1968 fastback and another is sitting on an engine stand in my shop. John said retail each was over 12k. The build books are a thing of beauty. I won't you what the price was but John was beyond kind.

Hearing of his passing saddens me as he was such a great bloke and amazing storyteller

One evening after we had eaten dinner John and Peter Geisler's brother started talking about their time in Vietnam. The table was silent and these two gents were speaking candidly and as if they were alone and no one else was in the room. It was almost mystical.the stories kept coming. Peter G said he had never in his life heard his brother talk about his time there. It was a solemn and special moment for all of us

RIP John. I only met you a few times but you had an impact

Thank you for your kindness. I shall cherish your creations even more than I already do with your passing