Larry's passing has left a huge hole in a lot of people's lives, bigger than ASB Stadium.

This analogy is offered by Larry Gallop's wife Glenis and describes perfectly how much he was loved by and his influence on his family and friends.

There's not many Larry's around these days.

After a long period of health issue, the well-known Tauranga speedway stalwart passed away surrounded by his family at Tauranga Hospital on June 22. He was 63.

'Larry had a big heart and would do anything for anybody, he'd never steer you wrong and you could always depend on Larry – he was always there for you no matter what time of the day or night.

'There's not many Larry's around these days, that's for sure,” says Glenis with equal parts sadness and pride.

For Larry's family, there's simply not enough words in the English language to describe the man they lovingly called dad, poppa, brother and husband.

Speedway and toasted sandwiches

Among many passions Larry enjoyed in life, speedway was one of his biggest. His son Daryl says even sickness could keep the man from the track.

'The doctor said he could leave the ward for a couple of hours and asked what he wanted to do. Dad said: ‘The speedway'. So the speedway team organised a corporate box for him twice.”

Larry grew up in Hamilton with three brothers and two sisters, and at one stage the family lived next door to the Forest Lake Raceway.

'He grew up with speedway and just loved it,” says his sister Diana. 'He started off with go-karts and later on in life he raced B Grade Saloon here at the old speedway.”

Back in 1975, Larry and Glenis moved to Mount Maunganui where they built a home and raised four children; Katrina, Rosanne, Brendon and Daryl.

Larry Gallop working on his car at the family's Mount Maunganui home back in the day.

Katrina says for the children, growing up with speedway was something they shared with their dad.

'The old speedway used to be on our backdoor, we used to go through the hole in the fence.

'For dad, racing was for the fun of it – but it was always competition when he hit the track.”

Outside of speedway Larry was a multifaceted character, with many strings to his bow.

He possessed a keen sense of humour, loved and coached soccer, was the biggest Warriors' fan you'll ever meet, and adored music – especially ‘Harvest' by Neil Young.

Larry was also a qualified butcher and a barbecue whizz, especially if you like your meat well done.

'Dad was always in charge of the barbecue or making the toasted sandwiches,” says son Daryl, causing the family to burst into laughter. 'Yeah, he made a great toasted sandwich.”

Larry's final laps

Last Saturday a special memorial was held in honour of Larry at ASB Baypark Speedway's clubrooms, with 300 people attending.

His daughter Katrina says with the help of Bernie Gillon and the Speedway team, Larry was able to do his final laps of the speedway on the back of the pace car.

Larry Gallop hits the track at the old Todd & Pollock Baypark.

'Mum was in the front seat while me, my sister Roseanne and brothers Brendon and Daryl sat in the back of the pace car with dad's coffin.

'For his last two laps, one was under the green flag and the other under the checkered flag. That was amazing, it was the best way to send dad off.

'That's what dad would have wanted, he wouldn't have wanted his service at some church; he'd have wanted it at the speedway.”