SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Arthur “Art” Boune, who turned a business building wings in his garage into a full-service shop that supports sprint car racing throughout Northern California and some of the first teams of the then fledging World of Outlaws, has died at the age of 83.

“He died in his sleep as peacefully as can be,” said his son Glen Boune, who continues as the owner of ART Enterprises in Sacramento, Calif. “That made me happy.”

Boune, who raced midgets with the Bay Cities Racing Racing Ass’n in the 1960’s, began building wings of his own design in the 1970’s when he graduated to racing super modifieds at Sacramento’s West Capital Speedway in the 1970’s.

He opened ART Enterprises in 1967 and supplied wings to some of the first World of Outlaws teams, including cars owned by Doug Howell, and quickly earned a reputation as an innovator and a generous sportsman. Rick Ferkel, one of the original Outlaws and a long-time friend of Boune’s, recalled Boune coming to his rescue after a crash at West Capital Speedway.

“It destroyed the wing I built myself and Art just gave me one of his,” said Ferkel. “It was 50 pounds lighter than mine and I won a lot of races with his wings over the years. He was very innovative.”

Despite his popularity with racers, Boune “was not a limelight guy,” said Glen, a champion of the Civil War Series

“If I had success, he would be enjoying it, but from the sidelines,” Glen Boune said.

In addition to Glen, Boune is survived by four daughters and five grandchildren.