Yesterday, at my local track, Rocky Mountain Motorsports, up in Carstairs, Alberta, we put on an annual fundraiser event for Children's Cancer. A couple months ago I was asked to bring my 06 GT to help with the event and my response was "hell ya!"
There were 23 super cars on track. We all brought our cars out to take cancer survivors, and the families of cancer fighters, for a ride while helping them forget about their struggles and give them an unforgettable day. It was a nice morning with some sun but the weatherman was calling for rain and possible thunderstorms in the afternoon. There was a NFGT, 2 06 FGT's (including mine), 5 McLeans, Lambos, tons of Porsches, 1 Dodge Viper, a Ferrari F8, a and a ton of of other amazing cars, all out there for the cause.
I was scheduled for 5 sessions in the morning, taking out survivors of cancer and the family members of those who lost their loved ones. One of the tough ones was a young guy, 19 years old, who had lost his brother, 7 years prior, to brain cancer. Super nice kid, but damn, his brother died when he was 13 years old. We talked cars and we talked about his brother while I turned laps.
The morning session was amazing and we broke for lunch around noon. We then headed out for afternoon sessions where all the drivers were giving 4 lap rides to people who had paid a couple hundred of dollars to ride in their favorite cars while helping raise funds for a great cause.
I had another 5 sessions scheduled for the afternoon and I was enjoying meeting, and chatting with my passengers. As the afternoon continued on, it started raining pretty good but all drivers continued on with the event. It was an amazing event.
As we drove late into the event, around 3:30 pm, I had gone out with 3 rides and had 2 more to more to go. It was raining pretty hard at this point but it was so much fun, all of us just kept going out to put smiles on faces. I was getting a bit tired so I started to remind myself to take it easy. I had gotten up at 4:00 am and the wife and I had driven 1 1/2 hours to get to the track at 8:30 am. At one point I thought to myself, perhaps I may not be so good at the 24 hours of Le Mans, but today was a day to give back.
When I took out my second last ride that afternoon, I again, reminded myself to take it easy. We're all out here to put smiles on faces.....right! The first two laps were non eventful and then I started my 3rd lap. I sped down the main straight, at only 70% of usual track pace due to the rain, but unfortunately I touched the inside curb on turn 1, which is a no no. It's a huge no no,...... and especially in the rain. The track was slick, I touched that inside curb, my car got light and then it started coming around on me...... really fast.
Damn..... as I was 180 degrees backwards, looking at the concrete barriers wiz by, and I thought, "SHIT!!!! I shouldn't be out here with 12 year old tires (I'm running Bridgestone's....... not Goodyears.....I may be dumb for running 12 year old tires but at least I'm not running Goodyears.....I'm not totally stupid
) but I'm sure glad I paid up my insurance policy 3 days ago".
Honestly, I wasn't thinking much other than, "how in the almighty F did I clip that inside curb, in wet conditions, and spin my prized possession, with a passenger.......... you dumb ass!!!" As soon as it started, it was over. I had spun a full 360 degrees and the 2 cars that were on track, right behind me, managed to slow down and miss me. I had come to a full stop, stalled out, facing forward on track and I didn't touch a freakin thing. I'm the man! I made a joke to my passenger that "you certainly had the most exciting ride of the day" and then I glanced down to check my seat to see if I had shit myself. I had not. I restarted my car and continued on with my last lap...... at a very slow pace. I had to give my passenger his full 4 lap experience........ which he most certainly got full value.
So ya. A kids cancer event is easily the best day of the year and the fact that I didn't totally destroy my GT was icing on the cake.
QSS
There were 23 super cars on track. We all brought our cars out to take cancer survivors, and the families of cancer fighters, for a ride while helping them forget about their struggles and give them an unforgettable day. It was a nice morning with some sun but the weatherman was calling for rain and possible thunderstorms in the afternoon. There was a NFGT, 2 06 FGT's (including mine), 5 McLeans, Lambos, tons of Porsches, 1 Dodge Viper, a Ferrari F8, a and a ton of of other amazing cars, all out there for the cause.
I was scheduled for 5 sessions in the morning, taking out survivors of cancer and the family members of those who lost their loved ones. One of the tough ones was a young guy, 19 years old, who had lost his brother, 7 years prior, to brain cancer. Super nice kid, but damn, his brother died when he was 13 years old. We talked cars and we talked about his brother while I turned laps.
The morning session was amazing and we broke for lunch around noon. We then headed out for afternoon sessions where all the drivers were giving 4 lap rides to people who had paid a couple hundred of dollars to ride in their favorite cars while helping raise funds for a great cause.
I had another 5 sessions scheduled for the afternoon and I was enjoying meeting, and chatting with my passengers. As the afternoon continued on, it started raining pretty good but all drivers continued on with the event. It was an amazing event.
As we drove late into the event, around 3:30 pm, I had gone out with 3 rides and had 2 more to more to go. It was raining pretty hard at this point but it was so much fun, all of us just kept going out to put smiles on faces. I was getting a bit tired so I started to remind myself to take it easy. I had gotten up at 4:00 am and the wife and I had driven 1 1/2 hours to get to the track at 8:30 am. At one point I thought to myself, perhaps I may not be so good at the 24 hours of Le Mans, but today was a day to give back.
When I took out my second last ride that afternoon, I again, reminded myself to take it easy. We're all out here to put smiles on faces.....right! The first two laps were non eventful and then I started my 3rd lap. I sped down the main straight, at only 70% of usual track pace due to the rain, but unfortunately I touched the inside curb on turn 1, which is a no no. It's a huge no no,...... and especially in the rain. The track was slick, I touched that inside curb, my car got light and then it started coming around on me...... really fast.
Damn..... as I was 180 degrees backwards, looking at the concrete barriers wiz by, and I thought, "SHIT!!!! I shouldn't be out here with 12 year old tires (I'm running Bridgestone's....... not Goodyears.....I may be dumb for running 12 year old tires but at least I'm not running Goodyears.....I'm not totally stupid
) but I'm sure glad I paid up my insurance policy 3 days ago". Honestly, I wasn't thinking much other than, "how in the almighty F did I clip that inside curb, in wet conditions, and spin my prized possession, with a passenger.......... you dumb ass!!!" As soon as it started, it was over. I had spun a full 360 degrees and the 2 cars that were on track, right behind me, managed to slow down and miss me. I had come to a full stop, stalled out, facing forward on track and I didn't touch a freakin thing. I'm the man! I made a joke to my passenger that "you certainly had the most exciting ride of the day" and then I glanced down to check my seat to see if I had shit myself. I had not. I restarted my car and continued on with my last lap...... at a very slow pace. I had to give my passenger his full 4 lap experience........ which he most certainly got full value.
So ya. A kids cancer event is easily the best day of the year and the fact that I didn't totally destroy my GT was icing on the cake.
QSS
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