If there is one thing great about a wife with cancer, it is that people invite you to do things they otherwise wouldn’t. Think about it like a less fatalistic ‘Make-a-Wish’. We were invited to go down to the pits and hang out during a race called the ‘Lucky-Dog’. This is an endurance race that spans over two days.

I don’t know a ton about it but from what I was told, it is a step up from 24 hours of Lemons. In that race, you are supposed to run a car that cost less than $500 for a 24 hour race. Lucky Dog had three classes (don’t ask me what they are) and the car has to be older than 15 years. I could use my pickup or my Navigator next year.

Because there were three classes, I saw Corvettes and Mustang GTs but I also saw VW Rabbits, a Sirroco, many Miatas, a Pontiac Fiero, Nissan 240 and many BMW 3 series. My host was running a Mini Cooper. Who doesn’t want to win? But the main object is to have fun.

My son is very into cars and I have been a race fan for a lot of my life. I have been to open wheel races and NASCAR multiple times. These days I am more race adjacent than I am an ardent fan. To really get into it, you need to have a driver to follow and my last driver retired five years ago. Also, without cable or a sports streaming package it is extremely difficult to watch the races. Networks share the season and races jump time and channels depending on how popular they are. What I am saying is there is no consistency so unless you are really following, it is pretty easy to miss.

The truth is, most racing in this country is bootstrap, like the Lucky Dog. This is the passion of everyday guys that wrench on their own cars and trailer their own cars and spend the weekend at the track for no money. Depending on what part of the country you live in, there may be a dirt track in every little town. There sure was in South Carolina.

A friend of my wife’s husband was racing. I have only met him once and that was over a year and a half ago. After my kids met us in the hospital for a visit with mom, we headed to the track. We had the pit number and I had in my head what he looked like. But after wandering around in pit row for a while I didn’t see him.

I had a deadline to be home, someone was bringing us dinner. So we started heading to the car. I told my son that he didn’t have to leave because he had his own vehicle. I was itching to go home. My son said “well you are leaving, I might as well”. I responded with “Do you wan’t me to ask around for you”? He said “I guess”. It is not my strong suit to inject myself into strange social situations but I suspected that he would want more if he could.

We meekly wandered to the pit area again. This time, I asked the first person I saw “Do you know so and so”? The young man responded “No. Never heard of him. What does he drive?”. I said “No Idea”. Then he chimed in with “Check with the next door team, we share a pit space.” So off we went to check with some old guys wearing racing suits. Turns out, our host was on the track (not surprising).

We watched and chatted as long as I could and then I had to leave. I asked my son if he wanted to stay and he said yes. There was only about another hour remaining anyway in the race. He stayed until the end with two guys he didn’t know. I wish to have sat in a chair all day and watched but I was ready to get home after four straight days at the hospital.

I told my son that if he was bold enough, he could probably volunteer to help with the car and races. The guy lives a couple of miles from us and who would turn down help. We will see if he steps out of his shell and that ever comes to fruition. I suspect that he would prefer to be the car owner rather than crew but you have to start somewhere.

End Your Programming Routine: I am glad that I stepped out of my shell and we made that memory. My son asked if I would drive if he put a team together. I said yes. I don’t know exactly where my love of racing came from, it was just something that I got interested in as a teenager. Thanks cancer. I doubt we would have ever done this without you.