By Joanna J. Kent
I go to a lot of networking events and some cocktail mixers like a lot of business
people. I am looking to connect with business people and get really good leads. I
have gone to a lot of them in 2022. More than I can count or remember. BUT……..
There was a particular event I do remember more than the others. A small group of about 20 people made up of mostly tech and other small business owners. It was a nice group that was evenly mixed – men and women, young and old. My third event that week. And for some odd reason that even now I can’t explain, I decided to have a little fun. When introductions came around and people handed out their cards and launched into their elevator speech, I decided to make my own kind of fun from the mundane. When asked what I do for a profession I decided to just give everyone my best smile and say “Guess?” Someone said Real estate. Another “Banking” still another “oh I know, Professor” I was really smiling big now, they are never going to guess this one I told myself. “Lawyer?” or “Doctor” “nope, not even close” Bigger smile. I quickly realized this could go on all night and I decided to give in rather quickly. “All wonderful rewarding professions BUT no.” Suddenly that high top table surrounded by 7 people got real quiet. The people had a deer in the headlights look on their faces while I for a brief moment had one in my brain. “Well actually, I am in professional motorsports, car racing.” “You DRIVE?” “No, I manage.” More deer in the headlights look. Dazed and confused again but I am used to it. “Manage, market and do driver development when needed”.
Some of the women were intrigued to want to know more. The other couple of
women rolled their eyes obviously not race fans and the men had their questions.
“NASCAR?” “No, IndyCar and IMSA, enduro racing” “Big Teams?” “Yes, the biggest”
“My favorite race?” “Indy 500 of course!” Someone inquired next “How long have I
been in pro racing?”
“In and out for 34 years. Right now, I am in the middle of organizing and seeking funding for sponsorship partners for 2023 Indy 500” I enthusiastically replied.
Now the really big, intriguing question- Drum roll please. “How did you end up there, doing that?” “Dad?” “Uncle?” “Brother” “none of the above” I answered.
“I got into a really bad car accident on Memorial weekend late at night and wrapped a VW Karmen Ghia around an oak tree.” Oh no, there’s that deer in the headlights look again. “Did I mention it pouring down blinding rain?’
“I suffered a really bad head injury, split my head wide open like a cracked melon,
popped and herniated all the disks in my neck and lower back and messed up one of my knees that slammed up into the dash board.”
It was very bad; I tell them because I should have been killed right then and there.
This is when I usually take my phone out and pass it around with the one and only
picture, I have left of my totaled destroyed Ghia. Usually, when people see the
picture they gasp in disbelief.
Then I tell them I looked like that horrid scene in that slasher movie Carrie. The scene where they dump the bucket of blood on her. That was me, soaked and saturated in my own blood that ran off my fingertips like bloody rainwater. But this was real life and not a movie. No one was going to yell “cut” and end the terror.
Against all odds I survived and after a long 2-year recovery I mended. My brain
rerouted after 2 years just like the Neurologist told me it would. My knee healed up with therapy and the damage in my neck and lower back improved. It has never completely healed but I manage thru the bad days and really appreciate the good days.
Hell! I am very blessed to be alive, right? It could have been worse. I learned from the Neurologist that losing a lot of my short-term memory and a big part of my long-term memory was livable, it came back like he said it would. He also told me I could have ended up with epileptic seizures afterwards or lost the ability to speak or even a stroke.
All that was permanently damaged was a portion of my brain that does long
formulations for algebra, statistics and second language. Not an issue in my life. That is why we have Mathematicians, Engineers and Google translate. So, I am good to go!
Right? Not so fast Speed Racer!!!
Even know I was in a good place physically by then I was a real mess trauma wise. I refused to drive ever again. My father laughed at that one. He boldly reminded me that we live in a place with bad public transportation access in the suburbs. He
suggested I move to New York City where public transport was efficient and easily
accessible. No, I protested! I liked it where I lived, the suburbs in Wellington, Florida. I suggested my brother continue to drive me everywhere. That went over like a lead balloon.
He reminded me that he was NOT sending my brother to college to be my “Chauffer”. Besides he has his life and future too get on with and now so do I. So be it.
My brother had a great idea how to get me motivated. He told me to ask dad for my dream car. I would drive that right? So, we did just that and my dad said sure if it helps me get back to driving and getting on with my life. Of course, there’s no free lunch or in this case free gas. I could have the car IF I drove it. If didn’t drive it, I would loose it to being sold. Fair enough.
I happily agreed. My dream car right! We searched high and low for it. It had to be
within a strict price range and great condition. I could not use the excuse that my car is broke again and I can’t drive it.
So, off my brother and I went on our quest to find the next dream car, well because I crashed the last dream car, remember?
A few weeks later we found just what we were looking for and in the right color too.
Off we went that afternoon way down to Pompano Beach to a classic car dealership.
She was parked out front all detailed out and shinny just waiting for her new forever home.
My brother and I test drove it. The salesman even took the top off so we could get
the full effects. The transmission grinded in 1 st gear so my brother was able to use that as a bargaining chip. Turns out the salesman knew that and told us a few
interested people complained about that. He told us the car was here for a few
months longer than they wanted and they needed to move it. He was willing to cut us a fair deal if we bought it that day. We said ok, made the offer, agreed on the price and saved $1000 to fix the tranny. We got my dream car at a price we wanted even better then expected!!! Everyone was really happy with the outcome, my brother, the salesman, and me.
And my brother happily drove MY car to her new home. Almost. We pulled over a
few blocks from the house and switched places so my father could see me drive into my parking space. Mission accomplished.
Not so fast Speed Racer!!! Over the next few weeks my brother drove the car
everywhere and sometimes just no where special because we just wanted to drive
and ride in it. My father also drove it around on the weekends. My mom had no
interest in the new car as she did not drive a stick shift. It was awesome to see my
dream car in my personal parking spot. Wow!! Dreams do come true!!! Life was
awesome!!!!
Until my dad caught me. After dinner one night he asked me a whole bunch of
questions about my car. I told him everything he wanted to hear. He was pretty
impressed by my answers especially since I answered them all from the passenger
seat. Then he asked me why the seat never moved and was always pushed back
further then I can comfortably drive with it? There was no way I could reach the
steering wheel and gas like that. My dad was 6’1 and my brother 6’2 and I am 5’4.
He figured it out I was not driving it like I promised him I would. Honestly, I owned the car for almost 2 months at that point and only really drove it once. Not including the seat change when we brought it home. He told me he was going to sell the car now.
I was heartbroken to hear that but I did make a deal with him. I would keep my
promise.
I could feel my heart just shattering inside but I will keep my word. He said he would give me a second chance and he would hold off one more month before he would sell it. I gave my dad a big hug and thanked him for the extra month. I got extra time BUT I still had such bad PTSD. I tried a couple of times to drive the car on my own, with my brother and even father but I always came home scarred and a nervous wreck.
Even with my dream car in my spot I absolutely did not ever want to drive again.
At that time in my life I would fall off to sleep trying to accept giving up my new car and moving to New York City. That seemed to be the only solution.
But God had a different solution, much better than mine because I would not have to relocate to New York and I would really learn to love, appreciate, and be amazed at what my dream car could do flat out peddle to the mettle on a racetrack.
At that time my brother met a cool guy who was involved with SCCA. He was going to the car race in Miami in about a week. He asked my brother if he wanted to go with him. My brother was telling my dad all about it when a great commercial came on the TV promoting the race. There was a champion driver featured in it. He was
walking the track and talking about the excitement of IMSA racing in Miami in the
voice over.
After the commercial was over my father told us he knew who the driver was and
better yet, he used to crew for the driver years ago before we were born. The driver was a young kid then and raced along with his father when he was up in
Pennsylvania. My dad used to tell us a how he would crew for this young driver and his dad at local races. My dad really loved the time he spent with them on the race tracks.
Somewhere my father gave it up, married my mom, had his family and moved 1000 miles south to the bottom of the country. He lost all contact with his racing world and team. My father told my brother to go and enjoy the race with Mike.
While I stood there and died a little inside because I would have loved to see a real race in person and not on the TV for the Indy 500. Of course my dad also told me “Girls don’t race cars at the Indy 500”. Ok I am getting ahead of myself here.
A few days later my father had a question for me. Great, what did I do or didn’t do
now I thought to myself? He asked me would I like to go to Miami for the race? “Oh, with Mike?”
“No, with dad.” He told me he found the driver. He remembered they had a car
dealership. He took a chance and called for him. He took his call and spoke with him.
My dad explained my situation to him and with the hopes he just might tell me
something about racing accidents to change my mind and make me feel better. Al
told him he could try? He told my dad he was glad to hear from him.
And was looking forward to seeing him again after all these years.
Well race day finally got here!
We got to the ticket office to be told our tickets were in another kiosk. So, we walked over to the VIP section. And were told they were in the garage area across the way.
When we got there, we were escorted to the team credentials section where we were issued Team ID’s for the day. Then a member of the Team was standing by with the golf cart to take us down to the paddock where the team was. My father recognized Al right away even know over 20 years passed since they last raced together. They shook hands and my dad introduced me to him. He had really strong hands when we shock them. I just stood there in complete awe of what was going on in the paddocks with this team and the others. I never saw race cars like these. They looked like spaceships. They were GTP Enduro racecars sanctioned by IMSA.
Al told me he had a lot to do before the race. “Ok” we said “great to see u again Al we appreciate the tickets, and we will see you around today.” “That not the plan
Tom”. He told me to get into the golf cart, my dad could come with us or stay with
the crew.
And off we went, me and this factory sponsored champion driver. We went to the
drivers meeting, then we went to a prayer meeting for drivers and crew, then we
went to the race day press conference and a very classified consult with the factory Porsche engineers. Three hours non- stop before the race. We finally made it back to the paddock. The cars were out on the grid by now ready to race. Al had changed into his driver suit and the crew was on pit lane. By that time my dad made friends with the crew, and we were all ready. I had no idea what I was I was in for the next 3 hours.
It was the most exciting thing I ever saw!!!! The noise, the speeds ,the smell of hot
tire rubber and scorching hot brake pads. The cars screaming by like lightening and roaring thunder, the fierce competition, people in the stands cheering and screaming for their favorite teams and drivers. I never ever saw such a phenomenal event in my life!!!
Just writing this I can feel it all coming back to me now. I have been on so many
racetracks in so many places now. But this was one of my top 2 race experiences. I
will get to number 1 another time. And it’s true you never forget your first time.
When the race was over we all went back to the paddock for a cold drink and watch them put the cars away. AL and his teammate had to talk with the press about the race. We watch in awe of it all. Soon everything was packed up to go, cars, tools, tires, golf cart ready to return north back to the shop. Al came over to us after his interviews.
He asked me if I had a good time? Did I think I might be able to drive again? I said I would definitely try for his sake. “See not that difficult right?” I was so excited I could barely talk. It was a real-life changing moment for me. My dad reached out to shake his hand and thank him for the day. He asked us how far we lived from the course; we told him over 2 ½ hours. “Well long drive home then.” “yep” and then he did something so extraordinary and generous. He invited us to dinner with the team. I don’t remember where we went or ate but I do know it was one of the best dinners I ever had. I got a chance to meet the crew and hear their wonderful race stories. Hear my dad reminisce with Al about when he was a young driver. And I knew I have finally unexpectedly found my one true love and purpose in my life. I have been involved and working in this awesome world ever since. When we finally said our goodbyes for real this time I had a question for Al. I asked him how do I do this? Race cars and live this life? He told me it was a long day, and he was tired now. He asked me to call him on Thursday afternoon and he would fill me in. Promise. What an awesome way to end a truly great week that filled me with so much hope, excitement, and awe. Al kept his promise and we talked for almost an hour on Thursday.
He filled me in and gave me direction to follow to get me started on my life’s journey.
Almost 35 years ago. So that how I got into pro motorsports and found my world.
“Oh you wanted the short version? I apologize and get carried away”. “Long story
short. I watched the Indy 500 on television with my dad when I was 5 years old.
I watched the whole race with him. It was 4 hours long in those days on a tape delay and was aired at 6pm. I fell head over heels in love with it that night. Afterwards as he carried me upstairs to bed, I told him that when I grow up I am going to race there and win!!!
Go speed racer go!!!!
Jjk/ 272023
