Spirit of Fear - Part II

My Monday Message last week talked about how important it is to lose our “spirit of fear”. My point was that we need to climb out of our comfort zone once in a while and try something new, something different, something challenging. Well, I guess at least one person took my message to heart and really challenged himself. That would be my Father-in-Law....and he did it at age 72!

 

It was Friday morning last week when the three of us took time off work to drive out to Fontana. Now Fontana isn’t exactly a “garden spot” but there is one venue out there that is extremely impressive, the Auto Club Speedway. It’s a huge two-mile oval race track that hosts a wide variety of NASCAR racing events. My Father-In-Law, Tom, and my nephew, Shane, joined me for an amazing adventure. We arrived at 7:45am and were immediately issued professional NASCAR jump suits and ushered into a large training room where we spent several hours watching video and listening to an instructor explain the dangers of driving a full blown race car at speeds approaching 150 mph. The instructor explained that we would be on our own and in complete control of the car, with no instructor on board, so we had better pay attention to the training.

 

Auto Club Speedway in Fontana

After suiting up we headed over to Pit Road with about 50 other men. We were then fitted with helmets and ear buds so that an instructor would be able communicate with us while we were driving. We received more instructions about when to pass slower drivers and other crucial items, but the last instruction really got our attention. “If you want to go fast, really fast, then don’t slow down entering the turns. The turns are banked, so just keep it floored and hang on!” At that moment one of the professional drivers fired up his car and the roar of that 600 horsepower engine rattled every bone in my body. My adrenalin was really flowing and as the professional driver roared around the track at over 150 mph all of us on Pit Road wondered, “How on earth are we going to be able to duplicate that feat?”

 

My Nephew is 25, and I’m twice his age, but Tom is 72. However, Tom doesn’t look it or act it and when he folded his 6’- 4” body in through the window of that #99 race car; I really had to admire his courage. There was no one else even close to his age attempting to tackle this challenge and when the day was over all three of us had overcome our fear and conquered something extremely dangerous. But Tom, more than anyone else, proved that fear wasn’t going to stop him or even slow him down...his top speed was over 147 mph!

Race Car Drivers - Shane (in blue) and Tom (in red)

 

Tom driving the #99 Carl Edwards Race Car



He has not learned the lesson of life

who does not every day surmount a fear.    

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson