It all started with 4 of my distant relatives in Maryland. In the 1940s, they raced up and down the Eastern Shore. Sometime in the late 40's, they stopped racing.
Everything remained dormant for over 60 years. Then my love of racing took another turn, and I found myself in the seat of my beautiful #23 car. On April 11th 2015, after 60 plus years, the Cardonas re-ignited the smoldering pile of wood left untouched for such a long time.
It took time. It took trial and error, getting screwed over by a fellow competitor, and plenty of practice.
Then along came August 8th, my 9th ever start. Rockfish Speedway was packed to the gills with tons of cars in the pit area. I would draw the first place spot for my heat race. As the green light flashed for the practice session, my car set sail. It was probably the most fun I've had in a car. I was positive the way I ran in practice I would have the race in the bag.
Then came the heat races, and I was the last car standing at the end of my heat race. I would end up getting a battle scar on my rear bumper from a fellow competitor as the green flag fell. Both of my competitors would blow up during the heat, and unfortunately one would turn up done. The other was set to a backup car.
Then...it was time.
As I sit in the staging lane, I crossed myself and said a little prayer. I would be on the outside of the front row, sharing it with a racer of a higher division, who I was technically not competing with.
The race was underway, I let another racer of the higher division by so I could take the inside. Turns out I would dominate the race and lead all 15 laps, en route to my first ever victory of many to come.
I was the first person to win a race in my family, if not, the first to win in over 60 years. Later that night, during one of my infamous bull sessions with my pal, The Legend, Tim Leeming, I asked him if he's ever won a race, he said he was too busy finishing second. Hell, I feel his pain, I've finished 2nd over half the time.
So I can say, I've one-upped a Legend.
updated by @eric-cardona: 12/05/16 04:00:58PM