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The average person has no idea how much community service is done by race tracks, such as Charlotte County Speedway. Among the many charitable endeavors they have participated in and raised money for, this season alone, are Mothers of Murdered Children, Muscular Dystrophy Association, and Students Working Against Tobacco. When young Pilar Rodriquez disappeared in Punta Gorda, the Speedway hosted "Pink Ribbon Night" during which each driver and their race cars sported pink ribbons to draw attention to the youngster's disappearance. The Speedway is an active partner in six Southwest Florida "Do the Right Thing" programs, where they give passes to young people who have made positive contributions to society; they even hosted a "Do the Right Thing" night in May to reward youth who have received these awards in the past four years. Just last month, drivers, crews, officials and fans raised over $1800 for young Courtney Serency, a young girl with a brain tumor. Drivers have passed the helmets, almost weekly, for other sick children and to help pay funeral expenses for children who have died. The list goes on and on.
I have noticed a strange trend in recent months involving the drivers of Charlotte County Speedway. I call it "When You do Good Things, Good Things Happen" Syndrome. Several months ago, Kevin Williams, a sportsman division driver, brought me a sizable personal check for the Mothers of Murdered Children group just before he got in his car to race. I had the strangest feeling, call it a premonition if you will, that he was going to win his race. My premonition proved right and Kevin took the checkered flag that evening for the first time in quite a while.
Last month, we lost two past drivers in one week, Wally Gutzler and Tim Eastman. The Speedway decided to honor both drivers that night and raise money for Gutzler's family. Tim Eastman was a very close personal friend of mine and was simply the best person I ever had the privilege to meet in my entire life. Many people at Charlotte County Speedway felt the same way including mini stock driver Frank Welch. On that bright sunny Saturday afternoon that we were to honor Wally and Tim, Frank stopped and gave me hug, knowing how close I was to Tim and how badly I was grieving over his loss, as were many others. He told me "I am going to win tonight and I am going to do it for Tim. When I am done, I am going to do a Polish Victory lap in his memory." I got that same strange feeling and just knew he was right. Well, he did win that race but it was not easy. He passed for the lead three times and each time a caution flag flew and he had to go back to second position. Several laps from the end of the race, his car started sputtering from a loose air breather, but I never noticed. I was trying to score his race with tears running down my face and when he crossed that start/finish line to take the checkered flag and do that Polish Victory lap for Tim, I was racing down the stairs to congratulate him. I don't think there was a dry eye at the Speedway when he pulled into Victory Circle.
Young Bryan Beckner, AKA Flyin' Bryan, is another example of this strange phenomenon. This past week did not start out well for him. He had blown the engine in his sportsman division car several weeks before and had to rebuild it. Not having a big name sponsor, he poured his own money into the engine, as most of our race teams do. On Friday, he injured himself at work and had to go to a walk-in clinic where he received a splint on his severely inured finger and a tetanus shot. He went home, spent the entire evening, well into the early morning hours working on his race car with his dad, Dave, brother Jason, and team mates Mike Loney and Conrad Molter. Early Saturday morning, he got up and discovered he was having an adverse reaction to his tetanus shot that made him quite ill. Probably, all he wanted to do was crawl back in bed and die.
He had made a promise though and as young as he is, he is a man of his word. He had a date with Orange River Elementary School in Fort Myers. Their PTA was having their annual school carnival and Bryan had committed to helping them raise money for their school. He and Brother Jason, sat in the sun from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. taking pictures of youngsters in his Dale Earnhardt, Jr. look-a-like stock car for a dollar a piece. He also brought pictures of him and his race car, autographing them for the children and making their day. In between kids, Bryan would go lie down on his trailer and you could see how truly miserable he felt but he patiently answered each person's questions about racing and the Speedway. The last thing I said to Bryan before we left the school was "Remember, good things happen when you do good things." Again, I felt that premonition and again it proved true. Flyin' Bryan flew around the race track in first place for his entire feature race, sore finger, illness and all. He took the checkered flag and the win.
This is not the first time young Bryan has come forward to help with kids. Earlier in the season, a teacher approached me at the Speedway with three disadvantaged youngsters in tow, who had never even seen a stock car track before. They had won a contest in her class and she brought them to the Speedway as their reward. She wanted to introduce them to a driver and get them close to a race car. Bryan eagerly stepped up to the plate and showed those three youngsters the time of their lives. They walked away race fans for life and wrote him a thank you letter.
When the Speedway held their Mid-Season Blow Out at Players Sports Emporium last summer, we had a dunk tank to raise money for our Junior Fan Club. Race officials and drivers all volunteered to be "dunked" including Dennis Hale (road warrior Mid-Season Champion), Buzz Martin (sportsman Mid-Season Champion) and Flyin' Bryan. Bryan raised more money than anyone during his stint in the Dunk Tank and was dunked more than anyone else, as well.
I think the reason young Bryan is so willing to come forward to help with kids is that he was once one of the Charlotte County Speedway Brat Pack members, kids who have grown up there. He was one of those kids who wanted to be a race car driver like his dad when he grew up. He was one of those who idolized certain drivers and those drivers took the time out for him to talk and sign autographs. They were his role models and now he is the role model for the new generation of Brat Packers. You know the old saying "what goes around comes around." Ten years from now, some 18 year old kid like Bryan is now, will be passing on the tradition to the next generation and say to them "Flyin' Bryan wass my idol. and I hope I can be just like him."
That's the way stock car racing is, a family tradition passed on from generation to generation. This tradition includes the family values that has made this country strong and seems to be lost in so many other sports. In local short track racing, it's not about how much money is involved unless it is the money raised to help others. It's not about distancing yourself from the fans and seeing how much money you can charge for your autograph, it's about being there for your fans to talk to and rub elbows with you, about seeing you are just an average person not a celebrity. It's about being a member of huge "family" where you have your squabbles and disagreements but when it gets down to it, you pull together for the good of the "family" and the community. That's what racing is all about and that is a big part of the reason for its popularity.
Will this phenomenon of Good Things Happen When You Do Good Things Syndrome continue? It has to because the bottom line is, there are so many good, wonderful people involved in our racing "family". From the officials, the management of the Speedway, fans, drivers, crews and sponsors, we all pull together as the "family" we have become in times of need. That is what a family is all about, being there in good times and bad.
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