If there's one thing that Pancreatic Cancer has taught me, it's that you're never too old, it's never too late, and you're never too crazy to do something you love. When it's my time to go, I don't want to ever have to say "I wish I had......". Next to my wife, best friend and my everything, Terri, my greatest passion is racing.

And since the last time I pursued a motocross championship was 13 years ago, before I got cancer; it seemed fitting to count my blessings and make another run at one while I still can and still feeling great. Because, the clock is always ticking, right?

 

So at 59 years old, Terri and I decided to check another one off the "making memories together bucket list" and launched the "NVR 2 OLD Racing Tour".  But I couldn't do it without my support crew (there's only one and she wears many hats).

Let me tell you her job description: Crew Chief-which includes helping me get in and out of my race gear, taking lap times with stopwatch at practice, accompanying me down to the starting gate and blipping the throttle until I'm ready at the start, and showing me my race position during the race with the pit board; Nutritionist-plans my meals ahead of time and keeps me on schedule including in-between moto snacks, makes sure I'm fully hydrated, and keeps up with all meds; and Set Up/Tear Down Assistant of pit and living quarters including deploying rain tarps as necessary (and this year it's been OFTEN NECESSARY)....exhale! Oh, and the most important: best friend, wife, and life partner! I'll say it again-how lucky am I!

Now, I'm not the fastest "old guy" in the 50+ age class (half these guys are ex-Pros, A+ Amateur Champions, etc., etc.) and I am riding an old-school Kawasaki KX250cc 2-stroke against much more powerful 450cc 4-stroke machines. But I did consistently show up to enough races for a championship, finished all my laps accumulating points, stayed healthy and injury-free and improved my racing each week enough to pass and finish well ahead of riders much younger than myself (quite often the 50+ class is combined with 40+ age group even though we are scored separately).

 

And the Carolina Outlaw Series 50+ class champion!