….using his index fingers to painfully hunt & peck out each letter….gives you the complete mental imagery that you need when you read Guardian Angel Pilot Tommy Sheehan’s tomb below. As I was casting around the house, awaiting my airport ride (at 3:38am), I sent him an email with the subject line reading: “What gear are you in?”
- Bruce Ledoux
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Tom SheehanDriving in the Rolex 24hr race was not the plan. The entire experience has been organic and grown from talking about it to driving in the test and now to run the race. This is the kind of event that makes one look deep into the innards of your commitment to the passion of driving race cars. How bad do you have it?
I always dreamed ,”What would it be like to drive a 997 cup at speed.” I am ready, I am but how different is it going to be? How will I do? How do I stack up?
It was Humbling to get into an unfamiliar car as an amateur racer. The years of familiarity with my own equipment its subtle and not so subtle nuances, they all strip away. It’s a car but it’s a relevant machine surrounded by other relevant machines with relevant drivers. My test experience was just that some experience but as the 30th gets closer I realize this is real, this race, me in it. The Rolex 24hr is all so real. I digress.
My wife Rhonda who along with four other wives I know will be moved up the list. I will not say what list it is because I don’t know but my mention of it conjured up the appropriate list in your mind. You know the one I mean. Rhonda and I boarded the flight to Orlando Open seating we had The late check in middle seat choices as we peered down the isle boarding in Manchester New Hampshire. My wife eyed a coat taking the first row middle seat, clear leg room for her husbands 5′ 17″ frame. I had a fix on it to. With my seat secured my wife headed back into the depth of the aircraft cabin. Rhonda secured an open row in the rear of the aircraft, no leg room but some elbow room. I stuck with my commitment to the center seat in the front row.
Secretly I was delighted. Now was an opportunity. I was free of my wife’s attention, free to start my mental preparation. My laps for the day would be simulated out of my mind. I closed my eyes pictured the drivers view out of the car from the recent test braced my feet against the crease between the airplane floor and the bulkhead wall. I was doing laps, gas, shift up, clutch out, leaving pit road. Turn off the pit lane rev limit. Do it when the car is straight. I am in second gear and the car launches forward now free of a limited RPM. Now careful, get out of the pit exit, its tight the tires are cold. Out on the track I go up and down through the paces of each corner I see my marks I am breaking blipping shifting. I think the guy seated to my left was in horror but as most people do when they see something strange they pretend it is not happening and they ignore you. I was ok with it. To my right is a nice woman traveling alone fast asleep just after the plane leaves the ground. I think the flight attendants thought I was dreaming. I was. I did not care. I was out of sight of my wife.
You see this is our vacation. We had this planned long before the Rolex bid came to fruition. I have a week off with my wife in Florida. We are golfing. Golf is my wife’s passion. I enjoy it as well. It is a sport we share. Rhonda loves Tom. Tom Loves to race cars. Rhonda does not even like to drive let alone be interested in going fast. Rhonda loves Golf. Tom loves Rhonda. Golf is a solid bond. Some reading this have an idea of where I am going. Most of you have already lived it so I won’t bore you. It’s the week before the highlight of my racing life. The euphoric Zen I have coursing through my veins feeding the core of my being, must and I underscore must, It must be kept in check for our vacation. This is my dream. I have put my wife through enough. I can keep a lid on this for a week, cant I?
Four-thirty AM Monday January 24th. I am up. Rhonda is sleeping. I close my eyes. Pit lane, I fix the rear view grab first gear……… I do laps in bed while Rhoda sleeps a few feet away. I am now just doing them in my head. I see it all. It is fresh. It is close. This is my world. I am getting ready. I am living the dream. A few feet away my wife is Dreaming of the day of golf ahead. I am only using it as a respite between my next driving sessions. It is building. The race is getting closer it is on. This is real.
Regards
Tom
We need your help fund raising we’re at $18,500 and trying to get to $50,000 by the start of the race on this Saturday, 1.30.10. Would you please consider donating to help the kids?
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TRG TO BROADCAST LIVE FROM THE PITS AT ROLEX 24
Daytona Beach, Fl (January 26, 2010)- Known for their innovative ways to engage their fans and sponsors, TRG will be launching an all out multimedia assault for this weekend’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Broadcasting over the internet LIVE during all 24 hours of the race, the team is undertaking a groundbreaking step in getting the fans behind the scenes. Hosted by Team Polizei’s Liz Mozes, the team invites everyone to take part in chat room discussions, featuring live video interaction with drivers, team members, as well as intimately bringing you in to team strategy discussions and pit calls.
TRG’s live “PitPass” can be found at:
www.theracersgroup.com/PitPass
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