A Tale Of A Son And His Proud Father

Most little boys begin having a fascination with cars the moment they open their eyes, something that only grows as they do. Equally as enjoyable is that fathers enjoy taking their children for a ride and that includes grandfathers too. Here is my father taking Will and his mother for a ride in one of our 1928 Fords.
















Then, what seems like only yesterday Will was racing around the house on his first race car. As you can see, some things never change... Will still thinks racing is more important than getting dressed.



When Will was a young boy he would do anything to get to drive so his grandmother would pay him a few bucks to mow the lawn. This didn't last long since Wills Nascar driving style cost Granny too much in tires and gas.


Naturally when it was time for high school Wills need for speed didn't stop there as he set multiple track records in high school as well as state several of which still stand to this day.


I know it's hard to believe but Will was grounded from driving his mustang from time to time so he took up water skiing. The problem was Will had no boat so he improvised. Will built a contraption and called it "California Skiing."


Since he was grounded he had to have his mother use his car to do the towing. Did I mention the hospital emergency room knew Will on a first name basis? (He loved wheelchairs too.)


Since I couldn't afford all the emergency room visits I finally gave in and let him use the boat.


One weekend Will asked his sister if he could borrow her car and she told him he could if he would take good care of it to which he eagerly agreed. What he neglected to tell her was he had just qualified as the youngest licensed driver in NASA's history and was signed up for a weekend of NASA at Laguna Seca.


At the ripe old age of 13 Will began racing my Dodge Viper at NASA events as well as anything else with wheels on it until finally he took one of my RX7's back to the Mid Ohio championships and won his first national championships. (Between you and me I was as proud of the car as I was Will.) Here's Will doing some victory donuts after the exciting win.


Not long after that I had a heart to heart with Will about my concerns of him always thinking about cars and that he should settle down and get a job and taking on some responsibility. A few days later he came home and announced he had a job. Naturally I was very excited as I asked where he would be working. Then he said, "I am the new race car instructor at Reno Fernley."




As Will grew older he found that his love of water skiing and racing cars went hand in hand.




Eventually Will did what every loving parent prays and hopes their kid will do... He got a job and moved away. YES... THERE IS A GOD! LOL! The jury still seems to be out as to which one of us is happiest.



All kidding aside this is one of my favorite photos. This was taken back in the days when Will and I had plenty of time to spend racing go-carts every week. Will was always a very good listener and I credit that to much of his success in everything he has ever taken on. Whatever he sets out to do is always given 200 percent or nothing at all.