More Than A Race... A Tradition

There's a part of LCP that is beyond explanation. It's those moments when the cars come into a town with hundreds of thousands of fans all lined up along the roads into waving and yelling to express their excitement and joy. And then as you come to the arch many of them crowd the road to see the cars and more importantly the driver and navigator. And when either one of them takes the time to make direct eye contact with them you can just see their heart speed up and the hair stand up on the back of their neck. You would think they just saw Elvis. When drivers reach out and shake the hand of some of the fans it's unreal. There simply are not words to describe it. That's when it hits the driver and navigator... WOW, this is awesome! As they get out of their cars the crowd squeezes in but what's amazingly different is unlike here in the United States, everyone is well mannered and nobody will crowd you asking for an autograph even as badly as they want one and God have mercy should the teams take time to strike up a conversation. Everyone in the crowd will wait patiently until it is their turn to get an autograph or to have their photos taken with the team or car. It's mutual respect and it's as good for the teams as it is for the fans alike.

Something I found so amazing was how many people I met that had stories to tell about how their fathers or grand fathers had told them stales from the time they were little kids about the time years ago that they stood next to great drivers of LCP back in the 50's. To these people this isn't just a race... It's truly a tradition and one they are so very honored and proud to be taking part in.