The Amazing Stories of Motorsport

To Inspire:  To move a person to a particular idea or feeling; To direct or guide, as by special divine influence.  – Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary

Photo Credit:  Courtesy Race2Recovery Public Relations

Cambridge, ON – August 15, 2013

“Which driver inspires you?” – Craig Stanton*

It was a simple question.  Craig is an accomplished journeyman sports car driver and a great source for thought provoking moments and motivation.  The problem with Craig’s question wasn’t finding an answer.  The problem was finding just one answer.

There is a big difference between asking who the best driver is and asking which driver inspires you.  Choosing the best driver, while difficult, is far more objective than trying to choose the most inspiring driver.  Inspiration is a matter of what makes us amazed, makes us want to cheer someone on, and makes us want to go out and succeed at something because someone else has succeeded at something more difficult.  There is something about inspiring people that can’t be pinpointed or named, but they have this ‘something’ in abundance.

The decision to embark on this project of chronicling the stories of people who are inspiring in motorsport was a decision we made realizing that it would be a daunting and painstaking task.  The stories on this blog are the personal stories of other people, not ourselves.  Their stories are theirs and belong only to them.  We're trying to tell those stories in a way that does the person and their experience justice and show respect.  We've been fortunate to have the opportunity to tell the stories of these incredible people with their support and cooperation.  Each story has a lesson for all of us in terms of character, motivation, and determination.

The first story was that of 14-year-old Austin Riley of Ontario, Canada.  Austin has been racing go-karts for 8 years and is a 3-time Champion.  Austin races with Autism, which makes his accomplishments absolutely stunning.  While Austin has difficulty being understood by those around him every day, when he has a steering wheel in his hands and a kart underneath him, there's no mistaking his message.  He inspires people every day with his determination, his focus, and his beautiful smile and big heart.

Our second story took us across the Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom to talk to retired Captain Tony Harris of the Rally-Raid team Race2Recovery.  After Tony lost his left leg to a roadside bomb in Sangin, Afghanistan in 2009, he wanted to prove to himself that losing his leg didn't mean losing himself.  Out of that trauma, Tony and the rest of Race2Recovery set out to prove that disability has no bearing on a person's abilities.  They proved that point by competing in and finishing the most extreme motorsport event in the world - the Dakar Rally-Raid.  They are the only disability motorsport team in the world to have finished the Dakar Rally-Raid twice in a row.

Our third story took us back in time to a moment in racing history that will never be repeated.  At the Canadian round of the 2005 American LeMans Series season, the competitors in the series banded together to send a private message of caring to a young man that was dying of a rare form of cancer.  The story of '4Tommy' lives on in die-cast models, photos, and the hearts of those who witnessed it.

We continue to pursue the stories of those that have achieved amazing things in motorsport and are looking forward to bringing you more inspiration from the world of motorsport.  Fantastic stories are everywhere if you know where to look.  

We hope that you, like us, will find enjoy and learn from the stories of those in motorsport.

There is 'Inspiration At Speed.'  We hope you will enjoy the journey with us.

Colene & Brooke

Twitter - InspireSpeed

*If you aren’t following Craig Stanton on Facebook or Twitter, you should think about doing so.  Craig is informative, entertaining, and motivating to follow.  You can catch Craig on FaceBook and on Twitter.