As I get older I love endurance racing more and more, and LeMans being the pinnacle of that discipline made this show all the better. I have yet to do a 24 but I hope to get the chance someday soon.
Wes, You are never too old to go to Le Mans. And this year you DO have a chance to go. I'll explain how in a minute, but as they say on TV....
First the big news: This morning Don Kitch received a phone call from the ACO (the French sanctioning body for the Le Mans race) and was told that, because a team had withdrawn from the original invitation list, Team Seattle is now officially in the 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans. (TS had been first alternate.) As you may know -this is huge for our community. Only 55 cars are invited and Team Seattle, which races to raise money for Seattle Children's Hospital, is the only charity based car entered. And the driver line-up is pretty cool too: Don Kitch, two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona; Joe Foster, the current Koni Challenge Cup Champion; and Patrick Dempsey - he of not only experience at the 24 Hours of Daytona, but also known as Dr. McDreamy. The car is not too bad either. It’s a Ferrari 430 to run in the GT2 classification.
So how can you take part? (Here comes the shameless plug!) Head on over to the Team Seattle website
http://TeamSeattle.com and take a look at the My Face Raced Le Mans page. For fans and supporters who donate to Seattle Children's Hospital's Infant Cardiac Care Unit, Team Seattle will place your picture on the car and carry it through the 24 Hours of Le Mans. After the race, you receive a Team Seattle - Le Mans fleece or jacket and an official certificate displaying your picture, pictures of the drivers, a picture of the car at Le Mans, and a proclamation that your "Face Raced Le Mans."
So see Wes, - and anyone else reading this - you CAN race at Le Mans. And help out a worthy cause as well. As we who are working on this effort like to say; “Team Seattle will make your heart beat faster so a child’s heart can beat stronger.”
We are working on some big events prior to the June 13th & 14th race and we’ll also be setting up a viewing party for race weekend. (It must be big - Speedvision will leave NASCAR for almost the entire weekend!) More to come…but jump aboard now. It’s going to be an exciting time.
Team Seattle @ Le Mans. Wow!