ONE DRIVER'S JOURNEY
EDITOR'S NOTE: The writer worked as a tech inspector for the race. See page 34 for his complete story.
All the drivers who came to race in the Frank Kimmel Enduro Nationals had stories to tell, but Bryan Beckner's story was unique. Beckner, a young driver from Anderson, South Carolina, heard about the Enduro Nationals just a couple of weeks before the race, after his brother in Florida saw an item about it on the Internet.
Bryan immediately started building a car for the event with the help of his father and a few friends. They finished the car at 6 a.m. on the day of the race. As his family and friends loaded the truck, Bryan rushed home, took a shower, and was ready to make the 450-mile drive to Kentucky Speedway. Along the way, the trailer hitch became detached from the ball and was hanging by the safety chains when a passing motorist flagged Beckner over.
But he still made it to the track.
I was sitting in the tech shed with Larry Meadows at about 4:30 on the afternoon of the race when I noticed a car in the garage across from us without a wicker bill on the roof. I asked Larry what was up with that car. We went over and found out that Bryan had just arrived, and we started looking the car over as we talked. We could see that there were some problems with the car, so we told him to pull it over to tech so that we could find out everything that he had to do to make it race worthy.
Mechanically, the car was in reasonably good shape, but it needed to have a wicker bill mounted on the roof, a crash plate welded into the driver's door, tow chains added, a transponder installed, and a couple of other things.
Beckner had already missed the drivers' meeting, and the practice session was winding down. Even if he could get everything fixed up, he would have to start on the tail of the field. There wasn't a chance of him getting the car ready by himself, so the entire crew of technical inspectors pitched in and helped. With mere minutes to spare before the start of the race, Beckner pulled out of the garage and took his place at the rear of the starting lineup.
When the race started, Beckner passed a few cars before being black-flagged for a loose wheel. He came into the pits and tightened the wheels during a caution. When the green flag flew, he started passing a few cars again. Unfortunately, the motor began loading up and he was through for the night.
After the race was over, Bryan loaded up the car and started driving south, blowing a tire on the way and spending his last $60 on gas just outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Getting home just as the sun was coming up, he finally was able to stumble into bed for well-deserved sleep.
You would think that this tale of woe would have discouraged Bryan Beckner, but far from it. Instead, he was excited.
"It was the neatest thing that I've ever done in my life," Beckner says. "Going into the first turn on Lap 1 was just unbelievable. The way the officials helped me get my car ready was amazing. They went far above and beyond the call of duty. I made a lot of sacrifices to get there and race, but it was worth every bit of it. I can't wait for next year."
There are a lot of other drivers feeling the exact same thing.
-D.H.