Veteran racer is
inspiring
By
Jeffrey Fazio
DriveTime Columnist
Participating
in the Pennsylvania Hillclimb series is a great way to meet some truly
interesting and wonderful people. From the course workers to the
drivers and from the officials to the fans, there is endless supply of
really cool people at these events.
My
first hillclimb race was the Pagoda event in 2004. At that event I
made sure I got a chance to meet Alvey Ford. My initial reason for
wanting to meet Alvey was simply that we were both racing Toyota MR2s
and, as they say, "Birds of a feather, flock together."
So
I went poking around the pits until I found the little red MR2 I saw
racing up the hill and introduced myself. At the time, Alvey was 71
years old. Numbed by my own ignorance, I couldn’t believe he was
racing supercharged sports car up Duryea Drive at his age.
Needless
to say, over the last two years Alvey and several of the other older
drivers have opened my eyes in regards to my uninformed assumptions
about age and racing. It’s really inspiring to see how fast these
racers are. Their wisdom and experience shows as their race times get
posted.
A
few of our local racers that are over 50-years-old are featured in the
Mature Living section of today’s Reading Eagle. They
are all a great bunch of guys that are out there winning races and
setting records.
This
past weekend at the Weatherly Hillclimb I talking with Alvey and he
recalled that he entered his first race in 1957. His first event was a
drag race which is not too surprising as many of us start there.
To
put the time element into perspective, in 1957 my mother was
5-years-old and not even Nostradamus could have predicted my
existence.
Flash
forward to 1979 and Alvey was entering his first hillclimb race. Like
my mother in ’57, I just happened to be 5-years-old at the time. It
would be 11 more years until I got my driver’s license and 25 years
until I entered my first hillclimb and met Alvey Ford.
It’s
amazing to think about how much racing Alvey has done in that time. I
don’t even want to think about how many tires he has had to buy.
I’ve
really come to appreciate and respect the veteran drivers. They have
quite literally "been there and done that" and have loads of
good stuff to share. Their stories of past races won, records set or
accidents that they walked away from are always entertaining.
Watching
the now 73-year-old Alvey Ford suit up and race this past weekend, I
couldn’t help but ponder the "50-somethings" I know that
complain about being "old." Anyone who has spoken to Alvey
knows the last thing he feels is "old."
In
fact, Alvey gives off such a flair of youth that the United States
government even sent him papers last year requesting that he re-enlist
in the military. Alvey, being Alvey, sent back a reply indicating that
he would re-enlist. He even followed it up with a phone call or two to
make sure they got it.
That’s
just one of the many great stories that Alvey likes to share. If you
get a chance, stop by the Pagoda Hillclimb next weekend on Mount Penn
and say hello to Alvey. He’d probably be willing to fill you on the
rest of his re-enlistment story. |