The car only lasted an hour but the love will last a lifetime
So we did it! We got married at Nelson Ledges Race Track at Lemons Race. So assuming you just stumbled into this website after all is said and done… You might ask yourself whats going on — is it a race or a wedding? It’s both. Jenine and I were and are very much and love, and we were having issues finding a way to get our friends in and family in once place. Meanwhile after reading Jalopnik every day at work, I got the crazy idea of entering a Lemons race that was to be held at the Nelsons Ledges racetrack. The race was to be held on my birthday and I would be turning 33. It had always been one of my dreams to go racing, and so I started down the path of creating a Lemons team with the overwhelming support of my fiance. One day, while preparing for work, I got a flash of genius. I told Jenine, “Honey, I know this might sound crazy, but if we are going to be at the race on my birthday, and our friends and family are going to be there anyway… then if we get married that day too, it will be the best day of my life.” To my surprise she didn’t throw something, laugh me out of the house, or call the nut patrol.
Even before my words finished, she was planning and I had to stop her for second just to see if she actually thought it was a good idea and whether or not she said yes. Well, she did say yes. We spent months rebuilding our $500 car for the Lemons Race in between crazy schedules of 4 children, work, and planning a wedding. I suppose it never occurred to me that this had never happened before. We started contacting the Lemons organizers, Nick Pon and Jay Lamm. Not only were they cool with it, but they helped out in nearly every way they could. The Chaplin they recommended turned out to be one of the race announcers, and a Lemons racer himself. Thank you for your contributions to a wonderful ceremony, Chaplain Marvin Gray. Thank you Jay Lamm and the staff at The 24 Hours of LeMons for the passes that allowed our friends and family to attend the wedding after long flights and driving across state lines to be there.
The car we picked ended up being a 1985 Chevy Iroc-Z. We decided on a Chevy Camaro Transformer theme, and lovingly called our car BumbleBee. The kids were super excited that we were building a life-size Transformer in our garage. It had a lot of rust and a few aftermarket components, but looked like a fun ride. With the help of dear friends of ours — Bernie Nolan, Scott Mackela, Brent Huggler, Brian Wagnitz, and Brian Mosier (later replaced by Scott Schweitzer) — and with tons of help from Jenine’s Dad, Jenine’s Uncle, Wally Powell, my Dad and other friends and neighbors, we were able to build the race car.
An amazing team of women put the perfect shine on the wedding ceremony… including Amy Hart and her mother, Donna Brooks, Ronda Huggler and her daughter Courtney, among others. When we arrived at the racetrack, we were met with a cold Ohio downpour and helping hands of the Lemon’s Drivers, family and friends. With last minute preparations and a little welding help from Schumacher Taxi (another Lemon’s team) and Jay Lamm himself, we got ourselves through tech inspection. Even then brake problems plagued the team into the wee hours of the night. I finally had to give it up, get some sleep and prepare for for the wedding. In the morning, the team scrambled to find brake lines and get the car ready for racing. Meanwhile, the wedding took place minus the team members that were huddling under the wheel-well of our old Camaro trying to rejuvenate the brakes. We had a beautiful ceremony on top of the flag stand at Nelson Ledges with each of children (four in total contributing). We took a lap around the racetrack with all eyes on us and hundreds of Lemons racers cheering us on as we drove around the track in our Durango. Meanwhile in the paddock area the team had fixed the brakes and were ready to go. I hustled back to get into my driver suit and attend the drivers’ meeting. On the way to the drivers meeting I was surprised by a quick birthday party topped off with a birthday hat.
The race started soon thereafter. We stayed competitive and passed several cars. On our 17th lap tragedy struck. The Camaro lost power and then started overheating and we had to bring it in. We tried to rejuvenate the car but the motor was not having any of it, responding with a steady knock. Team-exhausted Brent Huggler took it back onto the race track to finish it off. The engine seized. The rest of the race was spent trying in vain to replace the motor. Cold and exhaustion took its toll on the team and team moral. At the end of the night many of the team members walked out to the track, drank a beer, and watched the racing action — pondering what could have been. We had come so close to getting the motor swapped. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed the teams we met, the challenges of building the car, and the ceremony that united Jenine and I. We currently plan to return with BumbleBee and quite possibly another car, for our anniversary. Our hope is that Nelson Ledges has another Lemon race, and this time we will go the distance. The car may have only lasted an hour, but the love will last a lifetime.
Our new combined happy family!
The girl gets all the attention…
We got married on the flagstand, tires add character, right?
Bumblebee was not available for the ceremony he was getting new brakes. Standing in for BumbleBee was Optimus Durango.
Just married and taking a lap with my new wife.
BumbleBee resurrected, getting ready to take him out for some racing action.
We achieved triple digital speeds! Passed tons of cars and kept our nose clean.
The car only lasted an hour but the love with last a lifetime!
The road ahead… We may not have finished well in the race, but we finished with the people we love and care about. I take from this experience a new wife who loves me, is a terrific Mom, and will be my soul’s companion forever. If that is not a win, I don’t know what is. Oh yeah, and I turned 33 (our car’s number) in style! Thanks again to everyone who made all of this possible!