After my 4th spine surgery in 6 months looks like dr and wife are colluding to end my so called racing career.My question is in a low dollar just for fun deal would ya sell it? Or let someone drive so you could still be involved?

i have had several back surgeries and still drive.does driving hurt you.you could have a wreck on the hiway or the track.that said if i have to quit today i would hope i could help my son keep racing.for me driving hurts the least as compared to the work of keeping them running.only you and your wife can decide

Problem is from my understanding dr thinks the g forces could cause issues on launch.Multiple fusions and screws in neck where vertabrae were cutting in to spinal cord,also inoperable spot in middle of spine that is pretty bad.He has me permantly restricted from bending ,twisting and lifting hardly any weight.

In couple years grandson could take over if he ever gets time from football and chicks.Right now at 14 ready to turn 30 he aint ready lol.

its hard to give up for sure,sounds like someone will have to do all of the work also.good luck

ive told other people that know me,there are worse things in life than dieing.like being paralyzed.sorry for being blunt.good luck

It's tough to give up, I had to do it because of old age, 81, and the things that come with old age. One week end I'm racing, a couple of weeks later it's all gone.
Hey - It's just life. it happens.

Mopar you scare me. At almost 83 I am still racing with no plans to stop. Hate to see anyone give up.

ferndaleflyer - That's awesome, keep at it. Nothing I've found replaces that adrenaline from strapping in the racecar.
All I know is that living in those dog years increases rapidly after 80.

quote:

Originally posted by barnym17:
After my 4th spine surgery in 6 months looks like dr and wife are colluding to end my so called racing career.My question is in a low dollar just for fun deal would ya sell it? Or let someone drive so you could still be involved?

Would you still enjoy it even if you weren't the one driving? I know for me, that would be a hard no . Take care. Tom Worthington

quote:

quote:
Originally posted by barnym17:
After my 4th spine surgery in 6 months looks like dr and wife are colluding to end my so called racing career.My question is in a low dollar just for fun deal would ya sell it? Or let someone drive so you could still be involved?

Would you still enjoy it even if you weren't the one driving? I know for me, that would be a hard no . Take care. Tom Worthington

for me im not a good spectator,but being activly involved would be different

Mopar Traitor was racing and kicking tail right up until he retired. I want to be like Don when I grow up.

Rusty has won Indy TWICE? recently in Top Dragster and he is up there.

As for me I am 65 and in good health but the Texas heat is brutal on me. Like most everyone here I am going to race as long as I can and as long as it is fun.

I have been blessed to win enough money to cover most of my racing for last 10 years or so but economy is changing and not for the better.

It now costs WAY more to get there. Less people are racing (Lower car counts and lower payouts)

I do not race for a living or to make money but I will not continue racing if it is just throwing money away every week. We are rapidly approaching territory where it just is not cost effective.

I can not make any medical decisions on original posters decision to Race or Retire but it sounds very serious and so I would probably take Doctors advice.

I'm about to be 83 and have no plans to quit. I've survived a bad crash back in 2002 with a broken neck and several other broken bones, cancer in 2015 and cancer a second time in 2020. None of our kids (8) grandkids (23) or great grandkids (4) are interested in driving the car so I'll keep on going since I still have fun and can afford to race.

IF I could find someone interested in driving I probably would give up the seat but so far no one has applied for the job.

Bob

Kind of same boat with diabetes and numb feet. Difference not in danger of paralyzing myself. Hard call for sure.

IMO if you enjoy tuning and racing in general w/o driving. Drivers are dime a dozen. Maybe step back and see if grandson has an interest and get him involved. No kids here but I am sure watching him race would be more joy than racing yourself.

Good luck that old age crap does suck and getting there quicker than should myself.

I think that's a personal question. Do you have a friend/helper that wants to drive? Is the grandson interested?

When I first started racing I said I wouldn't want to drive other people's stuff and wouldn't let anyone else drive mine. Since then I've driven a few different cars for different reasons and put my good friend and bike champ in my wife's car to license and compete; we entered him in SC and a triple 10k bracket race weekend and he went rounds in both. It was fun to help him, watch him and go some rounds together.

It all depends on what you're after.

thanks guys,yes I love tuning and doing stuff to make car more consistant and faster on self imposed budget limits.(love the challenge).Maybe tinker around on it till boys ready to go and not get in a rush.

I believe that I have more enjoyment working on the car than the actual driving. The driving I've done for decades, the thrill isn't what it once was so I'm happy to do the work and let someone else drive. That said, finding that person takes careful consideration and planning. I need someone with experience because driving this car isn't for a novice or the faint hearted. I also need that person to be reliable and willing to commit to a full race season.

Unfortunately no one in our family is interested or can commit to the time. I've put out feelers but haven't gotten any responses. The last thing I want to do is to quit and sell off everything.

Bob

Let the boy be the hands and I will try to be the brains till he learns,after that I will cook food at the track and treat each race as a friends gathering.Im sure burgers and steaks will bring visitors lpl.

You all made me think--2 of my brothers have race cars that have not been out of the garage for over 25 years. One was sponsored by Budweiser and stopped when they closed his home track. Not sure why the other one stopped but he was also sponsored. I have never done anything else, don't drink, smoke, play golf, go fishing, used to deer hunt each year but didn't do that this year. All my friends are at the track--no matter where. Most are less than 1/2 my age. Its a choice and unfortunately that choice has to be made by your Dr. I guess if I get to beat up I'll also stop but hope its awhile from now---shooting for 90!

Like others have said, it is a decision only you can make, but, if it were me, I would choose hanging the helmet up versus being paralyzed. I had to put a swing arm on my roll bar cause I couldnt climb over it any more. Once im in and strapped Im ok, but ingress and egress was getting to hard. I was also wondering where in the stage of life I am, and came up with the idea that in the drag race of life, Im at the 1000 ft cone, and wondering if I should keep going full throttle or lift and coast. My kids are at half track, grandkids at the 330, and great grandkids at the 60' mark, in this great drag race of life.