Photo credit: USATSI | via CBSsports.com
As a child I can remember taking summer trips with my family to visit relatives who had a home in the Poconos. Now I was more of an ocean guy as opposed to lakes (and still am today), but excursions to Lake Naomi were always memorable. My cousins: Brian, Shawn, and Chris, were die-hard Mets fans. We would spend hours mimicking Bob Murphy home-run calls while splashing in the water. Aside from baseball, we also enjoyed talking football, and basketball. One sport that never came up was auto-racing. Little did we know at the time but, we were very close to the Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. That same Pocono Raceway has been in the news recently because IndyCar Driver Justin Wilson died Monday night from injuries sustained in a crash held there on Sunday. Wilson was just 37 years old, a terrible tragedy. However, as the result of his untimely death, six people won much more than an IndyCar race.
Avid My 2 Sense readers will know that MMA is not my cup of tea. Well, neither is auto-racing. Whether it is on two wheels, three wheels, or four wheels, I have next to no interest in watching anything make left hand turns at high rates of speed for hours on end. Before hearing of the accident this weekend, I did not know who Justin Wilson was, so I did a little digging. He was born in Sheffield, England, and had been racing in one form or another since 1987. Throughout his career on the IndyCar series, he made 120 starts, had 3 wins, 2 poles, and his best finish was 6th in 2013. His younger brother Stefan, is also an IndyCar racer, and most sadly, Wilson leaves behind a wife and two daughters.
But it is not all he left behind. You see, Justin Wilson was also an organ donor. Though he lost his life due to a piece of flying debris racing in the ABC Supply 500 race, as the result of his organ donation he supplied six people with a second chance at their lives. That to me is worthy of the largest checkered flag you could ever imagine. Rest in peace Justin Wilson, you are a hero!
And that is My 2 Sense for this week.
