Brush with fame conjurs curiosity
One of the blessings and curses of being a journalist is the gnawing curiosity that you carry around. Especially when you meet fascinating people.
I have a hard time just playing it cool and making small talk. I want to cut to the chase and jump to the big, probing questions - usually not because I’m chasing a story - I just really want to understand them.
Ian’s late Grandmother Andresen shared this inquisitive quality, to the extreme. She was famous for “interviewing” everyone she came across - waitresses, cab drivers, the usher in church, fellow guests at a wedding, you name it. Somehow she could charm almost everyone into revealing the innermost working of their souls in the space of about 10 minutes. She was remarkable. An outing with her might push a few social boundaries, but it was NEVER, ever dull. I told her she would have made a wonderful journalist.
Well the other night, I met someone with such an interesting past, I absolutely could not stop myself from getting nosy. Ian and I were invited out to dinner by a new friend (and luckily for us steakhouse co-owner!) who met us while Ian was playing drums with a local jazz band. He brought along with him former racecar driver Derek Daly and his wife, Rhonda. http://www.motorvationllc.com/
You may have heard or seen Derek as a broadcast analyst for motorsports here in Indy. He was born in Ireland (which means he still has that wonderful brogue!) and developed an impressive racing career in Formula One and later the CART series, including many Indy 500 races.
I guess the normal questions would have been, how did you get started, or what were some great moments in your career??? For some reason though, that’s not what I had to find out. My first question to my new acquaintance: “How do you become a former racecar driver? Once it’s in your blood, how do you know when to stop?”
My perspective might be a little skewed. I am married to someone so passionate about his career that he says he’d keep playing drums even if he were hooked up to oxygen with no arms and had to fasten a drumstick onto his head. But then again Ian’s music career doesn’t come with the same obvious physical risks and grueling competition as racing.
Derek said after surviving a terrible crash, and going on to win his first major competition, he realized the thrill of standing on that winner’s block wasn’t what he’d always imagined it would be. He had become a father, and realized that he could no longer pour so much of himself into his beloved sport. It was time to branch out, and find other outlets for his passion.
I’m glad I asked.
After that conversation a part of song from the musical Wicked (one of my obsessions) kept running through my head:
Getting your dreams it’s strange but it seems a little, well, complicated
There’s a kind of a sort of - cost.
There’s a couple of things get lost. There are bridges you cross you didn’t know you’ve crossed until you’ve crossed.
And if that joy, that thrill
Doesn’t thrill like you think it will
Still, with this perfect finale, the cheers and the ballyhoo
Who wouldn’t be happier? So I couldn’t be happier…
Because happy is what happens when all your dreams come true.
Isn’t it?
Got a show to do now - thanks for reading.
Trish
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I’m glad you asked too, Trisha! Willie Nelson’s heroes may have always been cowboys, but like many who grew up near this town, my heroes have always been racers. Although I will admit to mild disappointment as a surly teenager at drawing Double-D’s name once in the family ‘500′ pool (I always wanted Rutherford, Johncock, Foyt, Sneva or Al Unser), over time I have recognized just how much this guy has meant to open wheel racing.
For my money, there’s no one better (or more entertaining) when it comes to race analysis and insight into what goes through a driver’s mind. His credibility has been hard-earned, as you referenced–that Michigan crash in the mid ’80s had to have been utter hell–but he did get back on the horse. We all tend to treat the drivers whose faces are on the Borg-Warner trophy as heroes, but it’s probably more appropriate to apply that term to someone who demonstrates the courage to rebound from a death-defying experience just to be able to race again (Go, Davey Hamilton!).
Without a doubt, DD earned the right to walk away on his own terms, and it’s more than a little interesting to me to learn that his decision had something to do with desire. I’ve always thought the Rolling Stones had it backwards: “You can’t always WANT what you GET.”
What a great segue into the Month of May, Trish (and yes, May begins sometime in mid-April around here)! Here’s to former drivers who still intrigue us, and to journalists who ask good questions (and can mix racing with theatre).