[Thieleng]

Kind of off topic here a little bit but I do want to tell my story. I was in 7th grade in Las Vegas and the school decided to have a carreer day. I was the only student to list his future occupation as a race car driver. The principal of the school knew Carroll Shelby. Everyone went to their respective speakers as to their area of future employment, I was one of the last ones to be taken out of class. Mr. Shelby was waiting for me in the parking lot of the school and I got to spend a couple of hours with him. He showed up in the polished aluminum bodied cobra, I think it is the same car that is in the Shelby "museum" in Las Vegas that I most recently had the opportunity to visit. The next day, with my parents permission I was able to ride with him in the car at the Las Vegas Convention Center. I was requested to bring a helmet and the only one we could find was a football helmet with a single bar. The ride in the Cobra stuck with me my whole life. The hardest part of the ride was keeping the helmet in place and holding on, eventhough I was strapped in. With regard to this topic the thought of eventually having something close to this experience was buying my SPF and driving the vehicle. Maybe being 53 is not too old to start pursuing my original career intentions....just dreaming...