Roger's Race Car

18 x 24" Acrylic
(Click to enlarge)

We went to LymeRock Park in Lakeville, CT (where Paul Newman used to race) last month to see Terry's brother, Roger, race one of his Porsches. Supposedly he is retiring after a race in Daytona in November, where all of his brothers and sisters (a family of eight kids) will get together all at once for the first time ever seeing him race. So the race at LymeRock was significant in that it was the last race we'd see, visiting him alone.

Over the past few years, we have seen Roger race several times, and he would always get us passes to drive down into the paddocks and park with the race car drivers. Of course, we would putt in with our little Miata and park behind the big rigs but then we would go off wandering around and no place was off limits to us. We felt special, somewhat important, even though all we did was hang out. In Louden we got to meet Carl Edwards at a Silver Crown race, Roger was partners with him. Now that more people know who Carl Edwards is, that's kinda cool 'cuz he's a really nice guy.

So, we have enjoyed the time we spent with Roger, enjoying his hobby, and we wanted to do something to commemorate the last race we went to alone and let him know how much we enjoyed and appreciate all he did for us. He is a very generous soul and this is so small and insignificant in comparison.

I painted this picture of Roger passing another car (Ronnie Randall, another driver and former business acquaintance of ours) from a combination of pictures taken at Lime Rock in a part of the track called the "Esses". This was the vantage point we had though we were a bit higher up and further away in the infield spectator area. The countryside in the Berkshires is beautiful. The weather that weekend was perfect. The colors on Roger's car are so much fun (his is the blue and green one). I truly enjoyed painting this and I hope he enjoys it for many years.

Thank you, Roger.