Words often fail to describe the essence and pure love of racing, even though I try on a daily basis to capture that feeling. I wouldn’t be doing what I am now if it wasn’t for that feeling.
This video from Mazda sums it up rather well though.
In a new video called “The Driver In All Of Us,” a number of Mazda drivers - primarily in sports car racing - describe how racing stirs their soul.
Even though it’s produced by Mazda, it doesn’t feel as though it sets out to be just a brand video for Mazda. It just works in terms of how driving has enriched each of the lives of those who are featured within it.
Two particular heartwarming stories I’ll point out here. One is Kenton Koch, who I rate as one of the true top young talents in the country.
Koch, who when he isn’t driving doubles as one of North America’s tallest drivers and a student at Cal St. Fullerton, has risen through the Mazda MX-5 Cup ranks and IMSA Prototype Lites, where he won championships in both.
But a year ago, his mom, Karen, was undergoing a heart transplant. A year later, Kenton came back to win the Rolex 24 at Daytona in the Prototype Challenge class in his debut - taking the checkered flag in the JDC/Miller Motorsports Oreca FLM09 he shared with Stephen Simpson, Misha Goikhberg and Chris Miller - and his mom was there on site to witness it.
The second is Liam Dwyer, the U.S. Marine Staff Sgt. turned driver who’s won races and contended for championships in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge ST class driving a Mazda MX-5 for Freedom Autosport.
Dwyer may only have one leg because he lost his left leg in Afghanistan. But he uses his right one to wheel his No. 26 car all season to the best of his abilities with co-driver Andrew Carbonell.
Not only is Dwyer a badass behind the wheel, but he’s also got an incredible sense of humor. His Twitter profile pic is of him poking fun at himself as a block character, saying “this joke was his idea” about taking off his left leg as the block character.
In three minutes, we see here why we love racing. And in the same breath, we see how much Mazda’s a part of that love.