The racer to the right in the accompanying photo is Benoit Harvey. Benoit is a member of Team Quebec that competed in the Area 51 Raceway 24 Hour Endurance Race this past weekend. Team Quebec won the event and Benoit is accepting the 1st Place Award on behalf of his team. What the picture doesn’t show is an incredible backstory that led up to this moment.
I have known Benoit for several years – we met while I was visiting Quebec City and Montreal to race slot cars with some of the local racers. Benoit has also visited Area 51 Raceway and has competed in the Michigan 24 Hour Endurance Race. We generally see each other 2-3 times per year.
A little over a year ago, Benoit gave us all quite a scare when we learned he had been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. It was difficult to believe – Benoit is relatively young, does not smoke and takes good care of himself. How could this possibly be happening?
Because of his cancer treatments and recovery, Benoit was not able to join us at last year's Area 51 Race or the 2014 Michigan 24 Race held earlier this year. However, one of the racers (Rob Hall) took it upon himself to take up a collection for Benoit to help with his expenses. Many of the racers had family and friends who were affected by this terrible disease and the group raised several hundred dollars. The Michigan 24 racers also sent along a Slot.it Lancia LC2 car as a reminder his slot racing friends were thinking of him. Benoit was very touched by our gesture and elected to donate the money to the cancer center where he was battling this disease.
I’m very happy to report that Benoit is now cancer free. Some of us had seen him in June while racing in Montreal. We were very happy Benoit was able to join Team Quebec to race with us over this past weekend. But the story doesn’t quite end there. You see, it turns out that Benoit also built and tuned Team Quebec’s race winning car. What kind of car was it? A Slot.it Lancia LC2 – the same one we gave him earlier this year. Most of the racers at Area 51 this past weekend were familiar with this story; however, Benoit asked his good friend Rob Hall to share it. It was very emotional - let’s just say there weren’t too many dry eyes for a few minutes.
So when you look at this picture, it would be very easy to miss the prize that really matters - having Benoit in our presence and healthy. We race hard on the track but in the end, where we finish or winning a glass award is not nearly as important as spending quality time with our friends. Just ask anyone who knows Benoit.
:)
