Toyota Life Articles
Monterey Historics Blog: Larry Bowman
Thursday, 8/16/07, 3:00pm
Let me introduce myself. I am the 10th driver in Toyota's "Race of Legends," but at no point in my life would I have believed that I would be put in a group with them. I've never won the Indy 500, or been in a Formula 1 grand prix. No, I'm the guy that was not only crazy enough to want to join with this group of champion drivers and race with them, but pay for the privilege.
Not only do I get to fulfill a personal dream, I get to choose the charity that will benefit from the auction run by Toyota. The money will go to the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Foundation a program that provides funding and services for children in need.
I saw the auction on ebay, and thought to myself, "It's not often you'll get the chance to race with nine of the world's greatest drivers." So it was a dream come true to get the opportunity to get out there and mix it up with them.
I race quite a lot of different types of car. I'm in the IMSA GT3 Series, I've been in the Grand-Am Series. I did the Daytona 24 Hours this year, plus I also race in a vintage series and try to keep my hand in with historics too. So I spend a lot of time driving cars, and I really enjoy it.
Practice was fun! The Scion tC is a perfect car for a race like this. And get this, I passed Al Unser. I didn't think I'd ever get to say that. My "lead" didn't last long as I went off the track a couple of corners later, but I still overtook him! We joked together after, and that shows the spirit of these guys. He laughed at me and said: "That's something for you to tell your kids!" I am really looking forward to the actual race on Saturday.
