All types of Racing, "One big family"

Guy's

this is what racing is really about!!!
Please if yall could,,,,, give this a read!!!


adam





Alllan Andrus

RYAN HOWE/Times-News

Allan Andrus, right, receives last-minute instructions from driver Scott Schatz before entering the water in the P-9 Cracker Box race boat Sunday at the Snake River in Burley.

2012-06-26T01:00:00Z2012-06-26T01:36:40ZRegatta Champ Gives Ill Fan Ride of a LifetimeBy Ryan Howe--rhowe@magicvalley.comMagicvalley.com

13 hours ago • By Ryan Howe--rhowe@magicvalley.com


BURLEY • Allan Andrus has been coming to the Idaho Regatta for 15 years.

A longtime dialysis patient with kidney failure, no one knows how many Regattas he has left.

But without a doubt, the 2012 Regatta was most memorable for the 64-year-old race fan from Richmond, Utah.

Allan Andrus says he holds the dialysis record at Logan (Utah) Regional Hospital. He’s undergone 3,400 treatments during his 22 years on dialysis. He goes three times a week for the three-and-a-half hour procedure.

He’s had two kidney transplants, but his body rejected both. “My immune system is too strong,” he said.

Allan Andrus has had a lifelong love of boats since his father took him to his first race when he was 10. One of his bucket-list dreams has been to ride in a Cracker Box race boat.

On Sunday, he got his wish.

Allan’s son, Craig Andrus, approached the Schatz race team in the pits Saturday afternoon and asked if they could give Dad a ride.

“How could I say no? He’s a major fan and he loves the water,” said Scott Schatz. “I’m kind of softhearted for that kind of stuff. We’ve had Cracker Box owners who have passed away in the last couple years who were dialysis patients as well, so it hits close to home to the class.”

After the races Sunday, and before they headed home to Corona, Calif., the Schatz crew surprised Allan.

“You’re going for a ride in No. 9,” Craig Andrus told his father.

Allan’s eyes welled with tears. “Best boat on the course,” he said.

Indeed, it is. Scott Schatz wrapped up the American Powerboat Association national championship of the Cracker Box class in P-9 Miss Suncoast at the Idaho Regatta this weekend.

Down at the boat ramp, Allan Andrus stood from his wheelchair on wobbly legs and steadied himself with a cane. They fitted him with a lifejacket and helmet, and then three people helped lift him into the boat.

“He’s got a jet boat a home and we do a lot of fishing,” Craig Andrus said. “He loves to go fast in the jet boat. He can’t drive it, but we take him out for rides. He just loves to come up to these races. We were watching the races yesterday and (Allan) was saying how cool it was and I thought, ‘Gosh, I wish I could get him a ride.’ We arranged it and surprised him with it today.”

But the surprises didn’t end there. What good is a ride in a race boat if there is no one to race? The Schatz crew surprised Craig with a ride in P-92 Evolution with driver Mike Schatz, so that father and son could experience the thrill together.

It was hard to tell which Andrus enjoyed it more.

“I said, ‘Oh hell yes.’ It was awesome. Unbelievable,” said Craig Andrus.

“Our whole family likes speed,” Allan Andrus said. “We like to go fast.”

wow ...very cool adam

That's awesome!