Institutionalized: 1940

Vancouver Race 1953

Winter quickly melted into spring. Spring has spring into summer. It is June now. We are getting very excited for next month when we see our friends race. The race is in four weeks. I remember in December while Greg and I were in Nashville visiting Dario, Dario said that he and the other guys had a surprise for us during the race weekend in Vancouver. Dario will be happy it is not bloody freezing, instead it would be bloody hot because it is summer. Dario will be happy with the warm weather. I am happy it is summer too. Even though does not snow that often in Vancouver or the temperature drops below freezing. Winter here is still unbearable for me. When Greg and I were in Toronto in January, I totally agreed to what Dario had said about how cold it was in Toronto. Enough on me dwelling on the winter, it is time to enjoy the summer weather.

In two weeks, our friends will be racing here once again. Our minds are going crazy trying to figure out what the surprise will be. It was nice to relax for a few months. Both Greg and I are happy our friends are coming to us for a change because we have been going to see them. It gets tiring travelling a lot.

Today we got a phone call from Ric. He told Greg that he will be able to drive us the weekend of the race. Greg thanked his dad for doing that for us and hung up the phone. The race is in a few days. Greg and I are getting really excited. Greg told me that Ric will pick us up at 7:30 am. on Friday. Friday is only two days away.

Two days have passed. Today is Friday. Ric will be picking us up shortly. Ric has arrived. Once we opened the door, Ric was happy to see us and he almost said something to us about the weekend and a surprise that awaited us on Sunday. Once Ric dropped us off at the track to meet up with our friends, we were wondering if Ric had something to do with the surprise. A few moments later, we spotted Dario and the others. They were really happy to see us. They were also excited about Sunday. They were all saying that each of them were going to win on Sunday. We told them that we will wait to find out on Sunday, also we will find out tomorrow who will qualify in what position. We noticed Alex Zanardi walking around. Dario and Tony decided to call him over. Dario told us that him and Tony became friends with Zanardi. Once Zanardi came over to talk, he said it was nice to see us again. We told him the same.

Then out of the blue, Tagliani said that he was Greg's replacement. Greg was shocked to hear this, but it made him think too. Then Greg remembered that, before the war he started in a racing school then the war broke out and the rest is history. He also said that before he went to join the RCAF he was signed with a team. Once the team knew what happened, they had to find another driver to replace Greg. Tagliani was their choice. Tagliani was honoured to take the place of a great driver. Once Greg heard this, he became all embarrassed and his face turned red. Tagliani also said that he was happy to become friends with Greg. Greg beamed with happiness at the sound of that. He also told Greg that he races for Greg as much as he races for himself. The others then told Greg that they race for Greg too. Greg's expression was of appreciation of what his friends have done for him.

Saturday has come around. Today is qualifying. We are at the track. Ashley met us because the others are getting ready for qualifying. She told us that we will see them after qualifying. Once qualifying started, Tony was the first one out on the track. It was Dario's turn after that. Then Patrick went out, after him it was Tagliani. The final driver that went out that we know was Zanardi. After him, the other drivers qualified. After qualifying, Dario was on pole. Tagliani was second, Tony was third, Zanardi was fourth, and Patrick was fifth. It will be a battle tomorrow between Dario and Tagliani. I know Tagliani want to win for Greg really badly. After all the results were in, we went to the podium area to congratulate everyone. While we were there, Tagliani took Greg aside and he told him that he promised to win for him tomorrow. Greg thanked him and wished Tagliani luck on his quest.

Today is the race day. We are waiting for Ric to pick us up. Once Ric arrived, we head to the track. Once at the track, we met up with Ashley to find a seat to watch the race. Once we found our seats, Ric became antsy. Ashley whispered in his ear not to say anything about what the surprise is once the race is over. He told her that he was trying to keep the surprise a secret.

The race is about to start. Once the green flag dropped, the race begun. Dario sped away and three car lengths between him and Tagliani. I was trying to give Tagliani vibes and tell him to get close to Dario, but do not touch Dario. The others, on the other hand, were battling one another. Tony and Patrick were battling one another for third and Patrick one the battle. Now Zanardi is battling Tony for fourth position. Tony protected his position from Zanardi.

After the first round of pit stops, Dario is still leading the race. Patrick and Tagliani reversed positions, as well as Tony and Zanardi reversed positions. Many laps have passed and Tagliani is trying to make a move on Patrick. There was no battle Patrick let Tagliani in because they are team mates. They did not want to ruin each others race. In my mind, I could only imagine what Patrick told Tagliani after Tagliani passed him. All I can think of is Patrick told to go get Dario and that the race was Tagliani's.

After a few more pit stops, Dario was now in second position. Tagliani was now leading the race. Tagliani came close enough to Dario that Dario allowed Tagliani to take the lead. With all the pit stops completed, there are only ten laps to go. Tagliani leads the race. Dario is behind him in second and Tony is in third. There is a battle for fourth between Patrick and Zanardi. In the end, Patrick held his position. The white flag is being waved. There is only one lap to go in the race. Tagliani is still leading and it looks like he will win the race. Dario is in the second position. Patrick is in third. Tony is in fourth and Zanardi is in fifth position.

The race has ended. The checkered flag in flying. Tagliani has won the race and he fulfilled his promise to Greg. Once all the cars crossed the finish line, Ashley, Ric, Greg, and I went down to the podium to congratulate our friends. I was so proud of Tagliani. I hugged him. Greg congratulated him as well.

After the trophy ceremony, Dario and Ric had an announcement. I thought this sounded like the surprise that they were talking about when we went to visit Dario in December last year. Dario and Ric announced together that there would be an award given out at the end of the season for a driver with great driving and a dynamic personality. Ric told the crowd that the trophy would be called the Greg Moore Legacy Award after his son. Ric said because he was a great driver and had a great personality to match. When Greg heard this, he ran to his dad and hugged him.

After the announcement of the award, the crowd cheered. Once the ceremony ended, we said our good byes and Ric drove us home.