This is Dad and his #14

  Garrison Racing started back in the 80's because Michael and Daniel's dad, Jerry, was a huge NASCAR Fan. Every Saturday night for years I'd take the boys to Charlotte County Raceway in Florida to watch dad race his stock car, #14, his pride and joy. That's what we did on Saturday nights. That's all we ever did on Saturday nights. Dad was obsessed with racing and so the saying goes, the apple did not fall far from the tree. Michael was destined to be a race car driver too someday.

Michael's #14, the first version

    When Michael was 15, his dad passed by a go-kart that was for sale. Not the Wal-Mart kind of go-kart, the real racing kind of go-kart that was set up for track racing that would go really, really, fast. These go-karts could race up to speeds anywhere between 60 and 150 mph. A week later, here it came, and Michael was going to drive it. Lots of adjustments were made on it and parts were ordered on a regular basis until the go-kart was a fast ride to be reckoned with on the track. I had Michael's name put on it and his number......#14.

 
   Under the scrutiny of his dad and with his guidance, the twosome headed out for Thunder Ridge Raceway in Spring City, Tennessee every Saturday to go zoom. That was their thing that Michael and Dad had in common; their hobby. That go-kart did go faster than I could have ever thought, but was geared appropriately for the track within their guidelines at Thunder Ridge. Michael would race it, blow it up, bring it home, and rebuild it just in time for the next week's race. He loved it.

Building the Go-Karts

  Michael became just as obsessed with racing and high rates of speed as his daddy was. Michael always said "must go faster, must go faster, need more power, need more power." Michael got very good at learning about engines and fixing them and rebuilding them. Parts were being delivered here all the time to make it better and better and faster and faster and improving it all the time. Before long, there was a second go-kart and then a third go-kart got involved. That was called a Thunder Car which was under construction for the 2006 summer racing season. This was all a prelude to Michael's dream which was to eventually build a stock car of his own to race someday. That was coming up next.

The new and improved #14.

  Dan wasn't into this racing and totally out of character for me, I didn't worry about Michael getting hurt in the go-kart at all. I always felt that if you wanted to speed, the race track was the place to do it, not anywhere else. Dad was always right there coaching him about his driving techniques, and loads of protective gear was worn, so I didn't get overly concerned about the possibility of accidents. It was a good healthy hobby for father and son to enjoy together and that they did.

Thunder Ridge Raceway

   Thunder Ridge Raceway is a family oriented race track where mom's and dad's and kids of all ages drive in different events. They are a nice group of good friendly people. Michael was very well liked there and had made many friends at the track that miss him terribly.