MSR Supporting the Cause at Thompson
The No. 2 car of Doug Coby has a new look for this weekend’s Sunoco World Series of Speedway Racing at Thompson (CT) Speedway Motorsports Park. The yellow numbers are pink and the car has pink ribbons on it. People purchased the ribbons for $5 each with the money going to fund research at Backus Hospital in Norwich, CT. The team is currently auctioning off the panels as well.
It is close to team member Ryan Spaulding whose wife found a lump six months before their wedding at 29. Research is paramount for Spaulding. He emphasized it is not a “one-person problem.” He has the names of four blood relatives on the car and breast cancer can impact people earlier than they realize.
“It’s pretty nice,” Spaulding said. “These guys have taken me in like family like I’ve been working with them for forever and I had asked them at the beginning of the year. if we could do something, just something small pink on the car and it turned into the pink numbers all the way around the car, and all these nice little ribbons that people are buying to support cancer research.”
While October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Spaulding pointed out the resilience it takes to fight the disease and the toll it takes on friends and relatives.
“I can’t even express how strong every woman that goes through breast cancer is. It’s such an ordeal. There’s such a mental aspect to fighting cancer on top of the physical aspect of either radiation or chemo or both surgeries, most sometimes multiple surgeries. .. A mental weight on top of all the physical strength that you need to go through it. These women are very strong and they need our support.”
Spaulding said he found out who his true friends were through this offering their support when it was needed. His wife continued to ‘advocate for herself’’ until she found an answer.
Spaulding and his wife moved to all-natural cleaners, laundry soap, local produce, washing produce, and eating less processed foods.
“There’s so many different little things that you can do to better your chance of not getting cancer. But one of the biggest things for anybody, especially women, but men as well, is to do your self-breast exams. And it’s not just in the mammary tissue itself. But it can be in the armpit, in the lymph node areas.
“So women need to research and men need to research how to do these exams. And the biggest thing, the absolute 100 biggest percent thing is if you feel like something’s not right, speak up and advocate for yourself, continue to push your doctor until either they prove to you that there’s something not wrong or they say, ‘Yup, you were right.’”
“We’re all racers here and look at how hard we fight to gain that extra half a tenth of a second. … If you feel like something not right, use all of that effort that we always all put in to gain a half a tenth and put it towards your health. Because if you don’t have your health, you’re certainly not coming to the racetrack to fight for that extra half a tenth. It’s just a matter of you really have to speak up for yourself, first and foremost.”
Spaulding grew up around the sport as his grandparents are Bob and Joan Garbarino, owners of the Mystic Missile race car. They fielded cars from the early 1960s in the northeast and competed on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour from 1985-2016. Spaulding was a team member during their string of success winning championships with Donny Lia and Bobby Santos, III.
“It’s great to be associated with the wins, and the championships, and all the phenomenal drivers that I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with, working on the Mystic Missile. But they’re my grandparents and they mean the world to me. That’s what it boils down to and the racing is just a nice side product.”
Spaulding joined the 4-time defending championship team, Mike Smeriglio Racing this season. The combination has worked well sharing ideas on improving the car.
“There have been things where I especially with Doug, and Phil, and Smigs (car owner Mike Smeriglio) and all these guys going out and winning what was it four titles in a row? Coming over here this year. I can see where they were beating us, you pick up on all these little things, and there have been things where at night or when we’re having dinner or something, Phil and I’ll be talking and we’ll just be bench racing and bouncing ideas off of each other and hopefully, maybe something that I was doing or we were doing with the 4 car will help the 2 car go even better and be back on top of the pile next year.”
Sources: Nicholas Teto/YankeeRacer.com
Photo by Michael Rothwell
Updated 10/29 to correct ribbon price and identity of a team member