For McDowell, driving the motorhome is all part of the plan
It could be any family in America, loading up for an early summer vacation at the Outer Banks, the Great Lakes, or the Grand Canyon. Mom, dad, child, and even the dog clamber aboard a 40-foot-long recreational vehicle stuffed with groceries and with a pickup truck in tow. Dad settles behind a broad steering wheel attached to a dashboard full of switches, buttons, and even a small TV screen that helps him change lanes. Mom buckles the 2-year-old into a car seat. And with a push from the diesel engine the Fleetwood Discovery is off, snaking its way through this suburb north of Charlotte, onto the Interstate Highway System, and beyond.
The details, though, divulge that this is no pleasure trip. On one counter sits a black cap with a 66 on the front. The dog is named Sparco, which also happens to be a popular brand of racing firesuit. The pickup being towed in the back has a golf cart lashed down in the bed. The motorhome is pointed not at the beach or the mountains, but Richmond International Raceway. And the driver is more accustomed to wheeling something with a little more horsepower and a little less drag.