Pay it Forward

What is this?  We hear of it from time to time.  Pay it forward.  Today I decided what it would mean to me was to call those that helped me along my journey and to let them know how much I appreciate them doing so from the heart. 

In my book, "Take Your Shot, Make Your Play" I wrote in the first chapter that there were those individuals who took you under their wings and helped to shape and guide you along and you may or maynot have even know that.  One of these was my hero/idol, Carlos Serrano. 

I told him how much he impacted my life, how much I admired him and that he gave me the inspiration to fight, to have the look in my eyes with a drive and a determination.  I used to run to the front gate each time I heard him start his motorcycle because I could hear it from across the street.  I loved watching how he would come out of his house, leathers, boots, helmet and a dirt bike that was heaven sent and would just come out with a determination.  You could sense it.  I loved the sight, the sound, the smell of the exhaust. 

Watching him practice for hours was a thing of beauty and inspirational as he was the only one training in the desert on his homemade built track.  He was so committed to being the best that it rubbed off on me.  I wanted to be a motocross racer like him, but my calling was to be a basketball player.  Oddly, he was inspired by me he said today on the phone.  He said he never saw someone who would just go and go and ended up playing a sport where no one thought I could make it.

A brief list of his accomplishments:  Inducted Class of 2012: Hall of Fame

A graduate of Sunnyside High School in 1975, Carlos Serrano became a motocross competitor the following year. His resume is filled with victories before he retired from full-time racing in 1997. He competed on the professional level in Motocross, Supercross, Superbikes and at the International Grand Prix level.

In 1980 Serrano won the Gran Premio Armistad, Mexico’s biggest motocross event. The same year he won the Copa de Cuba 125 and 250 class, Cuba’s most coveted national event. He captured the 1983 Italian International Series.

In the 1990s Serrano began racing stock cars in the NASCAR Winston Racing Series and won numerous main events at Tucson Raceway Park. Since retiring from the travel of motocross, Serrano opened his own business in Tucson in 2001 that specializes in racecar fabrication and set-up that soon expanded into dirt bike and ATV race preparation and suspension tuning.

In January of this year Serrano received the Legends & Heroes Award at the AMA Supercross World Championship at Chase Field in Phoenix, the only rider to receive this award.

From 1991-94 Serrano received a number of awards from NASCAR while competing at Tucson Raceway Park,

Carlos Serrano  Click on this link to see a video interview:

Listen, do yourself a favor.  Give that someone a call, you will brighten up their day, you never know what it can do for you down the line.  Pay it Forward.  I am so happy that I got to speak to my idol this morning and to let him know deep from my heart what he meant to me growing up and to this day.

Respectfully,

John Saintignon