An Army of Normal Folks - Gilbert Hess: Dirt Track Racing In Honor of His Late Daughter and Wife (Pt 2)

Episode Date: November 26, 2024

Gilbert lost his 8-year-old daughter Samantha to cancer and then lost his 49-year-old wife Nicole. But instead of having a victim mindset about it, he’s honoring them with his dirt track racing car that he named “Nicole’s Dream”, which was to have a car that raises awareness for childhood cancer and funding to cure it. In less than 2 years, he’s raised $46k for St. Jude and other causes. Support the show: https://www.normalfolks.us/premiumSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hey, everybody, it's Bill Courtney with an Army of Normal folks, and we continue with part two of our conversation with Gilbert Hess right after these brief messages from our generous sponsors. Hey, everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch and I'm exhausted. But turns out the end is near, right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. This podcast is for people like me who need a little perspective and insight. I'm bringing in some FOKs,

friends of Katie's to help me out like Ezra Klein, Van Jones, Jen Psaki, Ested Herndon. But we're also going to have some fun, even though these days fun and politics seems like an oxymoron. But we'll do that thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr., and Charlemagne the God. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Power to the podcast for the people. So whether you're obsessed with the news or just trying to figure out what's going on, this season of Next Question is for you.

Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking, it's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. On Thanksgiving Day 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh. And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez.

At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Piece, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the MyCultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Hey, y'all. I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. My podcast, When You're Invisible, is my love letter to the working-class people and immigrants who shaped my life. I get to talk to a lot of people who form the backbone of our society, but who have never been interviewed before. Season 2 is all about community, organizing, and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said,

this sucks. Let's do something about it. I can't have more than $2,000 in my bank account or else I can't get disability benefits. They won't let you succeed. I know we get paid to serve you guys, but like be respectful. We're made out of the same things, bone, body, blood. It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the lesson and I'm also the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible as part of the MyCultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. So we have Samantha's death and then this, I mean honestly I don't want to put words in your mouth and I'm certainly not trying.

Nobody knows what you're struggling with and how hard that must be unless you've gone through it yourself. So please don't mistake what I'm saying here, but it feels like you and Nicole suffered a decades long depression. Try two, 20 years. Because I mean, we still want on vacations here and there but there was always that you could always look over even when she's sitting on the beach in Hawaii you can see that emptiness center you know it was just it was all the time what if Samantha was here what if Samantha's here she

would have babies now we'd be grandparents what if what if she could not get that out of her head she could not she couldn't move forward she couldn't move forward you know and everybody thought we were never going to make it. They gave us two years. We'd be divorced, but I'm not that guy. I'm just, I'm not that guy. It was that rough. Oh, it's like I said, she, she just, um, you know, they, they try to, they try to give her stuff to help her sleep. Go see, she fell asleep that morning and when she woke up, she was gone. So she regretted falling asleep. So now sleep is a- She can't sleep at night. Sleep is a stressor.

She has to force herself to go to sleep with pills. So I battled that and of course Xanax with depression and everything like that. And it's not her fault. It's just that she needed it to get through. But for me, it just tore us down down. I loved her to the day she died. I still love her. I guess I never truly understand some of the pain she was going through until I got there, with both of them being gone. It taught me a lot about myself. That's why I've had a lot of change in myself is through that experience. Then at some point, Nicole looks at you and says, I want to see Samantha again. This was probably around November of 2020 when COVID was speaking and we had

that discussion. We gave ourselves to Christ. She had been sick or anything. No, no, no. We just, we, we, we're, we're hearing all these people are dying around us, you know, and families are dying, you know your husband and wives are dying. They're going over and they're finding them dead in their homes and we're looking at each other going, one of us ain't gonna make it out of here.

So we made that decision. Did that decision finally for Nicole take the edge off a little bit of Samantha's stuff? I don't know if it took the edge off. I think it gave her just a little bit more peace. That's good. She could go to him and talk to God that she didn't have before. We always believed in God. She always said her prayers every night.

People don't understand something. They think because they read a few Bible scriptures and all that. It takes a lot to fully give yourself over to Christ. It takes a lot. You got to realize that I never understood it. You always hear that know, the wide road versus the narrow road. A narrow road is tough. It's a tough road to walk because you're going to encounter a lot of things and a lot of people are going to leave your life, you know, because they're not ready for that walk. They're not ready for that challenge. And it's tough. You got to fight.

You basically, you're in a fight for your life. If you want to walk with Christ, it's not easy. It's not an easy journey, and the Bible will tell you that, you know, because like I said, you got to live by His laws and do what is right by Him. And people are so taken in by this world, they don't want that. And you'll lose friends because I just had this discussion with Alex coming down the road that I've lost a lot of friends because I don't drink anymore. I don't go to clubs, you know. And I think I a lot of friends because I don't drink anymore. I don't go to clubs. I think I make them feel uneasy because they don't want to drink around me. They don't want to cuss around me.

They just slowly drift apart. Next thing you know, you haven't seen them for six months or a year. But in turn, God has put such an amazing people, such amazing families in my life since I've started this racing program. Some of them I talk to all over the country. It's been a very, very nice experience. You guys give yourselves, basically, you decide you're going to have a relationship with the Lord and live a different way. And then six months later, your wife gets COVID, is that what happens?

Well, I was working... I work a lot of double shifts, you know, and I was working... Your money's good on double shifts. Oh, yes. I can't even tell you how good... But, you know, so I'm working and she's like, hey, why don't you come home Friday? She goes... Because she says, don't come home. She goes, I'm sick. I don't know what I got. It might be the COVID. I don't know. But she goes, I feel terrible. And we were sick the year before that. And she goes, it's not as bad as it was last year. We were worse last year. I said, all right. Well, by Friday, she goes, man, she goes, can you come home? And I said, yeah. I said, I'll go ahead and cancel everything and I'll come home.

By Sunday, I got it. Well, by Sunday, I can't even get out of bed. I mean, I'm literally walking to the bathroom and I'm passing out. Wow. And so she's trying to get us appointments. Of course, everything shelter in place, shelter in place. She's still driving. She's going through the drive through and picking up medications and things like that. She's still driving the day before she dies and I can't get out of bed. Are you kidding me? No. I fall off the toilet in the bathroom and I don't even know how long I laid there. She found me in there. She come in and cleaned me up, put me in bed, kissed me,

said she loved me, laid a cold rag on my head and went out in the living room and died that night. That's how that happened. When I woke up 1140 something the next morning, I went out and hollered for her. I said, Hey, get up. I said, We got our doctor's appointment today. something the next morning. I went out and hollered for her. I said, hey, get up. I said, we got our doctor's appointment today. She didn't move. So I walked around and said, hey, you got to get up. And then when I went over, I seen her face and her, and her eyes were wide open and, and I touched her and she was ice cold. And that's when, you know, I called 911 and of course they

had me start working on her. And, and I said, listen, I'm going to probably pass out. I said, the front door's unlocked. I'll work on her as long as I can. She goes, well, they're en route. And so they come in and I got up. And they worked on her for a couple minutes, and she's gone. So I called my brother. Because I had to call him.

I didn't have anybody else right there at the time. Of course, he never picks up the phone, and he picked up on the first ring. He just buried his sister-in-law that just died out of the blue. She was only 51. My wife was 49, and he lets out a scream. He came over. So I told the paramedic, I said, listen, her dad lives in the back of the subdivision. It's not going to take long for the rumor mill to get around that something's going

on up here. I said, you got to tell him, I can't do it. And so I called him up and I said, Paul, I said, you got to get over here. I said, they're working on the cold, doesn't look good. And so when they got down there, they met him at the door and they explained to her that she passed, you know. And of course, after that, then everything's just started breaking loose. A lot of people were coming by and everything. It took a long time because like I said, COVID was involved in the corners and all that kind of stuff. It was just a long process. So everybody cleared out and then I laid there all night. Everybody goes, well, I said, listen, I've got to process this and I can't

do this. I said, I got to process this. I can't do this. And you're sick too. Yeah. I said, I've got to process this. I can't be by myself. So everybody left. And so the next morning my sister-in-law come and she took me to that appointment that we were supposed to have. Of course, I've got my head hanging out the window because that can't even hardly move. Of course, they give me some medicine and blah, blah, blah. They don't know.

And I get back and my brother and my brother-in-law show up and my brother looks at me and says, you're going to the hospital. And I was like, why? He goes, Gilbert, you look like a zombie. I mean, my hands are, this hand here, see how it's all sunk in? It's still sunk in. I was so dehydrated, but I was drinking, but we weren't drinking the right, you know, they wanted, should have been drinking the Pedialyte and all that. We thought Gatorade and water was helping, but that wasn't helping us. And so he calls the ambulance. Well, they won't come get me. Because of COVID?

No, because they want you to shelter in place. So they get in this big battle on the phone. Well, I told you I was a country boy. Well, my brother's a bigger country boy than mine. Of course, he starts threatening to shoot them and everything else. He's mad. And she said, well, I'll call the cops.

He goes, well, call them. He goes, because I can tell you what, man, if my brother dies, she goes, y'all just carried his wife out of here yesterday. If he dies, he goes, I'm coming to get you. And the next thing she goes, whoa, whoa, whoa, you talking about Nicole? He goes, yes. He goes, they're on the way. Wow. So when they come and got me, they come and got me, he said, can you walk? I said, I can walk if I got help. He goes, well, it'd be easier for the stretcher. So they got me an ambulance and he says, hey, where do you want to go? I said, just take me to Winchester because I like Winchester Hospital. It was a little better.

So I get up there and they said, well, we've got to put you in this chair. I said, I can't do that. Well, they did it. And next thing you know, I'm out on the floor. And next thing I remember is I'm laying up there cutting my clothes off. I'm either shoving needles in my arm. I've got stuff over my face. And then five or six hours later, the doctor comes in and says that your heart is completely stopping. I said, well, we were worried about breathing. Everybody was dying because of their breathing. And he says, no.

He says, your heart is literally just stopping. And just sitting there going, OK, taking off again. He says, and we got to fix that. And, um, I don't know if you watch too many horror movies, horror movies when you're growing up, but, um, you ever seen the girl that runs through the hospital and every fourth lights on and it's blinking and there's nobody around and she's, he's chasing her down the hallways. That's the COVID ward at the hospital back in 2021. They took me up there. It's a ghost town.

Every third or fourth lights on, you see nobody. It's complete silence. They pulled me into this room. No nurses were ever in the room at the same time. They closed the door and speak through the glass. I made my peace right there again because I didn't think I was going to come out of there. Anything I-

You literally almost died too. Oh yeah. I told my brother, I said, call Brown's funeral home and tell them to make sure that nothing happens until I get out of here or if I don't get out of here that we get buried together. Quit talking like that. I said, listen, we're adults. This is bad. I said, I might go into a coma.

I said, I don't know what's going to happen with me. He called the funeral home, got it all set up. Funeral home called me. He said, Mr. Hess, don't worry. He said, but nothing's going to happen to you. But if it does, we'll get you set up pretty good. And so, because they wouldn't even let me go in, even set the arrangements up until I was 100% COVID free.

I wasn't even allowed in the building. So we had to wait over a week after I got out to even set up her funeral. Did she drive a heart attack as well? Well, that's what they're saying. They're saying her heart stopped. That's what they deemed the cause of death. You know, so of course, of course they put COVID on there as well. So, you know, I mean, everybody's doing that because of the mandates, you know, they were getting that, that money, these hospitals were getting the money and everything for it. But Gilbert, Gilbert, you've dealt with some loss, brother. Yeah, yeah.

But I've also dealt with some gain, too. Like I said, I would have rather had my wife and my life for 33 years than ever have met her. We had some amazing times. The first day I held my daughter in my hands to be a dad, you can't trade that for anything in the world. So I was lucky. I was lucky. You know, but like I said, if we walk around and we live in grief, we're not living. We're not living. We're not serving God's purpose at all. That's not what He has intended for us. And a lot of people missed a big picture on that.

missed a big picture on that. We'll be right back. Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch and I'm exhausted, but turns out the end is near, right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. This podcast is for people like me who need a little perspective and insight. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's, to help me out like Ezra Klein, Van Jones, Jen Psaki, Ested Herndon.

But we're also going to have some fun, even though these days fun and politics seems like an oxymoron. But we'll do that thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr., and Charlamagne the God. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Power to the podcast for the people. So whether you're obsessed with the news or just trying to figure out what's going on, this season of Next Question is for you. Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iheart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking,

it's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iheart.com slash podcast awards. That's iheart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh.

And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez. Elian, Elian. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez. At the heart of the story is a young boy

and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home, and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well.

Listen to Chess Piece, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the MyCultura podcast network, available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. My podcast, When You're Invisible, is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants

who shaped my life. I get to talk to a lot of people who form the backbone of our society but who have never been interviewed before. Season 2 is all about community, organizing, and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks, let's do something about it. I can't have more than $2,000 in my bank account or else I can't get disability benefits. They won't let you succeed.

I know we get paid to serve you guys, but like be respectful. We're made out of the same things. Bone, body, blood. It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the lesson and I'm also the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible as part of the MyCultura podcast network, available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. ["My Heart Radio"]

Okay. When did she die? She died March 4th, 2021. She died on March 4th, 2021. You had to have gone, you had to have been depressed. Oh, absolutely. Well, like I said, I don't tell this to many people, but I've held the gun in my hand a couple of times, you know, and I've never asked if we mean Alex. We just told it to thousands. I know that's fine, but I've had this discussion with Alex and us,

you know, you, uh, you hear about people that, that kill theirself and you go, how did that guy get to that point? How did that person get to that point? How could it be that low? But when you're in the, when you're in basically the depths of hell of loneliness in your own home and, and there's nobody there with you, it grabs you pretty quick. When you got home from work, after this you recovered, you went back to work. When you're pulling into a house from work and your daughter's gone and your wife's gone,

it just had to have been a sense of dread just walking through the door. Walking through that door and not smell my wife's perfume or her country candles burning with those scented candles or the music playing that she always had playing or having dinner on the table. It's tough. I've sat and cried my eyes out in many a day trying to eat a meal. I didn't even cook. I didn't even cook for months in the house. I just couldn't do it.

That's why I bury myself in work. Sometimes I work seven days a week. Not always in work. Sometimes I work seven days a week. Not always double shifts, but I work seven days a week, just because I don't want to be home. And it's just, everybody deals with it in certain ways. But it was hard to look around, because everything reminds you. And then I wanted to sell the house.

And it was just like, I built that house myself. Me and her, she crawled up on the roof and helped do the shingles. I mean, she helped do a lot. We did everything in that house ourselves. We, that was, that was our dream home. We used to drive by this place and wonder, you know, we lived in a mobile home, you know, we first got started and like, you know, we'd love to have that, you know, we'd love to have something like that one day. And, you know, me and my sister were sat down in the garage and I'm sitting there,

got a race car over here and big old new truck out here and new house, you know, me and my sister were sat down in the garage and I'm sitting there, got a race car over here and big old new truck out here and new house, you know, all stuff I work for. And, and, and I said, you know, it's funny. I said, now there's kids riding by her going, man, I hope we get that one day, you know, but, but look at, look at, look at the end result. I'm, it's, I'm by myself with it now, you know, and it's just that I'm dealing with it. I'm dealing with it, you know, little by little. So I read where basically you sat around for about a year and your brother said, you better do something or you're going to lose yourself. Well, that's what he goes, why don't you buy the car? I said, well, I said, I said, I don't know.

He goes, he goes, Gilbert, if you don't get out of this house, you ain't going to make it. You know, cause he, but he came over, he came over in October and I was in there soaking because it was my anniversary. Come on, we're going to the races. He takes me to the port roll to the races up there, constantly getting me out of the house, getting me out of the house. The thing about it was, the weird thing about this, after my dad died, me and my brother didn't talk for 10 years.

Really? I'm not going to go into the specifics of it, but we just didn't talk for 10 years. I'm not going to go into the specifics of it, but we just didn't talk for 10 years. He went into a hole, I went into a hole, just family issues. We run into him on a racetrack about six months before Nicole died and we started talking again. That's a God thing. Yep. When she died, he showed up five minutes and he was the first guy he called. And never left my side. He took care of everything. He went through and cleaned the house, all the blankets she was laying on, you know, throw it all out, it washed everything down.

He did everything, you know. He's never left my side on that. So he just pretty much, he was like, if you're going to do it, you got to do it. I said, well, I do things my way. I said, and I said, I wanted to get Gary Stoller to drive my car. That's my childhood hero. My dad's actually buried in a Gary Stoller t-shirt. Gary's our guy. I said, but I want to drive the car, but I want Gary to drive it too. I said, because this car here is an exact replica of what he drove in the 90s. But this is also the only car that my daughter and wife stood in Victor Lane

with, was this car. So it's got a lot of sentimental value. And this is also the only car that my daughter and wife stood in Victor Lane with, was this car. So it's got a lot of sentimental value. And I wanted to rebirth this car. And so I told him, I said, plus I said, when I'm going to do my childhood cancer arts program, I'm going to have a lot of eyes on me. I said, I don't want to use car. I want everything nice. He goes, well, I don't know why you do that.

I said, because I am who I am and you are who you are. I said, I've got the money to do it. I said, I've worked enough to do all this. So like I said, we decided that I went down to the World 100 in 2022 and run into Steve Baker. And Steve Baker is a co-owner of Rocket Chassis up in Shinstone, West Virginia. And I talked to him about my own car. I said, you don't remember me. I said, but I talked to you about a used car. What would be the best? He goes, you know what? I remember who you are. He goes, you're standing right down there I said, but I talked to you about a used car. What would be the best? He goes, you know what? I remember who you are. He goes, you're standing right down there.

For him to do that, that was pretty amazing. And then we got to talking. And here come to find out his son's a pallet for United. So we got in this big conversation. We're standing there and turn one at El Dorado Speedway to order 100 cars to race about. We're sitting there talking about family issues. And he goes, well, come on up to the shop.

He goes, we'll get you set up. So me and Ernie Shirley, a friend of mine, we rode up, and we ordered the car and everything. And then on December 29th, we went up and picked the car up. It was done. And the funniest thing happened. So we're standing out there. We downloaded the car up at the main shop.

We pulled down, and we're picking up some parts and stuff. And Andy Anderson, he took me up to pick the car up. I pulled down and we're picking up some parts and stuff. Andy Anderson, he took me up to pick the car up. I didn't have my trailer yet. Guess who pulls in the parking lot? Gary Stoller. No kidding. The very guy. Yeah. Steve Baker goes, Gilbert, you couldn't make this up if you was writing a book. Gary comes over and he goes, Gilbert, what are you doing? Because I just talked to Gary at Charlotte months before that, talking, hey, I'm building

a car. I want you to race for me. He's looking at me like, who is this guy? I'm a fan. He knows I'm a fan. He knows me and Nicole. But his wife already knew. She's over there just grinning away.

I said, I'm building something pretty special. He goes, Gary's laid back. He's got 350 wins. He's a hall of famer. He's like, you put your deal together. You come see me. I said, all right. So he's up there and he goes, go on. You spent that money? And Baker goes, dude, if you only knew the piece that he's got sitting inside for you right now, you're going to flip out. And I said, hey, I said, if you don't want to do it, I said, it's fine with me.

He goes, no, no, no, no, no. Baker goes, let me tell you what, you better do it. You don't know what lengths he went to give you something special. Anyway, he went through the process and then Tim Fraker over Fraker Sands in Hagerstown, he did the original 44 car. He set the car up, did all the letter and everything. He even stood back and goes, Gilbert, I know you had a vision. He goes, but man, I didn't think this thing was going to look this good. Then we showed it off to Gary at our first ever event up at Port Royal

Speedway. We had Nicole's dream childhood cancer awareness night. It's and, uh, he was just, uh, you can see it's, it's funny to look at a 60 some year old man and see him acting like a kid, you know, and he walked by that thing and he rubbed the doors and he looked down to go on his man. He goes, this thing's nice. He's sitting inside of him and he's rubbing it. He goes, he goes, man, he goes, he goes, they, somebody took some care. I said, well, it's a new car. He goes, no, Gilbert, he goes, they did a good job on this thing.

And, and they did. So to be clear, you unveiled the car, like you just said, well, that's a new car. Because now, Gilbert, he said, they did a good job on this thing. And they did. So to be clear, you unveiled the car, like you just said, at Port Royal Speedway. It's called Nicole's Dream, named after his late wife, Nicole's Dream of having a race car that waged awareness for childhood cancer. And right on the front of the nose of this car, it says childhood cancer awareness. And it's a beautiful red car. And on the tail of it, it's got a cross at Samantha. So this racing around every weekend, raising awareness for your loss. And you've turned a horrifically sad story into a way to honor their legacy by doing some good.

Yeah. And also made my wife a promise. She, she had me made a promise. She goes, go if I die before you don't ever let Samantha's name be forgotten. She constantly kept her alive on Facebook, always posting something, doing something. And to see what we have done with this, she had no way to imagine that on... See, I never drove one of these cars before. I drove old Mustangs and stuff like that. So I took this car. This is a real race car. I took this thing to the World 100 for the first time ever I drove one of these cars.

I was told, are you crazy? I said, I don't know, but we'll see. And plus we run a limited class. They run a super class, which is about 200 more horsepower. I said, but I want to stand in El Dor and soak that in. I said, and get that experience. I said, this is all to stand in El Dor and soak that in, I said, and get that experience. I said, this is all the things that me and her wanted to do. So I'm standing in the middle of El Dor Speedway, you know, and they're talking about Speedy Hayes was the original owner

of this car and they're talking about what we're doing and everything like that. And the most amazing thing happened, I'm sitting in the staging area and her favorite driver is Jonathan Davenport, which he's won just about everything there is to win. He carries her decal in his car when I ask him to. Well, of course, he pulls up beside of me just as I'm getting ready to pull out for the track for the first time. I got tears rolling down my face and I'm praying and I'm talking to my girls and I'm looking

over at him and I'm like, am I in a dream? Is this really happening? On September the 7th in 2023, Samantha's name was heard all over the country in the dirt racing world. It was just the most amazing feeling that you could ever do. There's thousands and thousands of drivers all across this country would give their left arm to take one lap at Eldor. And I got to compete. I knew we weren't going to make the race. We didn't have enough motor.

I didn't have the experience. But it was funny because a guy got in a wreck and I got slowed down and the leader caught me. Well, of course, the leader was the world champion that year. Plus he was also the winner of that race that night. And I got to go door to door for three quarters of a lap and my buddies in the grass, he was going, give it, they're cheering for you. Like you're winning the race. And he come down and he gave me a big old, his name's Craig Clyde.

He come down and give me a big old bear hug and kiss me on the cheek. He says, brother, he says, you did something that I'll never get to do in my life. And if I don't humble you, you know, and then like Russ had me speak at the church out there that day and, and people come down and I had them sign the car all around the pillars here. They signed their names of their kids and their family members that they lost to cancer. And to hold my hand while I'm sitting in the car getting ready to go out and the people to tell you, hey, you give

me hope. You give me hope for tomorrow. That's a pretty powerful thing to have on your shoulders. It's just me being me. You can't put some of it into words. It's funny because I was dating a girl a little bit after that and she stood at the bar, this little diner that I was at, and I won't mention her name. She don't like me anymore. But it's okay. But she looked at me and she says, Gilbert, she says, when you first start talking about this, she goes, I thought you were lying. And I said, well, why would you think that she goes, this is so outlandish and so far out there, you know, she goes, Gilbert, people don't get their dreams. I said, she goes, but every day you come in here, you got a new story, something you're like, guess what happened to me today?

And you know, and all that. And I was like, well, I'm just telling you my life. You know, and she goes, yeah, she goes, but I've never seen a real life dream unfold right before my eyes. She goes, and it was amazing, you know, and it is. It's just that you don't, a lot of people will never, ever get to do what I get to do, you know.

I mean, I sat up in those grandstands for years, looking down and like, never even imagined that I would be on, and I'm not at no where shape or level with some guys, they're just amazing. But they, like I said, but see, we, I guess society has taught us that when in, you have to win, you have to win the event, you gotta do this, winning, you have to win. You have to win the event. You got to do this.

Winning comes in so many different forms. Just having this car go around the racetrack is winning. And that's what I'm saying. My goals are not your goals. But I've accomplished all my goals. Just about. We haven't won with the car yet, but the very first night we took this car out, very first time on the track, set fast time.

We did a memorial race for my wife because she was the trophy girl. We did a memorial race, run second. But the funny thing about us, guess who won the race? Her favorite local driver, Trevor Feathers. You're kidding. Nope. So we got to, because he actually shortened his vacation to come back to run that race. He goes, go, I got to find a car.

So Brad Omsaloney-McCarrarr and he came back and he won our race. And of course, our trophies, they're all memorialized by Nicole. She was four foot eleven. So all four trophies are four foot eleven. You know, no kidding. Yep. So, you know, and so we try to keep it and everything is implemented with her name and Samantha's name in. We'll be right back.

Hey everyone. It's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the home stretch and I'm exhausted, but turns out the end is near right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. This podcast is for people like me who need a little perspective and insight. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's, to help me out like Ezra Klein, Van Jones, Jen Psaki, Ested Herndon. But we're also going to have some fun, even though these days fun and politics seems like an oxymoron.

But we'll do that thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr., and Charlamagne the God. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Power to the podcast for the people. So whether you're obsessed with the news or just trying to figure out what's going on, this season of Next Question is for you. Check out our new season of Next Question with me,

Katie Couric, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iheart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th.

Hey, you've been doing all that talking, it's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iheart.com slash podcast awards. That's iheart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. Look like a little angel.

I mean, he looks so fresh. And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere. Elian Gonzalez. Elian, Elian. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez.

At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with. His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home, and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation.

Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Piece, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the MyCultura podcast network available on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. My podcast, When You're Invisible, is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped my life.

I get to talk to a lot of people who form the backbone of our society, but who have never been interviewed before. Season 2 is all about community, organizing, and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks, let's do something about it. I can't have more than $2,000 in my bank account, or else I can't get disability benefits.

They won't let you succeed. I know we get paid to serve you guys, but like be respectful. We're made out of the same things. Bone, body, blood. It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the lesson and I'm also the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible as part of the MyCultura podcast network. Available on the iHeartRadio

app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right. So in 2003, you raised $20,000 for St. Jude. 2023. And 20, what'd I say? 2003. I'm sorry. In 2023, you raised $20,000 for St. Jude in honor of Samantha. How did you raise $20,000? We did some auctions where drivers donate doors and quarter panels off their cars, helmets,

gloves, driver's suits, sprint car teams. They're a different type of car. They give us parts of their wings, t-shirts, just anything you could think of that they donate. Plus I do a lot of custom bicycles to make them look like race cars. Our first custom bicycle that we auctioned off brought $1,000. That's crazy. We gave it directly to Connor. That bike was built for Connor, to raise money for him. We we had a guy bid on it, it brought $900. And the girl that was bidding on it, whether she could just go ahead and donate 100

so you can give him an even thousand. I said, sure. And so we did that. But we've given away probably about 50 bicycles so far since we've started. What are the bicycles for? Because my wife wanted to do it. See, they used to give out bicycles a lot each year.

You know, and we wanted to, I don't want to mention the trackers, I don't like putting anybody down, but we used to go to a track that did it and they were like, oh, we got enough bicycles. You don't have enough bicycles when you got 30, 40 kids here and you got 10 bicycles. And so she got upset about it. So now I'm saying, I'm going to take it on. So, we started giving bicycles away. So we gave 13 bicycles away that night of our first auction.

Well, Ethan Benson and his brother, they said, Gilbert, that's the best thing we ever thought of when we were thought about it. When we was coming to the track as kids, are we going to win a bicycle tonight? And nobody does it anymore. I said, well, we're doing it now. So then this past Easter, I dressed up as the Easter bunny in my racing suit. And pull my trailer in and she let me get all set up. She let me get all set up.

Lisa did over at Hagerstown Speedway. We gave away, I think, 13, 14 bicycles over there. Collar TV set, die cast cars. I got a poster of me as a cartoon character that I always give away. But every kid that walked in, it was Easter, it was Easter weekend. Every kid walked in, got a pail for the, for the candy scramble. And they got to pick one toy. I go to five and below.

I don't know if you're aware of that. It's a little store, but nothing's over $5 before COVID now it's seven. So, but, but they have all kinds of toys and stuff. And we set up big tables and they get to come in and pick one toy Pick a basket and and go do stuff like that, you know, and and and like I said through that process I've met a lot of extraordinary people I'll go through and I'll walk over to the guy that sells t-shirts and all I'll buy all Of his flags and I'll just go start handing them out or I got a buddy of mine at Eric Farner at foreigners raising collectibles He he sets up he sells that cast and he has a you know older stuff that doesn't sell so he sells it cheap and I'll buy a bunch of them.

I'll sort of hand them out. So I'm sitting beside this guy one time and he goes, why do you do that? And I said, because I lost my daughter to cancer and she never got to have fun at the track like this. And he goes, man, I lost my son to cancer. I've had that man at my house cooking Thanksgiving dinner and we still talk every day, not every day, but you know, we text each other back and forth and build a been built a relationship off of that. And I could call that man right now and say, I'm stuck in Tennessee. Could you come down and get me? And he'd be in that truck and he'd run down the road and come get me.

So your wife's dream was to give iPads and video games to kids at the hospital. So your wife's dream was to give iPads and video games to kids at the hospital. So you raised money and bought 60 of these devices and took them to Walter Reed in Georgetown? Well what we've done is when Samantha was going through her chemotherapy, back then when we were down at Children's, there was a lot of inner city kids down there. So they didn't have the money that we had. And so Samantha would have her little Kindle fire, you know, basically, watching movies, well, excuse me, what kind of fire back then it was, it was a

little portable DVD player. So my wife's like, when we get this thing up and running, if we ever get a chance to do it, I want to make sure these chemo rooms have stuff that these kids can watch, you know, and so over time, we talked about and then the Kindles came out, so would that be better than the DVD players? So when we when we start Kindles came out and said, well, that'd be better than the DVD players. So when we start doing this, I, well, all this all come about down at work. We have a thing called fantasy flight where they have a thing set up at the airport where

we bring in toys and all that stuff and they have a whole North Pole set up and they take the kids and they fly them around the airport. When they pull back in, they land at the North Pole. But with COVID, cut all that out. And so I put up a challenge at work. Hey, I'm putting up the first $1,500. If you match it, we're going to start doing some stuff for the hospitals and we'll go there locally. Well, like I said, over the last three years, we've raised $16,500 through my Nicole's Dream United Airlines venture. And so what we've done is we started out with Walter Reed and Georgetown.

West Virginia Children's University hadn't opened up yet. They were still building the new wing. So what we've done is we went ahead and we went down there and we took the DVD players and the Kindles and a bunch of different things to Walter Reed and Georgetown because that's the only places we were going to at the time. So then over the last two years, I told my boss, I said, hey, West Virginia is my home. I'd really like to do this here. He has no issue with it.

I was introduced to Barbara Schaefer up there and we got to talking and we did the stuff. She goes, but she's good, I really need other things. I said, well, listen, let's do this. Send me your wish list. And then we'll get all that. We'll see what we can do. And then we'll backfill it with toys, because I got to do my toys.

And so what we've done is the first year up there, we did, like I said, she wanted these baby Einstein's. And of course, just see this one here. This is Jackson's heart. This is my wife's friend's grandson. He died of heart disease. I think he was only four months old. So we were talking about that, and they weren't allowed to touch him.

And that's what Barbara was talking about. These devices, they hang in the beds. They play music. They vibrate. And all that when you can't touch the babies. So sue them so they don't cry all night and have heart attacks and have issues. And so what we did is we went out and bought 60 of those.

So, they're probably hanging them in just about every bed in West Virginia Children's University Hospital. We took a lot of other things. Like I said, the first year we did wagons because like I said, they pulled us from x-ray to chemo and wagons so it could make the kids more comfortable. Then last year, I did some really cool stuff. I took strollers that looked like cars and turned them into race cars. You turned them what?

The strollers, the little toy car strollers. And I took them up to my friend, Mo Hardin at Hardin Graff, except in Winchester, Virginia. And he made them look like race cars. He made some of them look like the number one car of rocket chassis, house car. And then he did the red ones for the 44 for us. We took those up because I wanted people to see Nicole's dream driving through the hospital. We did that. Plus, we went up to Rocket Chassis and showed him and Steve just flipped out.

Also what Barbara required last year, she's like, I want to build overnight bags. She goes, a lot of people get sprung at the hospital. She goes, remember when you all went to the hospital? She goes, you got stuck. She goes there. She says, you didn't know you were getting stuck there. She goes, we'd like to build overnight bags. So I work with United Airlines, and they gave me the toiletry

kits from the Polaris, first class Polaris. They gave me those. Through the donations, we bought the pajama bottoms, and then all my racing family kicked in, and they all donated t-shirts. So now, if you go to West Virginia Children's University, there's a possibility, if you got to spend the night, there's a big possibility, you're going to get a pair of pajama pants, a racing t-shirt, and a United Airlines Polaris Lounge Toiletetry kit to help you get through that night. But we're big about giving them their list.

We bought the Mama Rue Swings last year. We bought all kinds of stuff for the ward itself. But I bought two regular strollers. I said, she goes, why, because we can't really have those because they're hard to clean. I said, no, these are specific for two different kids. I said, the first kid that walks out of here or

that gets strolled out of here after a heart surgery, I said, I want that to go to that little kid. I said, for this stroller here, the first kid that rolls out of here in remission, that beat cancer, I want you to give this to their family. And she goes, I can do that. So I was tickled to death that we were allowed to do that. So what do you say to the person that has a heart for service,

but is sitting on the sideline and then really engaged? Well, this is how I look at this. We're here on this earth to inspire people, to do many different things. Like I said, I actually lost a relationship with a lady because I talk about God too much. But we're back together because we work through it, you know, because it's scary. It's scary for people, you know, but also too, we have guys out there that can do this all over the country and they're sitting on the sidelines and they, you know, how do I go about it?

Well, I'm laying the blueprint for them down right now, you know, how they do it, how to approach it, but they've got to be a people person and people person, and you've got to humble yourself when you come into this. You just, you can't come in this with any kind of arrogance, and you can't come into it with any kind of expectations. If you come into it with expectations, you're going to get hurt, because it takes time. Everything takes time. Just remember one thing, life is all, God's timing is not our timing.

So it takes time. And a lot of times, He won't give you the things you need, because He knows you're not ready for it. See, I'm where I'm at right now. I feel like I'm at a standstill, but there's something that I'm still... Maybe I'm not doing right that He's waiting because He can't hand me that big prize yet because I'm not ready for it. But I'm trying to inspire people all across the country to get involved in that. But I also do... And I believe this with all my heart, and I tell my brother this, and me and my brother are two different people and I love him to death, there's a guy watching me right now. He's asking questions and he's researching me,

and he's watching me how I carry myself. He's watching me in situations like we had an incident at the racetrack where we got our car smashed up. Do you go over there like the old country boys do and you get in a fist fight or you walk away? We walked away. I got a hall of fame driver driving for me. He doesn't carry himself that way. I don't carry myself that way. He was very upset.

I was very upset. But that night we put this car, we won the heat race in this car. That's the first time that this 44 had won a heat race, the symbol of this car, in 30 years. This elegant engine research on the side, he was standing there. He said, man, you don't even know what it looked like to see that thing go across that

checkered flag. It was just a heat win. But then at the feature, we got beat up and pulled out of the race. Everybody's obsessing, listen, listen, calm down. We accomplished something tonight. We put the 44 in a heat race win. For the first time, I got me, I got Gary Stuller a heat win in the 44 after 30 years. I said, we accomplished something.

I said, God gave us something tonight and the devil's trying to take it away with this bunch over here. I said, we're not going to do that. I said, we're going to relish in this moment and laugh and have fun and just have a good time because we accomplished something. I gave this man a fast race car first night out, set a fast time. I gave him a car that almost won the race in Nicole's Memorial race. Then he won a heat race. A lot of people said, well, that's nothing. That's nothing. But for me, remember what I told you? My goals are not your goals. My wins are not your wins. But whatever makes me happy, and I'm tickled to death.

I just wish we could have got him a win, because like I said, to me, to have Gary win on my car is amazing. We're getting ready. This whole car will be different next year, because we're going on his 50th anniversary. He'd been racing for 50 years. The man, he'll be 70 next year, and he's still running up front. And so I'm doing a very special car for him for his 50th anniversary. He'll be 70 next year and he's still running up front.

I'm doing a very special car for him for his 50th anniversary. I would get back to that point where I could talk to my brother. I was like, there's a guy watching me. He's got tons of money, but he can't talk like I can talk. He's lost a lot in his life and he wants to get involved. He's asking questions about me right now. When this opportunity happened, I almost sank. I almost wept because this might have opened the door up for that guy to see me or hear

me. It's going to take this thing. I want to take this on a national level. I can't do it because of funds, but there's millionaires all over this world that says, hey, let's jump in and let's have some fun with this boy. And what if? What if? But if you venture into something,

you as a football coach, right? If you went into every game going, well, we might lose this one tonight, what do you think is going gonna happen? Self-fulfilling prophecy. If you don't go into everything thinking you can win, and that's why I built a car that I know we can win on any given night.

We just gotta have everything lined up. These cars are so complex, the geometry of the suspension of these cars would drive you completely insane. And I jumped off on the deep end of the pool when I'm still learning this stuff. But the thing about it is, if you don't believe that you can win, then don't do it.

Don't do anything in your life. Because if you don't have confidence in yourself, nobody's gonna have confidence in you. And that's the thing. And that's why I think some people make think that I'm smug and arrogant. It's not that, it's just that I'm confident. I've got a plan in my place.

You know, when I had my auction, I already saw it before it happened. I could see the people over here, betting on the stuff. I could see people plan on my place. You know, when I had my auction, I already saw it before it happened. I could see the people over here betting on the stuff. I could see people holding up the panels. I could see it all. You know, I could envision the whole thing. And I've already envisioned my new race shop, you know, when this thing gets big, you know, but my ultimate goal is, and like I said, I don't say it will never happen, but it's a big stretch for me and my wife. We all sit around. You know how you have to say, fuck your wife, you have to win the lottery, what you would do?

We've already picked out the piece of land that's right down from the house that we're going to put a 25-patient hospital with little cottages all the way around and a church in the back, and that's going to be Samantha's memorial right there. We got it. But I learned something the other day. I listened to some guys talk and everything, and I learned something the other day. I listened to some guys talk and everything. I learned something the other day. I'm my own worst enemy.

He said, you can't have a dream and put it in place if you don't have a plan. And he says, you got to sit down and you got to draw it up. He said, draw it up. He said, draw it up. Draw up your dream. I'm listening to this guy on TikTok and everything. He said, whatever you're doing, draw a picture of it. You know, how would you do this?

Who was the people that you would hire? How would you do this? How would you do that? Have it in place. Have it all ready to go. So when it does happen to you, you don't have to sit around and wait on it. And that got me thinking about a lot of stuff.

But like I said, everybody calls me a dreamer. I'm a dreamer, but look at this. Whoever thought I would be at this position in my life right now. We'll be right back. Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the homestretch and I'm exhausted. But turns out the end is near, right in time for a new season of my

podcast, Next Question. This podcast is for people like me who need a little perspective and insight. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's, to help me out like Ezra Klein, Van Jones, Jen Psaki, Astaed Herndon. But we're also gonna have some fun, even though these days fun and politics seems like an oxymoron. But we'll do that thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee, Roy Wood Jr., and Charlemagne the God.

We're gonna take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Power to the podcast for the people. So whether you're obsessed with the news or just trying to figure out what's going on, this season of Next Question is for you. Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeart radio app,

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking, it's time to get rewarded for it.

Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, a five-year-old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba. He looked like a little angel. I mean, he looked so fresh. And his name, Elian Gonzalez, will make headlines everywhere.

Elian Gonzalez. Elian, Elian. Elian Gonzalez. Elian. Elian. Elian Gonzalez. At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with.

His father in Cuba. Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or his relatives in Miami. Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. At the heart of it all is still this painful family separation. Something that as a Cuban, I know all too well. Listen to Chess Piece, the Elian Gonzalez story, as part of the MyCultura podcast network,

available on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, y'all. I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. My podcast, When You're Invisible, is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped my life. I get to talk to a lot of people who form the backbone of our society,

but who have never been interviewed before. Season two is all about community, organizing, and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said, this sucks, let's do something about it. I can't have more than $2,000 in my bank account or else I can't get disability benefits. They won't let you succeed.

I know we get paid to serve you guys, but be respectful. We're made out of the same things, bone, body, blood. It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the lesson and I'm also the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible as part of the MyCultura podcast network. Available on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcasts. ["When You're Invisible"] All right, so in 2023, you raised 20K for St. Jude. I mean, how much have you raised in total? In total, we're sitting at probably around 46,500. We did about 30,000 direct cash payments to St. Jude's, and then we've done about 16,500 directly through the hospitals. That's only in a couple of few years. We're gearing up right now for our Christmas deal.

If we raise an additional $3,500 to $4,000 this year, we could hit that $50,000 mark. It's not about the number per se. It's about what it shows other people. You know, this, this, the ring of 50,000, you know, and we get the hold up that we, you know, we always, every time we make an accomplishment, we build these, these checks and things like that. And we do it to inspire people. Well, and it's important to know you're still working all the time. I mean, do you have a job and a life and everything else and you're still raising this money and

it can, it can be done. I got to believe knowing you a little bit now, once you raise 50, you'll want to raise 100. Like you said, we're in it now. We have some tough days, but like I said, the biggest thing is help. We get it. This one, it seems like we don't help. You know, and we get it. This one, it seems like we don't, sure we're gonna get it. It comes out of nowhere. Phenomenal story. You got a guy who comes from West Virginia,

and in his words, grew up poor. Married his high school sweetheart, had his little girl, and had all taken from him. His little girl dies with leukemia and love of his life dies from COVID. And from that, he's raised thousands of dollars for St. Jude. Kids have gotten bicycles, Kindles, toys, baby Einstein's,

have gotten bicycles, Kindles, toys, baby Einstein's, strollers made into race cars, t-shirts and pajama pants. Scott has his employer United involved and have not not only put smiles on a lot of kids' faces, but every weekend goes out and people are reminded of the difficulties of childhood cancer and the sadness of childhood cancer, but also the importance of raising money to help other families who went through what he and Nicole went through with their daughter Samantha, raising money to try to help that be better for others. You know, if there's not, I just can't imagine a better example of a normal guy. I mean, we're talking about a mechanic from West Virginia who grew up poor, who's had lots of pain in his life, who's turned that pain into a dream and done so much for so

many in honor of both his wife and his daughter. I can't imagine a better example of what just a normal guy can do. What's next? We're trying to get ready for next year. I'll go ahead and tell you, we've got most of the pieces in place right now. Not 100% sure it's all going to come together, but when I was down in Charlotte this past week or weekend before last, I put a lot of things together. We're talking about building a two-seater. See, these only hold one driver.

We're going to have it set up for Make-A-Wish kids and kids with cancer that we can take them a ride around the track. Not like we race. That is so cool. That's a great idea. They have them for adults. They have them for adults. But I've talked to Butler Built seats down in North Carolina. I've talked to Simpson Safety Apparel. I've talked to

Velocita Race Gear. I've talked to ARC Racing up in Winchester is going to help me get the car done. Talked to so many wonderful people that want to jump on board and help this project out. I've already got it cleared with the Speedway. But you know, like I said, we're trying to get a few things done. You know, financing is a deal with that because like I said, we got this car getting ready going for the 50th anniversary for Gary. That's a big deal for me. If people want to support that, if people want to hear more about you, if people, is

there a website for this or? Unfortunately, no. I'm trying. Well then, how do people find out? I know. If somebody listening us may want to donate, someone with us may just be inspired and want to reach out, how do people find Gilbert Hess? The quickest way to find me is on TikTok through Nicole's Dream.

OK, Nicole's Dream. If they go and look, if they look up Nicole's Dream, or if they look up Gilbert Hess Racing, and everything starts to pop up. All my pictures and all that stuff like that. They'll find it. Do they have an email they can email you? Yeah. I guess we could give it to them. It's g-i-l-h-e-s at msn.com. Perfect. All of our guests give their an email or some contact because I'm telling you, people will be inside by your story and they will want to reach out. I'll tell you Gilbert from personal experience, it's really

nice to be reached out to people you don't even know who say, hey, what you had to say, meant something to me. You'll be shocked at what your words and what you've done and your life story can have. There's somebody listening to us right now. There's probably many people listening to us right now who are probably dealing with sadness and difficulties as a result of the loss of someone they love, maybe even to cancer. Hopefully your story can be an inspiration of ways to overcome that as well. What an amazing story, Gilbert. And I dealt with that at El Dorado.

I had a lot of people come up and did a personal one-on-one with their loss and how they, and they were just astonished that I could take something and turn it into what I turned it into. And that made me feel really good, you know. Your story is the epitome of what a normal guy can do to make his world better, even in the face of adversity. Gilbert Hess, you are definitely a member of the Army of Normal Folks,

and your story is so inspirational. And I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your candor and you sharing all of it with us. And I can't wait to see what you do next. I just appreciate the opportunity. And hey, whoever's listening out there, any chance you get, just say a little prayer for Olive and Connor. Like I said, they both relapsed this past year.

And they're going through a difficult time. And that means more to me than anything else in the world. Any money? Tell us about that a little. It's just that I met Connor through Stephanie Jones. She's the girl that works at Velociraptor Race Suits. She designed my race suit, and I bought all my safety gear through them.

And a short time after we had met, she had called me up on the phone and told me that she discovered her five-year-old nephew had got brain cancer. And we went through a few things. And then Olive, her grandfather contacted me through finding me through the racing program. And she's 14 years old and she's about on leukemia right now. And she's got a lot of problems right now going on. And so we do a lot for those kids. And like I said, again, me and Alex were talking coming down

the road and Steph thanked me for coming in through their lives. And I'm like, Steph, I don't think I came into yours lives. You all came into my life. I said, because you don't realize something. I said, you took my level of prayer to a whole new height this year. I said, I've never prayed as much as I prayed for them two kids in my entire life. I said, it's just been the most amazing experience.

I said, they didn't change. I said, I didn't change them. They changed me. I said, they changed who I were. They, they, they let me see a different side of myself that I didn't even know I had in me. Isn't it phenomenal that through the work that you do, you always end up getting 15 times more out of it than you put into it. Absolutely. Like I said, I just, I have met the most amazing families that, that support me.

I've got a family, I don't want to name names because then if I forget somebody, they'll feel left out. But I've got several families at Port Royal, at Winchester Speedway, at Hagerstown Speedway, that just bend over backwards. And they know I'm having a difficult day. They take their time out to text me and say, hey, Gilbert, what's wrong?

And everything. And I've got a little boy I sponsored his go-kart. And I showed up at the track, and his grandparents were like, hey, come on down here and have breakfast this morning. And pay for my whole weekend for getting in the racetrack and all that. It humbles you, because I give gifts. I don't get gifts. And it's pretty amazing, even the smallest thing.

And I went down to Florida to set some deals. I was trying to get Jonathan Davenport to drive this car for me, but of course he drives a Longhorn. This is a rocket chassis. He's not allowed to because of manufacturer differences. I also had talked to a guy named Scott Bloomquist, and Scott Bloomquist, if anybody ever hears that name, he's the biggest name in dirt track racing ever. We was trying to work out a deal. We were still trying to figure out a few things, but he was killed in an accident in a plane crash at his property a few months ago. So it didn't happen.

But what if I get one of those guys in this car as well? Gary's not the greatest guy in the world. That's my guy. But just to take it to another level on a national level. Like I said, I told Alex come up the road. I ask everybody what I want. I don't hold back because the worst thing you can say is no. But what if they say yes?

Don't be scared. You got a 50-50 chance. It's either yes or no. That's right. And what if they say yes? And like I said, I wholeheartedly believe the guy I've been talking about is listening right now. And you help me get that guy and I'm going to take this thing to a new level. And I believe that. I believe that with all my heart. And

we'll keep you informed when it does. Let's hope it happens. There's going to be an email or a phone call or something gonna happen. God bless Connor and Olive, prayers for them. And God bless Gilbert Hess and your work. And God bless the 44 car, childhood cancer awareness, Samantha on the back, Jason's heart, doing good work, and all in remembrance of your family. Gilbert Hess, that's an amazing story.

Thanks for sharing it with us. Thank you for having me. And thank you for joining us this week. If Gilbert or other guests have inspired you in general or better yet, by reaching out to Gilbert and donating to this cause following him on TikTok at MrWayne108 or something else entirely please let me know I'd love to hear about it. You write me anytime at Bill at NormalFolks.us and I promise you I'll respond. If you enjoyed this episode

share it with friends and on social subscribe to the podcast. Rate it, review it, join the army at NormalFolks.us. Consider becoming a premium member there. Any and all of these things that will help us grow an army of normal folks. Thanks to our producer, Iron Light Labs, I'm Bill Courtney, I'll see you next week. Hey everyone, it's Katie Couric. Well, the election is in the homestretch, right in time for a new season of my podcast, Next Question. I'm bringing in some FOKs, friends of Katie's,

to help me out like Ezra Klein, Jen Psaki, Estet Herndon. But we're also going to have some fun, thanks to some of my friends like Samantha Bee and Charlemagne the God. We're going to take some viewer questions as well. I mean, isn't that what democracy is all about? Check out our new season of Next Question with me, Katie Couric, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. On Thanksgiving Day, 1999, five-year-old Cuban boy,

Elian Gonzalez, was found off the coast of Florida. And the question was, should the boy go back to his father in Cuba? Mr. Gonzalez wanted to go home and he wanted to take his son with him. Or stay with his relatives in Miami? Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom. Listen to Chess Peace, the Elian Gonzalez story on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

The 2025 iHeart Podcast Awards are coming. This is the chance to nominate your podcast for the industry's biggest award. Submit your podcast for nomination now at iHeart.com slash podcast awards. But hurry, submissions close on December 8th. Hey, you've been doing all that talking, it's time to get rewarded for it. Submit your podcast today at iHeart.com slash podcast awards.

That's iHeart.com slash podcast awards. Hey y'all, I'm Maria Fernanda Diaz. When You're Invisible is my love letter to the working class people and immigrants who shaped me. Season two, share stories about community and being underestimated. All the greatest changes have happened when a couple of people said,

this sucks, let's do something about it. We get paid to serve you, we're made out of the same things. It's rare to have black male teachers. Sometimes I am the testament. Listen to When You're Invisible on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.