By Matt Robinson
Contributing Writer
REGION – For many people daily commuting can feel like a race.
With the other drivers changing lanes without signaling and the frequent threat of rotaries, taking the wheel can feel like taking your life in your hands.
For 82-year-old Roger Allan French, who has been driving race cars for 60 years, that is exactly the point. He said he has always had a taste for the thrilling.
“I was a sky diver, a skier, a snowboarder, an inline skater, and an avid and rated chess player,” recalled French, who also enlisted in the United States Air Force right after high school.
And while he still participates in many of these hobbies, his most driving passion has long been driving.
Early start in car racing
At the age of 18, French went to a stock car race with his friend Bill at a quarter-mile track called The Pines in Groveland.
“Bill had gone to the races for a few years,” French explained. “I had never been to one and knew nothing about them.”
Though it was French’s first time, Bill got them both into the pits – the part of The Pines track where the cars were worked on before and after going out to race.
“We stood one foot behind the other at the chain link fence near turn two,” he recalls, noting that the special stance was intended to give him a literal jump if a car came careening his way.
“Several of them did,” he smiled.
Not previously known as an adrenaline junkie, French quickly became enamored with the new sport and returned to the track often.
“My third time at The Pines, I turned to Bill and yelled above the noise, ‘We have to get one of those,’” he explained.
A month later, he was the proud partial owner of a 1948 Plymouth race car, a trailer, and a $10 helmet.
“I still have the helmet and my pit pass from our first race,” French said proudly, “and a dollar from our $7 winnings!”
A taste of victory
Having had an early taste of victory, French began to race different types of cars at different locations. Even when he was recruited across the country to support Microsoft with his programming expertise, he found local tracks that fit his style.
“I’ve always been a race car driver,” he asserted.
Though French has enjoyed the support of many fans, his family members were not among them – at least not at first.
“They were not pleased with the stock cars and the crowd,” he admitted, noting that it took him the better part of five years to convince his parents to come see him race. When they did, the introduction to their son’s passion was not an encouraging one.
“I drove a ‘57 Pontiac that was on fire for the last five laps,” French recalled, countering that his third-place finish was then “my best finish to date.”
It was not until 15 years later that his parents returned to the track. When they did, however, it seemed as if they were ready to go all-in.
Not only did French’s parents buy a trailer (“so they could spend time with their grandchildren” he explained), but his mother volunteered at the registration tent and his dad got a job as a flagger out on the track.
“A year later,” French recounted, “when I won my first championship, I had the pleasure, on my victory lap, of waving the checkered flag to my dad at his flag station!”
Though he has been behind the wheel of a wide range of cars and car types, French observes that the sport has not changed all that much.
Friendly nature of racing
“There are more racers now,” he explained. “The technology has changed. There have been good safety advances, too. But the racing is the same and the friendly club nature of racing remains. Whether it’s a problem with your go-kart or race car or the need for advice on track conditions on the road course, there’s always people to help you.” In fact, French observed, even in the heat of competition when one driver gets in trouble, “you have to turn away people who want to help!”
As he had military training and a background in computer analysis, French has been able to contribute most to the racing community as an analyst and a teacher. “I went to Drivers’ Schools in 1973 and got my racing license,” he explained. “In 1974, I became an instructor and the next year I was chief competition instructor…for the next 11 years.” As an instructor, French focused on consistency even over speed.
“I can’t help you if I have no idea what you will do next,” he reasoned. “Do the same thing each time. Even it is wrong, I can fix that!”
Apparently, French’s dedication to consistency worked, as he was the winner of nine championships at various levels and in various locations.
“To be the best at something,” he suggested, “even as limited as a single race, is an incredible feeling! Racing has given me too many highs to recall.”
Book collects his racing stories
French, now a New Hampshire resident, recently released a collection of stories through a Newburyport publisher about his accelerated adventures in a book called “Don’t Mention Racing Unless You Have an Hour to Spare: 100 stories. 60 years. One driver.”
“I’ve always been a storyteller,” French observed, noting that he is still a member of a monthly writer’s group, “but it was my son’s idea five years ago that I write a book of them.”
When he sat down to catalog his stories, French found that he had far more than the titular 100. However, as his racing number had long been 100 and as it seemed like “a nice number,” he was able to trim the list based upon which stories he had told the most.
“I found a lot of the stories got people interested in racing or gave insights to people [who were] already spectators,” he said. “I discovered that my storytelling spread my passion for my sport.”
While telling his own stories, French mentions many of the other racers and racing enthusiasts with whom he has circled the track, including a certain actor who may send a “Cole Trickle” of sweat down his fans’ backs at the mention of his name.
Even if you do not get the movie character reference, however, French’s stories are engaging, even to those who know nothing about racing.
“I want people to read my stories, to learn about racing, to feel the life and drive of those who live and drive it,” French said. “Plus, I want to pass on much of what I have learned – some of which I learned the hard way.”
Even though his family may be asking him to slow down now that he’s in his eighties, French is still getting behind the wheel and giving it the gas both on the track and off.
“I never felt I belonged somewhere more than I do at a race track,” he noted. “Racing is a world within a world, with clear goals and a full range of emotions. What I do, good or bad, is exaggerated there, as are the emotions that come with it.”
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