I
was born in Evansville, Indiana, before WW2, with mid-western values.
The greatest influence on my early life was Ferdanand Gehlhausen my
Grandfather, because my dad was overseas saving the world in the Army.
As a youth we moved a lot because of my dad’s job so I never
developed any close personal relationships until high school.
I worked my way up through scouting to Eagle, Silver Eagle, Al Atera
Dei (God & Country) awards. In high school, I was selected for the Order
of the Arrow along with my first best friend Mickey Hogan, who died in our
senior year. I started work at Cape Canaveral and in 1963 started racing in
SCCA in a FV. For the next 27
years, I won and lost races, made and lost friends (several of them were
killed racing). I watched as a
driver was killed 
in
front of me. I was involved in
two major accidents, broke my back, knocked unconscious and went through
eight years of physical therapy in order to walk again (without a limp).
I lived my life like I really didn’t care anymore about anything
except being successful in my job, and being a playboy in every sense of the
word. But something was
missing, I prayed (on a mountaintop in South Carolina, Easter Sunday Sunrise) for the
“right” woman to come into my life to be able to share all the wonderful
things that I was experiencing. Be
careful for what you pray for. God
sent me a good and holy woman that helped turn my life around, gave me
children, two wonderful grandchildren, and a desire to turn my life around.
I went to Promise Keepers in 1997, renewed my commitment to Jesus
Christ and received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Later I had a vision of God telling me to take the 27 years of racing
knowledge and use it for HIM. He
told me to return to the track with a mission to give everyone the
opportunity to be SAVED before they go on the track as a driver, crew member
or safety worker (several of which have been killed, helping others). So in
October 1999, I went to Sebring
to offer my assistance in Motorsports Ministries, and due to the illness of
the Chaplain, I was thrust into SERVICE starting that day and have been
God’s servant ever since.
