An Unexpected Moment
One of Team Maxinkuckee Mayhem’s favorite memories from this year's Great Race happened Saturday on the Championship Run. As always on Championship Run day, tensions were high as we headed out for the day. As we got off the clock for our first transit of the day, we had planned to make an "emergency gas" stop in Needles, California. Even with the $9.99/gallon gas, we still needed to stop and fill up. The only problem? The gas station didn't have working pumps, as many of you probably realized! 😳 So as we sat at our restart, we knew we were cutting it close—but we had no idea how close. Dad started walking to check with a few teams to see if anyone happened to have some gas. As he walked past Brad and Erin Kaplan's car, Brad yelled, "What are you looking for?" Dad replied, "Gas!" and kept walking. After having no luck with a few teams ahead of us, Dad headed back to the truck. That's when Brad said, "Did you say you needed gas? Why didn't you ask me? We've got some!" Without a second thought—and with only a couple of minutes before their start time—Brad handed us his 2½-gallon gas can. We dumped it into the truck, strapped the can in the bed, and got ready to restart. Later that day, after making it to lunch and finally finding a gas station, we learned we would have been about half a gallon short without their help. To make it even better, Brad and Erin wouldn't even let us refill the gas can before giving it back. (Thankfully, we were able to repay them with a cold drink the next night! 🍻)
People often ask what makes the Great Race so special. It's moments like this. Yes, it's a competition—but at the end of the day, it's a family. Brad and Erin, thank you for your incredible generosity! You didn't just loan us some gas... you helped save our race, and we'll never forget it!