Nelson Ledges Chaplain’s Notes - JOHN McGILL and the WORLD

The other day we lost an original at eighty nine years. To say John McGill was one of a kind is a vast understatement.  Although his picture is in the dictionary as a definition of curmudgeon, he also had a heart for anyone down on his luck. Many a “poor boy” was helped by spending time at John’s home for the wayward otherwise known as the Nelson Ledges Road Course. John had formed the track with Marvin (great name, huh?) Drucker and was the track manager from 1962-2004. Now his son Scott Lane and daughter Kerrie Bartzi run the track.

For me, a couple of stories illustrate two sides of John. Maybe three years ago, after I stopped at registration, John asked me to drive him over to the tower and we had to stop way out at the edge of the backstretch. John wanted to show me the canals he had built in the swamp area to prevent the flooding that had sometimes delayed racing. He was proud of all he had done to improve the track...

John also loved to talk about his time in the service. He was on a carrier in the Navy and roomed with the Chaplain. Many’s the time a sailor would come to the room seeking guidance from the Chaplain only to find him out. But John filled in as his completely unofficial assistant, counseling away. Maybe his heart for the hurting started there and maybe because of that experience he was always totally supportive of the Motorsports Ministries Chaplaincy at the track. We even have a dedicated Community Room/Chapel in the Timing Tower named in honor of his beloved wife Martha.

John had friends, as many of us in racing, from all walks of life and all over the country. But John also touched the whole world of racing. In 1970, John and Grover Griggs invented the tire wall and first used it at Nelson Ledges. To this day it is used at race courses all around the globe as an inexpensive way to minimize driver injuries and car damage. The creation of the tire wall caused SCCA to honor John as the first winner of the yearly trophy that now bears his name for significant contributions to club racing.

As I thought about how John impacted the world, I wondered how we could do the same. Then I realized that we can have an impact most anywhere when we donate to help others. I may not go to Costa Rica, where I support a missionary, or to Haiti where I support a child, or to Africa to help my friends who help create clean water projects, but my gifts can. If you give, you can be like John, you can touch the world.  
Chaplain Marvin Gray
chapnlrc@aol.com