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By Stacy Ervin While the Memorial Day weekend of racing was phenomenal, most dirt racers and fans across the country are doing what we love with very heavy hearts. On Wednesday last week, we lost Jesse Hockett, one of the most talented and versatile young racers around. The Missouri pilot known as "the Rocket" lost his life at age 26 in a freak accident in his race shop. Ironically, the weekend before had probably been the most successful time in his career. That, coupled with a beautiful new bride, made it seem like the world was at his feet. Now we're just left with good memories and sadness over what might have been. I think the most shocking part of this whole ordeal is that he did not lose his life on a race track. Those of us who have spent our lives around this sport always know in the back of our minds that the inevitable can happen. It often does. And while we try not to dwell on it, we go into it knowing full well we probably will lose friends along the way. When I opened an email on Wednesday evening that told me Jesse was gone, my first thought was, "Where were they racing on a Wednesday afternoon?" I've talked with others who had the same first thought. Some drivers can seem to be bigger than life, but in reality, no one is immune from death. When it happens on the track, no matter who it is, we half expected the shock. When it happens away from the race track, it's so hard to understand how it can be so. Jesse Hockett was one of the most likable drivers in any pit area and always one that could be counted on to put on a fantastic show and probably win in dramatic fashion. He'd been through a lot in a short life, having lost his cousin, best friend and crew chief in a different accident a few years ago. Now his family and friends are left to grieve once again. It just doesn't seem fair. But as the saying goes, we all know life goes on. Jesse would want us to continue racing because it's what we love...it's what he loved. And that's exactly what happened over this Memorial Day weekend. Tracks around the country raced in tribute to the Rocket, took collections for his family, packed pits and grandstands in his honor and started parade laps with missing man formation for him. Racing is a family sport, we all know. Not only does it keep blood relatives together, but anyone in racing becomes part of a larger family. Partly that is due to the dangers involved and the potential need for a strong support system. Racing people are passionate individuals by nature, and nothing brings out our giving sides like the need to help a fellow racer or the family of a fallen racer. That's what makes me so proud to be part of this racing family. And on this Memorial Day, it's what makes me proud to have been part of my Grandpa Rocky's family. I've noted many times before that he's the one who fueled this great passion for racing in my life and even in tough times like we've seen this past week, I would not want to be anywhere else.
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