Muskegon's Mike Garvey and Tracy Goodson a Perfect Partnership

Five Flags: Tracy Goodson never runs on empty Written by Chuck Corder News Journal correspondent Jul. 25, 2013 11:24 PM | pnj.com It’s just past 6 p.m. in the vibrant restaurant. A warm face, belonging to the owner’s daughter, is eager to provide a seat once you shake loose the water from the scattered puddles in the parking lot. But nothing lights up Pensacola’s newest Beef ‘O’ Brady’s, positioned conveniently on Nine Mile Road just east of Pine Forest Road, quite like when the owner rolls his wheelchair through the restaurant and delivers a “What’s goin’ on?” or a wave to his familiar guests. Tracy Goodson, the proprietor of two Beef ‘O’ Brady’s locations, along with several other area enterprises, is the mayor of his many hamlets. Business always moves at a rapid speed when he arrives, and Goodson never slows down in any endeavor. “I’ve always been competitive,” the 44-year-old said. “It’s the same way in business. You want to be on top of the field you’re in.” The racing community knows Goodson as the effervescent owner of the Super Late Model yellow No. 1 that Mike Garvey will once again drive tonight at Five Flags Speedway for the Navy Federal 125. “If it wasn’t for Tracy, I probably wouldn’t have raced again,” said Garvey, 50, in his fourth year driving for Goodson. “You almost feel like you’re racing for him. He loves being out there. It’s such a special feeling.” Born and raised in Pensacola, Goodson has been a fixture at the famed half-mile asphalt oval for 25 years. “I want to support the track, see it succeed,” he said. “That’s why I put in 100 percent.” Goodson’s philosophy has become a harbinger that a brush with death, which stole his right leg a dozen years ago, has never confined him. “It’s not gonna come back,” he said of what’s missing from the stump that’s left. “There’s no reason to sulk over it.” 'Game changer' Goodson was a blossoming late model driver in 2001, beating and banging on several national circuits. He had returned home for a Blizzard Series race — the same series a packed house will witness tonight at Five Flags — one Friday night and promptly won the thing. Less than a week later, Goodson, wife, Tamron, and daughters Madison and Jordan were headed to Pensacola Beach to stand for family portraits — white shirts, blue jeans in a sepia tone hue. Standing suddenly became unbearable. “It felt like a knife was going through my chest and someone was twisting it,” Goodson vividly recalled. Rushed to the hospital, Goodson had sustained an aortic aneurysm. The human body’s largest artery had swollen to a life-threatening size. He fell into a coma for 10 weeks. “I woke up with one less leg,” said Goodson, who battled ITP leukemia at age 8 and then again briefly later in life. “It was definitely a game changer. I saw how short life can be.” Racing was over. Goodson wanted nothing to do with it. He sold off all of his racing gear and admittedly felt little motivation for months to flex the competitive muscle that defines him. “Several people said, ‘Aw, he’s done. He’ll give it up,’ ” Goodson said. “And I did pretty much for awhile. Then, I woke up and said, ‘I ain’t going out like this.’ ” It wasn’t long before he was back at the track, a landing spot for so many years had now become Goodson’s place of refuge. “I never thought I’d be as big into (racing) as I am today,” he said. “I thought it’d just be a hobby, to occupy my time and support racing in the community. It’s in my heart now; it’s in my blood.” The right fit Goodson plowed through a handful of drivers, some that have climbed into the NASCAR ranks, before he united with Garvey before the 2010 season. “ ‘Why don’t you come drive our stuff?’ ” Goodson asked Garvey. “I was playing around. But here we are today.” Added Garvey: “He popped the question when I didn’t expect it. I was doing a lot of consulting for teams, but I was missing driving. He caught me at the right time.” The pair has been wildly successful, winning 13 late model races last year, including dominating the Pro Late Model division at Five Flags en route to a track championship. While they’re without a win this season, they’re right in the thick of the SLM points chase in Pensacola. Plus, they sit fourth in line to capture the inaugural crown for the Southern Super Series, a circuit that races prominent short tracks across the South, most notably Five Flags. “When I first started as a car owner, the wins weren’t nearly as impactful,” Goodson said. “Now, the competition is so much greater, the wins are a lot more appreciated.” Donating his time Racking up late model wins doesn’t begin to touch the surface of what drives Goodson. Goodson, who employs nearly 150 workers in his many business ventures, is extremely philanthropic and pays special attention to the local Special Olympics chapter and cancer societies. His bingo hall alone has donated more than $2 million to local charities in the last decade. He routinely hosts the drivers and teams during Snowball Derby Week at Beef ‘O’ Brady’s and provided all the ice cream for the annual kids bicycle races at the track earlier this month. “There’s not a better ambassador for racing than Tracy Goodson here in Pensacola,” Garvey said. “I don’t know what more the guy can do to help racing in the area. I hope people appreciate that.” “I get bored. Why slow down?” Goodson asked rhetorically. “A guy like me to quit and sit at home? That’ll drive a man to depression.” Whether it’s in racing, business or conquering life’s adversities, Tracy Goodson has never hit the brakes.