Don Sandy
June 1st, 2024
June, 2024
We recently lost one of the pillars of our family, and a great racer and mentor, Don Sandy.
Don began his racing journey in a vintage Porsche 356 that he bought from Chuck Parsons, and would later drive at his wedding. His wife, Carol, was supportive of his racing, and gave Don a Sears Point Racing School certificate for his birthday. This started his decades long adventure of great racing, and bringing more friends and family members into the sport. Don’s passion for motorsports, and his racing mentorship, continued even after he hung up his helmet. He got his sons-in-law, Art Hebert and Jim Sirois, behind the wheels of his red and silver 356 Porsches. Ultimately, Don began to oversee and manage the racing operations of Motorsports Market, including Formula Junior, Formula Ford, Sports 2000, and Formula Atlantic. Under his guidance, the team went on to win vintage racing national championships and special events, including the Brickyard Vintage Racing Invitational at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the vintage Formula Atlantic support race for the U.S. Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
Not content with mentoring just the next generation of family racers, in his later years Don taught his grandson, Gunnar Hebert, to race Formula Fords in the Crossflow Cup Series. And this year his granddaughter, Lindsey Hebert, joined the fold. Lindsey attended her first racing school this past February, and will be completing her SCCA novice license school in August. Don, Jim, Art, Gunnar, and Lindsey all got started racing in Don’s red 356 Porsche – truly “The Family Porsche!” Even when Don was no longer able to attend races in person, he would insist on reviewing the in-car-videos from each session, critiquing how we could get better, and always asking what he could do to help.
Don will be forever remembered as the guy hovering over operations in the paddock and chewing on that ever-present-cigar, which he never lit. We used to tease him that we knew we had run a really good race when the cigar was just a nub by the end! Everyone loved Don, and always looked forward to catching up with him at the track. Thank you, Don, for the family you created and nurtured on every level, all the time. And thank you for the amazing experiences and memories of a lifetime. None of it would have happened without you, and your always supportive guidance.
We will carry on in your honor, and we will miss you terribly.
