America loves an underdog.
We cheer for them, we talk about them, we revere them when victorious. They permeate pop culture from Bill Murray’s famous line in Caddyshack “A real Cinderella story. Outta’ nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion.”
The ever popular world of sports with examples like “Do you believe in miracles” from the Miracle on ice. The very reason March madness captivates us every year or perhaps the little girl from north of the border who wanted so badly to be a race car driver at ten years of age she funded herself, eventually becoming the first Canadian woman to win a NASCAR-sanctioned race on American soil.
Wait…You haven’t heard about that last one?
Allow me to introduce Amber Balcaen. A soft spoken yet outgoing woman who never allows boundaries, perceived or international, prevent her from being her best.
The girl who knocked on doors and convinced others to support her go cart dreams. The teenager who solely financed her passion for racing by often sacrificing makeup for motor oil. The woman whose attention to detail not only fuels her life, it drives her success.
These are the stories we crave.
We want teams like Hickory in the acclaimed movie “Hoosiers” to sink the last bucket and become the first small school in Indiana to win a state championship.
We want Robert Redford to leave us with a walk off homerun in “The Natural”. We want, regardless of team, individual, or school we support, to be a part of something that makes us believe that anything is possible.
We want people like Balcaen to succeed.
There are no shortcuts on the road to success and from her go cart roots to the dirt tracks of Canada, NASCAR presents arguably the tallest mountain to climb.
For every son or daughter who refused to let go of their dreams because someone else let go of their own, the sport and many others will live on, and they’ll have the underdogs like Amber Balcaen to thank when the confetti falls on their own impossible dream.
Even victory lane.
Listen to more of Ambers story HERE.
Copyright © 2021 JP Emerson All Rights Reserved.
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