ATOKA, Tenn. – When 305 sprint car driver Brandon Lovelace straps back into his sprint car and takes to the track Saturday at Riverside Int’l Speedway, it will mark much more than just his first race of the season.
It will mark the culmination of a six-month journey back from challenges that could just as easily have halted his career indefinitely.
Lovelace, 17, races with Cystic Fibrosis, a genetic disorder that mostly affects the lungs, with excess mucus leading to the clogging of the lungs’ airways. Despite the potential for long-term issues, Lovelace has never let his health stand in the way of his racing dreams.
“I have an everyday routine of breathing treatments (saline vapor) … and after that I have to put on a vest that shakes me and sends air pulses through it; that gets my lungs moving,” explained Lovelace. “I can do a lot of things everyone else can do, there’s just a few things that I can’t.”
However, Lovelace had to undergo spinal fusion surgery during the offseason to correct a 57-degree scoliosis curve in his spine, something that was making it increasingly more difficult to drive his sprint car.
The spinal fusion operation that Lovelace underwent involved 20 screws and two rods, as well as cement, being used to help straighten his spine from the curvature it had held. Though the operation was successful, that didn’t mean the recovery process was easy.
“The first couple weeks post-surgery, I was miserable. I didn’t think at times I was going to make it through,” admitted Lovelace. “It was really hard. That’s not even including the fact that it was supposed to be a five-and-a-half hour surgery, roughly, and it turned into a nine-hour surgery. That was hard on my mom. But we all got through it.”
As Lovelace recovered, he began to question if he would be able to return to a race car at all.
“There were definitely times when I asked myself, ‘Am I going to race again?’ Heck, I’m still asking myself that until I actually put our car out on the dirt,” Lovelace said.
But as his healing process has progressed, the joy of knowing a race car looms has given Lovelace all of the motivation he needs.
“At the end of the day, I’m extremely excited to get back at this. I’m not one that has ever liked sitting around for long periods of time and doing nothing. It’s been my life to be on the move 24-7,” noted Lovelace. “Really, the only time I’m at my house is when I go to sleep. So I’m extremely excited to get back to my normal routine and doing what I love to do.”
Lovelace’s surgery occurred on Nov. 8, while his final race last season was on Sept. 23.
