Many at Seymour, Tennessee’s 411 Motor Speedway recognize Christy Galyon from the concession stands. They not only enjoy the burgers and fries Galyon serves, but also her hospitality dished with a side of friendly conversation. In August, a routine mammogram revealed the breast cancer that Galyon beat 11 years ago had returned. Track promoters Mitch and Tanya McCarter felt they needed to do something for her. They rallied the racing community to bolster her spirits with the event dubbed, “Pink Out for Christy!”
“Christy is one of our own,” Tanya McCarter said. “She’s part of the big family that is 411 Motor Speedway.”
McCarter started an annual breast cancer awareness event at the speedway when doctors diagnosed Galyon the first time with the disease over a decade ago. Since then, the event has continued to grow.
“Our regulated, half-capacity crowd was sold out,” McCarter said. “Everyone had pink on. Cars had pink numbers. There were 16 pink balloons released by cancer survivors to remember all of our family members affected by cancer.”
The track collected funds to donate to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure non-profit organization.
“The event was for everyone affected by this horrible, horrible, cancer,” said McCarter. “The outpouring of support was overwhelming. Even drivers wanted to split some of their winnings to donate to the cause.”
Galyon attended the event. She spent most of the night in a suite as she recovered from surgery. Galyon came out to pace a parade of race cars around the track in a golf cart.
“What is great is that 411 Motor Speedway is a community I am proud to be a part of,” Galyon, 48, said. “Drivers may compete on the track, but when something happens that affects the community, they’re tight and they stick together.”
As drivers went to tech inspection, they stopped and waved at Christy Galyon in her suite. When the track presented her with a plaque, the crowd rose to its feet.
“To think that all these people are behind me in my battle — thousands of people — has a huge impact on me,” Galyon said. “It gives me encouragement to keep fighting, and to keep going onward.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
