For those who race, your fellow racers often become family, and within that family there are people you can rely on such as Carson Ferguson and his fiancée, Makenna Adkins.
When Bob Pierce took ill at Shelby County Speedway last month, Carson rushed to his aid. The elder Pierce has since returned to the pits, helping his son Bobby. Last weekend, when an unknown object hit Garrett Alberson in the face while racing in the North-South 100 at Florence Speedway, it was Makenna who made sure Garrett’s wife, Dani, got a ride to the hospital to be with her husband. Makenna also watched over the Albersons’ soon-to-be two-year-old son, Weston, and helped ensure the merchandise and the rest of their equipment was packed up at the end of the night.
“People assume we are always competitors,” Makenna said. “In reality, even if drivers wreck one another, they will help each other at the end of the day. We all have the same goal on the track — to win. But at the end of a long day that does not become personal. Too many people assume we are enemies on and off the track — it’s definitely not the case.”
When you hit the road with series like the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, bonds often develop, especially when those drivers and crews face the same challenges.
“It is a very different lifestyle, being miles and months away from home,” Makenna said. “Our lives have become so public, so it is nice to have people to relate to and to count on when things don’t go our way. Dani and Garrett are a couple we look up to and they are mentors to us.”
Karma is real, too, on the road. When Carson flipped his car away from home, he received the suggestion to get a check-up at a nearby hospital. However, he had no street car and Makenna had stayed home. Matt James, who owned Race Ranch, drove him. Keep in mind Makenna also owns an apparel company, Fast & Fancy Customs.
“Carson was 20 hours from home and me, but that is how it is,” Makenna said. “Anyone will step up and help anyone else on the tour.”
Carson Ferguson and Makenna Adkins have earned attention on social media for their willingness to readily help others. To them, though, it just feels like the right thing to do.
“Me and Carson, we appreciate the people thanking us on social media,” Makenna said. “But at the end of the day, God puts us into position at the right place and the right time to help someone. Give praise to God. We’re just friends doing what friends should do for each other in time of need.”
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.
