Not quite the typical legendary Romeo and Juliet story...
In 1978 Laurie attended her first sprint car race at the legendary race track known as Ascot Park in Gardena, California. There it was love at first sight, no, not with Tom, but with auto racing. Every Saturday night you could find her sitting in the grandstands cheering on her favorite drivers as they changelled and attempted to tame the ever changing dirt race track.
In 1988 Tom met Laurie, on a job site and they planned their first date. This is where the story unfolds: Being that it was Saturday night, you go to the races. But it wasn't Tom who dragged Laurie to the races, it was vice versa. Tom had been involved in drag racing for years, he had even piloted one for years. His attraction in the beginning to these hard charging machines wasn't quite so strong. But after a few weeks of attending races Tom was not content standing on the sidelines, he began to help a team change tires, tighten bolts and learn as much as he could about what makes a sprint car turn left. Hands on involvement was all it took. Tom, was now addicted!
Tom is a glazier by trade. He designs and installs custom window schemes for homes, mirror walls and hangs off high rise buildings installing windows. He was been employed by Huntington Beach Glass for 20 years . Laurie had been in the automotive industry for 30 years, as a service consultant. In May of 2006, Tom and Laurie purchased Huntington Beach Glass & Mirror, Inc. It has been a major life altering adjustment, but business is good and growing on a day to day basis.
In 1983 Laurie had opened a small side line business revolving around sprint car racing. Lad Arts Racing Creations created custom sprint car magnets and Christmas ornaments. Running the business just by word of mouth it had proceeded to grow, but when Tom and Laurie got together he supported the business and they began to advertise, participate in trade shows and increase their inventory to include picture frames, key rings, clothing chocolate sprint car lollipops and even a complete line of 14k racing jewelry.
Welp, after you are used to competition Tom began to think about what it would be like to race a sprint car...so in 1993 he purchased all the equipment to build a car. Wow, what an undertaking! If that commitment wasn't enough, in December of 1993 he also asked Laurie to marry him! Tom and Laurie worked feverishly to assemble the #92 car, and in June of 1994 Tom piloted the car for the 1st time. In just his second appearance he even qualified for the main event! In September Tom was injured at work..he spent several weeks recuperating and during that period of time the two of them realized they had to many responsibilities surrounding them and it would be best if someone else take over the reigns of the #92 sprint car...thus creating Moose Racing.
The time and energy spent to run a race team and work 12 hours a day is very demanding. Lad Arts Racing Creations has taken a back seat to the race car. The items are still available here on the Internet and at race tracks, but for the most part, Tom and Laurie devote all their " free hours " to Moose Racing.
There is a bumper sticker that reflects the way of the world when you are involved in motorsports:
" We interrupt this marriage to bring you the racing season "
Whoever thought that from being spectators in the grandstands, to scrubbing mud off other teams cars, Tom and Laurie would become car owners ( they sure didn't ) They are car owners that dedicate 150% of their time, income, heart and soul, into the sport they so love and for them the racing season is a twelve month a year commitment. Tom and Laurie and the entire Moose Racing Team ... realize where there is a will, there is a way ... it just takes Team Work, The Desire To Succeed, Dedication, Hard Work, And A Total Commitment To Your Fans And Sponsors!