After the black late-model Camaro Z/28 came off of the dyno, the next car up was a silver 1999 Pontiac Firehawk. The owner, a tall, lanky gentleman in surprisingly colorful clothes, shoes and sunglasses, had opted to let the Redline Motorsports operator make the runs for him, allowing him to chat with other bystanders. The last time the Firehawk had seen the dyno, it was bone-stock and had turned 260 RWHP…not bad for a car that officially rated at 325 horsepower back in the day. As the brake dust-covered wheels spun the rollers, the LS yelled out it’s exhaust roar as if it was another wolf howling out in the pack, to the tune of 379 horsepower and 350 ft/lbs of torque. A backup run netted a similar result. The bearded gentleman nodded…”That’ll make a guy smile.”

Smiling is what Vernal, Utah resident Kevin Crofts is all about, though if you knew the reason why he was over 1,500 miles from home at LS Fest, you’d wonder why. The “Mountain Man”, as people who met him have been calling him, is currently flying in the face of conventional medical reasoning. Crofts has advanced cancer, and by all accounts, most people would think that he should be in a hospital bed or in the middle of treatments. But with cancer, there is always the chance that once you go into the hospital, that’s where you will stay until the end, and that is no way for anyone to end their days. Instead, Kevin has decided that the hospital is the last place he is willing to be right now, and the Firehawk that he has owned since new is central to his plan. Up until a little over a month ago, the Firehawk was bone-stock, having been well-cared for ever since he purchased it brand new. That’s no longer the case…cam, heads, headers, suspension bolt-ons, swaybars, Corbeau buckets and Nitto NT107 rubber have woken up an already potent package, and that’s before the car got a race-fuel tune and $90 worth of the really good stuff in the tank.

He’s drag raced in the Rumble category. He flogged the car at the National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park. The distinctive nostrils of the Pontiac are filled with unique sample of insects from across the country, the car is dusty, dirty and appears more worn than it really is, and the Nittos are probably halfway gone already. Does Crofts care? “I love my life right now,” he says smiling, before admitting, “…mostly because I don’t give a shit anymore!” Driving the car and enjoying his time is the entire point of the journey he is on. Once he is done with LS Fest, his next stop will be in Tennessee for moonshine tasting, and he will continue on, upgrading the Firehawk, going wherever he damn well pleases and spending his time out on the road until he gets to the point where he has to stop for physical reasons. But until that day comes, he will travel as far and wide as he chooses, cruising the Firehawk place to place, wearing his colorful clothes and his distinctive yellow sunglasses.

In a situation where it’s hard to find a positive way to discuss what’s happening, you might look at this silver Pontiac and the bearded gentleman with misty eyes and a low feeling. But Crofts does not see things that way. His advice to me before we parted ways: “Go buy some yellow sunglasses and make someone smile.”

Good words.