When there is a death in a community, you can see the impact radiate throughout everyone associated with the deceased, from the family on outwards. But it isn’t just the family that suffers. There is the “second family”, the people that have come to know and treasure those who passed on just as much as a true family member does, that are affected in the same manner. The loss is the same no matter what: the laughter, the smiles, the kind words and good times shared are gone, and while we don’t know what awaits us on the other side, we that remain sit back, reflect, remember, and whether we want to or not, carry on.

Bobbi Kimak died last year during the Woodward weekend. She had been racing at Milan, and had attended the Roadkill Nights event that Friday evening, but on the way back to the hotel, Bobbi and her husband Ken were involved in a car accident, which she did not survive. In a group as tight-knit as the Modern Street Hemi Shootout series, and the modern Mopar group as a whole, her passing reverberated quickly to everyone. She was well liked, had been racing for years, and was genuinely excited to be out on the track at Milan that day. How was anybody to know then that her time was almost up? We didn’t see the minute hand moving…we just saw Bobbi having the time of her life on a hot summer day.

The race this year at Milan was a wash-out, without a doubt. But it wasn’t a sudden downpour. The moment sprinkles started, racing was halted and every car lined up in the staging lanes, except one: Ken Kimak’s Challenger. What happened next was not a forced deal. This is what it looks like when the other family, the racing family, the friends you make over the years in the pits and on the track, come together to honor and remember one who has left this world. It’s a fitting tribute to a woman who loved to be at the races, lined up at the tree, ready to make another lap.

Godspeed, Hemiwoman. You are missed.