Speedway mourns loss of ‘Superfan’

When Merced Speedway returns to action Sunday, the focus won’t be on the six classes of race cars on the track – it will be on an empty seat in the third row of the grandstand – just where the cars come out of the quarter-mile oval’s fourth turn.

Missing will be Dawn Carter, a Merced single mom who sat there religiously, week after week for the past 16 years. The track’s drivers and crew members pronounced Dawn and her daughter Destiny, 15, Merced Speedway “Superfans.”

Dawn passed away suddenly last week at her Merced apartment from heart failure. The Sunday before, Dawn and Destiny sat in their favorite seats at the speedway, cheering on the racers and visiting the pit area afterword to talk with their heroes.

Drivers will line up their cars for a memorial lap honoring Dawn on Sunday.

With never a bad word to say about anyone at the racetrack, Dawn raised Destiny with the respect she learned from her mom before she traded the cool hills of Tennessee for the sunny and hot Central Valley.

In a 2013 interview, Dawn said all she missed about Tennessee was the weekly ritual of going to Tazewell Speedway with her mom, Patsy. She had no father or brother or uncle involved in racing. Patsy simply stumbled upon dirt track stock car racing and was so thrilled that she never stopped going – with Dawn in tow every week.

Dawn found an oasis in the table flat farmlands of Merced County. There was dirt track stock car racing here, just like she knew in Tennessee.

As history often does, it repeated itself. Dawn gave birth to Destiny 15 years ago and soon had a companion to sit with her at the races. The only time they missed a race until this season was when Dawn had her first heart attack in 2013, causing her to miss the season opener.

As Destiny grew older, Dawn watched with pride as she was selected to present trophies to the winners of the races.

Times were tough for Dawn and Destiny. Over the years, drivers gave them rides to attend races at Chowchilla and Madera speedways. Drivers even bought tickets for them. As “super fans,” they saw the good in every racer, greeting them in the pits, on the phone and supporting them on Facebook.

When Destiny turned 13, drivers Mark Odgers and his daughter, Marissa, brought Destiny a card, a box of chocolates and a collage of photos.

“It was the best day of my life,” Destiny said.

As a lonely breeze blew through the speedway’s eerily quiet grandstands on Monday, Destiny sat alone in the seat next to where her mother sat with her since as long as she could remember.

Racetracks aren’t supposed to be quiet. Destiny folded her hands and prayed like she was in a church. She clutched her mom’s cellphone, on which she saved the best photo she had – one of Dawn, smiling like she always did.

“I never expected this; it just came out of the blue,” she explained. “The doctors said she had a good chance of living a long life.”

Dawn received a pacemaker after her heart attack two years ago. Then, this year, her heart showed signs of failing again. She was brought to Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto where a defibrillator was implanted.

“I yelled ‘MOM’ when I came home from school. She was laying there, looked up and said her arm was numb,” she continued. Destiny called an ambulance. Dawn was taken to Mercy Hospital.

Three days later, she died.

“Some drivers’ families have offered to take me in,” she explains softly. “I don’t even have any money for my mom’s funeral. I don’t know what will happen.”

With her mother’s health condition demanding Destiny’s time, her grades slipped and she was soon determined to be an “at-risk” student and placed in Sequoia High School.

“Now, I’m falling behind again,” she says. “I’m on the volleyball team. I want to go to school and play volleyball, but I don’t know what will happen.”

Racers stepped up to help Destiny this week. Modesto’s Penny Matthews created a GoFundMe page. She is the sister of Chris and Jennifer Corder, who race in the speedway’s Mini Stock division.

“Dawn and Destiny lived for race day,” Matthews says. “They are lovable people. They hugged you hello and hugged you goodbye – you just don’t see that today.”

At Antioch Speedway, flagger Bob Kempf and his wife Kelli, of Lodi, collected money in the pits for Destiny. It was added to her fund. Racers from far corners of California – who did not know Dawn or Destiny – contributed to cover the cost of Dawn’s funeral.

“I just got to know Destiny this year,” said Kempf, who also works as an official at Merced Speedway. “I don’t have kids of my own, but there is no way a child should be going through what she is.”

By Thursday, enough money had been collected for Dawn Carter’s funeral and services. They will be Sept. 24 at Stratford-Evans Funeral Home at 1490 “B” Street. A celebration of her life will take place at This Ain’t Your Momma’s Church, 1405 West Main St. in Merced.

This Sunday at Merced Speedway

IMCA Modifieds and SportMods will highlight a five-division program, complete with qualifying races and feature events. Hobby Stocks, Mini Stocks and Dwarf cars are also on the card.

Merced Speedway is located inside the Merced County Fairgrounds, 900 Martin Luther King, Jr. Way in Merced. Admission is $12 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and $8 for children 6-12. A family four-pack of tickets admits two children and two adults for $32. Racing begins at 6 p.m. on Sunday. The grandstand opens at 4:30 p.m.

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Speedway mourns loss of ‘Superfan’."