Morbid! Dead Man's Ashes Take Hot Lap With Mike Harmon

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

My last boss chain-smoked and drove a Renault GTA convertible, and he said that at high speeds, the heaps of ashes he allowed to accumulate in his car could cause some serious visibility problems by blowing in his eyes. I’m really hoping that NASCAR Nationwide Series driver Mike Harmon didn’t have that problem last Friday—because the ashes he was carrying were human remains. NASCAR fan Big George Helms, who’d had tickets to the Las Vegas race last weekend but died of a heart attack prior to the event, was nonetheless granted a ride-along with Harmon—at least, his remains were. Friends of the deceased arranged to have his urn duct-taped to Harmon’s fire extinguisher and driven around the track during practice. Everyone thought it was a swell idea, including his family ("he’d love that," said mom, and later little bro commented, "it put tears in my eyes," once again uncomfortably bringing my ash-blinded former boss to mind). Even Harmon was into it, claiming to have heard the dead man’s ghost woo-hooing him through the turns. Never let it be said that NASCAR fans aren’t a dedicated bunch, even post-mortem!