The Softer Side Of McLeod Racing

Paul Lee and his crew at McLeod Racing were already heroes in our book but now they are head and shoulders above the rest.

In this fast paced world of social media, many companies and individuals are quick to make a post on their favorite site then move on to the next topic at hand. It’s part of the MTV generation’s three minute attention span. Occasionally, there are some actions that stand out, that make you feel something deep inside, and carry that feeling for more than the modern society’s concentration deficit attention.

Our friends at McLeod Racing continually prove to the community that they are much more than just a brick and mortar company.  Behind the corporate walls is a huge racer’s heart that beats for the entire racing community. Most recently, we saw that on their Facebook fan page.

Thomas Jost, major league car fanatic and Mazda Miata racer.

On July 18, McLeod Racing made a small post on their Facebook fan page asking for help from their own fans. The plea was for a young racer that was seriously ill. The request was simple: “Please share your car pics and videos on his page. Burnouts.. dyno runs…anything cool. His parents show him them all.”

There was no huge back patting, chest thumping or other public display designed to earn street credibility with the consumers – just a simple request to share photos and videos with a very sick fan.

This piqued our curiosity because the referenced fan page, called Thoughts for Thomas, had such a small following, that we wondered what the whole story was. After contacting the family and doing a little investigative work, we managed to cobble together some of the tale. We did contact the folks at McLeod Racing and true to form, they were very humble about their part in this whole story.

As it turns out, Thomas Jost, the Thomas referred to in the “Thoughts for Thomas” fan page, has an extremely rare auto-immune disease. So rare, that there are only five known cases in the United States. He is currently being treated at the NIH Clinical Care Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Thomas is in fact, very ill and has been in and out of the ICU unit at the facility. His body movement has been very restricted by the disease and he currently has a feeding tube.

Thomas’ Miata. This is one of the rare occasions when we feature an import on these pages. When it comes down to it… it doesn’t matter what drives your passion – as long as you drive!

While things are acutely difficult for Thomas right now, his one true passion still motivates him to push forward. Thomas also has a more common disease that is shared with millions of people around the world. He is a car fanatic.

We want to share McLeod Racing’s request to the performance automotive community: Please, go to Thomas’ Facebook fan page, Thoughts for Thomas, post up a quick cell phone video of you and your badass vehicles, and give the kid a shout out from your home base.

According to Thomas’ father, “We need more videos. Please get them in as soon as possible. Please stick to get well soon/well wishing/hello. Please submit videos, Thomas is unable to read posts at the moment. Thank you!”

Join us in thanking McLeod Racing for taking a moment away from the very competitive and fast paced aftermarket automotive parts and racing world to think about one of our own. #muchrespect

About the author

Bobby Kimbrough

Bobby grew up in the heart of Illinois, becoming an avid dirt track race fan which has developed into a life long passion. Taking a break from the Midwest dirt tracks to fight evil doers in the world, he completed a full 21 year career in the Marine Corps.
Read My Articles

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