Life is funny sometimes.
You see, I knew Jim when I was a kid growing up in Orlando. He dated one of my cousins for a while, and for several years my father and I attended the 24 Hours of Daytona as Jim's guests. I became a fan of racing because of his generosity. Drivers are slow to warm up to the HANS device. Years later, I find myself hosting the racing news program of record on ESPN2, and I thought it would be great to interview him, and see if he remembered the chubby little blond-haired kid who used to watch him race his Mazdas.