D’Aprile Thankful For Barklage Family’s Generous Act

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By nature, Tommy D’Aprile is as positive as they come.But that mindset was surely tested last week after a seemingly improbable occurrence of events.As his Pro Extreme trailer was being transported to the Texas Motorplex for the LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals VI, the inside of his trailer caught fire on Wednesday.Alan Pittman and his wife were driving the trailer and were less than two hours from the track. They discovered the fire making a routine check, though everything appeared normal on the outside of the trailer.The inside was a completely different story.The battery for the golf cart tipped over and shorted and the golf cart caught fire. It spread to the rest of the trailer, burning everything - including D’Aprile’s Pro Extreme Camaro - that was on the inside.“It basically burned the entire inside of the trailer,” D’Aprile said. “The car is all black and we can’t see how bad it is until we get it out of there. We can’t even get up there right now.”The rear door couldn’t even be opened, and it obviously put D’Aprile’s PX car out of commission for the World Finals in Ennis. Pittman and his wife were not harmed during the fire, but the good news didn’t stop there.Mark and Cody Barklage of Barklage Racing loaned out PX driver Cody Barklage’s ‘57 Chevy, allowing D’Aprile to compete over the weekend and, at the very least, earn participation points for the 2011 season.More importantly, the wonderfully generous act instantly brought a smile to D’Aprile’s face.“It’s way over and beyond what most teams and people would do,” D’Aprile said. “That’s sportsmanship at its best. Plus, they worked around the clock to get it ready.”The car arrived the day before the race, but the engine had been loaned out and had to be transported from Fayetteville, ARK. It didn’t arrive until 2 a.m. on Friday morning and the crew worked until 7:30 a.m. to get it ready for the weekend. D’Aprile and his crew got less than three hours sleep before the start of the World Finals qualifying, but D’Aprile was not about to brood.Instead, he was positive as can be, in part to the generous acts of kindness from the Barklage family.He wasn’t alone in that regard, either.Team owner Mel Bush (of Mel Bush Motorsports) was blown away with the Barklage’s incredibly kind act that came out of nowhere.“It was just unbelievable,” Bush said. “There was so many people helping us, it was just something else.”D’Aprile said he tried to think the best even when he got the bad news on Wednesday that the trailer caught fire, but that’s simply his nature.But the result of everything - including the generous act from the Barklage family - allowed D’Aprile to see the silver lining in an unfortunate situation.“The most important thing was making sure Alan and his wife were okay,” D’Aprile said. “It wasn’t the end of the world. Plus, we got these friendships that are just really cool. Those guys are just awesome. We’ve got good people around us and I had no less confidence in that car.”Quain Stott, who tunes D’Aprile’s Camaro as part of a three-car that also includes Terry Leggett, was just as excited to talk about the Barklage family and their bighearted act.He said it’s also something that shows just how close the racers in the ADRL are and what they’re willing to do for their fellow friends.“I don’t even know how to even put it into words,” Stott said. “The character that they showed, that’s something most people wouldn’t do.“It was such a neat deal. It’s one big family over here (in the ADRL) and that was mighty nice of them.”(Photos by ADRL/Richards)

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