Quick and quick-witted is an understatement regarding Higgins, who is also pretty self-deprecating when talking about his driving ability. “I’m kind of a C-plus student behind the wheel, you know?”
C-plus or not, Higgins and driving partner Duncan Dayton headed to Daytona in November with two cars to race in the Classic 24 at Daytona, an around-the-clock adventure with six groups of cars, each getting a total of four hours on the track. Higgins and Dayton were going to compete in two classes, one using a 2005 Porsche Cup GT3 and also in Group C with a Porsche-powered Fabcar, which Higgins raced for the first time in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1987.
Duncan Dayton, by the way, is a direct descendent of Jonathan Dayton, who was the youngest person to sign the U.S. Constitution and is the namesake of Dayton. He owned thousands of acres of land here, yet never came to Dayton.
“The Fabcar was fast right away,” Higgins said. “In fact, 30 years later, I was turning faster laps in the Facer this year that I ran in the race in ’87. We finished second in the 24 Hour race in ’87, we were leading by 14 laps and broke an axle with three hours to go. After repairing it, we still finished second. We then went to Sebring and won the 12-hour race with a flawless run only stopping for tires and fuel. After Sebring we won at Palm Beach and then the Miami Grand Prix to make it a three-out-of-four sweep of the Florida races that year, “ Higgins said as he reminisced about the old days.
The Porsche Cup car was not so graceful under Higgins’ guidance in its first session of the 24-hour race this year. “It’s a 2005 GT3, which doesn’t have the paddle shifters and computers that the new ones do. We’re running about 165 on the straightaway, and then you dive off the bank heading for turn one on the road course, you have to slam on the brakes, and go from 6th to 4th to 2nd to get into the turn. Well, I missed 4th and went straight from 6th to 2nd, and the rear wheels locked up, the car hopped and started spinning and I tagged the tire wall. Just some damage, but we decided to park the Cup car and concentrate on our run with the Fabcar. I should know better. It’s one of those things.”
For Higgins, the racing is fun, but there is a much deeper connection at the racetrack. “I started racing in the early ’70s; a bunch of us spent the summers racing sports cars all across Canada and the U.S. I was racing and hanging out with Bobby Rahal, Danny Sullivan, Danny Ongais, Chip Mead - I developed relationships with these people that I cherish,” Higgins said. “Bobby Rahal is the reason I now have the dealership; he started it. Chip Mead, rest his soul, was the guy who qualified so well that we contended when we were teammates and won some professional races.
“This year at Daytona, I parked our motor coach next to Rahal, and while we raced on track, we had lots of fun off track too. These friendship are so important, and then there’s Duncan Dayton.”
Higgins was diagnosed with a unique cancer 10 years ago and Duncan Dayton heard about it. “I got a phone call from a doctor at the Mayo Clinic, who was offering me a second opinion. Duncan Dayton is from the Minneapolis area, and is very close with the Mayo Clinic folks, so when he heard about my situation, he called this doctor and told him to contact me. I flew out to the Mayo and after hearing his idea for treatment - he’s a nationally recognized cancer expert - I elected to have them do it. Frankly, I think they saved my life, and it never would have happened if Dayton and I hadn’t met at the racetrack. “
Higgins and Dayton finished 10th overall with the Fabcar at Daytona, but ran third in the fourth and final segment. “We were running good in that last session after getting the oil leak fixed, and passing cars and ran third, which is great, but racing with Dayton and being with my friends …” Higgins paused and said, “You know, friendships like these are a lot more important than winning races.”
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