Page 13 - Club Braman Magazine Spring/Summer Edition

HANDLED WITH CARE
CATCH THEM IF YOU CAN
FROM PROFESSIONALS WHO HAVE DEVOTED THEIR LIVES TO JUST THAT
Jillian And Jason Fichter's Racing Lifestyle
“I thought I’d have a ballerina and a tennis player,”Traci Fichter says of her children, Jillian, 17, and Jason, 20. “Instead, I’ve got two race car drivers.” And Mom wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Traci and her husband, Guy, are the top fans of their kids’ racing careers, which began with Jason, then about 14, on the track at Palm Beach Karting at Palm Beach International Raceway. Since then, they’ve traveled across North American to watch Jason and Jillian compete in Pirelli World Challenge and other events.
“It has been so exciting watching the two of them grow in this sport,” Traci says, beaming with obvious pride. “And the most important thing is that our family has found a racing family. We feel very welcome at any race track we’re at, be- cause it’s a big family.”
After Jason began racing his 2010 Mini Cooper in Pirelli World Challenge about four years ago, it wasn't long before his sister got hooked.
“When he rst started go‐karting, I didn’t want anything to do with it,” Jillian re- members. “But when he started pro racing and we started traveling, I was just watch- ing and then decided I wanted to try it.” The rst time she rode with him, “I just had a smile on my face the whole time.” Not only was she hooked, but he had a worthy role model. In two seasons driving his Mini, Jason nished in the top ve in both PWC championships and put a
couple of podium appearances under his belt. And part of that time, he also raced another car in a Trans Am series.
For Jillian, the challenge of a teenage girl making a place for herself in auto racing doesn’t seem to faze her. Her passion now puts her on the track among some 80 cars in one race, but “that’s why I’m in it,” she says. “It’s so competitive. At rst it was really intimidating, but now they’re my friends. And once my helmet goes on, nobody cares if you’re a boy or a girl. They just want to get in front of you.”
“Once the helmet goes on, nobody cares if you’re a boy or a girl. They just want to get in front of you.”
The siblings raced their Mini Cooper April 7 in the Daytona International Speedway: 14-Hour Enduro, part of the ChampCar Endurance Series. The team -- Jason, Jillian and two others -- started 124th in
a 128-car eld but nished 30th overall, claiming fth in class.
A junior at Jupiter Christian School, Jillian has her sights set on medical school, and likely will follow her brother’s lead, staying close to home for college so she still can be on the track Wednesday nights with Palm Beach Driving Club.
Jason, a senior business‐management major at Palm Beach Atlantic University, has his sights set on a career in motor- sports, one way or another. “I want to do
something in this industry,” Jason says. “I want to eventually have a race team and also a performance shop.”
While Jason and Jillian didn’t inherit their high‐performance hobby from either of their parents, that’s not to say Traci and Guy don’t have their own automotive pas- sion. It’s BMWs. They owned a 535 when they moved to Florida from New Jersey
11 years ago, and have since leased two 750s, two 740s and an M235i (Jillian’s car, nicknamed “Blake”), all from Client Advisor Mark Bellew at Braman BMW Jupiter.
“They bend over backwards,” Guy says. “Mark goes to the ‘'enth’ degree to nd the cars we want.” And when Mark calls, “It’s like a friend calling,” says Traci. “I wouldn’t even think of going to anybody other than Mark.”
The Fichters have high praise, too, for their Braman Service Advisor, Andy Baron. “We feel very comfortable just driving over if anything comes up,” Traci added. “We’re on Indiantown Road, we’ll just stop in and see if Andy will look at a tire or whatever. They’ll stop and do their best to see that we’re taken care of whenever we need it.”
Jason once asked his father why — with so many cars to choose from — Guy likes BMWs so much. The answer, his dad said, was simple. “I told him it’s the car but it’s also the service. It’s two parts.” And Bra- man, he added, “They’re phenomenal.”
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