Race fan's final wish comes to pass -- in Victory Lane

Six months after boyfriend John Bookie passed away, Christine Kavka was devising a plan for spreading his ashes at the race track. It's what John wanted. He'd said it.

John had no inkling he'd suddenly be gone. But there was that eerie conversation at a Michigan-Michigan State football game. From the blue, John declared a final wish: to be cremated when his time was up. And he wanted his ashes to rest at a NASCAR track.

John and Christine -- and an ever-present Jeff Gordon jacket.

Two weeks later, John Bookie died from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. His body was cremated.

Now, carrying John's ashes, Christine was getting ready for the Sprint Cup Series race. Sports had brought them together -- first Michigan State football, then NASCAR. She first met John at a game. He was in the team colors, this big gregarious man in green pants. He was crazy and fun. Soon she was head over heels for this larger-than-life guy completely nuts about college football and Jeff Gordon.

Christine tucked John's ashes into her jacket. Eight years earlier, he'd introduced her to NASCAR. There were lots of good times built around the races, like when they visited friends in Florida. Everyone was in the Jacuzzi, relaxing with drinks, the TV pointed at the hot tub, showing the race. John couldn't get in the water. The No. 24 Chevy was leading. John was a ball of energy, a big man pacing back and forth like a little kid, as if the harder he concentrated, the faster the car would go. Gordon held off the pack, took the checkers and John exploded in fist-pumping celebration. Now Christine smiled, realizing John was in the pocket of the DuPont jacket.

Head-to-toe in Jeff Gordon garb, she would grant his wish. Just as Christine had steadfastly maintained the shrine to Jeff that her boyfriend had built in her house, she'd find a way to spread his ashes at the track.

On the tram from the parking lot, some members of Junior Nation began ribbing her. The Gordon gear can rankle Earnhardt fans.

Christine is no shrinking violet, but one of John's loyal friends took over.

"Don't mess with her," the friend warned. "Her dead boyfriend is in her pocket."

The fans were confused, speechless.

"Yep, my boyfriend passed away," Christine volunteered, matter of fact, like chatting weather. "He loved NASCAR, and of course Jeff was his driver. His ashes are in my pocket. I'm looking for a spot inside the track to spread them."

John had an uncanny knack for making instant friends. He'd walk into a room of strangers and within minutes everyone knew who he was. On vacation in Orlando, Fla., John befriended a bartender at the NASCAR Grille. The race was on, as it always was if there was a Sunday between February and November and a TV signal. John convinced the bartender to lend him his own employee discount so he could buy an armful of Jeff Gordon shirts. John's big arms equal a lot of shirts. He just had a way for making friends in any situation. No stopping that, even now, on the tram again with Christine.

The former anti-Gordon brigade shook off the affects of the beverages they'd been enjoying. Bookie reached them, too -- and now they had purpose.

One fan said, 'We'll never say anything bad about Jeff again. We will help you!' "

The rest of the tram ride, John Bookie's new friends in Dale Jr. gear brainstormed with the redhead in the Jeff Gordon jacket, concocting hair-brained schemes for properly disbursing human ashes on a race track.

Christine eventually found a place, with the help of a track employee who went above and beyond duty's call. She bent down and spread John's ashes in the shrubs next to Victory Lane. Best seat in the house, Christine whispered. John used to show her the goose bumps on his arms when the grand marshal bellowed, "Gentlemen, start your engines." Now she had goose bumps, too.

I'd like to tell you where John's ashes rest. But due to confusing and conflicting state laws, varying religious beliefs and sensitivities surrounding the presence of human remains in public spaces, the track wishes to remain anonymous.

Think of it this way. The next time you see Jeff Gordon in Victory Lane, one of his biggest fans just might be there, unseen but undoubtedly sporting the biggest smile in the whole unfolding celebration.

Andrew Giangola is Director of Business Communications for NASCAR.