Papis' passion a lesson for which all drivers can learn

The last time Max Papis chased his dream, the pursuit left him bitter and broken. In 1995 he wrote a check for $400,000, all the money he had, to secure a ride in Formula One. The Italian-born driver made only seven starts for a Dallara organization that itself did not survive the season, and the crushing disappointment from that experience can still be heard in his voice.

"They took my dream, they use it, they throw it away. That's the memory I have for Formula One: disrespect the dream of a young kid, the dream and the work that everybody did to take me all the way there," he said. As he tells the story, he makes a motion with one hand as if crumpling up a piece of paper and throwing it in the trash. His eyes get misty.

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Max Papis talks about finishing eighth at The Glen and the sacrifices that he and his family make for his Cup career.

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"For me, I have some friends there. I love them, especially some people in Formula One. But I didn't enjoy it at all the lack of respect for the human being. Here instead, that's why I fit a lot better, because I think I'm a good human being, and people accept me for that. There, they look first at your wallet, and after they look if you are a son of someone famous, I don't know. If you are not one of those, they give you a kick in the butt and they let you go."

"Here" is NASCAR, where Papis is making what he says is his last stand as a competitive driver, including this season's 18-race Sprint Cup schedule with Bob Germain, whose outfit won the Truck Series championship in 2006. It seems like a strange combination -- Papis, a lifelong road racer who won three events in the old Champ Car circuit, making an attempt at oval-dominated NASCAR at 39 years of age. But Papis is serious, serious enough to have relocated his family to North Carolina, serious enough to have worked as a test driver for Hendrick Motorsports, serious enough to chase the dream one more time and completely throw himself into what seems an outrageously long effort.

And then there are days like Monday, when Papis finished eighth in the rain-postponed event at Watkins Glen International to record the best result of his short NASCAR career. Yes, it was a road course and yes, he doesn't have a finish better than 18th on an oval (that at Talladega earlier this year). But for a driver with only 10 Sprint Cup starts on his resume, it was one of those little victories that validates the effort. His Toyota ran out of gas 300 feet after he crossed the finish line, but his enthusiasm kept going well into the late afternoon.

"This is what I want to do, and NASCAR is going to be the last thing I'm going to do in my career. You're not going to see me racing anything else, not seriously. Maybe go-karts, something like that. I am dedicating all my life and my family, too, is dedicating, making a lot of effort. Without my wife, Tatiana, my kids, I would never be able to do what I'm doing. I put them through a lot to help them to achieve my dreams," he said.

"A day like [Monday], I think it's a little special present coming that tells everybody sometimes David [beats] Goliath. We were so small, we came up with so much. It just made me remember that all the help, all the advice from my dad, all the people that helped me on the way here, they're all riding with me. When you are there and your arms are burning, you have 10 laps to go, you dig deep because this is your chance." (Continued)