Cardel Homes revved up for Payton

EAST COUNTY — Ryan and Damon Ockey work daily to ensure sure their family business, Cardel Homes, is running smoothly and is profitable.

But when you put them on a racetrack, a bit of brotherly competition emerges.

The brothers, 49 and 44, respectively, are two of only a few dozen racers in the country who compete in the Ferrari Challenge, a 12-race series designed to allow Ferrari racecar owners to race against fellow Ferrari owners on premier tracks throughout North America.

The brothers will combine their passion for Ferrari racing with their heart for helping children’s organizations as they prepare for the Ferrari Challenge’s Honda Grand Prix race March 23-25, in St. Petersburg. This years’ Ride of a Lifetime Tampa event will benefit the Brandon Foundation as well as the Lakewood Ranch-based Payton Wright Foundations, which assists families of children diagnosed with brain cancer.

Individuals can enter to win a fast-lap shotgun ride in a Ferrari 458 Challenge car through an online auction or at on-site ballot drawings at participating Cardel Home sales centers. On March 2, while famed country music artist David Nail performs at Joyland Country Music Night Club, Cardel Homes will auction off two of the laps, as well.

Additionally, leading up to the event, the public can view the Ferraris and enter to win locally on March 18, in Lakewood Ranch, at the company’s model located at 4813 Great Park Blvd. Raffle tickets for shotgun lap rides will be sold at Cardel Homes’ Central Park models, as well, from March 1-18, with a winner picked at 5 p.m. March 18. Proceeds from sales and donations will be matched by Cardel Homes for up to $10,000 per charity.

“There’s only about 50 of these race cars in North America,” Damon Ockey said. “They are super high performance. It’s going to be like a roller-coaster ride. It’s quite a bit different than riding a street car.

“We want people to bid as much as they can so we can raise as much money as we can for the charity,” he said. “That’s really what this is about — getting some people into the cars to have a great experience, as well as raising money.”

Although Cardel Homes’ Ride of a Lifetime fundraiser usually is held in Canada, the Ockey brothers said they realized they had the perfect opportunity to bring it to Florida, where they have an office, when they learned one of 12 stops in this year’s Ferrari Challenge is the Honda Grand Prix in St. Petersburg.

“We were very excited to hear from (Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch) about the Cardel Ferrari fundraiser and their interest in Payton’s Foundation benefiting from the auction,” said Patrick Wright, who founded Payton Wright Foundation with his wife, Holly, in honor of their daughter, Payton, who died from pediatric brain cancer. “Hopefully, we can raise a lot of awareness for pediatric brain cancer through the auction and some funds, as well, to help families caring for a child with brain cancer.”

The Ockey brothers said they began racing streetcars about five years ago, at which time Damon Ockey came up with the idea of doing a drive for charity, birthing the Cardel Ride of a Lifetime to benefit children’s organizations in Calgary. To raise funds, the brothers began auctioning off a chance to ride along during their practice laps for races.

Ryan bought his first Ferrari street car a few years ago, and quickly realized he would need to learn to drive it properly. As his driving course concluded, trainers took Ockey out for a few laps in one of their Ferrari racecars.

“I thought it was the most fun I’d ever had,” Ryan Ockey said, noting he bought a used Ferrari racecar after that.

Both brothers began Ferrari racing in 2010.

“The first race we ever drove in was in Miami,” Ryan Ockey said. “As rookies, you’re quite nervous, and you don’t know what to expect. We had done several practices, but until you actually experience it (you don’t know what it will be like).

“The first race had a crash and a car on fire,” he said. “We kind of thought, ‘What are we getting ourselves into?’ But, once you start racing, the taste of it and the adrenaline rush is (pretty amazing).”

Contact Pam Eubanks at [email protected].

INFORMATION
For more information about Cardel Homes and Ride of a Lifetime, visit www.cardelhomes.com.