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You might know Randy Lanier’s story: High school dropout in South Florida, finds out selling a little pot to his friends is better than re-roofing houses in August; figures if he can make a little selling a little pot, maybe he can make a lot selling a lot of it.
And he does. Tons, imported from South America on a hollowed-out barge. That’s his business: His hobby is racing cars, often teaming with other drug smugglers, and he wins sports car races competing against well-funded factory-backed teams.
Then Lanier goes IndyCar racing; is rookie of the year in 1986 for the Indianapolis 500. Then he crashes hard in Michigan. Then he gets arrested for selling drugs, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time – and that’s subject to President Reagan’s “Drug Kingpin” punishment guidelines – he is sentenced to spend the rest of his life in federal prisons for selling pot. He loses everything he owns.
For 26 years, Lanier never gave up hope, and two years ago, his prayers were answered and he was paroled. Starting out working for minimum wage, Lanier, girlfriend Jaime and their dog begin building a life, and Lanier, now 61, has a new job as a drug counselor, something his pre-, mid- and post-prison experiences have made him remarkably qualified for.
And on the side, his thirst for racing remains unquenched. He snags a ride in an endurance race, and a test at Homestead-Miami Speedway in a Porsche 911. Even at his age, he’s fast. Always was. Still is. There are some racing opportunities ahead, but it will take some luck to make them happen.
And then Jaime dies. And Lanier wonders how much loss one man can take. Still, “God never gives us more than we can handle,” he says. But sometimes God comes damn close.
We mention this because Lanier not only is involved with the Incite speaker series, he has cut a pilot TV show called “Back on Track” for Honora Productions that is expected to air on Apple TV and on BitTorrent in August.
There’s a 45-second teaser here that doesn’t tell you much. But trust me: Randy Lanier’s life, as told by Lanier himself, is fertile ground. The link: https://blog.bittorrent.com/2016/06/23/indie-film-studio-honora-releases-new-original-series/
