Racing couple weds on the racetrack
Posted : Jan 1, 2010 8:41 PM
Updated: Jan 2, 2010 5:23 AM
What a way to start the New Year! A Colorado Springs couple combined their love of racing with their love of each other for a very unique wedding. They got married at the Pikes Peak International Raceway.
Karen Tracey and Ryan Oerter stood at the start/finish line with the pastor, while guests surrounded them on the track. The idea to have a wedding here, was Karen's idea. "It was like a start for us, you know, a new beginning," she says. When you have a race, you have a start and a finish line so it symbolizes a race for us."
They've been a racing pair for 8 years. They've done the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. They also do rally road racing. He drives, she's the co-pilot. In their years of racing, they've had several close calls. They say they've slammed into a pole, rolled in one of their cars, went off the backside of a mountain while racing, and caught on fire once.
That history gave their unique vows special meaning. Karen asked the pastor to slip in the lines. While repeating their vows the couple said, "through crashes and burns, through wins or losses, through turbo or not."
The wedding went off without a hitch, except for one little snafu. About 15 minutes before the ceremony, the groom disappeared. Ryan is a racecar driver, so he just wanted to take a couple more laps.
While guests waited, Ryan peeled around the track. Don't worry, he made it to the alter in one piece.
After being pronounced man and wife, the couple took a victory lap around the track.
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