‘I love fast’: 102-year-old woman fulfills her bucket list wish to ride in race car

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) - A 102-year-old Virginia woman originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, fulfilled a bucket list item on Thursday.

Bindy Gralow, her family and her caretaker, got the opportunity to spin around Richmond Raceway in a pace car.

“Go as fast as you like because I love fast,” Gralow told the driver.

Gralow worked as a travel agent well into her 60s and later became a docent at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

But she could never shake that need for speed.

“I’ve liked it all my life,” Gralow said. “I wanted to go faster.”

Gralow may be one of NASCAR’s oldest fans, but she showed she is young at heart on Thursday.

When she arrived at the Richmond Raceway, Gralow received the red carpet treatment and waved to the media gathered there as if she were royalty.

She got to ride shotgun in the Toyota Camry pace car. The driver said he was only allowed to do a maximum speed of 65 mph, but that it felt faster on the corners.

Gralow got to go around the nearly 1-mile track about half a dozen times.

“It wasn’t long enough,” Gralow joked.

Two of her five daughters joined her at the track Thursday.

“This was honestly a surprise to all of us that this was something she really wanted to do,” daughter Suzanne Gralow said. “I think she’s going to want to do this again.”

“I hope so. Will I get a free ticket?” Bindy Gralow joked.

“She is feisty, she is fun. She has a terrific sense of humor, as you’ve probably heard her today. She’s a little bit of a ham,” Suzanne Gralow said.

Once the laps were completed, the Gralow family and her caretakers got to sign their names on a square at the start-finish line.

“This was a nice experience,” Bindy Gralow said. “I really liked this. Very nice. Thank you so much.”

She’s as smart as she can be, but she’s really funny and fun,” Suzanne Gralow added. “We’re just so lucky to have such an amazing mother, honestly.”

Gralow plans to return to the Richmond Raceway to enjoy a NASCAR race as a spectator around her 103rd birthday in April.

“Fans like Bindy are what makes Richmond Raceway such a special place for our community,” said Lori Colier Waran, president of Richmond Raceway. “We’re extremely humbled to help make her wishes come true as she fulfilled her need for speed!”

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