THE FIRST LADY OF KINGDOM RACING
If you are new to Kingdom Racing you might not know how we got our start. If you aren’t new but haven’t heard this story you are about to learn about the true heroine behind Kingdom Racing. When God gave Kingdom Racing founder George Del Canto the vision to start an IndyCar Race team to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world, the very first confirmation he received was from his godly wife, Marichu Del Canto. Wives stop me if I am wrong, but if your husband told you he was going to start a race team to share The Good News with a lost and fallen world, you would probably say something like; “WHAT?!?” or “Are you crazy?!?!” maybe, “That will cost wayyyyyy too much money” or possibly “What do you know about racing?”
Marichu simply told George, “George you would be PERFECT for that…pursue it with my blessing.”
Armed with Marichu’s confirmation and support, George set out on a path that has seen Kingdom Racing participate in consecutive Indianapolis 500 races with Davey Hamilton behind the wheel and partner with Davey and Wagner Racing to put Brandon Wagner on the track in the Indy Lights Series in 2009.
Any of you who had the honor and pleasure to meet Marichu know she is unmatched in being led by God’s spirit, in her energy and enthusiasm for life during her time with us and if anyone on earth ever had that special Joi-de-Vive it was our beloved wife, mother and sister in Christ! Well to quote Paul Harvey, “Here is the rest of the story.” While attending the August 2008 IndyCar race in Sonoma, California with George, Marichu became dizzy and ill. Doctors in California diagnosed some sort of vertigo and wouldn’t let her fly home to Houston for several days after the race. When they finally were able to fly home their doctors were unable to diagnose why Marichu was ill until a fateful day in October when George was told his beloved wife of 25 years had a malignant brain tumor and there was no hope for a cure.
As the Del Canto family banded together even more than usual and leaned heavily on God, George offered to give up his place as founder and earthly leader of Kingdom Racing to spend even more time with his beloved Marichu as she bravely stood in the face of the cancer. Marichu told George NOT to stop and that she saw him standing in front of many men proclaiming what we know to be true that God has a plan for each of you reading this. This amazing woman of God who was instrumental in George’s spiritual journey was a soldier of God all the way to her final breaths before going home to be with the Lord on December 3, 2008.
If you are reading this story and do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ PLEASE READ ON! You would naturally assume there was a horrible day and a funeral but you would be wrong. Marichu’s Memorial Service was just like her life here on earth-a CELEBRATION OF LIFE. Hundreds of people whose lives had been touched by our fallen angel came to Houston to celebrate her life and join George and his precious family in their time of suffering. But in the midst of all our sadness and grief at losing our wife, mother, friend, encourager, prayer warrior and Sister in Christ, we all rejoiced knowing she was with her Father and that her physical suffering was over. There are so many remarkable and amazing things to share about her life but one of the easiest ways to see how a follower of Jesus Christ lived is to observe the fruit in hers and George’s lives as described in the book of Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control.
If you haven’t had the honor and pleasure to meet George and their three terrific children I hope and pray you do in the near future because you will be meeting Marichu as well.
If you wish to know how YOU can live the Spirit-filled life Marichu led, then we encourage you to please read about the fruits of the Spirit in the book of Galatians in the Bible. Then ask anyone involved with Kingdom Racing how you can have eternal life with the God who created you and loved you so much He sent his only begotten Son to die for YOU so that you could indeed spend eternity with Him.
