SVRA: Racing hearts at NOLA

Most fathers will tell you they fall in love with their child from the moment they lay eyes on them. Vintage racer and mechanic Robert Rodgers says it was true for him with his daughter Cynthia. What's unconventional about their story is that their first meeting did not take place for 35 years.

When now 57-year-old Robert was just 19 he had a brief relationship with a young woman of the same age. They parted, went their separate ways, and never made contact again. He did not know the short-lived bond had made him the father of a baby girl now known as Cynthia Trifilio. Cynthia's mother passed away just two years after she was born. She grew up with adoptive parents in an unhappy childhood.

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"I knew I was adopted and like a lot of others in the same situation I wanted to know about my biological parents," Cynthia says. "I started looking when I was 13, but gave up in frustration several times. I was married at 21 but that was not successful."

When Cynthia was 22 in 1998 she heard from her biological mother's sister – her aunt. That's when she learned her birth mother had passed away. Her aunt was helpful but could not provide information that would be more satisfying: any information about her biological father, Robert.

Cynthia's big breakthrough came in 2010 when through research she obtained her birth certificate – complete with Robert's name. A little more legwork yielded contact information. Too nervous to make the call, a friend did it for her. All the evidence pointed to what Cynthia suspected: Robert was her dad.

"When I got the phone call I have to admit I was scared – I didn't know what to think," says Robert. "The one thing I did know is that I had to tell my wife."

In a bit of a coincidence, his wife's name is Cindy. Married for 35 years and unsuccessful in having children, Robert found Cindy surprisingly quite comfortable with the situation.

"She's a wonderful woman," he reports. "I even remember her saying, 'At last maybe I can someday hold a grandchild."

DNA tests soon confirmed all the other evidence. Robert is Cynthia's father. With Cynthia's adoptive parents having passed away, Robert and Cindy soon adopted their 35-year-old baby girl.

Waiting on the confirming results and then waiting still to actually meet face-to-face proved stressful. Robert confessed he not only had to pull back from work at his automotive business, Shadetree Enginetrics, but also put racing on hold.

"I was freaked out," Robert says. "I couldn't think; my head was in the clouds."

Their first phone call after the DNA test results proved understandably emotional. Robert shares, "There were tears all around."

That was three years ago. Since then they have discovered much about one another. Above all else, Robert reports that he loves his daughter with all his heart and did from the moment he heard her voice on the phone. For Cynthia he has become the dad she always wanted.

"I never held any grudges, I just wanted to know," she says. "He didn't even know he was a father. It's not like he chose to leave me."

Among their many discoveries about one another is a common passion for automobiles. They truly do share the DNA for loving racecars. Cynthia says that as a teenager she had posters of Ferraris and Lamborghinis on her bedroom walls. The similarities continue as Robert has a particular passion for such Italian marques, so much so that he only works on cars from Italy at Shadetree Enginetrics.

Fellow Texans, Robert lives in Dallas, Cynthia in Houston. When at last they met Cynthia was in for yet another surprise. Robert asked her if she wanted to see a vintage racecar. It was a blue 1971 Fiat 124 Coupe. Cynthia was impressed but also shocked and delighted when her newfound father announced it was his gift to her (RIGHT Randy Harbaugh photo, and in video, BOTTOM).

From there it was a trip to Eagle's Canyon race circuit in Denton, Texas where Robert had rented the track for Cynthia to practice. Showing potential under the watchful eye of a father that had been racing cars since 1980 and motorcycles as far back as his teen years, the next step for Cynthia was race driver's school.

Cynthia loved the idea and has been racing since. She finished second the Corinthian Vintage Auto Racers (CVAR) series points championship for her class last year and now leads the standings in 2015. On Saturday at NOLA she scored her first SVRA victory, winning her Group 3 class race.

At NOLA Robert skipped racing this weekend as his Shadetree Enginetrics customers who pay him to prepare their cars required more attention – and towing capacity - than he could provide and still bring a car for himself. Among his personal racecars are a Formula Abarth 033 that can top out at 150 mph as well as a 1959 Formula Junior Taraschi he plans to bring to the final 2015 SVRA go at Austin's Circuit of The Americas next month.

As for the inevitable question – now that father and daughter have hung out together racing and working on cars for three years - do they ever argue? Robert smiles and nods his head.

"Of course we do," Cynthia says. "We found out we're both stubborn and hard-headed. But you know what? I used to hate the holidays because they depressed me. Now I can't wait to see my dad and mom."