LOCAL INITIATIVES
Racing towards victory happens on the track, but the starting line really begins at the autoshop. FASTx Autosport is San Marcos’s very own race shop specializing in high-performance track cars. They have partnered with Black Flag Sarcoma Racing to build a one-ofa- kind racecar to compete in the 2025 Super Lap Battle at Circuit of the Americas this next weekend. The goal of the race is not to just chase lap records but to race for a bigger mission — to raise awareness and funding for synovial sarcoma research. Callan Spence will be behind the wheel. Taking on this challenge is nothing compared to the battle he has been facing since 2022. At just 16 years old, Callan was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, which is an aggressive and rare form of cancer. Doctors initially thought his tumor was inoperable and advised hospice care. Through resiliency Callan and his family refused to give up and their race for a cure led them to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Through surgery and proton radiation treatments, Callan was declared to have “No Evidence of Disease” in December of 2022. In celebration of his recovery and determination to help others racing for their own cure, his parents Chas and Laura Spence launched the Spence Family Synovial Sarcoma Fund, which has already raised over a million dollars to support research and improved treatments for synovial sarcoma patients. They are also the founders of Black Flag Sarcoma Racing — a motorsports initiative designed to spread awareness and raise donations through competitive racing.
Black Flag Sarcoma Racing is making impacts on the track and in hospitals by supporting the development of Tumor-Glow, which is an advancing cancer treatment developed at the University of Pennsylvania hospital. The treatment uses injectable dyes that make tumors “light up” and helps surgeons identify tumor margins. The success of TumorGlow is expected to help patients and improve surgical outcomes for sarcoma and other cancers. The racing team is highlighting this achievement in cancer research by featuring TumorGlow’s chemical structure on the car’s exterior to display during the Super Lap Battle.
