My friend tracked down his old race car!
That's great!
I race with a guy who mentored myself as well. He's 28 years older than I am, and has raced since 1968. He has taught me things that would have taken me many years to learn, or stumble onto. Really got me competitive at bracket racing very early on.
I hate to even think about the day that will come when I have to go to the race track without him.
I'm sure you feel the same way about your friend. Guys like that are true friends. They didn't have to let you hang around and worry them to death about things, but they did and had as much fun teaching you as you did learning.