Editor’s note: WGCU interviewed Roger, Scotty and Amy McCandless for a swamp buggy documentary airing in January. Roger, 76, died in October after fighting leukemia. The following was excerpted from the interview.

For father and son, Roger and Scotty McCandless, swamp buggy racing in Southwest Florida is a family tradition.

“I ran the original Rat On,” said Roger McCandless. “So that's where all of this began.”

The buggy's name lives on.

“We built this buggy for pretty much, Dad,” said Scotty McCandless, pointing to the new Rat On in a backyard shop. “Because it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be racing.”

Roger loved watching his son Scotty drive.

“It gives you butterflies, you know, just seeing, because I've got pictures of him … sitting in my lap driving out of the pits,” recalled Roger

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