IT WAS more than just a weekend out for this family at the Historic Leyburn Sprints.

The weekend was a double anniversary for the race car lovers.

Barry Smith was one of 10 legends who participated in the weekend sprints.

He had been racing his historic cars since the very first Leyburn Sprints 20 years ago.

This year he brought his 1936 Ford V8 special.

Unfortunately he recently crashed his car and it's only the second meeting he's had it back running.

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His daughter, Michelle, has been by his side since the start.

In Barry's second year of sprints in 1996 she met Michael Dymond.

Michael was at the sprints with some mates and the pair hit it off.

"I was working for one of the other guys racing out there, Peter Gilbert. He and Barry are mates," he said.

"We just came out for the weekend and I met Michelle out there and we had a few beers together.

"And then yeah, it sort of blossomed after that.

"I knew Barry a fair bit longer before I knew he even had children."

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The pair later discovered they were both from Wynnum and were shocked at the luck of their chance meeting.

"I think we're both just pretty easygoing and we share a love for cars."

Michelle married Michael about five years later and they now have two beautiful daughters, Eleanor and Shelby.

As their love for each other grew, so did their love for racing.

The couple said they used to do a lot of off-road racing together, but these days they're happy to sit back and watch.

"We've actually got a HQ that's been done up that we take out to a lot of car shows and runs and stuff like that," Michael said.

"We go out to lakeside and Willowbank a fair bit.

"Cars have been a big part of our relationship.

"I think our love is cars."

Michael said the couple's two girls also love the car shows and particularly enjoy the shiny ones.

"They love all kinds of motorsport," he said.

Michael said he didn't know if the girls would grow up to be race car drivers themselves.

"We'll have to see how big the budget gets," he said.

The girls were even more excited when it came to watching their grandad out on the track.

"I think he's just happy to be out on the track," Michael said.

"He may be still running out some bugs."

Barry was also one of the attendees of Saturday's legends dinner.