I like your article, especially the part about Jesus still being included. I often wonder how long it can continue with the way the world is today.

Wow!!! I could have written that!!! My life since NASCAR! Couldn’t have said it better! LOL

What happened to change your mind and turn you into a NASCAR fan? A southern Virginia accent apologizing for a well-thrown helmet in the 2002 Winston is what hooked me. I stopped griping about my husband watching the “cars going round and round” long enough to watch them myself. I didn’t become a fan overnight, but the hook was definitely set and over the next year I was reeled in for good. Your article was enjoyable, as usual.

Thank you Clay, Lynn, and Marianne.

It’s all true. My house is slowly becoming an eclectic NASCAR museum :) and it’s all because of my ‘transformation’.

And, Marianne, what turned me on to NASCAR, after most of my life avoiding it? My son, Joshua. One boring Sunday afternoon he came upon a race, and almost immediately was a Bobby Labonte fan, since he loves the color green.

Seeing Joshua get so excited about something got me interested, and as soon as you learn the stories, the rivalries, and learn a little history, how can you NOT become a fan?

And as a parent, when you learn that the sport has athletes that are pretty squeaky-clean compared to many, you’re plenty glad that your child has decided to follow it. You encourage it, and then get wrapped up in it yourself! :)

Yes, it’s so bad that I can be in the kitchen and hear a new NASCAR commercial, and know which drivers are speaking without even seeing them.

I have never been so nutty about a sport, even back in the late 70s when Pittsburgh was ‘the City of Champions’, and I followed stick-and-ball sports. My ‘casual interest’ back then is laughable, compared to the whacko that I am now! ;)

Hugs,
Cheryl

Fabulous article, Cheryl…I sometimes think the only reason I have been able to resist decorating with and collecting a lot of NASCAR memorabilia is because I move around so much…still, the stuffed #6 car with Valvoline colors, a #6 Valvoline/Mark Martin mouse pad and a #6 Viagra computer mouse (still in the package) adorn my living room, and my small collection of NASCAR hats (including a #17 Smirnoff Ice Championship hat) hang in my bedroom, wherever a hat can hang. (the poster of Mark Martin my brother gave me one year for Christmas is in storage…I didn’t want to risk ruining it moving it frequently!!)

From the moment I heard those engines roaring on the track at Talladega a few years ago, I’ve been hooked, much to the surprise of my family…however, it has since come out that my brothers, both living in Ontario, are fans too, and they have attended races with me. And my father, not one to sit down for a number of hours to watch anything, let alone a race of other sporting event, would like to attend a race, too…now, if we can just get mom interested!!)

Great article. I had to show it to my friends so they’d know there are others out there like me. I’m a 56 yr old grandma and my living room is called “The Earnhardt musuem west” One repair guy asked me who the NASCAR fan was. When I said, “Me”, he gave me a funny look and said “This is the stuff most wives make their husbands put in the garage.” I guess most grandmas don’t have two racing tires mounted on their living room wall. It’s all Earnhardt and DEI, but tastefully done, if I do say so myself. I know there’s a bunch of us out there and it’s always nice to hear about them.

:) Thanks, everyone!

BB6, I hope that you settle in to a permanent home some day, so that you can invite me over to lunch, and to be able to see all of your No. 6 stuff!

And Marti, your post is ‘younger in spirit’ than many that I’ve read at the message boards I stop at. I’ll bet you’re the life of the party wherever you are. I believe whole-heartedly that it is possible to ‘tastefully’ decorate with racing memorabilia, and those that can accomplish it are artists of the most colorful nature. :)

Why don’t you stop over at the Frontstretch.com message boards, and hang with us over there? I think you’d fit right in.

And that goes for all of you that have posted here. We’re a great group over there, if I say so myself :)

One place that is especially special to me is the cawsnjaws forum. Josh and I love to have company over there! Come and join us.

Hugs,
Cheryl and Joshua