The Warm-Up Lap
Hey it's Beth here, one half of the Left Turn Ladies! Here's a little background info on me and my love of NASCAR.
Racing has been part of my life in one form or another for as long as I can remember. I've watched many a car race with my Dad...Indy cars, NASCAR and IROC. My dad has been a race fan his whole life, traveling to races in Daytona and Indy in the 60s and to local New England race tracks in between.
Somewhere in the mid 80's after my parents and I moved from CT to Cape Cod, my dad's childhood friend, Uncle "Skeets" revived his weekend racing career and bought a midget race car. The midget is an open wheeled car with or without a wing on top. When Uncle Skeets had a race in western MA, NH or Maine my parents and I would jump in the car, meet up with him and be his pit crew for the weekend. I fell in love with the noise, dirt and action of the race cars flying around the track. It's one thing to see it on TV but in person, it's wild.
Following Uncle Skeets and his experiences racing a midget lead me to my favorite NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. Tony spent part of his career racing midgets all over the Midwest. The first time I saw Tony race was on an ESPN show called "Thunder". They would broadcast various midget races throughout the country. Even after Tony moved on to the Indy Racing League, Dad kept me up to date.
I lost touch with racing a bit when in college and my early years here at WCSH. But I always watched the big races...Daytona, the all star race and whatever race was on when Mom and Dad visited from Cape Cod.
The internet is a big part of what sparked my renewed interest in NASCAR. I can remember in the days after the death of Dale Sr. just cruising the internet and taking in all it had to offer.
My weekly obsession, I mean following, started after Elliott Sadler won the Spring Texas race in April 2004. Elliott had a niece diagnosed with autism at about the same age and time my son was diagnosed. Some famous names had also begun to promote autism awareness. Fox Sports jumped on board, since Artie Kempner, lead director of NASCAR & NFL coverage, also had a child diagnosed with autism. Elliott carried the puzzle piece awareness ribbon on his car and it was shown and talked about on tv. I was so excited that Elliott won because I knew he would promote awareness in victory lane. That's when my internet time reading about anything and everything NASCAR including the one and only Tony Stewart, kicked into high gear.
Why Tony? He's competitive in any and every type of race car he sits in. He pushes the limit and occasionally steps over the line. He's an old school racer. He tells it like it is...no robotic, politically-correct, pre-scripted corporate BS.
And that's what I hope you'll find in our posts. No BS...just telling it like it is. We'll have a complete wrap from Talladega the next time you hear from us, but until then, let's drop the green flag and let's go racing!
Racing has been part of my life in one form or another for as long as I can remember. I've watched many a car race with my Dad...Indy cars, NASCAR and IROC. My dad has been a race fan his whole life, traveling to races in Daytona and Indy in the 60s and to local New England race tracks in between.
Somewhere in the mid 80's after my parents and I moved from CT to Cape Cod, my dad's childhood friend, Uncle "Skeets" revived his weekend racing career and bought a midget race car. The midget is an open wheeled car with or without a wing on top. When Uncle Skeets had a race in western MA, NH or Maine my parents and I would jump in the car, meet up with him and be his pit crew for the weekend. I fell in love with the noise, dirt and action of the race cars flying around the track. It's one thing to see it on TV but in person, it's wild.
Following Uncle Skeets and his experiences racing a midget lead me to my favorite NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. Tony spent part of his career racing midgets all over the Midwest. The first time I saw Tony race was on an ESPN show called "Thunder". They would broadcast various midget races throughout the country. Even after Tony moved on to the Indy Racing League, Dad kept me up to date.
I lost touch with racing a bit when in college and my early years here at WCSH. But I always watched the big races...Daytona, the all star race and whatever race was on when Mom and Dad visited from Cape Cod.
The internet is a big part of what sparked my renewed interest in NASCAR. I can remember in the days after the death of Dale Sr. just cruising the internet and taking in all it had to offer.
My weekly obsession, I mean following, started after Elliott Sadler won the Spring Texas race in April 2004. Elliott had a niece diagnosed with autism at about the same age and time my son was diagnosed. Some famous names had also begun to promote autism awareness. Fox Sports jumped on board, since Artie Kempner, lead director of NASCAR & NFL coverage, also had a child diagnosed with autism. Elliott carried the puzzle piece awareness ribbon on his car and it was shown and talked about on tv. I was so excited that Elliott won because I knew he would promote awareness in victory lane. That's when my internet time reading about anything and everything NASCAR including the one and only Tony Stewart, kicked into high gear.
Why Tony? He's competitive in any and every type of race car he sits in. He pushes the limit and occasionally steps over the line. He's an old school racer. He tells it like it is...no robotic, politically-correct, pre-scripted corporate BS.
And that's what I hope you'll find in our posts. No BS...just telling it like it is. We'll have a complete wrap from Talladega the next time you hear from us, but until then, let's drop the green flag and let's go racing!
posted by JGR Girl at
6:09 AM
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