NASCAR Contenders Live

Well, in about 12 days I'll be heading to Chicago for a day trip to the House of Blues. They are having their first ever NASCAR Contenders Live event sponsored by Toyota and Sprint.

The 12 Chase contenders will be on stage and they will take questions from the fans. I think this will be a great opportunity not only to see something different and unique but to get some great material for my independent study at Olivet.

http://contenderslive.nascar.com/event_info.aspx


What is NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE℠?

NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE, is the start of the most intense and competitive time of the NASCAR season. Live on stage, the final 12 Contenders will have the opportunity to interact with the biggest supporters of NASCAR, the fans, and also share their strategies and insight on how they plan to win the ultimate prize: the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Trophy! Rivalries will be formed, bragging rights will commence, and there is no telling what will happen once the sparks begin to fly! So “boys have at it!”

When is NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE?
•Wednesday, September 12, 2012
•Doors open at 12:30 p.m. CT
•NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE begins at 1:30 p.m. CT

Where is NASCAR CONTENDERS LIVE?
•House of Blues - Chicago 329 N. Dearborn Chicago, IL 60654

A trip of "firsts" - part 2

I left off having just finished with my first trip to the Darlington night race. I admit, I thoroughly enjoyed the race and enjoyed getting "close" to my hero even if it was unintentional.

I was thinking about something too last night. I remember I kept having run-ins with rainbows. Now everyone knows that the NASCAR logo has the colors of the rainbow on it so I was quite surprised to see a rainbow in a sunny sky on the way to Darlington on the motor coach... (look close and you can see the colors just above the trees)

And again on the way home I saw one UNDER the plane.

How often can you say you flew "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"?? Sorry, I couldn't resist! I kept looking out the window waiting for the Wicked Witch and her damn flying monkeys to try and hijack the plane!








Anyway, back to the rest of the trip. We were going to stay in Myrtle Beach on Sunday and make the long drive up to Charlotte, NC Monday morning, but we decided against it. So Sunday, we packed up and decided to drive our Silver Dodge Charger rental car up to Wilmington, NC to see the Battleship North Carolina. It was about an hour and a half drive or 72 miles.

http://www.battleshipnc.com/

What an amazing piece of our history! We had a great time! We wandered around deck before attempting to go below. If you are claustrophobic at all, avoid going below deck! Kecia decided to wait for me on deck and I went below on the self-guided tour. I was totally freaked out. A couple of times I was alone and it just felt like there was something on that ship that didn't want me there. It was creepy and only after I got to the gift shop later did it come to my attention that the ship is haunted. Well you certainly didn't have to tell me!! The goosebumps covering every inch of my body was proof enough.

I love the way they have the rooms staged to give you an idea what life aboard the ship was like. I highly recommend that you take the journey. If anything, it will increase your respect for our men and women in the armed services.

After spending some time in the ship, we decided to head for Charlotte. Now that was a 3 and a half hour journey or 200 miles across NC. I was actually really looking forward to it since I'm in love with that State and really wanted to see more of it. Except for the milder winter and red soil, North Carolina is very similar in appearance to Michigan.

Kecia's driving had us safely to Charlotte that evening and tucked away in our hotel room real close to Charlotte Motor Speedway. I have never seen a race at that track but I have taken a track tour which consists of a drive around the track in a great big conversion van. I flew out to Charlotte by myself back in 2001 for a long weekend to see if I was interested in living there. I was, but that's not in the cards yet so it's still an item on my bucket list!

Anyway, we had to be up the Monday morning (5/14/2012) for our VIP tour with Garage Pass Shop Tours.

We had no idea what to expect, but during my communications with the company, our guide Stan told us he had kin who lived in Michigan. I think that set the tone of our visit!

We sat in the hotel lobby and planned out our route. The tour lasted basically from 8:30am-5:00pm or was it 4:00pm, now I can't remember. All I know is it was a long day but one I would glady repeat!

We started the tour at Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). There is only a viewing window available for fans to look down onto the already fabricated race cars. We were able to see them vinyl wrapping Kyle Busch's car. I guess I'm not that big of fan because I didn't realize that most teams have their cars vinyl wrapped now and not painted. I was told it was lighter than the paint and that the teams don't generally do it themselves they hire a company to do it for them. It is most certainly an incredible skill to have. It was amazing to watch them applying the decals to NASCARs specifications so quickly!!

Michael Waltrip Racing was our next stop. That facility is one that every NASCAR fan should see! Michael lets the fans close to the action and even into the Fab shop where they literally are constructing the chassis and molding the sheet metal into the shape of a stock car. It was absolutely amazing. Of course, no pictures are allowed in the Fabrication section but in the other parts of the shop you can take as many as you would like.

This is Kecia and I out by the haulers that had just returned from Darlington. You can see the backup car still at the top if you look close.




Michael Waltrip took an old movie theatre and created his race shop. It's a unique facilty, much like its owner!

STAY TUNED, MORE OF THE TOUR DETAILS TO FOLLOW VERY SOON....

Jeff Burton vs Tony Stewart

I love the controversy I seemed to have started by having Tony higher up on my bucket list than Jeff. Most people who know me, know very well that Jeff is my number one driver. He has been since 1997 and always will be.

I mentioned in one of my previous blogs that they are two entirely different racers. There are night and day differences between them and each has qualities that speak to different parts of myself.

For example, Jeff is a brilliant public speaker. I could sit and listen to that man forever talk about NASCAR and his ideas to make the sport better. He was instrumental in safety innovations and is an overall wonderful spokesperson for the sport. He's also a devoted husband and father and I have a deep respect for any man who fulfills those roles in todays society!

Jeff appeals to my conservative side yet also has a deep passion for the sport.

Tony on the other hand obviously needs to work on his people skills, but has so much passion for racing that his spark is exciting to watch on and off the track.

Tony appeals to my hidden wild side. The risk taker, take no shit attitude that we all probably wish we could display.

Perfect example is of his little run in with Kenseth tonight at Bristol. Instead of the politically correct answer of "I don't know what happened since I have yet to see the replay" we discovered Tony is very ticked off and wasn't afraid to say it! And may I add that he threw his helmet and hit Kenseth's car dead on!

I have many items autographed by Jeff Burton. I've seen him in numerous hospitatlity tents and I feel that he's an easier driver to get close to compared to Tony. It's for that reason, and that reason alone that I decided to focus on Tony this year. I know how difficult it is to get his autograph let alone a few one-on-one moments with him. Meeting Tony was a bigger challenge thus the rewards would be sweeter if/when I succeeded.

So, put it to rest people! Jeff Burton still holds the top spot on my list. He has the place of honor on the front of my car and Tony is on the back and that my friends, will be the way it is for as long as I'm a fan of this sport!

A trip of "firsts" - part 1

I was trying to figure out the next best thing to write about and I think I’ll tell you about my trip to North and South Carolina last May 2012. This was my first attempt to meet Tony Stewart and I must say for a first attempt it went pretty well except for the fact that I did fail!

The thing to keep in mind with your bucket list is most of the fun and adventure happens while you are TRYING to fulfill the items!! So by failing, you make the completion that much sweeter! If everything in life were easy, it would be boring. Part of living life to the fullest is finding a challenge, accepting it and overcoming the obstacles to see success! Without failure, we could not understand or appreciate SUCCESS!

**Think about that for a moment and you’ll see I’m right**

I met my race buddy and friend Kecia in an environmental science class that we had together last Fall. The amazing part of the whole thing is it wasn’t until the semester was over with and we were chatting on Facebook that we discovered we shared a common passion for racing. Our conversations quickly turned into planning an out of state race trip. Two single ladies with no “dead-weights” can have the time of their lives!! Being single does have its advantages, so for now, we planned on exploiting our freedom in order to have fun.

After deciding the time period that worked for both of us, we discovered that Darlington was an option. Neither of us had been to Darlington and since it’s the oldest track on the current Sprint Cup schedule, we thought it would be neat to see some of the historical aspects of the sport. Plus, racing has its roots in the south and what better way to connect to NASCAR than through its colorful (and slightly controversial, yet exciting) past!


We decided to fly out of Detroit-Metro on May 10, 2012 on a non-stop Delta Connections flight to Myrtle Beach, SC.

We spent Thursday and Friday nights in Myrtle Beach and stayed at a hotel with a balcony that opened to a full ocean view.

That was a first for me! First time being able to see an Atlantic Ocean sunrise! I could get used to that view. I was expecting the smell of the salt to be overpowering to a girl who grew up around (and in) the freshwater of the Great Lakes, but it was not. It was peaceful, majestic, awe-inspiring and just downright awesome.

We arrived Thursday morning and that night we took an 80-mile ride to Florence, SC to see the NASCAR parade of haulers. (A little side note, we rented a silver Dodge Charger. PERFECT car for our adventure) Yes, we drove over an hour, to watch a 15-minute parade of semi-trucks. But remember, these haulers carry the chariots of our heroes so for any true NASCAR fan, it’s a sacred spectacle and one you should not miss! It’s a piece of the puzzle of the NASCAR fans obsession with this sport. One I have yet to be able to explain, but it’s a tradition that I’ll watch every chance I get!

We drove back to Myrtle Beach and spent all day Friday perusing the beaches, local bars (of course), spending obscene amounts of money on stuff we ended up having to FedEx home, riding the Myrtle Beach 200-foot Sky Wheel,

taking my first Dolphin Watch Tour out in the Atlantic Ocean and just playing the tourist. I’m going to mention quickly that the ride out in the Atlantic Ocean would have scared the bejeezus out of anyone sane, but as you can guess, most NASCAR fans are obsessed with danger and risk-taking. We were in a small boat in 4-5 foot swells and I must say, in retrospect what we did was absolutely terrifying and I loved every blessed moment of it! Skimming over and sometimes through (but never under) those swells, fast and hard was AWESOME. Ask me to show you the video I took if you ever want to get a better idea.

Saturday morning was the start of our Darlington adventure.

We decided to book a tour through MyRaceTravel.com. We didn’t want the hassle of trying to drive and deal with traffic at an unfamiliar track. Darlington is about an hour and a half or so from Myrtle Beach, so the luxury motor coaches took off from our hotel and headed to the track for the 7:00pm race. Yes, it was a night race! Night races are the best! I’ve been to many daytime races, but my favorites by far have been the night races. I’ve been to the .533 mile Bristol, the 2.5 mile Daytona track and now the 1.366 mile Darlington track for night races and I highly recommend them! The sunlight washes out the colors of the cars, but at night… at night they look like colorful burning sparklers at a 4th of July celebration. The worries of the world seem to fade away with the sun until all that remains are your heroes under the lights.

So anyway, we get to the race track around 3pm. I was bummed because I had heard Jeff Burton was going to be at the Chevy Tent at 2:45pm so I thought we would miss him. They dropped us off over in the Turn 1 & 2 area and left us to fend for ourselves. Having never been to this track before I had no clue where the vendors, hospitality area or even our seats were! We set off walking and eventually I heard Jeff speaking and followed his voice to the Chevy tent.

We watched him for a few minutes and when he left, his pit crew came out and signed autographs for us. I like that they do that. NASCAR is a team sport and all the focus should not be on just the drivers.

We meandered around turns 3 and 4 towards the hospitality area. Jeff Gordon was scheduled to be in the tent but since I've met him once before I wasn't terribly enthused to rush over there. As we got to the entrance of the hospitality area, we of course were clueless as to where to go. I passed through the check point and walked a little bit a head of Kecia. Suddenly I heard this quick siren type sound and this big black truck thing was coming towards us with light flashing and this siren sounding. I have never seen anything like it so I got off onto the grass and just stood there. The next thing I know, this truck, with the windows completely blacked out pulls next to me and when I say next to me, I mean I could reach out and touch it. It shocked the crap out of me and actually really pissed me off. So it pulled back by one of the other small hospitality tents and I was just going to walk up and rip the driver a new one for getting so close to me.

Suddenly, I hear the announcer in the Coca-Cola hospitality tent start to get excited because Tony Stewart had finally arrived. Yup, you got it. I was just about run over by the dumbass driving Tony Stewart to his appearance. On retrospect, if we had been five minutes earlier or later, we would have missed him so what are the chances? I set my mind to meeting him and came pretty damn close at that moment. Probably wouldn't have been quite as good as the parade lap was, but still... LOL.

So I stood back a ways and used my new 30x zoom camera to get a decent picture of him. It was my first time listening to him speak live and seeing him live. At that point I was an excited mess and was just thrilled to get the opportunity to see him.

After a few blissful moment, we walked over to our hospitality tent just in time to hear Jeff Gordon talking. Wasn't impressed because I was still reeling from having almost been run over by TS and getting to see him live. We chilled in the tent for a bit before heading down into the pits for a walk around. I'm used to the wide open, sweeping Michigan International Speedway and since Darlington is a bit smaller and more intimate, it was really neat to be down there.

They had staff in victory lane and they let you get your picture taken.

Then we meandered through the pits just absorbing and observing. It was pretty quiet. I had Kecia snap a pic of me behind Tony's pit.

A question: WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT BOILED PEANUTS? It's such a huge thing in the south that they put it on a race car? WTH?

Finally race time came and we headed to our seats. Holy hell! At Darlington you have to walk up like 4-5 stories of stairs. Yes, I said stories. I did great through 3 stories, the 4th I thought I was going to die and by the 5th I thought I was going to pass out. They have paramedics at the top, that should tell you something! LOL But, I did it. It took my 4 minutes to recover and it was on to our seats!

Here's the view from the top of the stairs looking down at Kecia standing in line for the elevator. Smart Woman! LOL

I sat next a really nice guy in the stands. Did I mention that my seat number was 14? Yup! That's happened quite a bit this year. My seat at MIS last week was 14 and at Eldora both times my seat number was, yup, you guessed it.... 14! The only bad thing is that their stands are literally metal folding chairs bolted to the cement. Yup, it was a good thing I had been losing weight because they were tight! LOL

The race was great but the pit action was even better! The pits were so close. So much closer than at MIS because the frontstretch was much narrower.

The race ended up with Jimmie Johnson winning. Disappointed that one of my two didn't win, but super glad for a nice race. I enjoy listening to the drivers on the scanner too. If you have never done it, I highly recommend it. It's as if you are sitting in the cockpit of that car with them. It can be a rush at times!

I think the moral of this FIRST part of my story is that during this trip I started focusing on all the things I got to do for the FIRST time. If you have never really done this, try it. Go throughout the day and ask yourself each time you do something if it was your first time. You will be surprised at the number of things you do new each day. Whether it's eating for the first time at a new restaurant, or smiling at a stranger for the first time or even taking a normal path that you walk and do it backwards! When you start looking at the world like this, it suddenly becomes a new and exciting place to live.

I think this is enough for the moment. I'm going to focus on my nieces bday party now and get ready for another week of FIRSTS for me. I'll start part 2 of this trip in a bit. You need to hear about my tour of some of the NASCAR race shops that we took on 5/14.Did you notice the date? 14! LOL That was an awesome FIRST for me too!

Part 2 will be along shortly.

Did you write your bucket list yet? What are you waiting for!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

What is a hero?

I mentioned in my previous blog that Tony was my hero.

(pic from SHR website)

I’ve been asked numerous times since than what exactly makes him my hero? At the beginning of the year I would have looked at you and said that I wasn’t sure. I think we create heroes when we need them the most. Heroes seem to serve a psychological purpose to help motivate and inspire us to bigger and better things. Even my hero has a hero and he’s stated it many times. I would like to ask him someday what makes AJ Foyt his hero. Maybe I will get that chance.

According to the dictionary, a hero is:

1. a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.
2. a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal
4. Classical Mythology .
a. a being of godlike prowess and beneficence who often came to be honored as a divinity.
b. (in the Homeric period) a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability.
c. (in later antiquity) an immortal being; demigod.

I can easily place Tony into the Homeric period definition: a warrior-chieftain of special strength, courage, or ability. From one perspective, he is both warrior and chieftain (driver and owner) and it takes a tremendous amount of courage to get into that race car and yes, drive fast and turn left! You must have the ability and if you have ever seen that man drive a dirt car (any kind) you’ll know what I’m talking about. The man has the ABILITY, STRENGTH and COURAGE to successfully drive anything with four wheels. I went to my first Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway this past June 2012. I know he can drive but until you’ve seen him flying around that ½ mile dirt track, you have not seen his pure talent. It’s never a good idea to open your mouth during a green flag run and let’s just say I ended up with a mouth full of dirt as my chin hit the ground at a certain move he made on the track at the end of the night.

From another perspective, his occasional cocky arrogance and self-confidence is a huge turn on but combine that with his philanthropic tendencies, homeboy (particularly now that he’s older and more mature) looks and the softer (less public) sides of his personality; you have a fine human being. A man any woman would be proud to know.

But that’s not what made him MY hero. These definitions are easily understood by everyone else and these reasons are universally accepted, but that is not why I’ve placed him on a pedestal. And yes, take note; WE place heroes on a pedestal. They don’t usually ask to be there, but we put them there.

So why is Tony on a pedestal or better yet, why have I placed Tony on a pedestal?

It’s very simple.

He is living and succeeding at a life that I can only dream about and he has struggled with relationships just as I have. Although observations suggest he’s found a partner now, he’s still a few years older than me and unmarried. I found a kindred soul to look up to and one who can provide me with the ability to still hold out hope that life hasn’t ditched me along the way. I can believe that my hard work and diligence will pay off in the end because so far it has for him so why not me?

Yes, I find him extremely sexy with his salt n’ pepper hair, that crazy smirk of his and those big brown eyes, but…

Please don’t mistake this as a crazy fan that lusts after him with these unrealistic expectations that he’ll fall madly in love with me! I do have self-respect and common sense unlike some other people I know! Plus, I proved that to myself by not having any problems talking to him last Sunday. I wasn’t nervous and I was able to articulate everything. That does not sound like someone who is infatuated with the man, but I digress so back to the main issue.

A hero should be someone who has attained a status that we are striving to achieve ourselves. I want to work in NASCAR and he most certainly is part of the sport! I want to help people and I love to volunteer. Tony most certainly does and to see him giving back to those that need it gives me the drive to keep at it myself! I want to make a difference and to the thousands of fans that follow Tony every week, he has made a difference in their lives by giving them a distraction and giving them something to cheer for and have hope for!

HOPE


A small four letter word that is to me the most powerful word ever created. It is the most powerful emotion.



With hope, we learn to fly.

With hope, we dream big.

With hope, we strive to be the best we can be at everything.

But, without hope, life is dull, meaningless and boring.

So I think a hero is someone who gives us hope. Tony gives me HOPE in ways in which you will never understand because I am still trying to comprehend them myself. He gives me the strength to keep going when the going gets tough and the strength to keep striving to achieve my dreams. He isn’t intentionally doing this, he doesn’t know me but I know him and I choose to place him on that pedestal where he can be a strong beacon of hope and keep me going when all I want to do is curl up in a hole and let life pass me by.

While writing this it suddenly dawns on me why I became so angry as he talked of dying on Sunday. The rational side of my emotions should have known he was only using it as a means to get a point across, but the irrational and selfish side of me was horrified to think he could die. My heroes are immortal (at least I want them to be). An immortal hero will never leave you; you will leave them when the time is right.

So, Tony, I still need you as my hero so drive fast, but be safe!

Meeting my hero

It's amazing really. I started out this year suddenly wanting to meet one of my NASCAR hero's, Tony Stewart. Tony is kind of a love/hate relationship for me. I hated him when he was young and cocky and I love him now that he's older, more mature yet still has that touch of arrogance that I've grown to admire. Most fans either like him or hate him. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground.

Many people ask me why I cheer for him when I also like Jeff Burton (pic below). I've been following Jeff, faithfully since 1997 and Tony I started watching in his rookie year in 1999. I actually attended my first out of state race at Homestead in 1999 and watched Tony win for the 3rd time during his rookie year. Jeff has been my public favorite whereas I've watched Tony from a distance until he started his own team a few years ago.

While starting up his own team (Tony is seen in pic above), his personal transformation was so dramatic that it really started catching my attention. He began to appeal to a side of me that I didn't know existed. Two entirely different people and racers so how could I possibly be fans of both? Well, until this year, I didn't know why, but I'll tell you it's been way too much fun figuring it out.

I think my journey honestly started in 2009 when I decided at the age of 33 that I wanted to get my Bachelors degree. Sounds quite reasonable until you realize I only had 11 credits at that time and it takes 120 to earn your undergraduate degree! It was a major decision in my life and one I knew I had to take so I jumped in head first, eyes closed and could only hope I didn't hit my head on the bottom.

It turned out to be one of the best decisions I've ever made. It was the beginning of a journey of self-discovery for me. NASCAR took a back seat as I started to learn about the world we live in and more importantly, I began to see who I was and what I was capable of accomplishing or dreaming up and accomplishing. One of the first classes I took was a mythology class and while learning about Greek myths I stumbled upon a maxim at the Temple of Delphi, or Apollos temple and it read simply... KNOW THYSELF. I placed a tattoo on my hand of those exact words written in ancient greek so I would always be reminded of it.

Now, this saying could be interpreted in many different ways, but I took it as a reminder to me that before I can possibly know what I'm supposed to be doing in this life, what my higher purpose is, or dedicate myself to a family of my own; I must know who I am. For so long I've lived in the shadow of service to others. Doing for others without second thoughts and believing that I was placed on this earth to help them out. Sondra is short for Alexandra in Greek and it's meaning is simply "helper/defender of mankind". Trust me, I have lived up to this name. I have no regrets because it gave me a solid foundation on which to build. The problem is, doing for others is absolutely wonderful, but if you forget to do for yourself once in awhile you can become bitter and negative. I decided it was time to focus a little attention on myself.

So the past three years I've studied and worked and studied and worked, made time for my extended family (parents, siblings) and went right back to studying and working. I would not have a 3.86 GPA with 79 credits and working full time without a seriously strong will-power and drive to succeed! But I've done it!

I started to realize after accomplishing half my goal, that it was important to reward my determination and success. I started to allow NASCAR back into my life on a regular basis.

Now, NASCAR is not just a sport where men (and an occasional woman) strap themselves into a stock car and turn left. No, it's full of so much more than that and in a later blog I'll get into what it means to me, but for now I'll focus on the fulfillment of a dream that I had and later I'll discuss the journey to get to it. I want to write down what happened last weekend while it's still fresh in my mind. Plus, to be totally honest, I enjoy telling the tale over and over again because part of me cannot believe it actually happened!

As I started to say... I decided that I needed to cross a major item off my bucket list. Now if you don't have a bucket list, I highly suggest you make one. It helps you prioritize the things in your life that you want to do before you die. Unfortunately, you never know what day you're going to die so I encourage you to write it now and start having some fun! Or like me, use your bucket list to focus a little of your attention on yourself for a change.

I decided that 2012 was going to be the year that I was going to meet Tony Stewart. (Isn't that a great pic? I took it in South Carolina but that's another story)

I think part of this was pushed into my head when a lady said some weird things to me in the elevator in the parking garage downtown. It was shortly after the New Year and she climbed in with her two friends, looked at me thoughtfully for a few moments and proceeded to shake her finger at me while saying,

God has big plans for you this year. You're going to be surprised. Just have faith because this year is going to be special.

I remember looking at her and simply saying,

I HOPE SO

before she exited the elevator and left me with goosebumps. To this day her words ring in my head and part of me believes that without that little bit of encouragement from a stranger, I would not have dared to do all the things I've done this year.

In a later blog I'll tell you about my first attempt to meet Tony Stewart and I did so through a trip to North and South Carolina last May (2012). But for now, I'm going to pick up at Memorial weekend and an auction provided by the NASCAR Foundation that I stumbled upon (literally). To this day I cannot tell you how I discovered it, but some have said it was divine intervention, yet others say I just had my eyes open!

The NASCAR Foundation offered auctions for parade lap rides with certain drivers at a few race tracks on the circuit. They just started doing this in 2012 and since I had a little extra vacation money left over from my trip to NC/SC, I decided I was going to bid on a ride with Tony Stewart. I placed a max bid of $550.00 and sat back to wait. You talk about suspense. No one attempted to bid on that auction until 5 minutes before it was scheduled to end, almost 2 weeks AFTER I made my initial bid. Thank goodness I did such a high max bid because much to my delight and surprise, I won the bid for $399.00. When I received the winning email from the Foundation I started crying.

I figured this was a sure fire way to finally meet my hero!

It was scheduled for the June 2012 race at the Michigan International Speedway and consisted of riding in the back of the parade lap truck with Tony and one other driver immediately after driver introductions. It was to be me and my driver alone for 5 minutes or however long it took to get around the two-mile MIS.

The only thing that concerned me is that there were no rain checks.

So the big day arrived and guess what, it was raining. The first thing to be cancelled were the parade laps and the Foundation had zero contingency plans in place. We tromped through the rain in the garage and pit area and I ended up completely soaked because my rain poncho had fallen out of my pocket on the walk. I was also very sick and terrified I was going to catch pneumonia so with a heavy heart I bid them goodbye and stumbled back to the car utterly defeated. I went to MIS expecting to meet my hero and instead walked away with the biggest disappointment I have ever had to deal with. It felt like my heart had been crushed and my spirit had been smashed like a spent cigarette. I was devastated to say the very least. I was within striking distance of accomplishing my dream and crossing a huge milestone off of my bucket list and it ended in the soggy fields of parking lot 11 at MIS.

I immediately left the track and cried the entire way home. Friends and family, knowing how much this experience meant to me wrote to the Foundation expressing their anger over how all the auction winners were treated. In the end, the Foundation decided to give us a second chance and invited us back to try again in August for the second race of the season at MIS. Of course, I said yes I would try once more. I couldn't figure out if I was nuts or not to try it again! However, the Foundation assured us that they had a contingengy plan in place now if it were to rain again. MIS is notorious for having rainouts and rain delays in August, so needless to say, I refused to get my hopes up.

The Summer passed quickly with the two Summer classes I was taking and before I knew it, I was two weeks out from round 2 of living my dream. I refused to talk about it and I didn't post about it on Facebook. I absolutely was not going to get excited and possibly live through another huge disappointment if it didn't work out.

I arrived at MIS with my sister and friends at 5:30am Sunday morning. We enjoyed a few hours of tailgating before Alisha and I headed down to the tunnel entrance to meet the Foundation representative and the other auction winners who were able to return. There were four auction winners who came back and together with our guests we set off through the tunnel under the majestic two-mile speedway optimistic about meeting our heroes.

Our first stop was the garage area. We wandered slowly and quietly through it just absorbing the atmosphere and tranquility that could be had during that time of the day. Teams were having a quick bite to eat and just relaxing before the race. The haulers were lined up perfectly creating a colorful row of blocks relaxing in the sun.

It felt right to be down there and it felt like that is where I belonged. For the first time in a very long time I felt at peace.




We saw "The King" Richard Petty! That was as first for me and a huge thrill to see such a racing legend.

We saw the President of NASCAR, Mike Helton.








We saw a few crew chiefs doing last minute prep and some last minute tech inspections being done by NASCAR.

After about a half hour, Mary, the Foundation Rep said we needed to head towards the staging area to get into position. The minute the words were out of her mouth, I started feeling my first anxiety of the day. But this time, THE SUN WAS SHINING AND THE SKY WAS BLUE! This was the moment I had been waiting for since I first started working on meeting Tony back in January 2012. Needless to say, I was waiting for an earthquake or perhaps the Mayans had it wrong and they meant 8/19/2012 the world was going to end... anything to stop this moment from happening!

But guess what, nothing bad happened and the four of us got into position immediately to the right of the driver intro stage and waited.

Shelley was to ride with Kasey Kahne, I was to ride with Tony Stewart, Sherry was to ride with Ryan Newman and the last auction winner was to ride with Joey Logano. So we watched as they started the driver introductions and the drivers made their way past us (maybe 2-3 feet away) and into the trucks.

One by one, starting from the 43rd position the drivers were introduced until they got to position 15 for Ryan Newman and Sherry was called to the truck. And finally position 14 (how appropriate) for Tony Stewart and I was called to the truck. I immediately stopped shaking and became this calm, cool and confident individual that had set out to meet her hero and was about to see it happen! That was until I saw the little mini stool I was supposed to use to climb up into the back of the Silverado on. Holy crud batman. Talk about a buzz kill. I made the two guys on either side of the ladder hold my hands so I didn't fall. If I wasn't so damn embarassed I would have felt like royalty!!

Do you have any idea how happy I was to discover that Ryan and Tony were in the same truck so I had someone else (Sherry) in the truck with me? I was doing the happy dance. So we sat down on the wheel bumps or whatever they are called and Ryan was the first into the truck. He came and stood in front of me, but I quickly remedied that situation and switched sides with Sherry so she was by Ryan. He was a perfect gentleman and introduced himself and shook hands with both of us. He wasn't feeling well so I asked him if he was feeling any better which he promptly replied no to with a sad grin. Then, before I knew it, Tony Stewart was walking by me and stood in front of me.

Now when I say in front of me, I mean, we're talking a foot if not less between me and my hero.

Did I happen to mention that I have a little miniature Tony standup that was on my desk at work for a long time, that I would look at and talk to just to practice? Come on, stop laughing. You would too! I didn't want to flounder around like a brainless idiot so I practiced and I must say, it paid off!!!!

Tony had yet to say anything to me so after a few seconds of talking to Ryan, I kindly interrupted and asked if I could shake his hand and introduce myself before the truck started moving. He seemed slightly shocked and shook my hand and proceeded to say he was just checking on his driver to make sure he was ok to race today. I said no problem and just sat back to watch and listen and absorb what I was seeing. Its kind of difficult to take years of watching and listening on the tv, internet and radio and process it in real life. It felt surreal and at times I had to remind myself that I was really living it.

Within moments after my little interruption, the truck decided to move and both Tony and Ryan turned around to wave to the crowd. Again, we're only a foot from them so just imagine the sights we saw... yes, you've got it. I looked at Sherry and pointed to Tony in front of me and mouthed, OMG. Well, Ryan caught me out of the corner of his eye and just grinned and shook his head. What?!? I wasn't touching so who cares, right? Well, I think that little episode is what helped along the funny conversation we had on the backstretch.

So we get to the end of the stand in Turn 2 and Ryan and Tony both turn around to us. Ya, that was exciting to have Tony standing there in sunglasses not know where his eyes are... NOT! So something was said and Tony said to wait a minute and he sat down right next to me. Leg to leg baby. (heehee) I reached to pull up my camera and a gigantic blast of wind decided to open my already unbuttoned to far shirt and blew it open farther. Yup, open. I did't leave much to the imagination and we all know I've got enough to impress. I quickly grabbed it and held it down and Ryan was the first one to speak. He said something to the effect that don't worry, Tony likes the view. I just looked at him in shock. Then I hear Tony quietly speaking and I look at him and he's staring at me, again with the blasted sunglasses so God knows if he was looking at my face or my cleavage at this point, and says the following. Well, pretty close to the following, since I was in shock and can't remember it word for word but the meaning and intent was crystal clear. Plus Sherry has assured me that my memory is pretty dead on so that's good!

He proceeds to give me this story of I'll be the last image he sees and this view will be in his mind when he gets into his race car. At this point I'm just staring at his lips truly wondering if I'm hearing him say this or if my imagination is working over time. Sherry was sitting over there with her mouth open so I knew he was actually saying it. He proceeds to say he could die today and the last think he'll have seen is this view."

I'm just sitting there staring at him like he was F'in nuts. What a load of flattering yet complete bull-pucky. Well, finally it sinks in that he just says he could die today and my emotions go from shock to anger in the blink of an eye. Without thinking I swat him on the leg and tell him to knock off the shit about him dying. That doesn't sit well with me. He has that awesome smirking smile of his going on and looks a little shocked that I swatted him. But it pissed me off so it was my first reaction. Weird in retrospect, but I guess I was in the moment.

By this time we're coming into Turn 3 and they need to stand up to wave to the crowd. So as they begin to stand up Ryan says yet again that the view was what Tony wanted and Tony agrees yet again so having been fed up with their little game, I tossed it back at them by saying, and yes I quote...

Well, the view from back here isn't so bad either

Yes, I said it. Yes I did. And I earned a good chuckle out of both Ryan and Tony. That is so not like me but it felt so good to let it out! And frankly, I'm all about the truth since it was a wonderful view. (wink,wink) I was just glad the truck driver didn't have to slam on his brakes or my nose would have been up Tony's... well, you get the idea.

I did take a great pic of Ryan and Sherry. I thought it turned out beautiful and I was very proud of myself.

Sherry took a pic of Tony and I which I'll post at the end of the blog. It was very nice of her to snap the pic but the wind caught my hair and I look like Medusa in hell. But, it's with Tony so I'll live with it!

As for the rest of the ride, Tony sat down next to me once more and autographed two trading cards I had brought. One was his rookie card from his 1999 win at Homestead and the other was a more recent Office Depot one. The Homestead card was special to me because the was the first time I had the opportunity to see him win in a live event. He was so calm and quiet while doing it and I appreciated him all the more for signing both.

The top of the picture shows the two cards he autographed for me.

As we rolled slowly along the front strech next to the fence, I looked up into the sea of faces and listened and watched as they screamed Tony's name and hollered their support for him. It was at that moment that I suddenly realized that I had just met, sat next to, teased, got pissed at, swatted, smiled with, made laugh and got the autograph of the reigning NASCAR Sprint Cup champion. I had made many, many people jealous today because I got to do all these things. It was a super powerful feeling of excitement, wonder, awe and yet I felt humbled too.

The truck made a U-turn at the start/finish line and headed back to the beginning of pit road. Tony and Ryan once again turned around and faced us but didn't say much except to state they had to immediately head to the restroom in order to get back to their cars for the finish of pre-race ceremonies so they could not pose for a picture. I was bummed but completely understood.

The truck pulled up to a stop and guess what? No stool to walk onto. I had to jump down from the bed of the Silverado. Ok, yes. My legs felt like jell-o so I was terrified that I was going to fall on my face or worse yet, fall onto someone!! That would have been a nightmare so Sherry got off, Ryan got off and Tony stepped off and immediately turned around and grabbed my hand to help me off the truck. I never hesitated and was grateful for the help so I didn't fall. I had a death grip on his hand. I said thank you and walked away.

As I think about it, lots of people shake his hand, but how many can say that they actually had a death grip on it? Hmmm? (wink, wink).

Many thanks to those friends and family (especially my sister and parents) who made it a point to come to the track and watch me fulfill my dream. That meant so much to me to see my mom and dad waving from the fence as I rode by. I still get teary thinking about it.

It was an amazing experience and one that hopefully I won't forget. It was the chance of a lifetime to be on the other side of the fence and to get a taste of what these drivers and teams live with on a weekly basis. I fell in love with the sport all over again and with this experience I realized that the number one thing on my bucket list will remain my dream of working in NASCAR.

I think this year I made some incredible leaps and bounds towards achieving that goal but more importantly, I reached for the stars and actually caught two this time around.

**Bloggers Note: Tony was a perfect gentleman and nothing in the blog should hint otherwise. I was having fun with my hero, nothing more.**