Last Sunday my dad turned 68. Since forever he's been a huge NASCAR fan. My uncle Chuck was actually the gasman for Richard Petty for years, cementing the King as my family's favorite driver and us kids with Petty T-shirts.
Twice a year we would load up with with a few other families and caravan to Talladega. It was great for us kids. Most of us would sit in the back of a pickup that had been rigged up with a makeshift camper using a collection of 2X4s and a tarp. Somehow it held together for the 2-hour drive to the raceway. The whole way we'd cut up and raid the coolers for candy bars and Cokes.
Plenty of memories from the infield, where we always watched the race, but not enough time for that. My brothers and I have talked for years about getting dad inside a car to ride around the track. Kudos for my younger brother, Lance, for finally making it happen this year. One of the coolest things about the whole experience is that there are, maybe, 40 people there the whole time counting guys working with Dale Jarrett racing (group this was done through) and other people there having their riding/driving time. You've pretty much got pit road to yourself.
In this photo, dad is holding Jackson prior to the big guy getting his jumpsuit on. I had a feeling Jack would like the cars as they raced by, but the word "giddy" would probably be more accurate to describe him. It would also describe dad at Jackson's reaction.
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That fact that my writings are online for everyone to see must mean I'm pretty special, right? Not exactly, because hey, this is free and it's usually by pure chance you even found me. Enjoy.
