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WesleyRocks

WesleyRocks

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I got to meet a Nascar driver today at work, Dale Earnhardt Jr. His pilots and dogs were very nice too. Just thought I'd share!! Made my day!!!
 

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brendalovescompo said:
Nice picture Darin, I hear he is a down to earth sort of guy? Is that how you see him?
:me:
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Yes, I only got to talk with him for a few minutes because he was running a bit behind for Pepsi 400 practice in Daytona.
As he was departing I said " Thanks for the photos and good luck this weekend" he said "you too", then started chuckling and said " have a good 4th"
He was very nice and down to earth. As you can see in the pictures, he is dressed pretty comfortable, just chilling out.
Are you guys Nascar fans?
 
No we are not. We use to live in Franklin ,Tn. Darryl Waltrip lives there. We seen him in I think in 90 walking into walmart with his daughters. There was a lady and Darryl both getting carts at the same time and she accidentally bumped into him. He said, "that's okay I'm use to getting bumped into on Sundays"(it was a Sunday morning). :37: We looked up at him and laughed, the woman that did the bumping did not know who he was. I thought it was hillarious, and quick witted. Tried to get into Nascar when we moved south in the late 80's , might watch a race here and there.

I take it you are?
 
My brother's favorite Nascar driver. I told my brother you met him and he is completely envious. :)
 
brendalovescompo said:
No we are not. We use to live in Franklin ,Tn. Darryl Waltrip lives there. We seen him in I think in 90 walking into walmart with his daughters. There was a lady and Darryl both getting carts at the same time and she accidentally bumped into him. He said, "that's okay I'm use to getting bumped into on Sundays"(it was a Sunday morning). :37: We looked up at him and laughed, the woman that did the bumping did not know who he was. I thought it was hillarious, and quick witted. Tried to get into Nascar when we moved south in the late 80's , might watch a race here and there.

I take it you are?
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Good story, most of them are quite nice and do a lot of charity work.
I grew up around racing. I love the technology side of it and the trying to be "perfect" every lap, every turn, side of it as well. I also like that they say a prayer before every race. It used to be a very family friendly atmosphere, especially in the pits. Not sure about it now. My father raced oval track and then worked on others' race cars when he retired from driving. He was sponsored and all and made a little money off of it.
I hung out at the track a bunch and had friends' father's who raced. Jennerstown Speedway!!! That's where he raced most of the time. It is closed down now but it was a 1/2 mile oval track.
My family never had the money to fund my racing career, dad was burnt out when I got to be old enough to drive. He drove when I was very young and even before I was born.
I have good memories of those times.
It was always very loud at our house (from him tuning on something or someone's car) and the smell of burning fuel is still in my memory bank. Not the catalytic converter stinky sulfur smell now a days. Good old fashioned rich fuel mixture smell. ( Ok just call it pollution ;D )
I built a car in high school to race but never had the money to take it to the track (no truck or trailer) so I sold it to another racer. That was my racing career :)
Someday I hope to do a Richard Petty driving experience, just for kicks.
The wife is not into racing, but she tolerates the loud TV when a race is on. She is competitive though, and, if my son ever got into it could see her yelling and screaming for him.
Anyways...... Sorry so long.
 
Aw,Darin sorry to hear that you didn't get to fulfill your racing career. Dad did his dream as much as he could.

You talked about your dad not making money in racing when he was in. I know what you mean, my grandfather turned pro in golf when he was 17 and then WW2 broke out. He made money , but only $150 -$300 purse. Good money back then but not like today. After war he was a has-been. Didn't do well, was golf pro at clubs. (no money).

So if your son wanted to pursue racing would you back him? :37: Money wise. I know middle class doesn't have the money to back a racer, you need BIG $$$. Unless that is you.8)

Told my cousin you met him. She hasn't replied yet. They go to Taladega to watch racing.
 
So if your son wanted to pursue racing would you back him? :37: Money wise. I know middle class doesn't have the money to back a racer, you need BIG $$$. Unless that is you.8)

If he wanted to race we'd back him as much as we could, No we are not big $$$. You'd laugh at how much I make doing this job.
He is 11 and shows no interest in racing. He loves working on computers and so I'm good with that. It's a lot cleaner and less physically dangerous. I'll support he and his older sister in whatever they decide to do. I tell them they can do anything they set their mind to, even when others say they can't. Heck, I'm starting college in a little over a month for the first time. I will be the first in my family to ever attend college and I'm 41. Never back down.

Now a days, you must have money to get into sporting. We know families who travel almost every weekend out of town trying to get their kid noticed in baseball and other sports. I don't like it, kids are treated like racing dogs or horses. You can now place bets on whether you kid will make pro. Nuts!!! :unhappy:
 
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