Page 20 - March 2023 Issue

The Accidental NASCAR another driver appearance, this time Kyle Petty. He was sign-
ing autographs near the Boscov's at the Dover Mall on race
Tourist weekend in 1987. I didn't know who he was, but my parents

did. Kyle was slightly less successful than his father over the
by Chad Dean course of his career, but always seemed to do well at our home
track. Good for him -- he remained a favorite of ours despite
the ups and mostly downs of his several decades in the top tier
Say what you want about Valentine's festivities, but for me,
of stock car racing.
February has long been about the return of NASCAR. Th e
Daytona 500 is a high holy day for many to be sure, but it is Fast forward to 1988. I remember sitting in my grandparents'
actually a culmination of several weeks of racing events at that den in the middle of winter. It was too dreary to play outside
track as well as an entire offseason of changes and preparations and so windy I vividly recall the swimming pool cover violently

for the teams, the drivers, and the sport as a whole. On a larger flapping like it was about to tear off and fly away. Inside,

and more existential scale, programming such as the Busch Daytona qualifying was on television. They had cable tv long
Clash, Twin 125s/Duels, and the start of the schedule for the before we did on the farm, so this would likely have been my
three top national touring circuits ushers in spring before any only exposure to NASCAR until CBS broadcast the "Great
baseball is ever tossed at a major league training camp else- American Race" at the end of Speedweeks. For some reason,
where in the state. It may be cold in Maryland, but watching in my mind I can still clearly see Terry Labonte attempting to
drivers duke it out under the Florida sun reminds us warmer put his Budweiser car on the pole while basking in the warmth
weather here is right around the corner. of the Florida sunshine. A month or two later, I got to visit
Daytona while on a motorhome vacation with that side of the

Okay, that's enough of well-worn clichés. This is the Caroline family and was greatly intrigued by the high-banked turns
Review, so I better get to the point about some local angle that seemed to defy gravity. Impossible I thought, even though
before readers move on to the weddings and death notices. Bristol Motor Speedway was not even a blip on my radar yet.
I'm giving Green Gardenites a mission, actual tourism edition,

should they choose to accept it: My first Winston Cup race experienced in person was actually
not until 1992. My father decided that I needed to see Richard
VISIT ALL THE NASCAR TRACKS.
Petty compete in person before he retired at the end of the

This is not something I set out to do originally. In fact, I started season, so we went to Dover Downs that spring. Harry Gant
off as an IndyCar fan after meeting Rick Mears at an early age. won at the ripe old age of 52, stealing the King's thunder. Dale

I got to sit in his show car; a news reporter took my picture, Earnhardt fi nished second.

which has survived in my office display case for some forty
Little did we know that year would also mark the beginning of
years. I watched the Indianapolis 500 annually into adulthood
Jeff Gordon's Cup career, not that I ever cared. Many people

and gleefully toured the track my first time through the city in

did. Students in my high school argued "The Intimidator" vs.
2008. I attended the Baltimore Grand Prix twice and lived to tell
"The Rainbow Warrior" much more passionately than any
the tale. Along the way, however, this type of racing faded into
academic subject. What piqued my curiosity with this turf war
the background as NASCAR reached its zenith of popularity
[asphalt war?] was the juxtaposition of a veteran "bad guy" driv-
in the mainstream of national consciousness.
ing a black car that was generally respected if not worshipped
Living on the Eastern Shore had much to do with that transi- by NASCAR faithful and a squeaky clean upstart who enunci-
tion as I too ultimately made the switch. Much of this shift ated in his interviews and praised Jesus in Victory Lane yet was
was acknowledged in retrospect, but it is worth sharing how nearly universally despised by fans. It reminded me of the heel
I arrived at the reasons for attempting the aforementioned and face "heat" dynamic of professional wrestlers, especially as
personal quest in case you feel the same tingles justifying that line started to blur in the squared circle right around the
your own racing journey. My first brush with NASCAR was same time. See also: the New World Order.

Looking back I suppose I was hooked by that point but what
put me in front of the television for good on race weekends in
1994 came from an unlikely source: church. I could be preten-
tious and claim it was 2 Timothy 4:7 that did it for me: "I have
fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the

faith" is what the New International Version states. With that
said, I was actually attending a worship service in Centreville

Mulching • Mowing • Trimming at the time. The truck I drove could get in literally one station
clear on the radio, 94.7 WDSD, which incidentally was the one
Yard Cleanup & More that broadcast NASCAR. I listened to the pre-race show as I
drove back to Caroline County and typically would get back
to the farm as the field was doing parade laps just prior to the

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