Racing memories that make me smile

[just a fan]

I know several of us have racing memories that make us smile and I would be interested in hearing some if you'd like to share.

One of mine came to mind a few minutes ago when I read that Junie Donlevey's wife passed away. After a quick prayer for the family I recalled meeting him one time. I was in the garage at Talladega when passes were really hard to come by. There were only maybe fifty non racing folks there. I had my camera and was getting pictures of and with several drivers and I saw Mr Donlavey walking my way. He smiled at me and I asked if he minded my getting a picture with him. He said "Mind? Son, I really appreciate you caring enough to ask".  When the picture was done I thanked him and he told me "No, thank you for asking me. If it weren't for the fans we would have no reason to be here." What a class act he is. Too bad the sport has changed its focus so much from the fan and to the money.

[Montvale]

 That was a strong point for Richard Petty. He would stay and sign his name to anything and everything when everybody else was gone. The fans remember things like that.
 It's sad to see where he is now.

[Chris]

Yeah several of the drivers used to stay and sign for the fans... anyone and everyone.. hours after the race had ended.
Heck you could go to public locations (restaurants / bars, etc) and see them out just like "regular folk"
Shame how the teams / owners / drivers ALL seem to have forgotten that it's the FANS that make the sport go.
Now days everyone heads to the hauler to go and hide from everyone.

I agree much with what I read in an article about Tim Richmond recently.
Tim was boisterous, rowdy, and acted silly all the time.  When he got AIDS and died THAT was the end of "the good old days" in NASCAR.
All the drivers saw how NASCAR treated him, what they tried to do to him to run him out of the sport, etc...

SO to avoid any problems with NASCAR, and to stay out of the lime-light; drivers started have "publicist" anything was done via PR, etc..
I think one of the things about "the good old days" was that drivers didn't act like they were "above" or too busy for everyone else.
They acted just like "one of us" so everyone liked them.... when that stopped, thats when the end began.
Sure I suppose NASCAR has better access to it's drivers still than many other Pro Sports... but it's far more limited than it used to be.

[just a fan]

Chris that is an interesting view and I hadn't thought about it in that way but much of it makes sense.

NASCAR is still among the best as far as fan access and I think sometimes to a fault. The almighty dollar has played too big of a role. At any cup race today you can see hundreds of fans with access to the garage area over the weekend. Not all "hot" passes, but tours, pit passes, garage passes. Every sponsor now has passes available to them. While from a fan point of view it is great, I am sure the drivers see it as a nightmare because they have no time to be themselves at the track. Every step they take is met by a fan wanting something. In a football comparison it would be like asking Manning for an autograph when he is getting ready to run out on the field or while he is in the locker room getting ready. So I think in turn the drivers have become numb to the fans out of necessity.

While Petty signed every night until the last fan was gone, he wasn't hounded while he was trying to get to his race car. I think limiting the access would be a positive step and then making set aside times and places for fans to get autographs. The drivers deserve to have time to do their jobs at the track and much of that is done outside of the car getting ready.

I am sure many of you have a better view than I do of this, but this is just my opinion.

[SMOKEN14]

TOO bad Na$car doesn't do like the NHRA every ticket is a pit pass and drivers love to see the fans