In rural West Virginia, running into the local high school's running back could be compared to meeting a celebrity. Yes, we love our sports in West Virginia. On November 8th of 2004, I celebrated my birthday by eating at an Applebee's in downtown Huntington, West Virginia. Suddenly, while I was eating, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw former Marshall University football coach Bob Pruett! "I want to thank you for supporting Marshall," he said (I was wearing a Marshall sweatshirt.). "God bless you." He then patted me on my head before disappearing.

I was dumbfounded! I had just met Coach Pruett, and if you knew how big of a Marshall University fan I am you would understand just how much that meant to me. However, I forgot to ask for an autograph! I forgot to tell him it was my birthday! What exactly did I say to him? Nothing, I said absolutely nothing! I was like a groupie with a backstage pass to the Grammys! Nevertheless, I came home grinning ear to ear. I had met Coach Pruett.

As you can imagine, I told everyone about meeting Coach Pruett, and everyone made fun of me for forgetting how to speak. What made this especially funny was that I am never at a shortage for words, and yet I couldn't think of a single word to say when I met one of my heroes! I told my friends that it is different when you meet someone in person, and that they would not understand until it happened to them. However, I did vow to never let something like that happen to me again, and my experience with Coach Pruett did prepare me for my day with Dale Earnhardt Junior earlier this summer!

Anyone who knows me, knows I am a NASCAR fan. To be more specific, I am an Earnhardt fan! One of my greatest moments was being present when Dale Earnhardt Senior won his only Daytona 500! Sadly, I never got to meet Senior before he died. When I heard Dale Junior was coming to a local track for an autograph session, I made sure to do everything I could to possibly meet him!

Before I knew it, I was on the telephone calling the track to purchase VIP tickets. What happened next was completely unforeseeable. Mr. Stevens, a track employee, was the man I spoke with concerning wheelchair section seats. To my surprise, he asked me if I could help him by giving him ideas on how to improve the wheelchair section. I was more than happy to oblige, and he actually listened to what I had to say. In fact, he even used some of my ideas. We were not talking about tickets by the end of the telephone conversation. He told me not to worry about the tickets. He would take care of everything, and give me the red carpet treatment for my help. The day I met Dale Junior became, arguably, the greatest day of my life! 

The day began with my best friend Buck driving me to the track. We got approximately 24 miles from the house before we were pulled over by the state police. I did not have a valid sticker on my windshield, but that was not the problem. The problem was my friend was driving on a suspended license! "I'm going to jail," he said. I then told him to let me handle it. I began talking about how I was going to finally get to meet my hero, Dale Junior, as soon as the officer got to my window. I told him about the red carpet treatment, and how it was going to be the greatest day of my life. By the time he found out my friend was driving on a suspended license, he did not have the heart give us a ticket or make us go home. "I'm not going to take you to jail for trying to help your friend," he announced, and we went on our way.

I asked for Mr. Stevens when I got to the track's front gate. I was immediately ushered into a roped off area meant for Dale Junior and the other drivers (Kenny Wallace, Clint Boyer, and Martin Truex Junior)! Thousands of people were gathered around the safety barrier just to get a peek at Dale. Most of the crowd paid big money just to stare at him from a distance. The crowd was bigger than expected. There was no way everyone in line could get in to see Dale Junior. In front of me, was no line whatsoever!

I began to prepare for Dale. My camera was ready. I had to borrow my cousin's digital camera, but I made sure to take a camera with me (with good batteries). I also had a die cast car, two hats, and a traveling bag for Dale to autograph. I waited anxiously for Dale's jet to land on the airstrip directly across from the track. It was 45 minutes late, but the jet landed as the crowd went crazy. Then, the drivers were transported the short distance between the airstrip and track in a million dollar RV. I was anxious, but I got even more anxious when I saw the RV driving directly toward me! It got closer, and closer, until it parked right beside where I was sitting under the protective tent, and then the doors opened.

Dale stepped off the bus and walked directly to me. I was the first person he came to! He was really nice and down to earth. He autographed my things, and talked with me for a while. He even let me sit at his table during the signing, and laughed at one of my jokes. All the while, my friend Buck was taking pictures. He took most pictures twice just to make sure. It was great, but it had to come to an end sooner or later. Buck and I gathered everything together, and we loaded up my van for the trip home. Suddenly, Buck looked at me and said, "I just thought of something. I forgot to take a picture with him!"

       I have decided to make an attempt to post a blog at least once a week.  I see my friends using their writing abilities to post blogs on a daily basis, and I usually wonder how they do it.  I do not find enough time to write as much as I would like, but maybe things will change with this post.  Do not be surprised if you suddenly find my new posts appearing on the Internet on Sundays around noonish.
        My Sunday morning usually begins with me drinking a pot of coffee.  Actually, every morning begins with me drinking a pot of coffee!  The television finds itself being turned to ESPN so I can watch “Outside the Lines” and “The Sports Reporters”.  I usually watch one airing of “SportsCenter” before turning to the SPEED channel.  This is where I usually wait (impatiently) for NASCAR to take its rightful place in my life.  This is also the time when my creative juices begin to flow.  I usually see something on one of the shows I have watched that I do not agree with, and I have to voice my opinion.
        It has been an interesting week in sports, and my personal life as well (I will touch on that later.).  My favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., announced he is leaving DEI (Dale Earnhardt Inc.) at the end of this current season, and he will be taking his sponsor (Budweiser) and crew chief (Tony Eury Jr.) with him.  Critics may say this is a display of disloyalty, egotism and youth on Dale Jr.'s part.  I find this similar to statements made when Dale Earnhardt Sr. left Bud Moore (taking Wrangler with him) to join Richard Childress Racing immediately after winning a championship with Bud Moore as his owner.  Dale Jr. now finds himself in a situation where virtually every racing team in NASCAR is willing to spend whatever amount is necessary to provide Dale Jr. with the resources needed to win a championship.  The future looks bright for Jr., but I know he will take pleasure in being able to do something as simple as tell his owner they need to be running a lower gear ratio just to find responsible owners actually value input from their drivers (ask Ray Evernham)!
         In baseball, I find Barry Bonds is inching ever closer to breaking the all-time career homerun record.  I also find many people believe I am racist because I cannot stand the thought of Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's record.  This cannot be further from the truth!  I am not racist.  However, I am a diehard Braves fan.  I love the Braves and Hank Aaron.  I also love the fact Hank Aaron set the record being 6' 0” and 180 lbs. in stature!
         Personally, I have recently found myself consulting with Ona Speedway as they expand their new wheelchair section.  This is a big step for the physically challenged citizens living in rural West Virginia.  I personally hope this will spill over into consulting with Cross Lanes Gaming Center as they expand their facility once table games have been officially introduced to our area.  It seems to have been a good week for me, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Barry Bonds, but maybe not so much for Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Hank Aaron!

 The car of tomorrow (COT) will soon be the car of today.  Actually, it will be the car of tonight as NASCAR races under the lights at Phoenix.  The race at Phoenix will only be the third points race for the COT, and tonight's race is also going to be the biggest test so far for the car of tomorrow.  The track at Phoenix has a different design than the two tracks the COT has ran on so far this year (Bristol & Martinsville).
 I have heard many critics complain about the car of tomorrow.  They may say it does not handle well, it's not aerodynamic, it's not as fast and so on.  The majority of the critics are the drivers themselves.  To them I say, “Quit whining, and drive the stupid car!”  If Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty only won races when their car was handling well, neither of them would have won a championship.  The car of tomorrow is truly a “throwback” car disguised with a futuristic look.  Maybe the car is harder to drive because it is larger and cumbersome.  Maybe it is heavier.  That never stopped Darrell Waltrip and Benny Parsons from winning races.  These drivers were true ”drivers” in every sense of the word.  They were winning races when aerodynamics was virtually undiscovered, sheet metal was inferior and teammates did not exist.  The COT is separating true ”drivers” from impostors who have posed as drivers in recent years.  With the car of tomorrow, NASCAR is taking a step forward by taking a step back, and I love it!
 NASCAR was dangerously close to becoming more about engineers and designers than it was drivers and competition.  I've been watching NASCAR since 1991, and for the first time in years, the car of tomorrow has allowed me to watch true drivers win races.  I am a diehard NASCAR fan, but even I was getting sick and tired of waiting all week for the race to start just to see a gigantic pile up on lap one that was caused because of aero-push.  ”Aero-push” should not be in NASCAR's dictionary!  Aerodynamics was not only making it impossible for cars to simply touch each other, but it was also making it dangerous to get within 4 ft. of another car.  How can you have true competitive races when drivers are scared to get anywhere near another car?  The car of tomorrow has basically, from what I've seen anyway, gotten rid of aerodynamics in racing (a good thing).  It is no longer about what car is fastest, or what car is most aerodynamic.  Once again, finally, it is about who is the better driver!
 Now that the car of tomorrow is actually here, some thought has been given to what the car should be called.  I propose the name “Durocrate.”  “Duro” because the car is surprisingly durable.  Cars have not been tearing apart like tissue paper because of the slightest contact from another car.  Less sheet metal, more carbon fiber and safer role cage has created this change.  “Crate” because the car is shaped like a shipping crate.  What does a shipping crate do?  A shipping crate keeps whatever's inside it safe as it travels from one place to another.  This is what the car of tomorrow does.  It is a durable car that allows a safer environment to be wrapped around the driver as they travel from the start of the race to the finish.  I would much rather watch 43 cars go 10 mph slower, and have 39 of those cars finish the race after major contact than I would to watch 43 cars go 10 mph faster and only have 15 cars finish the race because they got tapped and their car tore apart as if a tornado landed directly on it!  I have watched the car tomorrow go hard, nose first, into the wall and other cars just to backup and finish the race.  The car of tomorrow may finish with half a wing, and the splitter may need shaped somewhat to avoid breaking off other driver's valve stems during the race; but, at least the car finishes the race and allows the best drivers to win.  That is what NASCAR is all about!

     Take it from a man who knows what it is like to lose his father prematurely.  My father died when I was 11 years old.  To this very day, I jump at the chance to get my hands on something that once belonged to my dad!  I do not do it because I am greedy, or because I believe those items may somehow bring me financial gain.  I do it because it brings me closer, emotionally, to a man I lost nearly 19 years ago.  I believe this type of behavior is common among people who have lost onse they once loved so dearly.  Why would it be different for Dale Earnhardt Jr.?
      Jr. wants partial ownership of Dale Earnhardt Inc., the company founded by his late father.  I do not believe Dale Jr.'s desire for partial ownership is fueled by greed.  Owning part of the company would be equivalent to owning a sense of closeness Dale Jr. has probably been searching for since his father's untimely death.  Yet, it seems as if Teresa Earnhardt does not want to allow Jr. to have partial ownership of what is now “Her” company.  My question to her is: Why?  Is it greed?  Is it spite?  Or, does she actually believe Dale Sr. would not want his children to have ownership of his company?  I do not necessarily know why she is putting up such a fight over this matter.  I do not necessarily think it has anything to do with greed or spite.  However, I do not believe anyone who has a child can believe Dale Sr. did not want his children to have control of his company!  Anyone with children of their own knows it is human nature to want to leave a legacy for the ones they leave behind!
       I do not believe Teresa's decisions are anywhere close to being good business decisions!  If Dale Earnhardt Inc. loses Dale Jr., it will not be worth owning!  Dale Sr. may have founded the company.  Teresa may now own and run the company.  But, Dale Jr. made the company!  Teresa may be creating a legacy for herself which will never be forgotten in the racing world.  She may actually go down in history as the most hated person in NASCAR history!  Everyone who loved Dale Sr. (including myself) will never forgive her.  Everyone who loves Dale Jr. (including myself) will never forgive her.  Virtually every NASCAR fan, regardless of whether or not they liked Dale Sr., will grimace when they hear the mere mention of her name.  Does Teresa Earnhardt want to go down in history as the Marg Schotz of racing?  She better reevaluate where her life in racing will go without her stepson behind the wheel of the #8 Budweiser car!  Bankruptcy perhaps?  Anyway, what would it mean for Jr. if he left DEI?
       Dale Jr.'s future in racing looks bright almost regardless as to what he might do.  Any racing team would welcome Jr. with opened arms!  Sponsors are probably already drooling at the mouth wondering if they will soon have the opportunity to sponsor Jr.'s ride!  But, let us take a sensible look at what is out there for Jr. if he does decide to go elsewhere.           Unemployment?  Impossible!  Richard Childress Racing?  I believe it would be a good move for Dale Jr. if he was to go with Childress Racing.  I do not believe Junior needs to worry about the business part of racing right now.  Let Richard worry about the business side of racing.  Richard is a proven owner in the world of NASCAR.  Dale Jr. could focus primarily on racing.  If he does this, championships will soon follow!  But, with Childress racing comes distractions.  The major distraction being the possibility of driving the black #3.  Jr. does not need the pressure or distractions that come with that position.  He needs to be able to race, and he does not need to have to worry about anything other than that!  In all honesty, I believe one of the best scenarios would be if Dale Jr. could end up driving for Joe Gibbs!
      Joe Gibbs has emerged as one of the premiere owners in NASCAR.  Additionally, he has been able to produce championship's with Tony Stewart, and Denny Hamlin showed championship potential last year as well.  Dale Jr. would be going to a team where he would be surrounded by other drivers with talent (something not available at DEI).  He seems to have a decent friendship with Tony Stewart already, and it seems as if they always race well together on the track.  In my opinion, this is where Junior needs to go.  It would increase his chances to win championships, and it would come without the shadow left behind by his father at Childress Racing.  The only bad decision I believe Dale Jr. could make would be to drive a Toyota!  I do not believe diehard Earnhardt fans could stomach seeing Jr. driving a Camry!  Let me know what you think, and good luck Dale!