When I began this blog a little over nine months ago, I was a motorsports and travel rookie. Fresh and wide eyed from Oklahoma, I plunged head first into the world of 900 horsepower winged chariots and the wheelmen that make their living entertaining fans coast to coast only inches from one another. I remember meeting the drivers for the first time. I was timid at best as I shook hands with legends that I had idolized growing up. Others I met were guys who were my own age, chasing their own dreams. 65 race nights is quite a way to get to know people. You see them day in and day out at times. You see them at their best and at their worst, in victory and in defeat. As I sit here now in an empty cubicle getting ready to post my last blog as the PR Coordinator for this amazing series, I can’t help but think of all the memories from 2011.
We started out in Florida for the 40th Annual DIRTcar Nationals presented by UNOH. Talk about being thrown to the Lions Den! From the get go, this was a job that very much was “learn as you go.” On my very first t-shirt throwing excursion, I was flashed by an elderly biker chick. Needless to say……. she got an Armor All shirt. Aside from seeing some interesting things, Florida was my proving grounds. Could I handle the job? Could I complete all the tasks? I left Florida with a renewed respect for what it takes to put on an event and for what all my job would entail.
From Florida, my next trip was to the gulf coast area and my first weekend excursion with series announcer, John Gibson. The most prominent memory from our first weekend traveling together was how good of a multi-tasker Gibson is behind the wheel. Somehow, he managed to eat a bowl of spicy gumbo, fire off a quick e-mail from his phone and select the appropriate playlist on his iPod all while dicing in an out of traffic on the Interstate. I was so awe struck that I barely noticed the near collisions and onslaught of high beams that seemed to be headed straight for our small Chevy HHR.
The adventures with Gibson would continue to get better as we picked up our program selling comrade, Cinnamon Stubb. The three of us went on to have more fun and antics than I can ever remember having. Perhaps the running gag that sustained itself the longest was when a hostess at a Japanese Steakhouse proclaimed us as a family (much to Gibson’s chargin.) Despite all the ragging and jokes, I have an immense respect for both Gibson and Cinnamon and count them among my closest friends.
The entire road crew is a special group of people in general. As the season rolled on through the spring and summer months, everyone came together to form a unit that is responsible for getting this traveling circus up and down the road. One of the funniest pranks of the year actually involved a good portion of the gang. During the rain out at the spring show at Knoxville, I had taped a nice sit down interview with Steve Kinser at the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and had just made it back to the Command Center off of turn three when I realized that the audio track was screwed up. I was livid and stressed out when the series director, Carlton Reimers, called me outside where him and the Farleys, Jim and Luci, were standing. He was getting after me about the rain out release when he finally just said, “You know, we need some ice in the Command Center.” He motioned me over to an ice cooler directly behind me. Without thinking, I lifted the lid and Carlton’s son, Justin, leaped at me from inside the cooler, yelling “boo!” According to eye-witness reports, I jumped a foot in the air, yelled a few words that would’ve made a sailor blush and slammed the door shut. Everyone one else was in tears from laughing so hard as I started to laugh myself. Carlton, Donnie, Steve, Jim, Luci, Eloy, Mark, Donna and Justin are some of the finest people I know and I feel very lucky for getting the chance to work with them. Whether it was Carlton yelling at me to make homemade confetti for the confetti cannon or Justin and I laughing because Frank Carr was doing some “window shopping,” we had a great time everywhere we went.
The rest of the season rolled along with a bump here and bump there. Nothing is ever perfect and there were frustrations along the way. This didn’t work right or that didn’t work right, someone didn’t call back or so. Once I learned how to roll with the punches, things got better. I started enjoying the traveling more and it didn’t bother me to be gone from home for five weeks on end.
Wrapping up the season with the Lowes Foods World Finals was truly a special thing. You have all three of the major dirt racing divisions in one area for one season ending event. As exciting as the sprint cars were, the late models stole the show. With Rick Eckert and Josh Richards being locked into a very tight points battle, the stage was set perfectly for Saturday night’s final race. With the cameras from SPEED TV capturing all of the action live, Eckert trailed Richards when they took the white flag. Richards blew a tire and Eckert sped past to claim the championship. If that type of finish can’t make you a race fan, I don’t know what will.
As the dust settles on 2011, it’s time to begin making preparations for 2012. The new year will mean a new job ole Gump. I will be moving over to Elite Racing to handle marketing and communications for the two-time World of Outlaws Champions. It was an opportunity that I couldn't turn down. I'm very excited about my new role and will use it to continue to provide awesome content to the fans of sprint car racing.
This season has been an absolute blast and very much a learning experience. What is amazing to me is that I still got a tingle in my spine when the field took the green flag at Charlotte. I’ve been to over 60 races this year and to still have gotten that feeling tells me that this is something I truly love and enjoy doing. Before I get out of here, I need to thank Chris Dolack and World Racing Group for the tremendous opportunity they afforded this rookie in 2011. They had enough belief and patience in me to see it through to the end and I really appreciate that. I also need to thank all of the media members and photographers around the country who made my job much easier by sharing their wonderful content with myself and the world. Additional thank you's goto the drivers and teams for putting up with me all year (and coming out for post race interviews after a tough loss.) Last, but certainly not least, I need to thank the fans and those of you who followed my adventures this season. I hope you had as much fun reading and watching as I did experiencing it.
Have a Happy Holiday season and see you at the track in 2012!
Gump
