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July 24, 1998 One Day In The Life Of A Race Car Jane Smith
It is Friday. The sun is out for now, looks like a pretty good day. My old body is still in one piece but sometimes a little sore. Had to go to the track on Wednesday night this week, had to practice. Not me you understand since I am the car and I know what to do, but a lady with a very soft touch and sweet voice. She told me that she was going to be my new driver soon and that she just wanted to know how I handled. Now that could make a car mad to hear that but her sweet voice kept me calm.
Time to get the battery charger out and give me some new energy. This is very important, kindof my vitamin pill for the day. But just as I felt that energy start pumping up, an explosion below me. Oh no, the battery charger bit the dust. This can't be, no, not today!!! I have to show my stuff tonight. But a sweet lady comes to my rescue and gets me a new battery charger. With her help, energy flows once more in this old body.
Now that I am getting energy for tonight, maybe you better check my oil too. Hey, I could use an oil change and new filter. It feels alittle thick to me. But I have good people and they do take care of me. Someone read my mind and I now have a brand new filter and fresh oil. Water is okay, so is transmission fluid.
Tires -- hey, hey, I got one that just does not feel right!! No wonder, it is showing cord. Better get busy and find me a tire. Don't want to blow one and end up somewhere I don't want to be. No sense in hurting me or you. Much better, thank you, you found one that fits just right. Don't worry, my driver will check tire pressure at track, he is good about that. I know he loves me because he takes good care of me always.
Guess I am all set to be chained down on trailer and transported to the track. Hey, How do I look?? Pretty good especially with this Jeff Gordon paint job. It doesn't make me win but the kids love me. And besides, winning isn't everything. We started this as fun and for a family sport and personally, I have got a great family. Can't wait for that soft touch and sweet voice girl to start racing me.
My energy is ready, my windshield is being cleaned, and my driver is climbing in. Guess it is time to play with my friends. One last look at my family and a pat on my old rear-end and off I go. What a great life I have.
July 22, 1998 What A Feeling Jane Smith
Sometimes in racing, you experience feelings that you honestly never expected. There is the "first win", the first "oh no, I hit the wall", and the ultimate feeling - having a driver want to fight you after a race because he wrecked his car trying to wreck your's. That feeling I can do without.
But last weekend really was "What a Feeling" for me. A fellow racer, and a very good friend of our's, beat my husband and won his "First Race." I imagine everyone in the pit grandstands thought me nuts since I could not sit still and I was yelling my lungs out for the top three drivers, my husband included. As the laps dwindled down to one left, there was a caution so our friend lost his lead and was put neck in neck with my husband. Now my husband is pretty good at re-starts so I knew he had a chance to win and he did pull ahead of him but the car did a little wiggle and he had to let off some to regain control and our friend won by a few feet.
But you know something funny, we really won too because it was us who went over to their house about an hour away for several nights and pulled the blown engine from that car and replaced it with the engine that won. We did it because they needed help and they are our friends. We did it because we have raced against each other for almost a year and stayed friends. We did it because they are our friends.
So when the race was over and the top five cars were at the start-finish line for pictures and trophies, it was my husband who got the first "hug" from the new winner. And when our friend asked, "did you let me win, did you give me that race" the answer was a flat no. You earned that win.
So when the phone rang at 2:30 A.M. that morning, it was our friend who had to say one more time how much he appreciated all our help in making his dream come true ''JUST ONE WIN".
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Jane July 14, 1998 A Different View Jane Smith
Last weekend was a very special weekend for my family. Finally, after almost two years, unspeakable amounts of money, blood, sweat, tears and a number of engines, we got our first win ever at stock car racing. Now, it was my husband driving the car but the win really goes to Ms. Buick because she is the one who pushed herself to the limit.
Once she got the lead, she was not going to let it go. Her slightly crooked front bumper was smiling as she glided between turns three and four. Her tires were squealling but sticking tight to the asphalt where she wanted them.
And she had no smoking problems or coughs or sneezes tonight. It was her night. She was so excited that when her dad stopped at the start-finish line to get his trophy and picture made, she made sure not to blow water all over the nice people standing at the grandstand fence watching.
With her slightly dirty Jeff Gordon paint job, she looked every part a WINNER.Yes, finally, after all the abuse you have been given over these almost two years, Ms. Buick won a race. She trusted us to take care of her and we trusted her to take care of us. She raced clean, she did it in style and yes, she is a WINNER. And she made her parents very proud of her.
Jane
July 13, 1998 WANTED: Race Fans Jane Smith
Lately I have asked alot of our Florida Stock Car Drivers why they race. Is it for the money, the power and excitement, the ego or the fans? What makes them go to the track week after week? What makes them work all day long and come home bone tired and still work on their cars? Guess what guys, it is you, the fans!!!
Winning is great but as you all know, no one wins all the time except for maybe Jeff Gordon and he does win alot. But it is having someone yell your name and say "go man go" and "well done" that they love to hear. It is the little kids coming up to them and asking for an autograph or maybe their trophy or even sometimes, sign my shirt. This makes a racer's heart beat.
We race on a very low budget in our house so I have done alot of things that most women usually don't or won't do. I have melted my fingernails, burned holes in my hands, and got car grease in my finger so bad that I could not move it. I have been greasy from my toes to my nose and I personally know almost every auto parts service person in Brevard County. Why, because I love racing also. I like watching fans with happy faces cheering on their favorite drivers and hopefully meeting a few of them after the races. I especially love watching small children around the drivers and the excitement and thrill on their little faces meeting their favorite driver.
And I still have alot of fan in me. I still yell my lungs out for my favorite drivers and usually come home voiceless on the weekends. But these guys deserve that and alot more. They need you - racing fans. I know you are there and I know every race car driver in the state of Florida would love having you at their track and in their corner. You make racing fun and racing needs your support.
So please, all you race fans out there, come and support your local track and drivers. They race for you and you do make a difference.
Jane
July 8, 1998 We All Need Help Sometime Jane Smith
As most of you know if you race anywhere, unless you have sponsors, takingcare of and fixing your car is your own responsibility. But since we are human, we all need help at one time or another. And most of us can't afford our own mechanics so we depend on each other. But it always sticks in the back of someone mind's if that person helping you is going to really help you or fix it so your car won't be faster than his. We have never had that happen but once a friend of our's wife thought my husband purposely did that to him.
We had just started racing and meeting new people. My husband has never pretended to be an auto mechanic, he is most definitely one heck of a plumber, but this guy knew less than my husband and he honestly needed help with his car. He was having an overheating problem and bought a new racing fan at the track. Being that this racing fan really didn't have blades that were bent one way or the other, my husband just put it on. But when we started the car, guess what - the air blew out over the radiator instead of in on it. The guy knew it was just a simple mistake but his wife did not and for a long time she did not like my husband. But with time comes trust and getting to know someone and once that happened, all was forgiven.
If racers did not stick together and help each other, then there would be a whole lot less of us. We find time to help each other whether it is pulling out a blown engine and putting in a new one, cutting off a front clip and replacing one, or even finding a new car when one is no longer raceable. Our big oak tree in the front yard has pulled many engines for people including us and will do it whenever someone needs help.
People say we are a crazy breed, blowing all that money on 15 laps of fun but until you try it, you can't really understand. You find lifelong friends at the race track, a whole new family and we do help each other. And, we eventually learn how to put fans on to blow in on the radiator.
Jane
July 4, 1998 Only A Memory Jane Smith
Today was to have been a very special day to a lot of us. Today was the first night time race ever at Daytona. But instead of watching that race and all the fireworks they had planned for the 4th of July celebration, we are sitting close to our T.V.'s and the latest news of Florida on Fire. Central Florida and even the great Daytona International Raceway has been in danger for days. The big trucks somehow made it thru that long tunnel at Daytona but they never unloaded because of all the smoke and ash in the air. Mr. France made a wise decision to postpose that race not only because of the smoke and ash but because so many roads had fires on them and all the fans would have a terrible time even getting to the track. And it is alittle hard to have a good time when so many people were in danger of losing their homes and everything they owned.
So far we have been lucky and have not lost anything but memories. It will be years before our way to the race tracks that we race on are ever the same. All the beautiful trees on that road are gone. Some of the small businesses and homes on that road are gone along with some of the wildlife that lived there. So many times we have driven this road not really seeing how beautiful it was, now we may never see it's beauty again.
Because I live in Brevard County and it was and is still on fire, I would like to thank all the fire fighters who have worked so hard and long trying to save our Florida. To all those NASCAR fire fighters from so many NASCAR tracks, we will never forget your generosity and kindness in fighting our fires. And Mr. France, you are a true gentleman in donating your speedway to house firefighters and who ever needed help. Some may have been mad when you postponed the race but it was the right decision.
The roads to our tracks may never be the same but thank goodness, we have lost no lives in this fire. We will race again, we will see the Pepsi 400 in October and someday this black July 4th will be only a memory.
Jane
