I Can't Believe We Made It

As we approach the beginning of the pavement racing season, as well as the kickoff of the dirt track season (where it’s warm enough to race, anyway), I find myself with butterflies in my stomach.  And somehow, at the same time, I’m nostalgic and pensive.  Wasn’t it only 2 months ago that we were in the throes of the NASCAR offseason, with seemingly no light at the end of the tunnel?  And now look at us.  The 500 is in 2 days, Florida speedweeks has flown by, and local circle tracks are counting down the days until opening night.  Started from the bottom—now we here, peeps!!

 

But I can’t help but dwell, just a little bit, on the past couple of months and how it’s shaped where I am now.  Where we all are, now.  The lot of us: racefans, trophy girls, race car drivers, promoters, wannabes, and everyone else…Hasn’t the thought, thrill, and promise of upcoming racing gotten us through the dark times?  Haven’t we been supportive of each other to the best of our abilities?  Haven’t we trash-talked, went to racing expos, and been glued to twitter and any social media for rumblings of the racing world?  We have.  And it’s how we’ve survived.  Dr. ARF said that this would happen, that we would get through this together.  Because we’ve survived, I feel like the racing community has bonded in a whole, brand-new way—and I love everyone even more than when I first met you all.  I feel so full of hope for our futures.

 

We’re all going to be okay for the next 8 months.  We’re going to watch racing, go to races, be with race people, and race our hearts out and we’ll have everything we need to do that.  And I guess I just wanted to say thank you, and you’re welcome, and jump up and down and scream and shout and cheer because we’re finally here: the precipice of NASCAR season. 

 

I love you all, more than simple words could express.

 

Cancel your plans: we’re watching the Daytona 500.

<3/Lainey

Miss NOD Awareness 2015

Bedtime Stories

Hi peeps. I love you, never forget that :)

As you may know, Finch refuses to tell me bedtime stories but once every couple months or so I convince him to get involved.  This weeks installment:

 

Me: I think I need a bedtime story

Finch: *pretends to be sleeping*

Me: what do you think it should be about?

Finch: I don’t want to tell a bed time story

Me: it could be about…. Foxes.

Finch: … no…

Me: it could be about… coyotes

Finch: *nothing*

Me: it could be about… something really fluffy that hasn’t even been invented or discovered yet like maybe a hybrid mole that is really poofy until it has to go in the ground

Finch: *nothing*

Me: *brilliant idea* it could be about RACECARS!!!!

Finch: *rolling his eyes*

Me: Good!  Okay fine I’ll just tell it.  Once upon a time, there was a super late model with a sexy 430 and aluminum heads.  He was green and his name was Jeffrey.   Jeffrey LOVED going fast and turning left.  There was also a GIRL late model, a limited late with a steel block and steel heads and she was the color purple and her name was Johanna.  Johanna was Jeffrey’s girlfriend!  Jeffrey and Johanna would always see each other at the race track

Finch: *butting in* and one night, in the feature race..

Me: *interrupting* Babe! super lates and limited lates don’t usually race together..

Finch: *butting back in* during the feature race of an OPEN LATE MODEL CLASS, Jeffrey got a little loose in turn two and instead of going left, he went RIGHT!  He went right into the butt end of Johanna and flipped her up over the catch fence and down over the embankment and she bent her frame and she was junk!

Me: *GASPING* WHAT?

Finch: Jeffrey did not feel good about what happened.  So the next week in the feature, he downshifted going a hundred miles per hour and trashed the sexy aluminum 430.

Me: NO!

Finch: Yep.  And then they never raced again, either of them.

Me: … what exactly is the moral of that story??

Finch: Never race your girlfriend.

 

And that's how things are going in my life. <3

Cancel your plans-- NASCAR photo shoot for NOD awareness next week!