Motorsports Memories: Father’s Day Edition
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
With today being Fathers Day, the writers of Beyond The Flag wanted to take a few minutes to share their favorite racing memories with their fathers. Feel free to share your own with us by typing in the comments below and Happy Fathers day from all of us at Beyond The Flag!
More from Jeff Gordon
- NASCAR: Jeff Gordon eyeing future Truck Series race at Martinsville?
- NASCAR: Could Jeff Gordon leave TV after 2018?
- Indy 500: The Best Drivers To Never Race
- Jeff Gordon To Drive In 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona
- NASCAR: Jeff Gordon Takes Part In Whelen Euro Series Finals At Zolder
Joseph Sheldon I can credit my father for my love of all things racing related, including NASCAR.Primarily a drag racer from a long line of drag racers, it was a bit of a surprise for him when I became a NASCAR fan, but he acted accordingly and we ended up attending our first race in 2001 at the Texas Motor Speedway. Granted, I’m sure we looked like Jed Clampett and son, we were so in awe of the atmosphere. But we had fun watching Dale Jarrett take the checkers, and the spring trip sort of became our thing for awhile.
Amy Marbach My favorite memory is going to my first race- my dad surprised me when I was in high school with tickets to the CART race out at Laguna Seca. He even sprung for paddock passes. He let me miss school that Friday and I remember just wandering around the paddock in awe. My favorite driver was Danny Sullivan and I got his autograph and a couple other drivers but my favorite part was watching the crews work on the cars! And the sound they made coming down the hill is cemented in my brain! I had been watching these cars on tv since I was about 7 or so but seeing them live in person just solidified my love of motorsports in general.
Weber-USA TODAY Sports
Cole Mentzel I have to give credit to my dad for getting me into NASCAR. He had been a Jeff Gordon fan for the few years Jeff was in NASCAR before I was born. Ever since I was a young child, I remember me and him watching the race every Sunday and always rooting hard for Jeff Gordon. Without him, I might not be such a passionate NASCAR fan and I certainly would’ve never known about Jeff and the #24 car that I’ve literally been watching and going for my whole life!
Brian Thornsburg I remember playing NASCAR video games with my dad every Friday and Saturday night. I would pick Jeff Gordon and he would pick Dale Earnhardt. He beat me every single time he played, but I loved the trash talk we would toss at each other during ever race. It even got to the point where I would find a tape recorder and record myself trashing his driving skills and boasting about how I would beat him the next time we played the game.
My dad even bought me a collection of toy NASCAR race cars to line up and race every Sunday on my coffee table. I would also announce the pretend races myself and do replays when the toy cars crashed into each other. Even when the day’s race was over, I would play with my cars until the moment my parents sent me to bed.
I will always appreciate my dad for getting me into NASCAR as child, in fact, I don’t think there was one single weekend where we didn’t have the race playing in the living room. To me, that wasn’t only entertainment, but also wonderful family time as well. I honestly always looked forward to that time with my dad every Sunday and I will never forget those memories.