NASCAR--It's FAN-tastic!

Confession time....
My name is Melanie and I'm a NASCAR fan! It's true, I like it, I like it a lot! When Darren & I got married nearly 19 years ago, I also gained a speedy stepchild....I knew that part of my role as a dutiful wife, I would be expected to update my working husband with running positions, pit-stop times, wrecks, bang-ups and other details such as who took on 2 tires vs 4 tires, gas n' go's and drafting partners. Lost yet? If not, you must be a fan too.

I will never forget my very first NASCAR race. It was the year that Richard Petty was on his farewell tour. We drove from Logan, Utah to Phoenix, Arizona with our friend, Tarlton. We spent our first night in Las Vegas after driving through a blinding snowstorm in Cedar City. The morning we got up and drove to Phoenix. Having no idea when we booked the hotel, we inadvertantly ended up in a scary part of town. Tarlton & his silver barrelled side-kick were there to protect though! The morning of the race, we were SO EXCITED! None of us had ever been to a "real live" race before. When we got to the track I was amazed at the sheer size of it all. It was HUGE! The warm Arizona sun felt so nice in October. We put our feet up and basked in the sun....until.....ROAR!!! As soon as the announcer commanded "Gentlemen, Start Your Engines"....something magical happened inside of me. This gruntal adrenaline was released deep within me. I had never experienced something like it before, and I liked it. I liked it a lot! Everytime those cars raced by us down in turn 4 the wind off of those cars widened the grin on my face. I had found my sport! I was HOOKED!


The next 4 years found us at the track and we loved every minute of it. It was something that most of our friends didn't understand and we were ok with it. It was "OUR THING". But then, as sometimes happens, things changed when we had a baby. We moved soon after Karlee was born and we couldn't afford the long distance travel. About 8 years later we were given the opportunity to go to the race in Las Vegas. We were thrilled! We went with Darren's brother, Mark and his wife Debbie! Now this was cool....we were back to Racin' and spending time with family! We were back on track.

After a few years of kinks it became an issue with farmin' out the kids and still having our time. One year we got a call: "You'd better come home, Carson's got the chicken pox". One year it was "Hey Mel, maybe I'll just go with the guys" and one year the CHF symptoms made me rethink all of the walking and I decided it was maybe time for Darren just to go with the guys. It was such a mixed up emotional decision. Last March I decided to regain control of "Our Thing". It was the only thing that Darren & I did that nobody else really understood. The previous year we had met some great friends there and while I hung out with the wife, the guys did their thing. I LOVED spending time with my sweet friend, but I also just really wanted to be with my hubby. I missed it. I realized that I wanted my cake and I wanted to eat it too. I beat myself up for months trying to decide what to do. I wanted to spend time with my friend but longed to be side by side with my husband at the track. Darren let me make the decision. So when I found myself next to him in Vegas this year it felt RIGHT!


So now here we are in October. The NASCAR race is in Phoenix this weekend. We are leaving in the morning for Phoenix. But I'm not going to the race. Darren decided this was an opportunity for him to go with some friends. I'm trying to be ok with it. I am looking forward to spending some great scrapbooking/stamping time with my sweet friend. But that ol' green monster is roaring to life and I keep remembering how it felt to walk up to the fence and be within feet of Richard "The King" Petty or how it felt to shake the strong and weathered hand of "Handsome Harry" Gant or brush by Darrell "D.W." Waltrip and feel that rush of excitement. I'm hoping Darren has a great time with his friends, and I know that I will have a BLAST with my friend. I just hope the time will come when we can also return to PIR (Phoenix International Raceway) together, just the two of us.