Over the past two years, my wife and I have done five NASCAR experiences through the Foundation. During the ultimate VIP experience, we were gifted a rain shortened victory by Dale Jr. This may have been one of the most memorable for us because our friend Timothy Peters won the truck race on Friday so we visited victory lane twice that weekend. During our experience in victory lane we left with cap signed by Dale, Greg, Amy and Mr H! In another experience, we found ourselves in the owner/driver coach lot talking to Denny Hamlin.
Our most recent experience was NASCAR the Cruise. The NASCAR personalities were everywhere we were and willingly gave their time to take pictures, sign autographs and even share a story or two. Dale came on board in Key West and addressed the fans in a question and answer session followed by a photo opportunity with each passenger! Breakfast with Rusty Wallace, what could be better than sharing breakfast with a NASCAR Champion who is just a great person. We talked for an hour and to be honest I was so engaged in our conversation I never finished my omlet! We found this cruise to be most interesting because of the diversity of personalities. We are recent additions to the NASCAR fan base so to talk to Donnie and Pat Allison and Dale Inman (he was our next-door neighbor) was awesome!
Many times, me and my wife have sat inside the garage and talked about how amazing it is that two normal people can be so close to the sport and athletes that we are in awe of. We have collected several hundred autographs and as many pictures. Not only have we made some amazing memories we have been able to give back at the same time as our investments in these experiences help children, what can be better than that?
~Shawn and Roxann
