I’ve had the opportunity to do a lot of neat things in my life. I’ve been to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. to visit with the wounded soldiers, walked across the Hoover Dam and flown to Iraq. This past week I was able to be a part of another cool event, the Grand 0pening of the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, N.C.
Lindy and I took a few days off after Kansas to relax down at Myrtle Beach, and then we headed home so that I could join some of my fellow drivers at the Hall of Fame Grand Opening. I was at the ground breaking ceremony a few years ago; to see how far they have come in such a short period of time is incredible.
I sat on stage with some of my fellow Truck Series champions Jack Sprague, Mike Skinner, Todd Bodine and Johnny Benson. I was also joined on stage by two of my former owners, Richard Childress and Teresa Earnhardt. The coolest part of the event was when I was able to join Teresa, Jack Ingram, Darrel Waltrip, Brian France and Lesa France Kennedy and walk down and put our ‘hard cards’ in the kiosk that actually opened the Hall of Fame to the public. There are some moments you will never forget; for me that is one of them.
Following the formal ceremony we had the chance to go in the Hall of Fame and look around for ourselves. The first thing you see when you walk in is what they call ‘Glory Road’ where they have a lot of old cars from racing’s past. I was really proud to see one of my trucks up there on the road; really it was Dale Earnhardt’s truck he built it. I wasn’t scheduled to run that particular truck, I had never even sat in the seat, it wasn’t a part of the Hornaday fleet, and its only intention was for Dale to compete in it when he wanted to. But, I ended up having to run it because I wrecked my truck at Watkins Glen. After the wreck Dale told me ‘you’re going to take my truck and race it’. I think we ended up finishing fifth with it after starting in the back. He always called that truck ‘Fancy’ that’s always been his truck. It was fitting because that truck with my name on it sat right next to the number three car that he made famous.
I had also given the Hall of Fame an old helmet of mine and some gloves which are in a display case upstairs. It is really humbling to see your name and photo inside the Hall of Fame. Someone asked me who I would like to see as next year’s inductees. I would really like to see everyone inducted into it. Everyone who has ever climbed in a race car at either the national or local level deserves to have their names added to the history books.
Going to things like the Hall of Fame makes me look back on all the good times I have had throughout my career. I’m very lucky to have worked for such great people. Dale was the first person to give me a chance and believe in me, now I have the same thing in Kevin and DeLana. I’m really a lucky guy who has been given a lot. There are so many people I could thank who have gotten me to where I am today but this page could never hold all the names.
As I left the Hall of Fame my mind immediately turned to Dover. I was really lucky in Kansas to finish second, after our tire rub and the ‘dance’ with Johnny, now we head to another one of my favorite tracks. The Monster Mile has been pretty good to me. I have a win and a pole at the concrete track and we have led a bunch of laps. Last year we had a really hard crash after we cut down a right-front tire. The good part of that whole deal, if there is a good part when you wreck, is that we were leading and the truck was really fast. I’m excited for this weekend; we should have a good truck because KHI has always been really good on concrete tracks. The last one we raced on was Nashville a month ago and KHI finished 2-3 with Harvick and I.
As we start a four-week stretch in the Truck Series, I’m looking forward to racing every week for a little while. After Dover, we head to two more of my favorite tracks, Charlotte and Texas. Our 1.5-mile program at KHI has made huge gains in the last few years. I’m looking forward to seeing what Doug George and the guys can do as we head into the summer months.
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