I think about Alan at Bristol too,

Im afraid to pick a new driver, I was a Blaine Johnson
drag racer fan, he died at Indy, then I picked Kenny
in the trucks after I met him after his first truck
race in Phoenix 1996 and Adam Petty was my Bush
driver, So after we lost all of them, I just dont want
to, just incase.

I still think about Kenny everyday, I think even if I
didnt have all the memorbilia I would still think
about him, if you ever met Kenny you would know what I
mean there was something about him, that you dont see
in most people.

I just bought one of Kennys helmets from Nascar of all
people, Nice helmet, someday I may give it to the
Irwins along with the rookie firesuit and all the
Kenny sheetmetal I have.

Hope everyone is well.

Take Care
Eric
--- gjl24 <gjl24@...> wrote:

> Hey everyone! Since no one has posted in a while, I
> thought I would
> break the silence. As you know, Bristol race
> weekend is here, an event
> that brings back so many memories. Jerry, your blog
> about Alan
> Kulwicki has inspired me to tell my own Bristol
> stories. I live in
> Southwestern Virginia, approximately 12 miles from
> Bristol and 24 miles
> from the track. I remember Alan's death very well.
> It was 1993, and I
> was a very green, recent law school graduate who was
> waiting on results
> from the bar exam. Race weekend is a big event in
> our area. In those
> days, many of the local businesses would have
> drivers signing
> autographs the Thursday evening before the race. My
> husband and I had
> driven around to see if we could pick up any of the
> driver handout
> cards anywhere. On the 11 o'clock news that night,
> the lead story was
> about a plane crash in the Blountville area and
> about area fire
> fighters going to the scene. When we got up the
> next morning, the
> Bristol newspaper headlined Alan Kulwicki's death.
> We were stunned. A
> few short months earlier, Alan had dazzled the
> racing world when he won
> the championship in Atlanta. Now, he was gone. I
> also remember the
> image of Alan's hauler leaving the track with Doyle
> Ford waving the
> checkered flag in tribute. Alan's death cast a long
> shadow over the
> rest of the weekend. Somewhere at home I have a
> picture of a wreath
> placed at souvenir row where Alan's souvenir trailer
> would have been
> parked.
>
> The Saturday before that race, fourteen years ago
> (yikes), some friends
> from work and I got up very early to eat breakfast
> at the Bonfire
> Restaurant on Volunteer Parkway because we heard
> that Davey Allison ate
> there on race weekends. The server was just getting
> ready to take our
> order when we saw Davey heading toward the checkout
> counter. As we
> jumped up, one of the girls in my group told the
> server, "Honey, you'll
> have to come back." We were going to see Davey! We
> didn't even get
> his autograph, but we all got our picture made with
> him, individually
> and in a group. I have the picture sitting on my
> desk today. Davey
> acted like he had all the time in the world for us.
> From that day, I
> went from being a casual Nascar fan to a devoted
> one. I bought my
> first 1/64 diecast car (of Davey, of course) that
> afternoon. Sadly, we
> would lose Davey about 3 months later.
>
> Like Jerry, I picked Jeff Gordon as my favorite
> driver after Davey's
> death. He and I were "rookies" the same year and
> I'm so happy about
> all that he has accomplished. In 1997, Kenny Irwin
> caught my eye when
> he was racing in the truck series. I was thrilled
> for him when Robert
> Yates named him the driver of the 28. In 2000,
> Kenny appeared at Race
> Night, an event that the Food City stores in our
> area host every
> Bristol race weekend. I got Kenny's autograph that
> evening and had a
> chance to wish him good luck. I still miss seeing
> him on the track.
>
> Nascar has changed so much since 1993. Some changes
> have been good,
> others not so good. I don't like the fact that the
> Busch Series is
> dominated by Cup drivers now. I don't like the fact
> that the drivers
> who post one of the top 43 qualifying speeds may not
> make the race if
> they're not in the top 35 point positions. I don't
> like the fact that
> the drivers are inaccessible now. In 1993, several
> top name drivers,
> including Davey, Dale Jarrett, Kyle Petty, and Jeff
> Gordon, played in a
> softball game before the Spring race in
> Martinsville. What are the
> chances of that happening now? I wonder what Alan,
> Davey, and Kenny
> would think of all the changes?
>
> I hope that all of you are doing well. I miss
> reading your posts.
> Have a great day! Ginger
>
>




________________________________________________________________________________\
____
We won't tell. Get more on shows you hate to love
(and love to hate): Yahoo! TV's Guilty Pleasures list.
http://tv.yahoo.com/collections/265