The true story of how Grandma Baba, aka Barbara Sue, became addicted to Nascar.
In 1995 the first of my 3 handsome grandsons was born. From the start I knew that any grandchildren I would be blessed with, would turn out to be sports orientated, as our whole family was this way, starting with his own Mom and Dad, uncles, aunts, cousins, etc...I believe I am the only one in our family who never played a sport or was really into any particular sport.
When he was growing up his Dad loved his sports. So by the age of almost two he could pick out the sports teams his Dad watched, plus of course had a specific sports hat to wear around the living room that went with the current sports event being shown on TV at that moment. He liked the Cincinnati Reds, The Cincinnati Bengals, Xavier Muskeeters, and Cincinnati Bearcats. BUT what he enjoyed the most was NASCAR.. Jeff Gordon, #24 being his favorite, and I was the one who bought him his Jeff Gordon race hat. Soon he could spot the other drivers by their car numbers..Tony Stewart #20, Bobby Labonte, #43. and off course the UPS car of Dale Jarrett, #88. My favorite soon became Jeff Gordon.. I also liked Joe Nemecheck #11, Mark Martin #6, I booed Kevin Harvick, first Kurt Busch, and then eventually his brother Kyle Busch. For Halloween when he was 4, I bought him a Jeff Gordon outfit, complete from head to toe and it was the hit of the neighborhood. Then my second grandsom was born, getting into Nascar also, except he hated Jeff Gordon, loved Dale Jr and Jeff Burton..Then the rivalary began--more racing hats were bought, each representing the favorite racer of the moment. But, I still liked Jeff Gordon. My grandsons told me that nobody liked him and to listen how he was booed at all the tracks. Well, that made me root for him more.
When Halloween rolled around for my 2nd grandson at age of four, guess what he was supposed to wear? Yep, the Jeff Gordon outfit.. But he threw such a fit, that I got him a Dale Jr hat and he ended up putting stickers on his jeans jacket and wearing the Dale Jr. hat-and passed himself off as how Dale Jr looked went he wasn't racing. As for me, my Nascar favorite was still #24. My grandsons were kinda shaking their heads by this time. Whenever I babysat them, if Nascar was on TV they had to watch it, that is how I got hooked on it.
Soon after, number 3 grandson was born...and reached the age of two, the tradition pretty much continued as he followed his brothers liking for Nascar, except he liked Tony Stewart, Denny Hamblin, Matt and Jimmie, and Kyle Busch. But his favorite was Kasey Kahne when he came along. He did not like Gordon and gave him the thumbs down or a boo whenever he was racing. I stuck to my favorite...Now, 11 years have gone by, Nascar has been replaced by my grandsons own sports, such as soccer, basketball, and baseball , Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and also the home teams , like the Musketeers and Bearcats.. So, here I am, the only family member still into Nascar..Guess what number 3 grandson wore this year for Halloween?? Yep, the Jeff Gordon outfit..Not sure he if minded or not, but the candy took preference.
So everything has come full circle, except that I am still hooked on Nascar and I doubt that it will be removed from my system anytime soon...Know anyone who needs a Jeff Gordon halloween costume for next year? Is there anyone out there who still likes Jeff Gordon??? I need my weekly dose of Nascar to keep me sane. Thanks for dropping by. In case you are interested, I am writing this as the chase in Texas is still going on, Tony Stewart has been dominating the race, it is lap 260 of 334 laps, Jeff Gordon is in 13th place-have to go now as I have to root #24 home.
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Reviewed by Elizabeth Taylor
11/15/2006
My husband is a Martin fan.
Thanks for this. I read it to him and he enjoyed it too.
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