I grew up about 15 miles from Talladega Superspeedway and remember a lot of good times there in my youth. I was anti-3 for a long time and I guess sometime around '92 or so I was in Turkey and we watched NASCAR every chance we got and I reckon that's when I became a fan.
I fondly remember driving back from the hunting club when he made that remarkable run from 18th to 1st at Talladega in 2000. I had to stop and pee at that rest area around Eutaw but I parked and just left the truck running so I could hear the radio and pissed in the grass.
I didn't know the severity of the wreck at the time. I had to leave right after the race and drive to a job site in Florida. That was a long tough drive that night.
Like a lot of others, I haven't watched a complete race since.
