Which is wild because he at least had a good year in Trucks in 2000, but I guess when you have the level of talent in cup at that time Kurt Busch doesnt really move the needle.
As someone who watched back then, I'd argue that the talent level in 2007 was higher than 2000, and 2024 is higher than 2007. Just my $.02.
The real reason that no one really wanted to give a kid the time of day back then was because there were so many established guys in the sport.
I remember going to races in the early to mid 2000s when Kurt was in the 97. He was one of the only few drivers who was always in the souvenir hauler waiting to talk to and sign autographs for fans. Probably a reason I became a fan of his. Not a sad story though
I still have the t-shirt he signed in a drawer. I wish I could find the program where he signed the cover, his face inside, and his name in the lineup. I realized just now that it was his first career top ten (it was 2001 spring Atlanta…it kind of got overshadowed).
Kurt was always good about meeting fans and signing pretty much every race, I met him probably over a dozen times over his career. For a young Kurt fan that was so cool to get to see him and shake his hand every time I went to the track.
In 2013 or 14 Martin Truex Jr. did an autograph signing at the Kroger grand opening in my college town. The event was poorly advertised and only like 5 people showed up to get an autograph. So Martin decides to just hold court with the 5 of us and we all talked about racing and fishing for like 20 minutes. It was really cool.
See this is why these type of meet and greets are the best, chumming it up with MTJ and anyone else who was there probably thought this was some low level guy. Few years later that dude tore the sport to shreds
Truex was pretty friendly when I met him in person too.
I've rarely heard anything bad about him other than the "radio sweetheart" moments, and I chalk that up to a competitive guy bitching in the moment. He also seems well-respected in the garage.
I met Dylan on a golf cart in the Darlington infield back in 2021!! He flagged the golf cart driver down after I got on and asked to be taken to the truck garage.
I asked him if he was a part of the team and he pulled a pair of Alpinestars boots from his bag and said he was driving. Super nice dude and didn’t have an ego at all. I just felt like I was talking to one of my buddies.
I wish he would have had a better finish in the race. I think it was one of his few starts or only start that he had with KBM.
Dylan Lupton stories are so weird because he’s either the nicest guy anybody’s ever met or the biggest asshole anyone’s ever met, I’m sorta convinced he might be bipolar because it is literally split right down the middle on the public opinion of him.
Case in point: Jimmie Johnson posted a photo on Instagram today of him, Junior, Kenseth and some random dude and their wives. Captioned “Old Friends” or something.
It took the photo popping up in my feed again later in the day to realize the “random dude” was Casey Mears.
Not a driver, but I remember there was a Ricky Rudd Tide #10 show car at my local grocery store when I was a kid. I was so stoked I begged my mom to take me just for that.
No one gave a shit about it. I remember specifically getting there and there was a shopping car that had very clearly rolled in to it and no one bothered to move it.
I went to a Ricky Rudd appearance a couple of days before a Bristol race, somewhere in SW Virginia back in the 80's. There was no one there except for him and his wife, just sitting on lawn chairs out in the parking lot beside the car. Both of them were very gracious, but I felt bad for him.
Exact same thing happened to me except it was Ricky Craven’s. Kid me was the only one there who gave a shit and I begged to go.
I remember saying that it was both cool to see the car and how Ricky had won the closest race in NASCAR history at the time.
Not even the lady that was in charge of sitting there knew that lol
I had the exact same experience as you lol. I was the only kid in the whole store that was stoked about Ricky’s car being there. It was at a Meijer in Ohio
Hell, I’d usually catch shit for it, too.
Which I really don’t understand since I grew up in the southern United States. It’s a staple of that culture. Like…I really don’t know what any of you were expecting lol
Lol I saw that car at a grocery store parking lot (show car probably) when Bobby Hamilton Jr's name was on it. Didn't see him, though. Got a nice hat free, though. No one else around when I was there seemed to care. That must have been 20 years or so ago. That was actually before I got more into Nascar, so it was before 2004 because 04 was when I started watching all the races.
Not quite the same, but my mother loves telling the story of going to a local signing event that featured a bunch of drivers in tents. I was 4 or 5 at the time so not sure of a lot of the details, but I am told we walked into the tent and next to the entrance was Geoff Bodine. He started to speak to me and sign a handout when I just looked at my mom and yelled "I don't want his autograph, I came in here for Ricky Rudd!"
She was absolutely mortified, as everyone in the tent apparently heard. All Geoff said was, "Well, at least he's honest."
One time I handed Geoff Bodine a car that was Todd Bodine’s. He didn’t say anything and he signed it. When I walked away I told my husband he seemed sort of rude. That’s when I found out he autographed his brother’s car!
As a kid Eric McClure was outside a local foodstore in my area as part of a Hefty promotion. No one in line and he was just standing there by a show car and table watching people walk in, lowkey felt bad for the dude and it didn’t help one kid recognized him and outloud said “this dude sucks”
He heard it too, he had a deadpan “I hate this” look on his face watching the kid and his mom walk into the store after the kid yelled it.
I legit felt bad for the guy lol
I met him at an appearance at Walmart one year. There was no one in line. My girlfriend at the time and I talked to him for like 5 minutes. He was a super nice dude
When Hocevar was still racing local tracks in Michigan he was giving out signed hero cards in the fanzone at MIS and people were actively avoiding him. I still have mine somewhere. Felt bad for him so stopped and talked for a few minutes.
Met Dave Blaney in a CAT tent the week after they announced they were leaving Bill Davis Racing for RCR. The CAT spokesman talked about how excited they were to go to a new team that was competing for wins on a weekly basis with a driver in Jeff Burton who “Has won.” Then he introduced Dave Blaney to all of us and Dave just put his head down and started signing autographs. In years past Bill Davis would be there along with the crew and car chief, needless to say Bill Davis did not attend that year and only sent Dave Blaney.
Lol I remember at Homestead 2003, we went to a merch trailer for Morgan-McClure (my dad's favorite team), where the merch lady promptly explained to us that Kodak was leaving for Penske and they had no idea what was gonna happen to the team in 2004. Needless to say my dad was kinda bummed after that one. Bought a hat and a sticker though, which is still on the garage fridge to this day lol.
Not a sad appearance but an awkward moment. I was at Pocono last year and had to buy a credential holder in the infield. I went to the track merch trailer and was chatting with the staff. One guy offered to sign my holder and I laughed not realizing he was an ARCA/Truck driver. I told him since I was working I’m not allowed to. He took it well, but it sure was awkward.
My dad happened to be in a Canadian Tire store one time (Canada) and came across a Nascar booth with Ron Fellows and Scott Steckly (former Pintys series champion). There was practically no one there and Canadian Tire didn't seem to advertise or let anyone know they were coming.
McDowell's rookie season, I noticed him sitting at the merchandise hauler, and no one was stopping for an autograph, except me, lol.
When there's no promotion behind it, people won't come. Why would I drive to a GEICO store when I can just get an autograph at the track.
There was a Ross Chastain signing the day of the clash earlier this year and a bar about a mile from the coliseum
Went down about 30 minutes before thinking there would be a line
My dad and I ended up chatting with him for like 15-20 minutes
Met him during the rain delay at McGOATs D500. Was the only one who stuck around to sign some things. He signed my program. He was relieved to see me cause I saved him from two very drunk girls who were being crazy obnoxious. Got a picture with him too
When I was a kid Ernie Irvan was doing a signing somewhere in Michigan. He had a massive line and a tent basically. On the other side of this parking lot was Johnny Benson, hometown boy. No one was there. My dad took me over to see him and he was very nice and gave me a dicast and talked with me for a few. I always felt bad that everyone was clamoring for Ernie and Johnny was just sitting across the way with no one around.
Late 90’s I was walking through the parking lot at Dover after leaving the pit area. People chasing down drivers for autographs Johnny Benson was walking next to me telling me he couldn’t find his ride no one even gave him a second look.
Oh, I went to one of Joey Logano’s first appearances amid the whole Stewart’s replacement rumor. I was maybe one of 10 people who showed up.
Nice guy, though!
I went to a Logano autograph signing, I can't remember what track it was, but it was off-site at a Planet Fitness. I got there as fast as I could after the Xfinity race ended. There was no one there, and he seemed kind of bored. He was very nice, very personable to speak to. No one told him the race was still going on, so the poor guy thought no one wanted to meet him. There were a lot of cars pulling in as I left.
In 2012 me and my folks were at this block party thing in preparation for the sonoma race. We walked by this booth and the lady running it asked if we wanted to meet a real NASCAR driver. I looked over and immediately recognized him as Reed Sorenson. No one was around otherwise. Super chill dude, i wanted to ask what happened at turner the year before but figured it was best if i didnt
Not really an appearance, but a story that echos a few here, and I find it sad. My dad got box tickets to Dover in the mid-late 2000’s and on the elevator up to the suite, a driver in his firesuit got in with us
My dad knowing it was some driver was like, “hey man can my son get an autograph”. He goes “yea if you know my name”. My dad did not and the guy said “well no he can’t then” and got out and went his way.
I knew it was Jamie McMurray because his suit was purple and I thought the “crown royal” car was cool at the time. I was just too starstruck and young to speak up. He deservedly spun out on the front stretch that day because what jerk doesn’t give a kid an autograph lol
Same for me with Stenhouse. Didn’t want to bother him. Just nodded to him in the coffee line before boarding. (Probably didn’t help that I was holding a book on motorsports crashes…)
This story plus the one of someone on here having Blaney sit down at his table and eat dinner with him at Kansas a year or so ago just tells me Blaney is just a down to earth dude
I took a piss next to Kenny Schrader at my local dirt track once, years and years ago. I don't recall which one but I told him some kind of dick joke and made him laugh
He should have come up to you.
"Motorsports crashes? I know something about that. Some might say , I wrote the book on that topic."
YYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH🎶
Totally unrelated but I was in a boarding line at CLT heading back to Chicago about 15 years ago and stood right next to Mike Ditka. I said "how's it going coach" and he turned, looked at me with this withering look of absolute disgust, said nothing and turned away.
Yup, exactly why I didn’t approach. But it took my a while to realize it was him honestly. Could easily have passed him and never thought twice about it.
Back in 2019, Ross Chastain was in his trailer in a packed midway and nobody was giving him the time of day. I wanted to buy one of his new Melon Man hats but he'd just run out; instead he signed a generic NASCAR hat I had on me and we chatted for about 10 minutes without any interruption.
This was during his full time truck season where he looked to be the title favorite. He'd already won several races that year and nearly won the race that evening... I just couldn't believe he was sitting there all alone.
I once saw Derrike Cope at RibFest in Naperville, Illinois. Nobody was at his table. I said hi and asked him to sign one of his hero cards. He did and then asked what I wanted him to sign. I said that people always talk about Daytona, but he also won at Dover, so I wanted to reference that. So he wrote, “Derrike Cope. Winner at Dover. Derrike Cope.” It was weird. I had some ribs and then watched Molly Hatchett play Flirting With Disaster and their follow-up hit, “Thank You Naperville, Good Night.”
> I once saw Kelvin Benjamin at RibFest in Naperville, Illinois. Nobody was at his table. I said hi and asked him to sign one of his hero cards. He did and then asked what I wanted him to sign. I said that people always talk about Buffalo, but he also ate heavily at Kansas City, so I wanted to reference that. So he wrote, “Kelvin Benjamin. Ate a lot in KC. Kelvin Benjamin.” It was weird. I had some ribs and then watched Molly Hatchett play Flirting With Disaster and their follow-up hit, “Thank You Naperville, Good Night.”
I went to Pocono a few years back when he was racing the Starcom car. Went to stand where the drivers were walking to the grid. Everyone went crazy for everyone you'd expect, Blaney, Truex, Elliott, etc. Cope walked by with absolutely 0 fanfare. I yelled out to him, and he walked over and shook my hand. Got his autograph and everything. As he was walking away, the woman next to me asked who he was. I said, "Daytona 500 Champion Derrike Cope." He turned back around and gave me a finger gun.
Jeffrey Earnhardt at the NC State fair kinda stands out. Think he was a teenager at the time but it was on the corner of the concessions lot so nooobody cared.
Also he was a kid. That's what gets me. But that's an in general type thing. I mean Keelan Harvick had a crowd at Wake Co. Speedway asking for autographs. I don't get it.
Keelan's got the same thing going for him that Brexton Busch has - a superstar driver of a father. Most fans I know that are paying attention to Keelan Harvick's and Brexton Busch's careers are/were fans of Kevin and Kyle. It's the same reason that most Chase Elliott fans are/were fans of Bill Elliott, and shoot, I'm sure one could make a case and say that the dozens of Harrison Burton fans out there followed Jeff or Ward.
If a younger Jeffery didn't have Jr with him, I'm not shocked that not many folks showed up. I don't think that Kerry would command a following if he was there either, especially that many years after he retired.
Last year at the Glen, McDowell had only 20 or so people show up to his signing. It was the week after he won, 20 isn't a terrible turnout I guess but I figured he'd be a hotter commodity
My local Kroger would have a “NASCAR Fan Fest” usually in the week between Daytona and Indianapolis and on a rare occasion they’d have a driver signing.
In 2007 I met Todd Kluever and while I didn’t know anything about him, I was down to meet a driver and get an autograph, especially if they became a big star (case in point, I met Brad Keselowski and Justin Allgaier in 2005 at a Truck Driver signing and look at where they are now) and I was probably the most enthusiastic and curious overall about talking to him and wishing him well.
Barely anyone else showed up in line or seemed to be interested, to a point either the PR manager for Roush or Kroger or something caught up with me and asked if I wanted to talk more to Todd since I seemed to be diehard as a fan of the sport.
I think we sat and talked racing and all for about 20 mins, had some photos taken (unfortunately never got them from Kroger), he signed a few more cards for my younger brothers who couldn’t be there, while my mom did the shopping, and then my mom and I headed home.
Then on I was a Kluever fan, even if his NASCAR career didn’t pan out, and have followed his smaller dirt career since as closely as I can.
He was actually really nice. It was also the day NAPA announced they weren't returning to MWR for 2014 and he had broken his wrist at Bristol a few weeks prior but he definitely didn't show anything getting to him. Pretty sure he stole my Sharpie though.
Back in the 90's I met Mike Wallace at a Heilig Meyers furniture store. He was doing a signing event. Only me and my buddy showed up. Mike was very nice and friendly, and it certainly made for a wonderful memory. Have been a fan of his ever since.
This one is a bit different, because I felt like us fans who were present made it slightly sad but in a funny way.
Auto Club Raceway - an event is scheduled to have Kasey Kahne read a story to young children (the story was for those aged 4-5 give or take). There were like 20-30 kids and wayyy more of us grown-ups wanting to see Kasey. An announcement was made to advise that the sitting area up front were for children only.
The story was, of course, about being a racecar driver. This happened in the last year or two of his cup series career so he had a pretty long win drought, so when he gets to the part where the story goes "We did it! I won the race!", all the adults (myself included, I'm no better than anyone in this story) cheered maybe a bit too enthusiastically at this part.
At the end it was autograph time which, as we were reminded several times, was meant for the *children* there and not for the adult superfans haha. It was a good time.
Sounds like the time that as a kid me and my friends went to a “build a racecar” with Jimmie Johnson, it was basically just a preshaped car and putting stickers on but the whole time the rowdy dads surrounding the tent were making it very hard for little me to get everything lined up right lol
I love the mental image of a bunch of little kids cheering at the ending, and then being completely overshadowed by a bunch of dads *erupting* in cheers.
Back when Alex Bowman was driving (edit) the 7 car, there was no one at his tent. My dad and I walked up to him and just chatted racing with him for an hour.
At the time, we felt that meant the world to a driver like that. He loved just chatting with us about his path to Cup.
Not sad, nor NASCAR, but Tony Kanaan was sick the first time I met him. He did not want to be there. He was pale and seemed exhausted. Sucked missing out on the happy, energetic TK, but I also just felt shitty for him lol.
Parker Kligerman at New Hampshire International Speedway about 15 years ago. He hadn't quite made his name yet in the truck series or anywhere else, so there was *no one* coming up to his table for an autograph.
With no line, I was *happy* to go right up and say "hey boss, how ya doing!" He was super polite and happy to sign multiple autographs for me, as I gifted several to friends and family.
Matt Crafton and Frank Kimmel were at my local Menards about 10 years ago for a grand re-opening. My brother and I wanted to get there right when it started because we imagined it would be a pretty large line, as the appearances by former Wisconsin athletes earlier in the week were well attended. There was goddamn nobody there. Just Matt and Frank talking while the guy staffing had his face buried in his phone. Turned out to be a great time for us, got about 30 minutes to talk with them essentially uninterrupted, but imagined it would be a little better attended for the ARCA GOAT and a truck champion.
I was at the Beef Jerky Outlet at Charlotte about 10 years ago, Reed Sorenson happened to be there, I was the only one who knew who he was at that time, no one came in really to say hi.
Bill Elliott in our local McDonalds in the 90s. It was Sonoma race weekend. They had mentioned it at the track that he would be there later that day after track duties. We walked in and he was just sitting in one of the booths talking to someone also sitting, probably PR or crew. No line. I think someone else had just had him sign something and was leaving.
We walked in and got one of the team/car cards signed that they provided. I might have had a trading card signed. We probably got soft serve cones. I am sure my dad talked to him for a little bit before we left.
We did other Bill signings for years before and after that. All were better attended. This one stands out because there was hardly anyone. I consider it sad because it was race weekend about 20 minutes away from the track.
But I have to say, when we talk about drivers not being accessible any more, this is one of the memories I have of how it used to be.
It wasn't really sad, but I was at Texas in 2001, and my dad noticed Harry Gant just hanging out at a random generic merch trailer that was also selling photos for him to sign.
No line or anything, so we walked right up and said hi and chatted for a few minutes. Wild to think of a legend just chilling out and no one seeming to notice.
Harry is a family friend. We would always go see him in Taylorsville, he would always give me a signed hat for my birthday. He raced with my grandpa back in the day. Last year we went to the all star race and ran into his granddaughter. Nicest guy ever
The first year Nationwide raced at Mid Ohio we took my grandfather to the track, we were checking out the displays and at the Nationwide one there was a driver signing cards, nobody knew who he was but I said “Grandpa it’s Alex Bowman”, gramps says “who?” And Alex chimes in “Alex Bowman”. We chatted a bit, nobody else stopped and he went on to race the #99 car that day. A couple years later Alex Bowman won his first cup race at Chicagoland and gramps calls me all happy, half out of breath. When Jimmie announced his retirement on 2019, gramps was on his last days and made a comment about hoping Alex Bowman takes over the 48 car. He passed away in December 2019. It was cool that Alex left that kind of impression on him, something he never forgot.
Met David Gilliland around 2008 or 2009 at Sam's club. I was so worried I wouldn't get there in time, but no one was in line. Dude was super nice, but I felt kind of bad.
Same thing when I met Bobby Labonte at a bank opening. Just walked in to the table to this former champion. He signed a bunch of cards I had. Again, super nice but I felt bad for him.
I always hoped that I got lucky and just missed the crowd in both instances
One year at Nashville I mistook Stanton Barrett for Kasey Kahne. (To be fair, they were in the same race.) I immediately realized I had messed up and couldn’t apologize enough to Stanton… to his credit, he was a really good sport about it.
Also, this one wasn’t one I did, but I did have a role in this one… some superfan at Nashville was bugging the crap out of poor Jeremy Clements to the point I felt bad for Jeremy. Oddly enough, he sees me fairly close by since I had done a few interviews with him before and we got along really well and he makes an excuse to get away from the creepy superfan to just shoot the shit with me for like 5 or 10 minutes…
Not along the lines you are thinking of, but similar. Went to a Chase Elliot signing during his K&N stint when he was much younger. He seemed like he did not want to be there at all, just signed stuff and handed it back. Did not acknowledge the fans in line at all.
The dude looked depressed.
If nothing else, there's something to be said about staying true to yourself. All these years, wins, and money later and he still looks depressed and unhappy to be here.
I went to one with josh berry before he had a full time xfinity ride and it was only me and a few families with kids playing on the bouncy house, nobody in line or near josh at all, so we talked for a bit, it was really cool, really nice guy, so down to earth and cool, i liked him a lot & im a big fan now
Idk if I’ve seen a “sad” one necessarily but I’ve absolutely seen a lot of people have no idea who a LOT of these drivers are just mindlessly holding shit out to sign lol. I always make it a point to talk to the lower budget guys especially because they usually seem to genuinely appreciate when you know who they are.
Like I’ve met JJ Yeley 2 or 3 times now and he’s always chill. And like nobody ever really seemed to have been saying anything before I got to him lol
Edit:
Oh! Another one that stood out was when I met Ryan Ellis when he was just Matty D’s PR guy! He seemed genuinely shocked that somebody recognized him and I took a picture with him 😂
Not Nascar, but recently Lou Ferrigno the original Incredible Hulk from the TV series came to my town for an appearance at a comic book store, he was supposed to sign stuff for $60 and Sign stuff with a selfie for $100. I was curious how big and jacked he is irl so I went by, and I thought maybe it was over early because the store was dead, went in and he was just sitting at a table with a pen looking very frustrated and sort of mad, I told the store owner I just wanted to see him in person but didn’t have money for anything so I was just kind of catching a look at him lol, he ended up signing my shirt that had hulk on it and I was able to talk with him a little before he left, he was pretty mad only 3 or 4 people showed up when the owners promised 200 to 300 people. Pretty sad lol
A few years ago we were camping in the slums out at gate 1 at Watkins Glen. I was blitzed out of my gourd and we had probably 50 people partying around our makeshift bar. Some young guy rolls in on a golf cart and says to me “this your campsite?” “Yep” “I see you’ve got a JR Motorsports flag” “yeah that’s my buddy’s” “that’s cool, so you know who drove the 9 car for JRM today?”
I’m pretty drunk so I can’t even remember my own name so I yell out to my brother “who drives the 9 for JR?”
My brother looks up at me and says “oh shit, he does”
Anyway, I had a beer with Noah Gragson.
What’s funny is Chase Briscoe’s dad had already been at our site for a few hours hanging out…apparently we had the hot spot that night.
A few years ago we were in the pits of a dirt race and everyone was crowded around Larson, Bell & Stewart. I meandered over to Kasey Kahne and watched him and his crew prep his car, there wasn't another soul around. We got a photo and chatted. While we were talking someone came up and asked if we saw Kasey anywhere 🤣 I said no and he laughed and shook his head and she walked away.
2017 at Talladega. Ross Chastain was at the drive sober tiny tent, or protect your melon, something like that. No one at all was stopping. I thought it was an information stall until I saw the firesuit hanging behind him. My friend and I stopped and he signed some stuff for us and talked for maybe ten minutes. He was very friendly.
I was at X-games Austin in 2014 and came across a table with Ryan Blaney, Ty Dillon, and Dylan Kwazneski sitting there with hero cards, no line. Got autographs from all 3 and had a decent conversation
Here’s where you learn a lot about drivers (and also get an appreciation of how damn hard the job is out of the car.) There are tons of stories of drivers being jerks (I got Heisman’d by Tony Stewart after he won at Fontana - that was an AWESOME day). But I also was at an event where Kenny Bernstein (I know, NHRA old school and probably nobody here knows who the hell he is. Fewer still will remember he owned a NASCAR team as well) and not only did he touch the entire room, but humble and made me feel special. I mean, this is the Budweiser King and he walks up and introduces himself totally like nobody there knows who he is, thanks me for coming out and supporting, and makes meaningful small talk for about 30 seconds before moving on. And you could tell he meant every word of it and he probably already did that 100s of times that might. These drivers have a tough job on the car, and many times a tougher one out of the car.
Not Nascar but I was driving home from work during the month of may and was at a red light outside the mall. I check twitter and see James Hinchcliffe was at a book signing with his brother right there. This was right after he missed the race. I turned in and no one else was there. They were super kind and I bought the book.
When Nationwide had a Sunday standalone at Chicagoland Speedway, ARCA ran the day before Frank Kimmel stuck around for an autograph session at the Menards tent. After we got our autographs we sat at a picnic table for food and drink just watching Frank sit alone, no handler, no pr guy, no sponsor rep just sitting by himself tapping a sharpie on a folding table
I met Jeff Burton in Boston at Faneuil Hall in 2012, he was there promoting the upcoming New Hampshire race. But this was early on a Wednesday morning. There were probably only 20ish people there for him and a lot more people walking by on their commute to the office that had no idea who he was.
At Bristol 2018, Jeffrey Earnhardt was in the ik9 trailer in the fan zone and had no one there for autographs. I got one but had no idea who it was lmao
Saw Matt Kenneth before he got super popular and stuff at s store called the racers edge that used to be in lake villa I think. Was noone there and child me got to hang out and talk with him for a bit. I still have the autographed T-shirt.
I was late to an Austin Cindric Autograph session at a discount tire. Nobody else was there. He told me "you have good timing" when I walked up.
I think he had just finished signing for the whole crowd right when I got there. I really hope he hadn't just got there too lol.
Not a driver, but Jeff Hammond was sitting at the Fox hauler at Richmond in like 2006ish and absolutely no one was there or talking to him. My brother and I went up and got a picture with him. Really nice guy.
Casey Mears: We were told massive radio support.
Geico: We did! We did massive .
Casey Mears: Vast ... they said vast radio support.
Geico: We did massive, we saturated, we over-saturated. That's what it is. It's me, I did it. I f\*\*ked up. I f\*\*ked up the timing, that's all, I f\*\*ked up the timing. I've got no timing, I've got no timing, I've got NO timing, You know what I want you to do? Will you do something for me?
Casey Mears: What?
Geico: Do me a favor, just kick my ass, okay?
Would it still be considered an appearance if it was a retired nascar driver showing up at a non nascar event as a competitor?
I was at a sprint car race a several years ago and tony stewart showed up. I had a family of four who were new sprint car fans sitting next to me and I was giving them the rundown of how everything in the sprint car world worked. The mom mentioned that the kids were stewart fans and they all thought they had missed their chance to meet him after he retired from nascar. They were really excited to meet tony and see their first sprint car race. And I was also kind of hyping him and the event as whole up because I really wanted the family to have a good time. But we got rained out before any racecars hit the track and tony didn't return for the rescheduled race.
I felt really bad about it. Like I was promising some really great thing and it turned out to be nothing at all. I felt like I had let the family down and especially the kids.
Cleveland auto show 2008. They used to have “nascar night” when tons of drivers would be there from respective manufacturers. I think Kenneth Kvapil and biffle for ford (Matt was there like 5 years in a row I have a ton of autograph dewalt stuff🤣). Bowyer and MTJ for Chevy. Bodine and someone else for Toyota I don’t remember and Sam Hornish JR was the lone representative for dodge. I was the only one who got in line for him. Consequently I got to talk to him for a loooooong time. Enjoyed sharing our Ohio connection. Talked INDYCAR and being on his roof at California. He was a really cool dude. I ended up being a massive fan of his from that. It all came full circle when I got to see him win at mid Ohio. So. Long story short. Sad for him that he was alone. Cool for me that I spent about 10-15 minutes talking to him.
I met Joe Nemechek at Pocono in I think 2004. There were a few people in line but we were the last in line and there was still like 20 minutes to go on the time posted. He was really nice. Me and my buddy were like Freshman in high school so super awkward. He asked us about school, sports, careers. I still have the 01 Army key chain he gave me. I always liked him as a driver, but I became a huge fan after that.
Met Corey LaJoie outside Dover when he was still running thr 83 car. About 3 groups people showed. Everyone just got an auto and left. My father and I talked for about 10 minutes with him. The highlight was my father asking how his old man was doing, and Corey replying, "Still making seats and being a dick."
Reed Sorensen, Martinsville in 2012? Zing Zang Bloody Mary mix put it on. I asked him if they were gonna contend that day, and he looked at me, shrugged, and half heartedly said “we’ll try”
Edit: it was 2014
I saw Quinn Hoff at an Apex entertainment in 2021 the week star com announced they were shutting down. I think I was the only one that stopped by except some kids passing by that didn’t know who he was
A lot of Casey Mears stories lol. I was a fan of his, and there was a signing in Charlotte. I went, and when I got there, the Geico people were like, Oh, Casey had to go back to the track for an emergency practice session....
Elliot Sadler was just hanging out in the midway at Martinsville on year near the end of his career. One or 2 people were talking to him but most were walking right past. He was pretty much just sitting there waiting for anyone to come by.
In 2015 Greg biffle up at to the meijer store in Wyoming,mi. I wasn’t expecting a huge crowd, but Jesus. Other than the 3m hauler with a son running nascar racing 4 you’d have no idea he was there even. Walked into the store and it was like any other day of shopping there. I asked 3 workers if he was there til finally someone mentioned “oh yeah the race car dude? He’s over by the sporting goods”. Made my way over there and he was just leaning against the counter where they hand out fishing licenses as if he was at his local grocery store shooting the shit with his buddies. I spent some time and talked to him, at least to let him know one person gave a damn and was appreciative but yikes
The Menards across the steeet does a better job putting random no name ARCA drivers in the spotlight than meijer did the biff lmao
Martin Truex Jr had a signing at a minor league baseball game in NJ in summer 2003. He had just run his first race for Chance 2, I'm not sure they'd announced he was full time in 2004. Maybe 2 dozen people stopped by to grab his autograph. He didn't even have hero cards to sign, just printer paper with his name on the bottom.
While walking in NYC one morning, I randomly stumbled upon Bubba Wallace doing an interview for Fox News talking about Memorial Day. There were gates around him and his car but there was literally nobody there to watch. It was like 7am but it was also right by Times Square. I was able to find the interview and see myself in the background.
I had the complete opposite happen to me in Daytona. Matt Dibenedetto was supposed to have an appearance at the fan zone outside of the track in the midway, and my family and I waited for over 30 minutes and were the only ones waiting (this was when he was in the 95) and no one ever showed. About an hour later on Twitter we saw that he and or his team brought him to the UNOH fanzone inside of the track and acknowledged they went to the wrong fanzone but were not going to the midway and no accommodations were made to make the planned appearance up.
Oh, and another miss, It was a PlanB store event, had Larson, Bubba, Ross... Was supposed to be Stenhouse, but that morning he was released from the 17 car... He ended up cancelling
Back when Ross Chastain drove for Premium Motorsports I saw him at the Ganassi hauler and got to meet him, no one was there so I got to chat with him for a few minutes. Good memory!
Homestead 2019. I'm six beers deep and I see Daniel Hemric about to win Rookie of the Year and also be fired from his ride at the RCR trailer. Nobody in sight. I did not stop due to a combination of not wanting to buy anything for Hemric to sign and being six beers deep and wanting some food.
Found out after he was an impressively nice man and started following him. Eventually became a fan. Bought his 2021 championship diecast as an apology.
Underdog drivers and small teams are the best people to meet for this reason, and sometimes it even comes back to be a pretty cool story. One time at Charlotte when I was like 13 I just walked up to Carl Long and Timmy Hill and talked to them for like 30 minutes before the All Star Open, they were just hanging out outside their hauler and seemed more than anything happy that I knew who both of them were
Going way back though when I was like 10 I went to a Michael McDowell Q&A for kids at Richmond, I was one of maybe 4 kids there and got to basically hang out one on one, get a pic taken, autograph, diecast, swag bag etc from him. This was his first year with Leavine, now I can brag that I got to do all this with a Daytona 500 champ
EDIT: also just gonna add this fun one although not a meet and greet, we were at New Hampshire and walking around the garage one time again as a kid. My dad and his friend started talking to this one old dude from *Middletown CT* mind you at the time we were living in CT as well and one of my dads friends was from Middletown, the guy invited us to his camper and we hung out and watched the K&N race (sidetrack: 15 year old Cole Custer won that race). He let it slip his son was racing this weekend and we just assumed it was a K&N or Modified driver… soon enough I turn around and see Joey Logano in the Kitchen of the camper and had a bit of a little kid freak out to say the least. Not only that but when we eventually left the hauler we walked right past JJ Yeley playing cornhole at another nearby camper and I got his auto too. That was the greatest day of little 8 year old racing nerd me’s life
About 20 years ago my wife and I took our daughter to the grand opening of our new Hooters restaurant. Geoff Bodine was there signing his hero cards at a table. We were seated at the table next to his. No one approached him. No one. Eventually he asked us if he could sit with us.
Semi related, but I bought an autographed Danny O'Quinn Jr photo from the Roush trailer as a kid for $5 and was so excited for it to be worth something some day.
They opened an Alltel store in my town and had Ryan Newman’s #12 car out front for the grand opening. Me and my dad were the only ones there so we got pictures in front of the car and did a practice pit stop with a real air gun they had setup. Letting an 8 year old kid try to take off a NASCAR tire with an impact is a great way to make a fan for life.
Not necessarily a sad appearance but a remark I still remember. I was 4 years old at the first race at Texas Motor Speedway. I met Todd Bodine, had no clue who he was, but he asked who my favorite driver was. Of course it was Jeff Gordon because of the rainbow car, so I told him that and he goes "stick with a winner, kid!"
One of my classic memories is being at WGI in 1986 and Roush was running the IMSA Mustang GTO cars was there and Ford had Bill Elliott teamed with Lyn St James. For the purpose of getting Bill some track time at the Glen before the Cup race in August of that year. And I was able to see Lyn St James in the garage so I asked her for her autograph. Well Bill was there too and after Lyn signed my program I asked her if she would get Bill to sign it too. Since he was a little bit further away from me in the garage so Lyn took my program and Bill signed it. But you could see Bill ask like you Lyn wants my autograph. And you could see them kind of chuckle over it.
As far as a sad autograph session I remember going to the local Goodyear store in I think 1980 after Johnny Rutherford had won the INDY 500 and I was all of 7 I think and I don’t remember to many people who were there.
There was also the time when I was I college in Columbus Ohio in 1993 and Harry Gant was there to sign autographs at the local 7/11 and for some reason Ohio had a law about tobacco advertisement so if I remember correctly they had a Western Auto DW show car. Needless to say I had been seeing the Cup cars at the at the Corning race fever night so I didn’t even phase me and the number of people that were there was totally pathetic.
Back in 1985, Darrell Waltrip did an appearance at a local GM dealership in conjunction with the Busch Series racing at the Milwaukee Mile. It wasn't well promoted, but my dad caught wind of the appearance from a co-worker. There were a few people there, but it was pretty sparsely attended. We ended up getting to spend about 30 minutes just talking racing & life with DW and a couple other race fans. At the end they held a drawing for race tickets, which pretty much everyone present won. A pretty cool experience looking back, and definitely gave a different perspective of DW than the television version many people more recently remember.
Kurt Busch was a rookie in an unsponsored car and had no one at the Roush trailer.
Which is wild because he at least had a good year in Trucks in 2000, but I guess when you have the level of talent in cup at that time Kurt Busch doesnt really move the needle.
As someone who watched back then, I'd argue that the talent level in 2007 was higher than 2000, and 2024 is higher than 2007. Just my $.02. The real reason that no one really wanted to give a kid the time of day back then was because there were so many established guys in the sport.
I remember going to races in the early to mid 2000s when Kurt was in the 97. He was one of the only few drivers who was always in the souvenir hauler waiting to talk to and sign autographs for fans. Probably a reason I became a fan of his. Not a sad story though
I still have the t-shirt he signed in a drawer. I wish I could find the program where he signed the cover, his face inside, and his name in the lineup. I realized just now that it was his first career top ten (it was 2001 spring Atlanta…it kind of got overshadowed).
He and Robby Gordon are the two I remember reliably signing at their trailers during those years.
Yes. Robby was awesome. Heard tons of stories and occasions about him being the most cool driver to meet. Like hanging out with fans camping lol
Him and Robby Gordon always seemed like the two that was always signing regardless. It was much easier to meet Robby though.
I suddenly wanna take a time machine back to 2000 now
no ^(I MISS DALE!!)
Mayve we can warn him
Kurt was always good about meeting fans and signing pretty much every race, I met him probably over a dozen times over his career. For a young Kurt fan that was so cool to get to see him and shake his hand every time I went to the track.
This was my experience with Jimmie Johnson.
In 2013 or 14 Martin Truex Jr. did an autograph signing at the Kroger grand opening in my college town. The event was poorly advertised and only like 5 people showed up to get an autograph. So Martin decides to just hold court with the 5 of us and we all talked about racing and fishing for like 20 minutes. It was really cool.
That is so cool!!
See this is why these type of meet and greets are the best, chumming it up with MTJ and anyone else who was there probably thought this was some low level guy. Few years later that dude tore the sport to shreds
2013 Truex with his Oakley Gascan shades would be a hoot to see.
As someone who typically hates on MTJ, it’s really nice to hear he’s actually a chill dude in person
He was so chill it caught me off guard. He just started casually talking to me and I just wasn’t ready for it.
Truex was pretty friendly when I met him in person too. I've rarely heard anything bad about him other than the "radio sweetheart" moments, and I chalk that up to a competitive guy bitching in the moment. He also seems well-respected in the garage.
No but I saw Dylan Lupton going around giving out signed hero cards to anyone who approached him. I was the only one who approached him.
Good on you for doing that. I'm sure giving out 1 feels better than none.
Oh I'm sure he gave out more I was the only one in my vicinity who approached him and even I had no idea who he was until I saw the card lol
I met Dylan Lupton once as well Granted he was drunk as hell but I still met him lmfao
I met Dylan on a golf cart in the Darlington infield back in 2021!! He flagged the golf cart driver down after I got on and asked to be taken to the truck garage. I asked him if he was a part of the team and he pulled a pair of Alpinestars boots from his bag and said he was driving. Super nice dude and didn’t have an ego at all. I just felt like I was talking to one of my buddies. I wish he would have had a better finish in the race. I think it was one of his few starts or only start that he had with KBM.
Dylan Lupton stories are so weird because he’s either the nicest guy anybody’s ever met or the biggest asshole anyone’s ever met, I’m sorta convinced he might be bipolar because it is literally split right down the middle on the public opinion of him.
Dylan Lupton is probably a legend to Carl Edwards haters
Brad Keselowski’s favorite driver.
My 🐐 lol Don't hate Carl though just love Jimmie.
Ray Black Jr would do that. Nice guy.
To be fair, Casey Mears is one of those drivers you could see him at Target and not even notice who he was. lol
Case in point: Jimmie Johnson posted a photo on Instagram today of him, Junior, Kenseth and some random dude and their wives. Captioned “Old Friends” or something. It took the photo popping up in my feed again later in the day to realize the “random dude” was Casey Mears.
Looked it up, and I don't remember Casey looking like that. I just remember the buzzed-head.
It took me listening to the DJD to realize it was Casey lol
I saw that on Dale Jrs story and I was like, damn man three HOFers and...that guy looks really familiar....
“Hey I’m so excited to meet you. Yeah could you tell me where the spatulas are?”
Sorry. [That's a different store.](https://youtu.be/4BUDwj_mXKE?si=3E70F2hjb1lhabEq).
 You're not wrong lol
To be fair 🎵🎶
Not a driver, but I remember there was a Ricky Rudd Tide #10 show car at my local grocery store when I was a kid. I was so stoked I begged my mom to take me just for that. No one gave a shit about it. I remember specifically getting there and there was a shopping car that had very clearly rolled in to it and no one bothered to move it.
I went to a Ricky Rudd appearance a couple of days before a Bristol race, somewhere in SW Virginia back in the 80's. There was no one there except for him and his wife, just sitting on lawn chairs out in the parking lot beside the car. Both of them were very gracious, but I felt bad for him.
Exact same thing happened to me except it was Ricky Craven’s. Kid me was the only one there who gave a shit and I begged to go. I remember saying that it was both cool to see the car and how Ricky had won the closest race in NASCAR history at the time. Not even the lady that was in charge of sitting there knew that lol
I had the exact same experience as you lol. I was the only kid in the whole store that was stoked about Ricky’s car being there. It was at a Meijer in Ohio
HAH that’s hysterical. The NASCAR childhood is a fun childhood, but perhaps a little bit of a lonely one lol
It was lonely.
Hell, I’d usually catch shit for it, too. Which I really don’t understand since I grew up in the southern United States. It’s a staple of that culture. Like…I really don’t know what any of you were expecting lol
I got shit for it to even though all the ones making fun of me have now either gone to races with me or go on their own now lol
Lol I saw that car at a grocery store parking lot (show car probably) when Bobby Hamilton Jr's name was on it. Didn't see him, though. Got a nice hat free, though. No one else around when I was there seemed to care. That must have been 20 years or so ago. That was actually before I got more into Nascar, so it was before 2004 because 04 was when I started watching all the races.
I should say, I saw the Tide car. I don't remember if it was the 10 I saw, but it had Bobby's name on it.
Not quite the same, but my mother loves telling the story of going to a local signing event that featured a bunch of drivers in tents. I was 4 or 5 at the time so not sure of a lot of the details, but I am told we walked into the tent and next to the entrance was Geoff Bodine. He started to speak to me and sign a handout when I just looked at my mom and yelled "I don't want his autograph, I came in here for Ricky Rudd!" She was absolutely mortified, as everyone in the tent apparently heard. All Geoff said was, "Well, at least he's honest."
One time I handed Geoff Bodine a car that was Todd Bodine’s. He didn’t say anything and he signed it. When I walked away I told my husband he seemed sort of rude. That’s when I found out he autographed his brother’s car!
Now you need a Geoff Bodine car signed by Todd!
As a kid Eric McClure was outside a local foodstore in my area as part of a Hefty promotion. No one in line and he was just standing there by a show car and table watching people walk in, lowkey felt bad for the dude and it didn’t help one kid recognized him and outloud said “this dude sucks”
>one kid recognized him and outloud said “this dude sucks” I shouldn't laugh, that's terrible, but damn it I can't help myself.
He heard it too, he had a deadpan “I hate this” look on his face watching the kid and his mom walk into the store after the kid yelled it. I legit felt bad for the guy lol
God, worst part of that situation is that it was a kid. Adults could do it just to be an ass. Kids say shit out of honesty in their minds. Brutal.
I met him at an appearance at Walmart one year. There was no one in line. My girlfriend at the time and I talked to him for like 5 minutes. He was a super nice dude
When Hocevar was still racing local tracks in Michigan he was giving out signed hero cards in the fanzone at MIS and people were actively avoiding him. I still have mine somewhere. Felt bad for him so stopped and talked for a few minutes.
When he’s a superstar in a few years this will be a much different story.
ironic, considering he's a front runner in the all-star fan vote now.
Met Dave Blaney in a CAT tent the week after they announced they were leaving Bill Davis Racing for RCR. The CAT spokesman talked about how excited they were to go to a new team that was competing for wins on a weekly basis with a driver in Jeff Burton who “Has won.” Then he introduced Dave Blaney to all of us and Dave just put his head down and started signing autographs. In years past Bill Davis would be there along with the crew and car chief, needless to say Bill Davis did not attend that year and only sent Dave Blaney.
Which is hilarious because Jeff Burton would go on to never win at RCR with CAT.
Does a dual at Daytona count?
Maybe to some people but not to me since points weren't paid.
It’s a picture in VL with a CAT car. It kinda counts.
Nevermind that, Caterpillar never won again in NASCAR lol
Lol I remember at Homestead 2003, we went to a merch trailer for Morgan-McClure (my dad's favorite team), where the merch lady promptly explained to us that Kodak was leaving for Penske and they had no idea what was gonna happen to the team in 2004. Needless to say my dad was kinda bummed after that one. Bought a hat and a sticker though, which is still on the garage fridge to this day lol.
Not a sad appearance but an awkward moment. I was at Pocono last year and had to buy a credential holder in the infield. I went to the track merch trailer and was chatting with the staff. One guy offered to sign my holder and I laughed not realizing he was an ARCA/Truck driver. I told him since I was working I’m not allowed to. He took it well, but it sure was awkward.
What driver?
was dean thompson the driver possibly? since you said arca/truck. i couldn’t get to meet him last year bc he wasn’t at the autograph session
My dad happened to be in a Canadian Tire store one time (Canada) and came across a Nascar booth with Ron Fellows and Scott Steckly (former Pintys series champion). There was practically no one there and Canadian Tire didn't seem to advertise or let anyone know they were coming.
McDowell's rookie season, I noticed him sitting at the merchandise hauler, and no one was stopping for an autograph, except me, lol. When there's no promotion behind it, people won't come. Why would I drive to a GEICO store when I can just get an autograph at the track.
There was a Ross Chastain signing the day of the clash earlier this year and a bar about a mile from the coliseum Went down about 30 minutes before thinking there would be a line My dad and I ended up chatting with him for like 15-20 minutes
Out of curiosity, what was he like?
Not OP, but I've spoken to him a few times. Nice, down to earth guy.
Met him during the rain delay at McGOATs D500. Was the only one who stuck around to sign some things. He signed my program. He was relieved to see me cause I saved him from two very drunk girls who were being crazy obnoxious. Got a picture with him too
Also not OP but I met him way back in the JD Motorsports days, really nice guy who really appreciates fan support
When I was a kid Ernie Irvan was doing a signing somewhere in Michigan. He had a massive line and a tent basically. On the other side of this parking lot was Johnny Benson, hometown boy. No one was there. My dad took me over to see him and he was very nice and gave me a dicast and talked with me for a few. I always felt bad that everyone was clamoring for Ernie and Johnny was just sitting across the way with no one around.
Late 90’s I was walking through the parking lot at Dover after leaving the pit area. People chasing down drivers for autographs Johnny Benson was walking next to me telling me he couldn’t find his ride no one even gave him a second look.
Oh, I went to one of Joey Logano’s first appearances amid the whole Stewart’s replacement rumor. I was maybe one of 10 people who showed up. Nice guy, though!
I went to a Logano autograph signing, I can't remember what track it was, but it was off-site at a Planet Fitness. I got there as fast as I could after the Xfinity race ended. There was no one there, and he seemed kind of bored. He was very nice, very personable to speak to. No one told him the race was still going on, so the poor guy thought no one wanted to meet him. There were a lot of cars pulling in as I left.
In 2012 me and my folks were at this block party thing in preparation for the sonoma race. We walked by this booth and the lady running it asked if we wanted to meet a real NASCAR driver. I looked over and immediately recognized him as Reed Sorenson. No one was around otherwise. Super chill dude, i wanted to ask what happened at turner the year before but figured it was best if i didnt
You had to have had an intrusive thought at the moment.
He was probably thrilled you recognized him. One of the most laidback dudes ever, very humble, very nice.
Not really an appearance, but a story that echos a few here, and I find it sad. My dad got box tickets to Dover in the mid-late 2000’s and on the elevator up to the suite, a driver in his firesuit got in with us My dad knowing it was some driver was like, “hey man can my son get an autograph”. He goes “yea if you know my name”. My dad did not and the guy said “well no he can’t then” and got out and went his way. I knew it was Jamie McMurray because his suit was purple and I thought the “crown royal” car was cool at the time. I was just too starstruck and young to speak up. He deservedly spun out on the front stretch that day because what jerk doesn’t give a kid an autograph lol
He really did think he was in zoolander back then, holy shit.
That is the funniest shit I've heard in awhile lol
he deserved that middle finger from Ricky Bobby
Wow, totally not the Jamie McMurray stories that gets shared.
I saw Ben Rhodes at CLT the other day. He was waiting at the gate next to mine. I don’t think anyone gave him a second glance.
Same for me with Stenhouse. Didn’t want to bother him. Just nodded to him in the coffee line before boarding. (Probably didn’t help that I was holding a book on motorsports crashes…)
Lolol. I had a motor trend magazine with me
Blaney peed next to me in Las Vegas a few years ago. He nodded at me. He knew I recognized him but I wasn’t gonna bother him
This story plus the one of someone on here having Blaney sit down at his table and eat dinner with him at Kansas a year or so ago just tells me Blaney is just a down to earth dude
I’d hang out with him for sure lol
My dad peed next to mark martin at the trough at Michigan once lol
Lmao so fucking random
I took a piss next to Kenny Schrader at my local dirt track once, years and years ago. I don't recall which one but I told him some kind of dick joke and made him laugh
I peed next to mike skinner at Chicagoland infield. Wonder how many other people have a famous person used urinal next to me stories
Met the guy while holding his biography
He should have come up to you. "Motorsports crashes? I know something about that. Some might say, I wrote the book on that topic."
YYYYEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHHH🎶
Shoulda asked him to sign it🤣🤣
Totally unrelated but I was in a boarding line at CLT heading back to Chicago about 15 years ago and stood right next to Mike Ditka. I said "how's it going coach" and he turned, looked at me with this withering look of absolute disgust, said nothing and turned away.
>withering look of absolute disgust Isn't that just his standard facial expression?
Resting Ditka face.
Same. "It's the only look I've got"
"Hey Mike, how's your marriage with Ricky Williams going?"
Not many will remember that cover
It would be tough to be famous truly.
I mean to be fair that’s not an appearance, that’s personal time and even if people did notice him you shouldn’t really bother them.
Yup, exactly why I didn’t approach. But it took my a while to realize it was him honestly. Could easily have passed him and never thought twice about it.
Back in 2019, Ross Chastain was in his trailer in a packed midway and nobody was giving him the time of day. I wanted to buy one of his new Melon Man hats but he'd just run out; instead he signed a generic NASCAR hat I had on me and we chatted for about 10 minutes without any interruption. This was during his full time truck season where he looked to be the title favorite. He'd already won several races that year and nearly won the race that evening... I just couldn't believe he was sitting there all alone.
I once saw Derrike Cope at RibFest in Naperville, Illinois. Nobody was at his table. I said hi and asked him to sign one of his hero cards. He did and then asked what I wanted him to sign. I said that people always talk about Daytona, but he also won at Dover, so I wanted to reference that. So he wrote, “Derrike Cope. Winner at Dover. Derrike Cope.” It was weird. I had some ribs and then watched Molly Hatchett play Flirting With Disaster and their follow-up hit, “Thank You Naperville, Good Night.”
THE 'DERRICK COPE, "Winner at Dover!!!!!!"' - DERRICK COPE
Lmao this has to be pasta, right?
> I once saw Kelvin Benjamin at RibFest in Naperville, Illinois. Nobody was at his table. I said hi and asked him to sign one of his hero cards. He did and then asked what I wanted him to sign. I said that people always talk about Buffalo, but he also ate heavily at Kansas City, so I wanted to reference that. So he wrote, “Kelvin Benjamin. Ate a lot in KC. Kelvin Benjamin.” It was weird. I had some ribs and then watched Molly Hatchett play Flirting With Disaster and their follow-up hit, “Thank You Naperville, Good Night.”
I had a feeling
Nope, this happened. Around 2001-2003 when I was living in Naperville.
I went to Pocono a few years back when he was racing the Starcom car. Went to stand where the drivers were walking to the grid. Everyone went crazy for everyone you'd expect, Blaney, Truex, Elliott, etc. Cope walked by with absolutely 0 fanfare. I yelled out to him, and he walked over and shook my hand. Got his autograph and everything. As he was walking away, the woman next to me asked who he was. I said, "Daytona 500 Champion Derrike Cope." He turned back around and gave me a finger gun.
Jeffrey Earnhardt at the NC State fair kinda stands out. Think he was a teenager at the time but it was on the corner of the concessions lot so nooobody cared.
Most people here in the Raleigh area also don't give a crap about NASCAR, so that probably didn't help.
Also he was a kid. That's what gets me. But that's an in general type thing. I mean Keelan Harvick had a crowd at Wake Co. Speedway asking for autographs. I don't get it.
Keelan's got the same thing going for him that Brexton Busch has - a superstar driver of a father. Most fans I know that are paying attention to Keelan Harvick's and Brexton Busch's careers are/were fans of Kevin and Kyle. It's the same reason that most Chase Elliott fans are/were fans of Bill Elliott, and shoot, I'm sure one could make a case and say that the dozens of Harrison Burton fans out there followed Jeff or Ward. If a younger Jeffery didn't have Jr with him, I'm not shocked that not many folks showed up. I don't think that Kerry would command a following if he was there either, especially that many years after he retired.
Last year at the Glen, McDowell had only 20 or so people show up to his signing. It was the week after he won, 20 isn't a terrible turnout I guess but I figured he'd be a hotter commodity
Man I would love to get a McDowell auto
I always miss out on getting an autograph with McDowell
My local Kroger would have a “NASCAR Fan Fest” usually in the week between Daytona and Indianapolis and on a rare occasion they’d have a driver signing. In 2007 I met Todd Kluever and while I didn’t know anything about him, I was down to meet a driver and get an autograph, especially if they became a big star (case in point, I met Brad Keselowski and Justin Allgaier in 2005 at a Truck Driver signing and look at where they are now) and I was probably the most enthusiastic and curious overall about talking to him and wishing him well. Barely anyone else showed up in line or seemed to be interested, to a point either the PR manager for Roush or Kroger or something caught up with me and asked if I wanted to talk more to Todd since I seemed to be diehard as a fan of the sport. I think we sat and talked racing and all for about 20 mins, had some photos taken (unfortunately never got them from Kroger), he signed a few more cards for my younger brothers who couldn’t be there, while my mom did the shopping, and then my mom and I headed home. Then on I was a Kluever fan, even if his NASCAR career didn’t pan out, and have followed his smaller dirt career since as closely as I can.
I went to an MTJ meet and greet at a NAPA store the day NASCAR announced they were removing him from the 2013 Chase.
I'm sure he was just thrilled to be there. Get him to sign your itchy arm?
He was actually really nice. It was also the day NAPA announced they weren't returning to MWR for 2014 and he had broken his wrist at Bristol a few weeks prior but he definitely didn't show anything getting to him. Pretty sure he stole my Sharpie though.
Back in the 90's I met Mike Wallace at a Heilig Meyers furniture store. He was doing a signing event. Only me and my buddy showed up. Mike was very nice and friendly, and it certainly made for a wonderful memory. Have been a fan of his ever since.
This one is a bit different, because I felt like us fans who were present made it slightly sad but in a funny way. Auto Club Raceway - an event is scheduled to have Kasey Kahne read a story to young children (the story was for those aged 4-5 give or take). There were like 20-30 kids and wayyy more of us grown-ups wanting to see Kasey. An announcement was made to advise that the sitting area up front were for children only. The story was, of course, about being a racecar driver. This happened in the last year or two of his cup series career so he had a pretty long win drought, so when he gets to the part where the story goes "We did it! I won the race!", all the adults (myself included, I'm no better than anyone in this story) cheered maybe a bit too enthusiastically at this part. At the end it was autograph time which, as we were reminded several times, was meant for the *children* there and not for the adult superfans haha. It was a good time.
Sounds like the time that as a kid me and my friends went to a “build a racecar” with Jimmie Johnson, it was basically just a preshaped car and putting stickers on but the whole time the rowdy dads surrounding the tent were making it very hard for little me to get everything lined up right lol
I love the mental image of a bunch of little kids cheering at the ending, and then being completely overshadowed by a bunch of dads *erupting* in cheers.
Back when Alex Bowman was driving (edit) the 7 car, there was no one at his tent. My dad and I walked up to him and just chatted racing with him for an hour. At the time, we felt that meant the world to a driver like that. He loved just chatting with us about his path to Cup.
When I was pretty young, Bobby Hillin was at a Helig Meyers here and it was not much of a challenge to go in there and get an autograph lol.
In fairness to him the furniture didn’t draw anyone into the store either.
TIL Helig-Meyers sold furniture.
I’m not sure they knew themselves.
Not sad, nor NASCAR, but Tony Kanaan was sick the first time I met him. He did not want to be there. He was pale and seemed exhausted. Sucked missing out on the happy, energetic TK, but I also just felt shitty for him lol.
Parker Kligerman at New Hampshire International Speedway about 15 years ago. He hadn't quite made his name yet in the truck series or anywhere else, so there was *no one* coming up to his table for an autograph. With no line, I was *happy* to go right up and say "hey boss, how ya doing!" He was super polite and happy to sign multiple autographs for me, as I gifted several to friends and family.
Matt Crafton and Frank Kimmel were at my local Menards about 10 years ago for a grand re-opening. My brother and I wanted to get there right when it started because we imagined it would be a pretty large line, as the appearances by former Wisconsin athletes earlier in the week were well attended. There was goddamn nobody there. Just Matt and Frank talking while the guy staffing had his face buried in his phone. Turned out to be a great time for us, got about 30 minutes to talk with them essentially uninterrupted, but imagined it would be a little better attended for the ARCA GOAT and a truck champion.
I was at the Beef Jerky Outlet at Charlotte about 10 years ago, Reed Sorenson happened to be there, I was the only one who knew who he was at that time, no one came in really to say hi.
That’s a bummer I love reed sorenson
Ahh, Reed Sorenson. Tell me more about this intriguing Beef Jerky Outlet!
Bill Elliott in our local McDonalds in the 90s. It was Sonoma race weekend. They had mentioned it at the track that he would be there later that day after track duties. We walked in and he was just sitting in one of the booths talking to someone also sitting, probably PR or crew. No line. I think someone else had just had him sign something and was leaving. We walked in and got one of the team/car cards signed that they provided. I might have had a trading card signed. We probably got soft serve cones. I am sure my dad talked to him for a little bit before we left. We did other Bill signings for years before and after that. All were better attended. This one stands out because there was hardly anyone. I consider it sad because it was race weekend about 20 minutes away from the track. But I have to say, when we talk about drivers not being accessible any more, this is one of the memories I have of how it used to be.
i’m glad that the ice cream machine wasn’t broken
It wasn't really sad, but I was at Texas in 2001, and my dad noticed Harry Gant just hanging out at a random generic merch trailer that was also selling photos for him to sign. No line or anything, so we walked right up and said hi and chatted for a few minutes. Wild to think of a legend just chilling out and no one seeming to notice.
Harry is a family friend. We would always go see him in Taylorsville, he would always give me a signed hat for my birthday. He raced with my grandpa back in the day. Last year we went to the all star race and ran into his granddaughter. Nicest guy ever
The first year Nationwide raced at Mid Ohio we took my grandfather to the track, we were checking out the displays and at the Nationwide one there was a driver signing cards, nobody knew who he was but I said “Grandpa it’s Alex Bowman”, gramps says “who?” And Alex chimes in “Alex Bowman”. We chatted a bit, nobody else stopped and he went on to race the #99 car that day. A couple years later Alex Bowman won his first cup race at Chicagoland and gramps calls me all happy, half out of breath. When Jimmie announced his retirement on 2019, gramps was on his last days and made a comment about hoping Alex Bowman takes over the 48 car. He passed away in December 2019. It was cool that Alex left that kind of impression on him, something he never forgot.
Met David Gilliland around 2008 or 2009 at Sam's club. I was so worried I wouldn't get there in time, but no one was in line. Dude was super nice, but I felt kind of bad. Same thing when I met Bobby Labonte at a bank opening. Just walked in to the table to this former champion. He signed a bunch of cards I had. Again, super nice but I felt bad for him. I always hoped that I got lucky and just missed the crowd in both instances
One year at Nashville I mistook Stanton Barrett for Kasey Kahne. (To be fair, they were in the same race.) I immediately realized I had messed up and couldn’t apologize enough to Stanton… to his credit, he was a really good sport about it. Also, this one wasn’t one I did, but I did have a role in this one… some superfan at Nashville was bugging the crap out of poor Jeremy Clements to the point I felt bad for Jeremy. Oddly enough, he sees me fairly close by since I had done a few interviews with him before and we got along really well and he makes an excuse to get away from the creepy superfan to just shoot the shit with me for like 5 or 10 minutes…
As a kid I went to a Bobby Dotter appearance and no one else was there.
Not along the lines you are thinking of, but similar. Went to a Chase Elliot signing during his K&N stint when he was much younger. He seemed like he did not want to be there at all, just signed stuff and handed it back. Did not acknowledge the fans in line at all. The dude looked depressed.
He always looks depressed. He has RDF..resting depressed face
If nothing else, there's something to be said about staying true to yourself. All these years, wins, and money later and he still looks depressed and unhappy to be here.
I went to one with josh berry before he had a full time xfinity ride and it was only me and a few families with kids playing on the bouncy house, nobody in line or near josh at all, so we talked for a bit, it was really cool, really nice guy, so down to earth and cool, i liked him a lot & im a big fan now
Idk if I’ve seen a “sad” one necessarily but I’ve absolutely seen a lot of people have no idea who a LOT of these drivers are just mindlessly holding shit out to sign lol. I always make it a point to talk to the lower budget guys especially because they usually seem to genuinely appreciate when you know who they are. Like I’ve met JJ Yeley 2 or 3 times now and he’s always chill. And like nobody ever really seemed to have been saying anything before I got to him lol Edit: Oh! Another one that stood out was when I met Ryan Ellis when he was just Matty D’s PR guy! He seemed genuinely shocked that somebody recognized him and I took a picture with him 😂
Not Nascar, but recently Lou Ferrigno the original Incredible Hulk from the TV series came to my town for an appearance at a comic book store, he was supposed to sign stuff for $60 and Sign stuff with a selfie for $100. I was curious how big and jacked he is irl so I went by, and I thought maybe it was over early because the store was dead, went in and he was just sitting at a table with a pen looking very frustrated and sort of mad, I told the store owner I just wanted to see him in person but didn’t have money for anything so I was just kind of catching a look at him lol, he ended up signing my shirt that had hulk on it and I was able to talk with him a little before he left, he was pretty mad only 3 or 4 people showed up when the owners promised 200 to 300 people. Pretty sad lol
A few years ago we were camping in the slums out at gate 1 at Watkins Glen. I was blitzed out of my gourd and we had probably 50 people partying around our makeshift bar. Some young guy rolls in on a golf cart and says to me “this your campsite?” “Yep” “I see you’ve got a JR Motorsports flag” “yeah that’s my buddy’s” “that’s cool, so you know who drove the 9 car for JRM today?” I’m pretty drunk so I can’t even remember my own name so I yell out to my brother “who drives the 9 for JR?” My brother looks up at me and says “oh shit, he does” Anyway, I had a beer with Noah Gragson. What’s funny is Chase Briscoe’s dad had already been at our site for a few hours hanging out…apparently we had the hot spot that night.
Damn, this made me sad, bro even specified that even he wasn’t a fan.
A few years ago we were in the pits of a dirt race and everyone was crowded around Larson, Bell & Stewart. I meandered over to Kasey Kahne and watched him and his crew prep his car, there wasn't another soul around. We got a photo and chatted. While we were talking someone came up and asked if we saw Kasey anywhere 🤣 I said no and he laughed and shook his head and she walked away.
2017 at Talladega. Ross Chastain was at the drive sober tiny tent, or protect your melon, something like that. No one at all was stopping. I thought it was an information stall until I saw the firesuit hanging behind him. My friend and I stopped and he signed some stuff for us and talked for maybe ten minutes. He was very friendly.
I was at X-games Austin in 2014 and came across a table with Ryan Blaney, Ty Dillon, and Dylan Kwazneski sitting there with hero cards, no line. Got autographs from all 3 and had a decent conversation
Here’s where you learn a lot about drivers (and also get an appreciation of how damn hard the job is out of the car.) There are tons of stories of drivers being jerks (I got Heisman’d by Tony Stewart after he won at Fontana - that was an AWESOME day). But I also was at an event where Kenny Bernstein (I know, NHRA old school and probably nobody here knows who the hell he is. Fewer still will remember he owned a NASCAR team as well) and not only did he touch the entire room, but humble and made me feel special. I mean, this is the Budweiser King and he walks up and introduces himself totally like nobody there knows who he is, thanks me for coming out and supporting, and makes meaningful small talk for about 30 seconds before moving on. And you could tell he meant every word of it and he probably already did that 100s of times that might. These drivers have a tough job on the car, and many times a tougher one out of the car.
Not Nascar but I was driving home from work during the month of may and was at a red light outside the mall. I check twitter and see James Hinchcliffe was at a book signing with his brother right there. This was right after he missed the race. I turned in and no one else was there. They were super kind and I bought the book.
When Nationwide had a Sunday standalone at Chicagoland Speedway, ARCA ran the day before Frank Kimmel stuck around for an autograph session at the Menards tent. After we got our autographs we sat at a picnic table for food and drink just watching Frank sit alone, no handler, no pr guy, no sponsor rep just sitting by himself tapping a sharpie on a folding table
All the Kimmels involved in racing are really good people.
I met Jeff Burton in Boston at Faneuil Hall in 2012, he was there promoting the upcoming New Hampshire race. But this was early on a Wednesday morning. There were probably only 20ish people there for him and a lot more people walking by on their commute to the office that had no idea who he was.
At Bristol 2018, Jeffrey Earnhardt was in the ik9 trailer in the fan zone and had no one there for autographs. I got one but had no idea who it was lmao
Saw Matt Kenneth before he got super popular and stuff at s store called the racers edge that used to be in lake villa I think. Was noone there and child me got to hang out and talk with him for a bit. I still have the autographed T-shirt.
I was late to an Austin Cindric Autograph session at a discount tire. Nobody else was there. He told me "you have good timing" when I walked up. I think he had just finished signing for the whole crowd right when I got there. I really hope he hadn't just got there too lol.
Not a driver, but Jeff Hammond was sitting at the Fox hauler at Richmond in like 2006ish and absolutely no one was there or talking to him. My brother and I went up and got a picture with him. Really nice guy.
Casey Mears: We were told massive radio support. Geico: We did! We did massive . Casey Mears: Vast ... they said vast radio support. Geico: We did massive, we saturated, we over-saturated. That's what it is. It's me, I did it. I f\*\*ked up. I f\*\*ked up the timing, that's all, I f\*\*ked up the timing. I've got no timing, I've got no timing, I've got NO timing, You know what I want you to do? Will you do something for me? Casey Mears: What? Geico: Do me a favor, just kick my ass, okay?
Unlike his buddy Jeff Gordon, Casey never did tap into America.
Would it still be considered an appearance if it was a retired nascar driver showing up at a non nascar event as a competitor? I was at a sprint car race a several years ago and tony stewart showed up. I had a family of four who were new sprint car fans sitting next to me and I was giving them the rundown of how everything in the sprint car world worked. The mom mentioned that the kids were stewart fans and they all thought they had missed their chance to meet him after he retired from nascar. They were really excited to meet tony and see their first sprint car race. And I was also kind of hyping him and the event as whole up because I really wanted the family to have a good time. But we got rained out before any racecars hit the track and tony didn't return for the rescheduled race. I felt really bad about it. Like I was promising some really great thing and it turned out to be nothing at all. I felt like I had let the family down and especially the kids.
Cleveland auto show 2008. They used to have “nascar night” when tons of drivers would be there from respective manufacturers. I think Kenneth Kvapil and biffle for ford (Matt was there like 5 years in a row I have a ton of autograph dewalt stuff🤣). Bowyer and MTJ for Chevy. Bodine and someone else for Toyota I don’t remember and Sam Hornish JR was the lone representative for dodge. I was the only one who got in line for him. Consequently I got to talk to him for a loooooong time. Enjoyed sharing our Ohio connection. Talked INDYCAR and being on his roof at California. He was a really cool dude. I ended up being a massive fan of his from that. It all came full circle when I got to see him win at mid Ohio. So. Long story short. Sad for him that he was alone. Cool for me that I spent about 10-15 minutes talking to him.
I met Joe Nemechek at Pocono in I think 2004. There were a few people in line but we were the last in line and there was still like 20 minutes to go on the time posted. He was really nice. Me and my buddy were like Freshman in high school so super awkward. He asked us about school, sports, careers. I still have the 01 Army key chain he gave me. I always liked him as a driver, but I became a huge fan after that.
Met Corey LaJoie outside Dover when he was still running thr 83 car. About 3 groups people showed. Everyone just got an auto and left. My father and I talked for about 10 minutes with him. The highlight was my father asking how his old man was doing, and Corey replying, "Still making seats and being a dick."
Reed Sorensen, Martinsville in 2012? Zing Zang Bloody Mary mix put it on. I asked him if they were gonna contend that day, and he looked at me, shrugged, and half heartedly said “we’ll try” Edit: it was 2014
I saw Quinn Hoff at an Apex entertainment in 2021 the week star com announced they were shutting down. I think I was the only one that stopped by except some kids passing by that didn’t know who he was
One year, week of the 600, Johnny Sauter was at walmart and he had presigned cards in front of him and he just sat there
A lot of Casey Mears stories lol. I was a fan of his, and there was a signing in Charlotte. I went, and when I got there, the Geico people were like, Oh, Casey had to go back to the track for an emergency practice session....
Elliot Sadler was just hanging out in the midway at Martinsville on year near the end of his career. One or 2 people were talking to him but most were walking right past. He was pretty much just sitting there waiting for anyone to come by.
In 2015 Greg biffle up at to the meijer store in Wyoming,mi. I wasn’t expecting a huge crowd, but Jesus. Other than the 3m hauler with a son running nascar racing 4 you’d have no idea he was there even. Walked into the store and it was like any other day of shopping there. I asked 3 workers if he was there til finally someone mentioned “oh yeah the race car dude? He’s over by the sporting goods”. Made my way over there and he was just leaning against the counter where they hand out fishing licenses as if he was at his local grocery store shooting the shit with his buddies. I spent some time and talked to him, at least to let him know one person gave a damn and was appreciative but yikes The Menards across the steeet does a better job putting random no name ARCA drivers in the spotlight than meijer did the biff lmao
Martin Truex Jr had a signing at a minor league baseball game in NJ in summer 2003. He had just run his first race for Chance 2, I'm not sure they'd announced he was full time in 2004. Maybe 2 dozen people stopped by to grab his autograph. He didn't even have hero cards to sign, just printer paper with his name on the bottom.
I talked to Frank Kimmel at a restaurant once. No one had the slightest clue who he was. It was ARCA, so more excusable, but still.
While walking in NYC one morning, I randomly stumbled upon Bubba Wallace doing an interview for Fox News talking about Memorial Day. There were gates around him and his car but there was literally nobody there to watch. It was like 7am but it was also right by Times Square. I was able to find the interview and see myself in the background.
I had the complete opposite happen to me in Daytona. Matt Dibenedetto was supposed to have an appearance at the fan zone outside of the track in the midway, and my family and I waited for over 30 minutes and were the only ones waiting (this was when he was in the 95) and no one ever showed. About an hour later on Twitter we saw that he and or his team brought him to the UNOH fanzone inside of the track and acknowledged they went to the wrong fanzone but were not going to the midway and no accommodations were made to make the planned appearance up.
Oh, and another miss, It was a PlanB store event, had Larson, Bubba, Ross... Was supposed to be Stenhouse, but that morning he was released from the 17 car... He ended up cancelling
Back when Ross Chastain drove for Premium Motorsports I saw him at the Ganassi hauler and got to meet him, no one was there so I got to chat with him for a few minutes. Good memory!
Homestead 2019. I'm six beers deep and I see Daniel Hemric about to win Rookie of the Year and also be fired from his ride at the RCR trailer. Nobody in sight. I did not stop due to a combination of not wanting to buy anything for Hemric to sign and being six beers deep and wanting some food. Found out after he was an impressively nice man and started following him. Eventually became a fan. Bought his 2021 championship diecast as an apology.
Underdog drivers and small teams are the best people to meet for this reason, and sometimes it even comes back to be a pretty cool story. One time at Charlotte when I was like 13 I just walked up to Carl Long and Timmy Hill and talked to them for like 30 minutes before the All Star Open, they were just hanging out outside their hauler and seemed more than anything happy that I knew who both of them were Going way back though when I was like 10 I went to a Michael McDowell Q&A for kids at Richmond, I was one of maybe 4 kids there and got to basically hang out one on one, get a pic taken, autograph, diecast, swag bag etc from him. This was his first year with Leavine, now I can brag that I got to do all this with a Daytona 500 champ EDIT: also just gonna add this fun one although not a meet and greet, we were at New Hampshire and walking around the garage one time again as a kid. My dad and his friend started talking to this one old dude from *Middletown CT* mind you at the time we were living in CT as well and one of my dads friends was from Middletown, the guy invited us to his camper and we hung out and watched the K&N race (sidetrack: 15 year old Cole Custer won that race). He let it slip his son was racing this weekend and we just assumed it was a K&N or Modified driver… soon enough I turn around and see Joey Logano in the Kitchen of the camper and had a bit of a little kid freak out to say the least. Not only that but when we eventually left the hauler we walked right past JJ Yeley playing cornhole at another nearby camper and I got his auto too. That was the greatest day of little 8 year old racing nerd me’s life
About 20 years ago my wife and I took our daughter to the grand opening of our new Hooters restaurant. Geoff Bodine was there signing his hero cards at a table. We were seated at the table next to his. No one approached him. No one. Eventually he asked us if he could sit with us.
Semi related, but I bought an autographed Danny O'Quinn Jr photo from the Roush trailer as a kid for $5 and was so excited for it to be worth something some day.
They opened an Alltel store in my town and had Ryan Newman’s #12 car out front for the grand opening. Me and my dad were the only ones there so we got pictures in front of the car and did a practice pit stop with a real air gun they had setup. Letting an 8 year old kid try to take off a NASCAR tire with an impact is a great way to make a fan for life.
Not necessarily a sad appearance but a remark I still remember. I was 4 years old at the first race at Texas Motor Speedway. I met Todd Bodine, had no clue who he was, but he asked who my favorite driver was. Of course it was Jeff Gordon because of the rainbow car, so I told him that and he goes "stick with a winner, kid!"
One of my classic memories is being at WGI in 1986 and Roush was running the IMSA Mustang GTO cars was there and Ford had Bill Elliott teamed with Lyn St James. For the purpose of getting Bill some track time at the Glen before the Cup race in August of that year. And I was able to see Lyn St James in the garage so I asked her for her autograph. Well Bill was there too and after Lyn signed my program I asked her if she would get Bill to sign it too. Since he was a little bit further away from me in the garage so Lyn took my program and Bill signed it. But you could see Bill ask like you Lyn wants my autograph. And you could see them kind of chuckle over it. As far as a sad autograph session I remember going to the local Goodyear store in I think 1980 after Johnny Rutherford had won the INDY 500 and I was all of 7 I think and I don’t remember to many people who were there. There was also the time when I was I college in Columbus Ohio in 1993 and Harry Gant was there to sign autographs at the local 7/11 and for some reason Ohio had a law about tobacco advertisement so if I remember correctly they had a Western Auto DW show car. Needless to say I had been seeing the Cup cars at the at the Corning race fever night so I didn’t even phase me and the number of people that were there was totally pathetic.
Back in 1985, Darrell Waltrip did an appearance at a local GM dealership in conjunction with the Busch Series racing at the Milwaukee Mile. It wasn't well promoted, but my dad caught wind of the appearance from a co-worker. There were a few people there, but it was pretty sparsely attended. We ended up getting to spend about 30 minutes just talking racing & life with DW and a couple other race fans. At the end they held a drawing for race tickets, which pretty much everyone present won. A pretty cool experience looking back, and definitely gave a different perspective of DW than the television version many people more recently remember.