I met lots....Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Denny Hamlin, Joey Lagono, J.J Yeley, Tony Stewart, Rex White, Jody Ridley,etc. But two times stick out in my mind the most...1. Richard Petty. In August of 2008, my father and I went to retrieve the flagstand from Lakewood Speedway for the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame from Richard at his Level Cross Shop. It was donated to Petty after he retired in 92'. And now I used to get sick when I was excited. All the way up to about Charlotte, I was just sicker than a dog. But after we stopped by the Wood Brother's shop and toured the shop and met Leonard, I instantly felt better. So I lasted the rest of the way to Level Cross. Once we pulled in, we parked our truck and trailer in front of the what looked like deserted office. As soon as we got out, a man with a forklift came around the engine shop to help us load the probably 15-foot flagman's stand. I soon excitedly asked the man and his crew if the King himself was here (we went on a day an insider told us was one of Richard's 'business' days) He turned around to see an all black Chrysler 300 pull up and he replied with "Yep, that's him". Let me tell you, I was amazed as the slick car with black paint, grill and black tinted windows pulled up right beside where I was standing. I was shaking as I walked around the other side of the car as I saw a pair of black cowboy boots kick open the drivers door and I got 'bug-eyed' as I watched a tall and lanky figure step out of the car. He was wearing a red shirt, black pants, black signature cowboy hat with shades, a 50th anniversary of Petty belt buckle that had to have been 10 times bigger than his fist. After he spit a gulp of tobacco, he said "Dang, I can't even get my own parking space no more" since we parked right in front of the office building. I guess I should be glad that we were in a Dodge truck. So after we said our hello's and snapped a few pictures...he went inside to do business and he invited me into (not his personal office, but really a type of waiting room I guess you could call it. Lots of pictures and memorabilia) So after I took some pictures of the inside, I went back out and Richard followed behind with a stack of cowboy hats (probably 6 or 7) He said he was fixing to head out to their ranch in Wyoming. He also invited us into what used to be the cup shop (approximately at this point in time, he had just moved the shop to Mooresville into the old Yates Shop). He had a small collection of custom golfcarts and two Morris Minors. But, we were fortunate enough to see his 1957 Olds convertible racecar come in on a flatbed when we came in, by the time we were in the shop building, the cool car was unloaded already. When Richard came back out, I asked him to sign two items, a photo and a diecast set of a transporter and his seven championship cars along with my autograph book. When he got to signing my book, I told him that he could have the whole page to sign on. Two pages are the ones I show the most to people. The one Richard signed on and the page next to it has all three Elliott brothers, Both Bud Moores, and Both Wood Brothers (Glen, and Leonard)Anyway....let me say that I was just very pleased!!!2. Bill Elliott. It was around June of 2008, I was at work at the Georgia Racing Hall of Fame museum, just got done putting a car in there. And as the car owners went out the door, I could have swore that I saw Bill Elliott. Now being from Dawsonville and never met Bill Elliott is like not knowing who your own mayor is. I'd been wanting to meet him for ever and longtime friend, Gordon Pirkle, owner of the famed Dawsonville Pool Room, always told me accounts of when Bill came in to have a burger or I would have just missed him by a few minutes. Well at the time, Gordon also owned a small cafe inside the museum complex. And unknowingly to me, Bill was in there, just got done eating with his wife, his son and a few of his development drivers and just shooting the breeze with Gordon. And a man named Steve Holder, who used to work at the museum, was in there talking to him too. In fact, earlier in 2008, Steve went by the shop and had my car and autograph book signed. So since he knew I wanted to meet Awesome Bill so bad, he went and got me. I was standing almost behind a coke machine just trying to figure out what to say to the man. After all, this was all of a sudden. So I finally got enough courage to meet Bill right before he left. I know by now, I'm long-winded, but there, I probably didn't say but 10 words to the guy. Probably around the next week, he came in alone to get a to-go order from the Champion's Cafe (Note that cafe is no longer there) and he came through the museum entrance. As he was leaving he said Hi, and I mentioned that I was sorry that I was so shy when I first met him. He replied with "That's alright, I used to be the same way".Sorry for the very long story!-Cody
