Whether you believe him or not this is still worth watching. There are usually 3 side to every story. Most have heard NASCAR's side now listen to Jeremy's side. There will more episode released soon.
Jon Gunn, NASCAR Illustrated , NASCAR.com
It was a simple text from Aric Almirola last November: "Are you interested in going Cup racing?"
For Trent Owens, the recipient of that text, the offer to crew chief the No. 43 represented more than a job opportunity. The No. 43 had been a part of Owens' life since he was born -- and one that played a pivotal role in Owens' incredible tale.
Randy
Trent Owens' story starts with his father, Randy.
Randy Owens grew up in Randleman, N.C. His sister, Lynda, had married Richard Petty, and Randy began working for the legendary race team in the summers.
By the time Randy was 19, he was working fulltime for Petty Enterprises, had married his longtime sweetheart, Jan K. Owens, and the couple had two children -- Travis and Trent.
"Lynda was 13 years older than Randy, so she was more like Randy's mom," Jan said. "Randy wanted to drive, but his eyesight was bad so he settled in on the pit crew.
"He was going to stick with it. He loved it; he was just crazy for it."
In 1975, Petty was coming off of his fifth Cup title. For the 10th race of the season, the NASCAR circus pulled into Talladega Superspeedway for the Winston 500.
Randy and Barry Dodson, two of the team's youngest members, bunked together, as they often did, at the motel.
"Neither one of us slept all night," Dodson said. "I don't know why. We got up three times, I remember distinctly, and played cards, talked, went outside and walked around.
"When we got up the next morning, we had basically not gone to sleep. Then we went on to the race track and the day unfolded."
Petty, who had won five of the season's first nine races, spent time out front, but a shot wheel-bearing brought the No. 43 smoking into pit lane with fewer than 50 laps to go.
Flames shot from the left-front corner, Petty climbed from the car and the team took action.
"It was orchestrated chaos; we were just trying to get the fire out," Dodson said. "There was a water tank we used for cooling the car down when it ran hot.
"They asked Randy to put air in the tank to get the water hose going. Randy was leaning over the tank. It didn't have a pop-off valve and the bottom was rusted out. It's like putting air in a balloon. He was putting air in a bomb.
"When the pressure overcame the tank, it just blew the bottom out and knocked Randy into the air."
Randy Owens, who had just celebrated his 20th birthday one month earlier, was dead.
"It was just a terrible, terrible thing knowing that those two little boys were home without a daddy and Jan was there without a husband," Dodson said. "All the way up the road, I kept asking myself, 'What was going to happen? What was next? How are we going to deal with this?'
"It seemed like forever to get home and then once we got home, it's like you wanted to be there, but you didn't because we had to relive it. We relive it today."
Jan was with her then 2-year-old and 4-month-old boys at her aunt's house, listening to the race on the radio.
"All I heard was that there was a fire in Richard Petty's pits," Jan said. "I went straight to the telephone, called my best friend and told her, Randy is dead.' I was screaming.
"She said, Jan, how do you know it's him?'
"I said, I feel it, I feel it. It feels like a knife is going through my chest.'
"My daddy went to the Owens' house. When he came back in the door crying, I knew for sure.
"My daddy told me, The Owens want you over there.'
"I looked back at my aunt, she was holding Trent and Travis, and I said, Please take care of my babies' and I went over there."
Jan, nearly 40 years on, said she has yet to come to terms with the loss of her husband.
"I still cannot look at pictures of Randy," she said. "Everybody had to put them up. I couldn't stand looking at them.
"I had never been through anything that traumatic and I loved him so much.
"The older I get, I know that he's the only man I've ever been in love with. I thought I was in love with other people, but I know different. I thought the sun rose and set with him, I thought he was perfect. The day that he died, I thought that I was supposed to die too."
Trey and Tia
In time, Barry and Jan began dating, and the couple married and welcomed the birth of a son, Trey, in 1977 and a daughter, Tia, in 1978.
Barry was fast becoming one of the sport's top crew chiefs, however. The demanding hours took a toll on the marriage and Barry and Jan divorced after four years.
Soon after, Jan and her four children moved from North Carolina to Darlington, S.C., to be closer to her family.
In Darlington, Jan began dating Bobby June and the couple were together for the next 12 years.
"That's pretty much my father, [the person] who raised me from the time I was 5 years old," Trent said. "My mom and Barry divorced and Bobby took my mom and four kids aged 2-6, took us all in, raised us, provided for us.
"I appreciate everything he's done because the character I am, a lot of it is because of him.
"He's the perfect father. We spent summers at the lake, he coached us in baseball, took us to the races when he could to see our family. He was just really good.
"I couldn't have asked for a better situation. If I was going to be without a father, I couldn't ask for a better person to raise me."
Bobby June, who mentored many children while working as an area baseball coach, said it was a role that came naturally.
"It was just something that happened," he said. "I've always loved kids because I've always coached Little League ball in Darlington for 20 years.
"I've probably got 100 of them who think I'm their daddy because I go pick them up at school and take them to practice. It's just a deal, my love for children."
The family was close. Bobby June coached Travis, Trent and Trey in baseball, and the boys raced go-karts together. Tia was a cheerleader and also played softball.
The only time the family was apart was during the summers. Lynda Petty began the tradition of picking the boys up as the Petty caravan made its way down to Daytona for the Firecracker 400. Travis and Trent would join Lynda, Richard and their four children at the track and then stay with the Pettys and work at the race shop.
"Lynda raised my dad in a lot of ways," Trent said. "And once [he died], she made sure Travis and myself were included in everything.
"The first year we started doing that, [Petty] won his 200th race, so we got to go to victory lane. Maybe they took us the rest of the years for good luck, I don't know.
"We would go straight to Randleman from Daytona. Richard would drive back and forth. He would drive all night after the race. We didn't have to worry about traffic because we were pretty much staying after the race ended. It was a great experience."
As fun as life with the Pettys was, Travis and Trent missed being at home with their mother, Bobby June and Trey and Tia.
"We were all close," Trent said. "We were all within four years of each other. We were tight. Trey and I shared a bedroom growing up. We all three raced karts.
"Tia, being the only girl and the baby, she was quite spoiled and I was probably to blame for some of that. We had a special bond. I would always pretty much give her anything she needed."
Aside from baseball and racing, Trent was also a top-notch golfer and played on his high school team, but he soon found time for another love: Amy, his future wife.
"I looked across the cafeteria and I saw Trent," Amy Owens said. "I asked a friend who that was and pretty much, I've been with him since then.
"The bad thing is that the girl that I asked about Trent, was a girl that liked him in junior high. I didn't know that. And she said, You don't need to bother with him because all he does is ride go-karts.'
"Then we dated all through high school."
Aside from racing karts, Trey was a star high school pitcher with several college scholarship offers, while Tia competed in and won a bevy of beauty pageants.
"Trey was Trent's best friend," Amy said. "They raced together. They would work on their go-karts all week, load up and we would go to the track on the weekends. They were always together.
"Tia was gorgeous. She was one of those people that you couldn't quit looking at. She was naturally just so pretty. Tia would be like, 'Trent, I need $20' and he would always give her money. He just loved her, just like a big brother."
Trent left Darlington for college -- studying engineering at the Univ. of North Carolina at Charlotte, but often returned home to spend time with Amy and his family.
In 1994, he was visiting to celebrate Thanksgiving. The family had dinner together. Afterward, Trent, who also worked at the Richard Petty Driving Experience, headed home -- which, at the time, was Richard and Lynda's condo at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Amy, Trey and Tia went to a party. Amy, who had a midnight curfew, went home, but Trey and Tia stayed at the party before piling into a friend's car for the short ride home.
They never made it.
"Barry called me, it had to be like 3:30 a.m.," Trent said. "I cannot stand it now when phones ring in the morning. He told me Trey had been in an accident and that I needed to meet him at [the Charlotte airport]. We took Felix Sabates' helicopter. By the time I got to the airport, Barry's brother, John, was there waiting.
"He said, 'She passed away.'
"I was like, She?'
"He said, 'Tia,' and I hadn't even known Tia had been in the accident. So that was quite a shock. He said Trey was holding on."
Onboard the helicopter, Barry, devastated by his daughter's death, prayed for his son to pull through.
"I was just crying and saying to God, 'Please let Trey live, please let Trey live,' " Dodson said. "Trent told me going down there, Barry, Trey's not just my brother. He's my best friend.'
"You didn't see Trent unless you saw Trey, and Tia was there with them. They took care of each other."
As soon as the helicopter landed, Barry and Trent were told Trey hadn't survived the wreck.
"My family circle was cut in half when I lost Trey and Tia," Jan said. "It will never be repaired. I try to go on but it's hard, real hard."
Trent quit school and struggled to come to terms with the loss of his brother and sister.
"We actually broke up because he got so mean," Amy said. "He would take it out on me, of course, because I was the one with him. That was just part of the stages he was going through. I knew it wasn't him.
"He did it on purpose; he would just try to be mean. He wouldn't go to counseling. I said, If you won't go to counseling, we're going to break up.' So we broke up."
Trent acknowledges that it was the roughest period of his life.
"I probably went through a five- or six-month period, when you're young like that, you just can't believe something like that happens," Trent said. "And then, how you're going to deal with it. You see your family struggling majorly -- as far as Barry, Mom. It's just unimaginable. Losing a child is probably the worst thing you could ever imagine happening."
Amy said that once Trent "got done with his little mean stage," they got back together. Trent also leaned on his friends at the Richard Petty Driving Experience to help him through the trying time.
"I regrouped, went back to college, continued to work. Those guys [at work] were really supportive through the whole thing. I got some close friends from that who remain close friends today."
Adam
"I finished college and then moved on and started racing. Racing gives you a lot of purpose in many different ways. After the deaths of my brother and sister, if I wasn't working at the Petty Driving Experience, I might have gone a different direction. I might have gone somewhere I didn't want to go. But being around race cars and knowing that's what I love, kept me going."
The only driving Trent was doing was at work, but he secured some funding and began running local races in the mid-1990s.
And in December of 1999, he and Amy were married.
"Of course December, because even then, everything had to be around racing," Amy said with a laugh. "I remember when we were engaged, I was traveling everywhere with him."
At the same time, Trent's young cousin, Adam Petty, Kyle Petty's son, had been making a name for himself on the track. And just as Kyle had been close to Randy Owens, Adam looked up to Trent and the two were fast friends.
"I was like the big brother he didn't have. It was a lot of fun," Trent said.
Trent was working with the Petty Experience in Las Vegas on May 12, 2000, when he got word Adam had been killed while practicing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
"Some guy came running through the garage and said Adam had been killed in an accident," Trent said. "I was like, What did you say?'
"It was a struggle. I had just gone through this in my immediate family and then to see Kyle, my aunt and uncle, everybody just really struggled because Adam was going to be 'The Guy' to carry the torch [at Petty Enterprises].
"It was hard, just because everything happened so close together. It's like, it's never going to end.
"Sometimes, that's the cards you're dealt. They're tough. Some people get it, some people don't. It comes in all doses. Those were definitely tough years that made me tougher as a person in a lot of ways, but you hate to go through it."
Yet again, Amy experienced the loss at Trent's side.
"That was horrible," she said. "Trent went through all the stages again. I mean, I know the death stages by heart.
"Everybody has to go through losing their grandparents, but you feel like they have lived their life. Trent's just lost so many people when they were young, and so tragically."
Gray
Again, racing helped Trent cope with the loss.
By 2001, he had made a half-dozen NASCAR Truck Series starts. He made six more series starts in 2002 before an up-and-coming superstar inadvertently convinced him to step out of the cockpit.
"I think it was in a Roush truck, but they brought in Kyle Busch to practice," Trent said of a race weekend at Auto Club Speedway. "He couldn't have been more than 17. They ended up not letting him race, but he was so fast, I was like, I don't think I could ever be that fast; I ought to start considering a job change.'
"It was at a time where everybody said, You've got to go through the steps, you've got to get laps, you've got to have seat time and all that is going to make you better.'
"Then you see a guy that came straight off the Bullring at Las Vegas and go to the top of the sheet and you're like, There's some natural ability you have to have to make it at the next level.' "
Trent, who graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering, began to work as a shock specialist. In 2006, he worked as a crew chief in the Nationwide Series -- winning five times over the next several years. He also has one very special win that came last season in the Truck Series.
Not long after Trent had stopped driving and focused on becoming a crew chief, he and Amy began a family of their own. Their first born, Anna, is 11 years old.
"Trent's gone a lot, but when he's at home, he's here," Amy said. "He comes straight home. Being a father just comes naturally to Trent. I didn't know if it would. He had a really good father figure in Bobby June. That's where I think Trent picked it up."
Anna has been dancing since she was 2 and now participates in dance competitions.
"She loves to dance," Amy said. "She looks and acts just like Trent. Trent's mom told me that when Trent got in trouble, he always smiled. She does that too and it drives me nuts."
Trent and Amy also have a 6-year-old son, Gray, who was diagnosed with autism before he was 2.
"It is a blessing, but you have to get to that point," Amy said. "I know that it's a blessing but I still have days where I want to slap people when they say, 'God wouldn't give you something you couldn't handle.'
"I'm just like, Well, He was wrong because I can't handle this.'
"At first, to be honest, it was like a death. A psychiatrist explained it to me like Trent and I had to bury our dreams for our son -- playing baseball, birthday parties.
"I went through the stages like I lost Gray. I was mad at God and I've been a Christian my whole life. Then I had to realize that I didn't lose Gray. I just lost what I thought Gray was going to be.
"Gray is very loving and he shows emotion and that's really odd for an autistic child.
"So it is a blessing, but I would give my arm for him to say something. He's completely non-verbal. It's a blessing, but it's hard, hard, hard."
A devoted mother, Amy nonetheless struggled but Trent never wavered.
"Trent is so good with Gray and Gray just worships Trent," Amy said. "When I struggled with it, Trent just jumped in. He just took over and he's been like that ever since.
"Trent has always, about every situation, he's able to calm the situation down and bring it back to normal. I'm like, When are you going to explode?' because he doesn't.
"I'm up and down like a roller coaster [emotionally] but Trent is straight all the time. He doesn't get real excited, he doesn't get real upset and he doesn't panic."
Last season, Trent served as crew chief for burgeoning NASCAR star Kyle Larson in the Nationwide Series , but the two also teamed up for the Camping World Truck Series race at Rockingham Speedway.
Running a special Autism Awareness paint scheme, the name above the door read: "Gray Owens."
"I couldn't take Gray to the race because he can't be around all that loud noise," Amy said. "So I took Gray to the shop before they went to Rockingham and had his picture taken on the truck.
"Everybody was so excited. Everybody was really wanting to win."
With Trent calling the shots, Larson picked up the win, but Amy didn't see it.
"I was so nervous when it got down to the last few laps that I had to leave my house and went to the grocery store," she said. "My sister called me and told me that they won and I ran out of the grocery store.
"I just feel like it was meant to be. It was real meaningful to Trent. It was a huge deal."
The No. 43
While Larson prepared for his move up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with Chip Ganassi Racing, Trent found himself with new opportunities as well -- one of which came via Almirola's text.
"I went to [Almirola's] house after getting the text and talked with him," Trent said. "I said, 'Now you're aware that that's my family and I haven't ever pursued [becoming crew chief] with them?'
"I said, 'I would obviously love the opportunity, but before we get too far, let's make sure everybody is on the same page.' "
Trent spoke with members of his family, including his uncle Richard Petty, before making his final decision.
"With his dad working on the 43, being the younger brother of Lynda, the 43 has been a part of Trent's life," Dodson said. "That holds a lot of, I would say, pride."
Travis, who works for Richard Childress Racing, told his younger brother, "Dad would be proud of you if you took the job."
"Travis and I have a close relationship," Trent said. "We talked through a lot of stuff. We knew that our father had started on the pit crew -- he was very young when he got killed. We knew that he had to be passionate about racing and probably aspired to be a crew chief as well.
"We just thought it was really neat that my first opportunity would be on the same team that he was on."
Then came Trent's call to his mother, Jan.
"He called me from Homestead [in November of 2013] and said, 'Mama, I've got two job offers and I'm having mixed feelings. One of them, uncle Richard wants me to come and be a crew chief.'
"I said, 'Trent, if your uncle called you and he wants you, he must need you. He's always been there for you. I know he's proud of you and I know he loves you. That's what you need to do.'
"He said, 'OK, that's what I want to do.' "
Trent took the job with Richard Petty Motorsports.
"My father's role was an important part -- probably the biggest reason -- but it was the number I grew up with," Trent said. "When I talked about going to a race as a 7-year-old kid, I went with my aunt and uncle to the track and that was to watch the 43 car in Cup racing. That's just what I grew up with.
"I did talk to the 'King' on the phone and that was comforting and ultimately probably led to the decision I made. It just seemed like the right decision to make for a lot of reasons. It's hard to put your finger on the exact one, but I felt very welcomed when I went over to the shop. I like what they have going on for the future. It just felt right; it felt like the right time."
The season has just begun, but Trent and Almirola have had some solid runs and look like possible contenders.
"I've cried every time he's qualified this year and I just don't do that," Dodson said. "It takes a lot to get a tear out of me and I've cried like a baby.
"I think that maybe a little bit of those runs are for his brother and sister and they were cheering him on. I've cried for each run and I hope I cry every week."
Considering Trent's link to the No. 43 -- to say nothing of his connection to Lynda Petty, who passed away on March 25 -- it should come as little surprise that the 39-year-old is focused on making the team winners again.
"Racing has filled a void in many ways," Trent said. "I definitely want to be a champion in this sport. I'd like to get the 43 back in victory lane. That's my biggest goal here.
"If we could meet that level of success, the emotional high would probably be pretty obvious.
"You learn how precious life is and you've got to enjoy every day and everybody. I don't live each day thinking there's a tomorrow. I know better than that."
RALEIGH, N.C. According to reports in the Raleigh News & Observer , Barbara Jean Butler, known in the racing community as Jeannie, was arrested April 23 on charges her husband Brians company Butlerbuilt Motorsports Equipment kept more than $400,000 in sales tax money and $261,000 in income tax money that had been withheld from employees checks dating back to 2003.
Butler, who serves as the companys secretary/treasurer and bookkeeper, was named in three arrest warrants and was being held in Wake County Detention Center with a first court appearance scheduled for Thursday.
According to arrest records, Butler, 61, was arrested at her Harrisburg, N.C., home on Wednesday.
The North Carolina Department of Revenue charged Butler with two counts of embezzlement of state property and a single count of embezzlement by a public officer or trustee. According to the warrants, the embezzled money was used by the company, but not by Butler personally.
Major Changes coming to NASCAR
NASCAR Sprint Cup race cars will have less horsepower at their disposal starting next season, as the series' sanctioning body is planning on making significant changes that will extend the life of the said V8 powerplants.
In an interview NASCAR vice president of Competition and Racing Development Robin Pemberton said NASCAR has had four meetings with representatives from Chevrolet, Ford and Toyota on engine, aerodynamic and tire changes for 2015.
According to Pemberton, talks have included a reduction in engine displacement and changes to throttle body size, but discussion are still in the early stages.
"It's as much getting more use out of engines as it is (reducing) horsepower," he said. "They kind of feed off of each other. There's no guarantee horsepower may or may not do anything for the quality of racing, but it will allow us to do other things."
Pemberton declined to specify how many horses NASCAR is looking to cut from Sprint Cup engines, but sources familiar with the changes said a reduction from 75 to 100 horsepower is to be expected. Currently, NASCAR Sprint Cup engines generate about 865 horsepower and 530 pound-feet of torque.
Both Ford and Chevrolet said they will support NASCAR's efforts if they enhance durability and improve the quality of racing.
"We are actively involved with NASCAR on strategic competition and business considerations and support NASCAR's efforts to work with the manufacturers to continually evolve the sport," said Jamie Allison, director of Ford Racing.
"If it truly does potentially help the racing and then help durability on the back end, I think it's not a bad thing to do," said Pat Suhy, NASCAR Group Manager for Chevrolet Racing. "I'm in favor of change when it can make things better, so I'm hopeful that it can actually make things better."
Although NASCAR are looking to reduce the horsepower in all manufactures there will be one exception with that being at the advice of The King Richard Petty in which they will allow Danica Patrick to run a special engine combination which consist of a new 12 cylinder engine developed by all 3 manufactures in a combined effort to MAYBE allow Danica Patrick to be competitive.
More details will be released soon regarding this engine but Jerry Smith was able to get a sneak peak of this engine.
So all the Danica Patrick nay sayers will most likely will be saying the same as this is all in fun to see how many would read this Press Release. Happy April Fool's day
Just heard Lynda Petty has passed away. Prayers to the Petty family. She was the backbone the The Petty Family.
Tonight on S.T.A.R.S. Radio (Short Track Auto Racing Source) we will be dedicating our show to Niokoa Johnson a 15 year old young lady who lost her life at her very first race and after talking with her father Richard Johnson we felt we nee d to discuss safety in racing. So we be talking to Randy Lajoie about seat safety and also we will have Frank James Kimmel Sr. who's Kimmel Series Street Series had one of the best Safety inspection around. All this tonight Monday March 24, 2014 at 6 pm EST LIVE on www.racersreunion.com. And remember Patrick Reynolds and Motorweek live will follow at 7 pm to be followed by Bill Pratt and Racin' and Rockin' rounds out the night at 8 pm. So join the crew right here RacersReunion.com. 
Depends on type of car for sure. We used to run LF 15 RF 22 RR 22 and LR was what ever we needed to get the desired stagger I have started as low was 8 or 9 psi. With today's tire preps I would say you could run more as the preps help with temps.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19550702&id=8d1LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3ooDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2471,7693283
http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1298&dat=19550827&id=IN5LAAAAIBAJ&sjid=3ooDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3961,3027648
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/autorace/longterm/nascar99/stories/gores.htm
http://fultonhistory.com/Newspaper4/Amsterdam%20NY%20Daily%20Democrat%20and%20Recorder/Amsterdam%20NY%20Daily%20Democrat%20and%20Recorder%201956%20Mar-Apr%20Grayscale/Amsterdam%20NY%20Daily%20Democrat%20and%20Recorder%201956%20Mar-Apr%20Grayscale%20-%200080.pdf
| Birth: | Jun. 22, 1931 |
| Death: | Apr. 26, 2007 |
| Northern Virginia Stock Car Club championship on several occasions. | |
Walter B. "Wally" Gore of Falls Church, VA died April 26, 2007.