I am amazed with alot of the people on here that are big fans or were part of the sport of Stock Car racing. I am delighted to see some of the legends of the sport on here too. I know I am new here and I figure introduce myself.

I grew up in Upstate NY. Oswego, NY to be exact. Every Saturday night I could hear the sounds of engines down the road from my house. It was the sounds of Supermodifieds and Modifieds at the Oswego Speedway. I could see the lights from the track from my bedroom window and had many Saturday nights trying to sleep. As a child I always asked my parents to take me there. Then one night when I was 8 my Dad took me to the race. I was hooked. The sounds of the cars. Seeing them roaring around the track was an incredible sight. I went to more races after that. Saw many great drivers race there that have become local legends like Bentley Warren, Joe Gosek, Eddie Bellinger, Steve Gioia and others some of you may or may not even know.

Occasionally the NASCAR Modifieds came to town. Drivers like George Kent, Reggie Ruggiero, Tom Baldwin and Jan Leaty were drivers I remember racing. First Modified race I saw was a Richie Evans Memorial 125 lap race on Memorial Day. I became a big fan of racing after the passing of Richie Evans and the late great Jim Shampine. I never saw them race but I was fascinated by the mark they left at the Oswego Speedway and racing in the area.

It also occurred to me that there was a wide variety of racing not restricted to just the Oswego Speedway. Drag racing, Indy cars, NASCAR Winston Cup, World of Outlaw Sprints and Formula 1 were things I enjoyed. On Sundays I was glued to the tv watching American Sports Cavalcade, Inside Winston Cup and Winners on TNN. I also remember watching F1 early in the morning on ESPN and any other form of motorsports I could see. I began to like NASCAR more because of the personalities. Also I liked the cars and the colors. I know this may sound silly but my first favorite driver was Micheal Waltrip because I thought the Country Time car looked so cool. I did not know too much about the sport at the time. But I learned.

I soon began to have other favorites. I had no drivers I disliked really. My favorites were Davey Allison, Dale Earnhardt, Richard Petty and Bill Elliott. I was crushed when Davey Allison died. One of my friends called to tell me he died later after the crash. Thats how I found out. I became a bigger Dale Earnhardt fan after that. I soon grew to respect and enjoy the way he made the races exciting to watch. I remember being upset that he lost the Daytona 500 in 1990 on the last lap. That was the first flag to flag Daytona 500 I ever watched. I cried when he finally won it in 1998. My first real race I saw in person was not till 1991. My parents took me to Pocono and witnessed a nice duel between Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt. I remember in those days I could actually look and see Earnhardt in the car racing his hardest. I could see his face because they had open faced helmets in those days.

Like many I was devastated when we lost Dale Earnhardt. I was in college at the time and my roommate had never seen a NASCAR race and we watched it. What a bad first race to see. I remember I was at the dinning hall after the race talking to my buddies about the race. I kept saying I hope Dale is alright. Then the worst thing I ever saw. I log onto my computer in my dorm to EPSN.Com to get an update. "EARNHARDT KILLED." I screamed, NOOOO! No one on my dorm could understand the magnitude of this but me. I had to explain to them one of the sports greatest driver was killed. He was the most beloved. To this day I have his autograph that he sent back to me signed and countless pieces of Earnhardt memorabilia from over the years. I can honestly say I grew up being a Dale Earnhardt fan.

So now I am 31. I moved to Florida for a job and sometimes I do go up to Daytona. I have been there for testing and races. Have met the drivers and have accumulated a nice autograph collection. I have also had the pleasure of meeting other fans and could discuss racing with them for hours. I do enjoy going to local racing still. I make it a point to support the local short tracks. I want to say I like this site. I once spent an entire evening just looking at old photographs of tracks and cars. Very impressive and always enjoy seeing that. I love history and the people who have made this sport so fun to watch. I see that guys like Ned Jarrett, Bobby Allison, David Pearson, Harry Gant, Dave Marcis and many other greats are on here. I want to take this time to say thank you for giving so much to the sport. To the other fans on here, look forward to reading posts and interacting with you.