I've ALWAYS been a racing fan!! When I was little, Sundays were for watching Nascar with my daddy. While other little girls were playing dress up with high-heels and princess gowns, my little sister and I were running around the house in his oversized "Intimidator" t-shirts and racing helmets! Sure, we were both cheerleaders (from the "wee-football" days at the county rec. dept. all the way through high school), but we were nowhere near prissy! The majority of our spare time was spent around cars and mechanics. We grew up at "THE SHOP" behind our grandparents' (meme and papa's) house.. and, if we weren't tearing up the yard with the go-carts and four-wheeler, we were playing with the tools that we weren't supposed to be touching! The shop is where.. uncle Chuck first taught me how to drive his pick-up truck (I was 4 or 5yrs old, so I could only sit in his lap and steer.. but, when I could actually reach the pedals, he taught me how to drive all by myself).. papa took it up a notch when I was 11 or 12 by teaching me how to drive a manual (in his OLD Datsun pick-up with a 3-speed on the column and wholes rusted COMPLETELY through the floor).. daddy would hold me up so i could see under the hood and let me "help" him work on cars (and actually taught me a thing or two when I got a little older).. and papa taught me how to weld (and even let me do it by myself.. after I promised not to tell meme haha!). The shop is also where my sister and I spent countless hours working on our Soap Box Derby cars with daddy. We had so much fun racing, and we were very successful, but I complained the whole time about how bad I wanted to race something with a MOTOR!! (Unfortunately, mama and meme had warned them that motors were not allowed for their girls!) I guess you could say I was born to love racing.. I just can't help it. Some of you may understand what I mean.. If you're a TRUE race fan (I don't mean just since Nascar has been televised) and you're from Georgia, you might recognize my last name. (Or you might not.. and that's ok, too.) My papa, Harold Fountain, was one of the pioneers of racing.. anything from dirt to paved tracks, long or short. I've been listening to papa tell racing stories for over 25 years now.. and, considering the fact that my sister and I ate dinner with my grandparents every weeknight until I was atleast 12 or 13 years old, we've probably heard them ALL atleast once or twice.. but still, everytime I hear him start to talk about racing, I just smile cause it never gets old! I found this website accidentally.. (actually, a friend of mine told me about this website after he saw a picture of papa standing by his old black #22 and googled his name).. I've only logged onto this website a few times since it was brought to my attention but, each time, I've been on here for hours just looking at pictures and reading about everyone's memories.. I just can't get enough! In my grandparents' house there is a wall with built-in shelving (the entire length of their living room, from the chair rail to the ceiling) full of trophies, awards, engraved platters, helmets, pictures, newpaper and magazine articles.. anything to do with papa's racing career. It's all been there since before I was even there, so I have always known that he used to drive racecars (and I always figured he must've been alright at it or he wouldn't have gotten all those trophies). But, he's always been so humble and nonchalant about it all, I never imagined the kind of impact he really had on the sport and on fans of the sport. Papa talks about racing constantly, but it's never to brag or be boastful. His stories are rarely all about himself.. they're just about the good times, pranks and crazy antics, funny things that happened, the people that basically became part of the family, wrecks and the ensuing fights, comebacks, tight finishes, and times that he was surprised to win or even finish. I have never gotten tired of listening to him relive those memories, but I also never realized the significance of his role until probably 4 or 5 years ago.. We were at the shop when I heard my dad say something about going to the race in Swainsboro with papa so, I invited myself to tag along. Only when we got to the dirt track did I find out he was being honored that night and was the honorary flag man.. and he hadn't even told anybody (except my dad) because he "didn't wanna make a big deal." Geez. (And, this is where I roll my eyes.. haha) Oh my goodness.. you would've thought papa was a rock star. People were following us, taking pictures, asking for his autograph, introducing their kids, asking him to come look at their racecars... one middle-aged man even got kind of emotional talking about growing up watching papa race. I had NO idea!! It was awesome.. I was so proud!! Anyway, the moral of this longgg story is that I am SO GLAD I found this website! I love reading everyone's stories about how racing use to be and about the impressions that papa and other "original" drivers left.. I can't wait to read more! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR SHARING ALL OF YOUR PICTURES AND WONDERFUL MEMORIES!!

~Heather Fountain