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DRIVERS

          Ever since I was a teenager, I have been an avid photographer and collector of autographs.  My interest in NASCAR racing provided me with a wonderful opportunity to combine the two - photographing drivers, and getting their autographs.  That was what we loved most about NASCAR - the accessibility of our heroes:  unlike other sports, in which the athletes very rarely made public appearances, and charged money to provide an autograph.  One of my most treasured possessions  is an album containing the photographs and autographs of our racing heroes, often with us included in the picture.  Most of the best opportunities were in the pits at Michigan International Speedway, or during Family Racefest   in Bristol, during the August race weekend.  The pictures below are a selection of our memories of nearly 15 yuears of  following our heroes.

Joanne and I were on pit row in about 1993 when we spotted the Intimidator himself approaching pit wall.  We heard him ask his crew chief how much time he had, and on being told "7 minutes" he beckoned to us, and Joanne thrust our programme forward, while I took this photo.		We celebrate Dale Earnhardt's first and only victory in the"Daletona 500" on February 15 1998
	We attended Raceday during the 100th anniversary celebrations  of the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Mich.  in July 2002, and had a wondserful opportunity to meet my "main man," DJ, as well as to be photographed with one of NASCAR's  greatest drivers and nicest people, Ned Jarrett.
We were privileged to meet NASCAR great and all-time nice person Bobby Allison at a fund-raiser for Crumley House, a brain injury rehabilitation centre in Johnson City, Tenn.	Above:  Joanne gets to meet Ken Schrader;  Right:  At a K-Mart autograph session, Jimmy Spencer saw Joanne with our camera, and invited me to pose with him for a picture

Check this link for some more photos that I took of our racing heroes.

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