Quite possibly the main thing that scares the bejesus out of Johanna is not so much her other competitors, but the fear of the unknown. “Probably us not being able to run the full-season scares me the most.” said Johanna. “It’s scary not having full sponsorship and not knowing if I’m going to be able to race the full season or not.” Even with all these concerns that are as foreign to most 19-year olds as learning a new language, Johanna has found ways to preserve her youth. “I still go and hang out with my friends and do all the typical things a 19-year old girl does, but what I like to do the most is go to the race track and race.”

In her early NASCAR starts last year, Johanna learned many things, but one thing in particular stood out. “I learned a lot about how to race with these guys.” reflected Johanna. “It’s so different from running late models and that’s probably the hardest thing I have had to deal with in terms of racing with the other guys on the track.” But Johanna hasn’t been without her share of help from the drivers. “If I go up and down the Truck Series garage asking for help, I can’t believe how nice all the drivers are and how much help they give me. Matt Crafton has helped me a lot and Mario Gosselin has been there every week at the track for me if I’ve needed help and has been a tremendous amount of help.”

Long is also very kind and gracious toward her growing legion of NASCAR fans. “I love every fan.” said Johanna. “We all love our fans for sure. I’m on Facebook and Twitter a lot talking back to them and I love little kids. It’s so great to interact with them.”. Last year, perhap’s Long’s big Achilles’ Heel was wanting advice from veterans but being shy around them, but she has gained confidence in 2011. “I’m more confident in my presence.” Johanna stated. “I’m naturally a shy person, but I’m coming out of my box more talking to other drivers and getting to know them better.” Many in the press have also heralded Johanna as part of NASCAR’s next generation, something that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Johanna. “It means a lot to me.” said Long. “I’ve been working toward this since I was eight years old and just knowing I belong here and hopefully I get the sponsorship to continue my career and better myself.”

One cause that is near and dear to Johanna’s heart is her work with the Girl Scouts. “I’ve always loved working with the Girl Scouts and working with little girls.” reflected Johanna “It’s a great program and hopefully we get to continue doing it at different tracks. Last year we did it at Vegas and did it at Martinsville and there were so many kids there, it was amazing. They all wanted to hear what I had to say.” After interviewing Johanna, I sincerely wish for nothing but the best for her career and her sponsorship search and truly believe that, with the right backing, she can be a force to reckon with for many years in NASCAR.

McClure has now been a part of NASCAR for nearly a decade, and while his family owned the famed Morgan-McClure Motorsports NASCAR Cup team, Eric didn’t have anything handed out to him, contrary to popular belief. “I always wanted to race growing up.” recalled Eric. “But, my parents weren’t sold on the idea and wanted me to get an education, so I went to college, worked for the local newspaper, the local radio station and swept floors at the race shop, saved up a bunch of money, went out and bought an old Street Stock, and that was it. I did well at it and had fun and Dad got excited about it. He made me pay for the whole thing, of course, but he let me live at home and did that for a few years and had the opportunity to do some testing for them (Morgan-McClure) and ran in a Busch race and it kind of snowballed from there. I got a really late start. It just started off as a hobby and it kind of took off.”

One thing Eric definitely did not have from his family was pressure to break into racing. “Honestly, I think they’d still like for me to quit (racing).” Eric stated. “Dad went every weekend and that was before air-planes and you had to drive the van all night. He worked a regular job in addition to the race team and he knew what it was really like. When everybody thinks about being a driver, they think it’s a glamour lifestyle. I always joke that when I became a driver, I never thought about being a 25th place guy or a 20th place guy. So no, there was no pressure at all and it was something I took on my own. They supported me with it and still do, but there’s no pressure.”

Eric had a rather early transition in his racing career to go from ARCA and local-level racing to racing in NASCAR and the learning curve was steep. “It was huge.” recalled Eric. “I liken it to going from the middle school football team straight to the NFL. We had one ARCA race, two Busch Series races, and a Cup race. Honestly, I did well in them, but I probably had no business being in there. I think that a lot of people don’t realize that when you get to these levels, and I didn’t either, that I was very fast at the local level and won a lot of races and was very successful, but it’s easy to look at others and think ‘Well, I can do that’ or ”These guys are terrible.’ and they get over here and you realize just how hard it is. These guys are the best of the best, the best of equipment, the best of drivers, the best of everything, and everyone at this level was the top dog at some track somewhere. But you don’t realize that when you get in here and if you’re like we were, and a lot of people are, that you come in with what is potentially a shoe-string budget with the exception of the first few races at Morgan-McClure where we had great equipment compared to the ARCA Series coming in figuring out how were we going to buy tires and how we were going to get to the track and how to get to the next race. You come in already behind the eight-ball. A lot of people don’t realize that and I certainly didn’t either, but I honestly did better then than I did as a full-time driver because I didn’t know what it was really all about. You come in and try to qualify for races and you’re geared up just to qualify. We came back and did a full-time deal and struggled for a couple of years, but we’re just now getting the ship righted. It’s the steepest tranisiton of anything I have ever done, but I’m one of the few people who got to do it, so it’s okay.”

Back in 2005, Eric started what has been a lengthy association with Hefty. “We literally started out with the bottom of the company and kept talking to people until we got in touch with the right people. We thought that was an opportunity where a company could get involved with the sport and at the time, we thought they were going to get involved with Morgan-McClure, but after two years, they gave us two races. And at that point we continued to actually do well in those few races and we made a Cup race and the right people were there and we were able to put together a program that made sense for them. They’re a company that’s more interested in how it benefits the brand than just being in the sport for the sake of it and that has been something that’s worked in our favor, but it’s just been relationships and it’s continued to grow and it’s been something new every day. It started out as a phone call and one meeting and ended up with 12 more meetings and a couple of races later, we ended up getting them on a full-time basis, so that was pretty cool.”

But the most important thing for Eric in his personal life is his relationship with God. He didn’t always know the Lord though. “My faith and my relationship with God is everything in my life and it’s number one.” said Eric. “I didn’t come to a relationship with Christ very easily. I grew up with my family being very successful in the latter part of my childhood and I grew up with anything in the world I could have ever wanted. I had nice clothes, went to the best schools, and drove nice cars. I played ball, I had everything in the world and I didn’t want for anything. I married a great girl and I was a miserable man. I was miserable on the inside and I was lonely. I knew there was a God, I was mad at him. My grandfather passed away, and he was the godliest man I ever knew. I was just a bitter kid, a smart-mouthed kid, and I was awful. Miranda invited me to church, and we went three times a week for a year and a half, which was interesting because I knew I wasn’t right with God and I didn’t have a relationship with him. I heard what they were saying and I just wanted to push it away, but God began to work on me and began to show me where I needed Him in my life. I didn’t want to do it. I didn’t want to humble myself. I was 25 years old and I didn’t need anybody, I was a McClure and one day, He broke me. He showed me in my life where He was there, how much He loved me, and how much I needed Him in my life. I asked him for salvation and my life has been changed ever since then and I’ve been at peace all the time.”

In NASCAR, there are a good number of professing Christians, namely Morgan Shepherd, Michael McDowell, and Trevor Bayne just to name a few. But Eric is one of the more open ones about his faith and is not afraid to tell people how much God has worked in his life. “He’s done everything.” stated McClure. “I can’t look around here and say he hasn’t given me anything. You look around here and see these girls and my wife. I have a great family and I love them to death. I have happiness and joy every day. I get to do what I want to do for a living. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. But those are the most obvious blessings. You just look at everything in my life, to where He brought me to where I am now. People are like ‘Well, you know, you’re pretty easy-going.’ and it’s because of Him. It’s easy for me to get worked up about it and see what he’s done in my life. I look around in my life and see the things that I have been given. I have a great family and a good job, and I see that he’s directly responsible for me being in this ride. My career was done. I mean, we went to that last Talladega race and we knew that this was it. We had applied for jobs in different industries and we were just trying to figure out what we were going to do. We said that ‘We know that you’re behind this and we know that we’re going to serve You no matter what. What do You have for us?’ and two weeks later, I had a full-time sponsor. The obvious blessings are there, but in every-day life God’s always there. It’s just little things, we always get to have fun together. When things go wrong, we have a peace of knowing He’s there, so it’s hard to explain that. I get up and I get happy and get excited when things go horribly wrong, and He’s behind it and so there’s that peace and comfort of knowing he’s never going to leave me and share that with people. I don’t just walk out and advertise it, but when people look at me and see that and I hope that when they ask questions, I can give them answers and help them understand that if they don’t have that relationship, to see why it’s everything.”

On the race track, with the challenges drivers face on and off the track, it can be difficult for a Christian in NASCAR to keep their composure. But when you walk with God every day, as McClure has found out, it’s not so difficult. “It’s not that hard to walk with God on the race track.” McClure stated. “You have challenges in every day life, not just at the track, but in real life. He doesn’t promise that every day will be the easiest in the world. There’s going to be troubles in your life. Not just on the race track, but everywhere in life. I try to keep that in perspective. Maybe it works against me on the track. I don’t get really fired-up, mad at people because it’s not that big of a deal. Really, in my family, my sister should have been the driver because she has more attitude than I do. I get sad when I see people off the track, carrying on like they do, I just get emotional. You know, it’s not hard to walk with God. People think that ‘Oh, if this guy is a Christian, he has to be a saint.’, and while you strive for that you never can achieve it. I’m a human being, I get mad like everyone else. But when you get caught up in the heat of the moment, it’s not something that’s unforgivable that you have to be ashamed about because it’s human nature.”

But Eric’s not just a godly man, he’s a family man as well. And with the grueling NASCAR schedule, Eric still manages to maintain a successful family again. “This is everything to me.” Eric said as he motioned to his wife and three little girls. “This far surpasses racing. My dad, even with all the races he was at, he still only missed one game I was ever in. Even though he was always traveling, he always made time for us. We were number one to him. And the older we get, the harder it is to be away from them when they tell you they don’t want you to leave. Last week, my oldest daughter, Mabriegh, was crying when I left because she didn’t want me to go. And dude, it was heart-breaking. I’m a big softie anyway, kids will do that to you. I know I’m gone a lot, but when I’m home, I’m home for 24 hours. I’m gone three or four days a week. You miss them and you do anything you can with them. I’m blessed that when I get to be home with them so we try to do family things together. We watch TV, we camp out in the den and watch movies, we go to Chuck E. Cheese, and we go to Disney once a year. It’s things like that we’re blessed we get to do, but the sacrifice is for 150 days a year that they’re away from their daddy. But they have a great support system with Miranda and their grandparents on both sides. It’s probably harder on me than it is on them, so we try to make it up to them with me having this job and them knowing that this is what I always wanted to do. If it ever gets to a point where it takes away from them (my family), then this (racing) is over. Having kids was another life-changing moment for me. If you’re a good parent, your priorities change. I love the married life, I love having the kids, it changed everything for me. So it’s not hard to balance it. It’s fun. If I ever had a boy, I’d probably be in trouble. But with all girls… it’s cool. This is it.”

Back to Eric’s racing career, the one main constant thing in recent years is his relationship with Hefty. “I learned a lot from my family having Kodak all these years that this is a people business.” Eric reflected “It’s about how you treat people, whether it’s racing or the corporate world or anything else. Hefty can stay in this sport and participate in several different avenues but they’ve stayed with us for 6 years. There’s so many different phrases you could use, we under-promise & over-deliver, you always give them what they want. We understand that we can’t do what we do without them. While they want us to run well, they’re not in this sport just for us to run up front. We know what their desire is for a return on investment and we help them meet that. We have a program that works for them and they understand that and we always go the extra mile for them. A lot of these larger-teams charge a higher market rate, which is fine, to sponsor their teams because they feel it’s a privilege to sponsor their organization instead of it being a privilege for them to be with the sponsor. I’m not saying that’s the case for everybody, it’s just that we’re very blessed to have Hefty and that’s the truth for our little partners as well. We seem to have done all the right things because in the five years I’ve had this, in three of them we’ve run horribly bad. Despite the fact we haven’t had the performance that we want, they’ve stayed loyal to us because we do the things that they want us to do. It’s all a matter of relationships, and our company provides great relationships with sponsors. There’s a lot of sponsors that come into the sport and get a bad taste in their mouth & never come back, but we’re fortunate we haven’t lost one yet, so it’s fun.”

After a rough 2010 season, Eric jumped on board with TriStar Motorsports in 2011 and now finds himself as a team-mate to Mike Bliss and Jeff Green. “The relationship with TriStar is great.” said McClure. “We had a great year in 2009 (with Team Rensi Motorsports), but it’s just different here at TriStar. You’ve got Mark Smith, the owner, who doesn’t do this to make a living, he does this because he enjoys it. From Mark Smith to the last guy in the shop, everyone cares about what’s going on. I think for me, having that support has been good. It’s no secret that we’re not the highest-funded team in the series, but it’s not something we advertise or shy away from. They give us what we need to come to the race track and that’s been a blessing. I’m surrounded with good people that want to help me. Coming in, they knew what my track record was but that didn’t scare them away. They embraced it and took it as a challenge. I also have great team-mates, and I’m finally happy to the point that I don’t care what other people think. I care about Eric for once and Tri-Star is a place that has allowed us to put our best foot forward.”

McClure also has this season one advantage he didn’t previously enjoy in having team-mates in Mike Bliss and Jeff Green. “They have been immensely valuable to me.” Eric said. “I ask them both about a hundred questions a week and they help me set up car to help me with the feeling before the race. They’ve made me faster, no doubt about it. It’s been a good situation where in the past, a second car has been brought out to make the race team look good, and that’s not the case here with a second car.”

At the end of the day, Eric is absolutely down-to-earth on what he wants his legacy to be when he walks away from racing. “I want to be remembered as someone who was a great man of God and a family man, because to me, that’s what matters the most. Stuff on this earth isn’t so important. What matters to me is being the best I can be for God and my family and if the fans can remember me for that, then I’d be happy.”

Meanwhile, the Fairgrounds found themselves just trying to avoid a demolition crew’s wrecking ball and, despite the best efforts of Nashville Mayor Karl Dean to destroy the 100-plus year legacy of the track, the Fairgrounds still survives and the movement to bring NASCAR back to the fairgrounds has, as of late, has snow-balled and the momentum is slowly rolling in favor of the Fairgrounds. It has not helped the SuperSpeedway’s case that they’re lucky if they can get the bleachers at half-capacity for a Nationwide race. And the less said about the attendance at the truck race, the better. But the last few years, with the Dover Motorsports people selling their tracks as if it’s a fire-sale, the Nashville SuperSpeedway has been on somewhat unstable ground as of late.

With Memphis Motorsports Park and Gateway International Raceway having been sold off, it’s even more crucial for the SuperSpeedway to have a strong showing in terms of the gate this week-end. If the rumors are to be believed, NASCAR has allegedly promised some of the people in charge of the fight to save the Fairgrounds that if the track can get a new owner, that NASCAR might move the dates from the SuperSpeedway to the Fairgrounds. Suppose these rumors are true, the people in charge of the SuperSpeedway have to be cringing at this news. The SuperSpeedway has a great deal of modern amenities, but the track, admittedly, lacks the charm of the Fairgrounds.

Nashville residents are none too happy with their races being moved out of county into rural Wilson County, so they have voiced their displeasure in the form of not buying tickets for any races at the SuperSpeedway. The area, undoubtedly, holds a rich racing heritage, with the Fairgrounds having spawned the careers of countless drivers throughout the history of NASCAR. Names such as Darrell Waltrip, Sterling Marlin, Chad Chaffin, Bobby Hamilton Sr., and his son, Bobby Hamilton Jr. among others, all got their start at the historic 5/8 mile bull-ring. While the SuperSpeedway has modern appeal, the Fairgrounds have a historic appeal to them.

But at the end of the day, the decision will not only come down to what NASCAR decides, but also what the fate of the Fairgrounds will be. If the Fairgrounds are restored, then NASCAR would likely return to the bull-ring. But if Karl Dean gets his wish and has the historic landmark torn down, then Nashville might very well be staring down the possibility of losing its rich NASCAR history. So, for the sake of the future of racing in Nashville, one of two things has to happen. Either the Fairgrounds gets a new owner and a long-term lease or the SuperSpeedway can bring back the fan support that they had early on in their existence. But if neither scenario takes place, Nashvillians can only shudder at the implications that may lie ahead.

Mittler’s team has become something of a development-haven for young, rising talent. Names such as Carl Edwards, Justin Allgaier, Jamie McMurray, Kenny Irwin Jr., and Tony Roper have all cut their teeth driving for Mittler. “Success breeds success.” stated Mittler. “After that first initial squall of success, it gets people to notice you and say ‘Well, boy, there must be something to that!’ So really what happens is that a lot of times, guys will seek us out and say ‘Hey, I’m the next Jamie, the next Carl’ or whoever. Sometimes we feel there’s a connection and sometimes we don’t. We’ve connected with a few people where it doesn’t work, but we’ve been fortunate to have several people come through who have connected with us.”

Unfortunately for the Mittlers, not all of their time in NASCAR has been glorious. Back in 2000 at Texas, their driver Tony Roper, while running in the top 10, was killed in a tragic head-on crash at 180 mph. “No words can describe (losing Tony).” recounted Mittler. “It was an absolutely tragic blow. We really seriously considered quitting racing after that, and Dean Roper, Tony’s father, said ‘If you want to continue racing, then that’s what we want you to do. That’s where your fans are. That’s what made us friends.’ and only with his blessing did I start back up.”

Shortly after the Mittler Brothers got back into racing, Jamie McMurray was behind the wheel of their trucks. “Jamie was a really young guy, high-energy.” recalled Mittler. “He was a super-good kid and a lot of fun. A lot of fun to be around and he always wanted things to be really well-done. He was a perfectionist in everything that he did and it was a lot of fun to see him mature as a driver and to see what he did afterwards to see how much more professional he became.” Not long after that, Carl Edwards joined the team, but his story on how he joined the team was a little bit unorthodox. “The original story is I met Carl at I.R.P. He stuck his hand out, like he was to hundreds of people, and said to me ‘Hi, I’m Carl Edwards’ I kind of looked at him and said ‘Yeah?’ and he said ‘I want to drive your truck!’ and one thing led to another.” reflected Mittler. “He was actually supposed to ride home with us from Indy. Well, one week later, he shows up at the front door of our shop and he said ‘Remember me? I’m Carl Edwards.’ and I said ‘Yeah.’ He then said ‘I’m here to drive your truck.’ and after many phone calls and visits later, he started driving our truck, and the rest is history.”

A few years back, the latest feather in the cap of the Mittler Brothers was acquiring a young Justin Allgaier. “We had a few learning curves with Justin.” said Mittler. “We had a few good runs with him and a few that weren’t so good also. We kind of helped shape Justin early on and got him out of the mind-set of the race being won in the first five laps. He was used to running those midget dirt races and it took him time to understand that these are long races, and to finish first, first you must finish. I think once he understood that, it went pretty well.” Upon reflection, it’s still mind-blowing for the Mittlers to think about all the careers they jump-started. “Probably never in a million years did I ever believe I would be a part of that.” said Mittler. “Now I always thought they were good drivers, or I never would have been associated with them. But never in a million years would I sit here and think that my team played a part in launching all those guys.”

Over recent years, the Mittlers have scaled back to a part-time schedule. “We would love to run the full schedule, but right now, it’s all about the funding.” stated Mittler. “A lot of times in business, the more volume you have, the lower the business costs. In racing, that’s the opposite. It’s the more volume, the higher the costs. You need more inventory, more parts, more equipment and that’s what drives the budget higher. I said to myself, when I first got into racing ‘I will not bankrupt myself or my business to do it’. And I’ve come damned close a few times, but I refuse to (bankrupt myself). I’ve seen a lot of owners come and go, I’m not saying they bankrupted themselves, but they exercised prudence and said ‘Hey, I’m not going to keep doing this’ We do what makes sense for our business and our personal lives and if we can ramp our team up, we’d love to race full-time.”

Mittler also talked about the secret to his team’s success. “Persistence. Lots and lots of persistence.” Mittler said. “The secret to longevity is enjoyment, my enjoyment, and everyone else’s enjoyment. Just when you think it might be over, a little more money comes in to provide a boost to our team. Nick (Hoffman) is a bright young guy, we’re pumped up and excited about him. He’s got a lot of talent and if we could just track some sponsorship with him, it would go a long way with Nick. I’ve also had great personnel over the years, especially guys like Bill Politsch and so many others helping us out.”

Over the years, Mittler has been one of the few truck owners to stay loyal to Ford, but the going’s been tough. “It’s tough, it’s tough.” acknowledged Mittler “The only reason we’re still with Ford is we still have a lot of their inventory, so we’re still using that. But fortunately, we’re well-connected to a lot of other teams thanks to our longevity in the sport, and we share resources with a lot of teams even though they’re different brands, it helps us get things done.” Whenever the day comes when the Mittlers have to give up racing, they feel like they’ve already carved their legacy. “I’ve established myself as a guy who loves to race with humility, and we always try to put our best foot forward for the sport, and drivers and left it in a better position than we found it.”

In July, Hoffman had his first opportunity to race for the Mittler Brothers at the then-O’Reilly Raceway Park in the Camping World Truck Series. “I was really pumped up because it was a really big opportunity for us.” Nick reflected “We had a solid day and the biggest thing I had to remember was not to get on the gas too hard, coming from a dirt mind-set. Guys like Steve Arpin and Justin Allgaier helped teach me what I needed to change. It was fun and it was a really thrilling experience, but our biggest goal was to just get laps, but I think tomorrow we should have a good truck.”

Hoffman is driving for the same team that several big names in NASCAR such as the late Kenny Irwin Jr., the late Tony Roper, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards, and Justin Allgaier all cut their teeth in the Truck Series, but Hoffman is the latest driver to step in the truck. “It’s really big for my confidence and I’m hoping to do the same things they did and accomplish as much as they have.” said Hoffman. One of Nick’s biggest supporters has been Carl Edwards, who has helped out with his dirt modified efforts in the Southeast. “He’s a big supporter for us and has helped us out when he can.” said Nick. “I knew Carl when my dad was working for Mike and Carl had moved to North Carolina and he said he knew he had to live down there if he was going to make it in the racing business. So we hung out and stuff all the time and now he kind of helps us.”

Hoffman has set realistic goals for himself this weekend at Nashville SuperSpeedway. “I don’t know about the rest of the team, but my goal is to finish on the lead lap in the top 20 and to log some laps.” Future races for the young hot-shoe depend on how he does this week-end. “It all depends on how this race goes tomorrow.” said Hoffman. “If I can keep the thing in one piece, we’ll see what I get approved for after this.” Here’s to hoping the best for the latest Missouri to North Carolina transplant and hopefully one day he can follow in the foot-steps of his mentor, Carl Edwards. Perhaps this week-end at Nashville will be the start of something special for Hoffman.

For NASCAR to even allow such shenanigans to take place is a tremendous black eye and a middle-finger toward the sanctioning body. But the real issue is who suffers the most from this at the end of the day? Is it Dusty Whitney, who will now live in infamy for even concocting this hare-brained scheme? Surely Whitney will lose whatever respect that he ever had in the NASCAR garage area for pulling a stunt like this. Of course, never mind that start and parking is as much of a stain on NASCAR’s legacy as steroids is to major league baseball. But that doesn’t seem to matter to Mr. Whitney, who just forfeited any right to call himself a respectable NASCAR team owner after this. Such bush-league tactics makes teams like MSP/Prism/HP Racing look like Richard Childress Racing by comparison.

Or is Bill Elliott’s reputation finally damaged beyond all repair with this stunt? Less than ten years ago, Bill Elliott was a widely respected, popular driver. He’s had a glowing resume over the years, winning the Winston Million in 1985, being the Winston Cup champion in 1988, a 17-time Most Popular Driver. But for him to even agree to something as deplorable as this? He deserves to be booed at every race he enters now for tarnishing the sport. His fans will defend him, but in good conscience, how can an objective NASCAR fan defend something as heinous as shilling your championship provisional to lock a team in the field so they can start and park? One can understand Bill trying to keep the Elliott name on the race track until Chase is of age to race in NASCAR’s top levels, but if Bill’s going to pull stunts like this, he needs to just go away and avoid killing his legacy.

Probably the most innocent victim in all this is J.J. Yeley, who just seems to be a pawn in this scheme. If Yeley had the car the whole time, yes, he likely was going to start and park, but at least he wouldn’t have been resorting to any unscrupulous tactics just to even race. However, one cannot blame Yeley at all for this. Dusty Whitney, for putting Yeley through the wringer like this, deserves to be black-balled from the sport. What’s absolutely frightening to even think about is this is just going to open a Pandora’s box of unethical schemes just to keep teams locked into a starting field. Such actions like this are why NASCAR needs to, not just do away with the Past Champion’s Provisional, but do away with the irritating to 35 rule as well and just have the fastest 43 cars make the field. It works for the NHRA and has even created (GASP!) actual drama in their championship point standings. But that would make sense, so it’ll never happen. But hey, one can hope, can’t they?

Regan Smith started his NASCAR career back in 2002 as another discovery by the Mittler Brothers Truck Series team at South Boston Speedway. In 2003, he started racing in the NASCAR Busch Series for the ill-fated Bost Motorsports operation. He would earn three-top 20 finishes in the first half of that season, but was eventually out of a ride when Bost was forced to turn to other ride-buyers. His hard luck continued in 2004 when after joining Michael Holigan Racing, after only a handful of races, the team was forced to suspend operations. In 2005, if Regan hadn’t had bad luck, he would have had no luck at all as he lost his Xpress Motorsports ride due to a lack of funding and he was released from Glynn Motorsports that year as well.

In 2006, he parlayed a top-20 points finish with Team Rensi Motorsports in the Busch Series into a gig with Ginn Racing in 2007 where, again, mitigating factors beyond his control almost derailed his career again when Ginn merged with Dale Earnhardt Inc. just as Regan was slated to take over the #14 Waste Management Chevrolet, leaving Regan again up the creek without a paddle. In 2008, he ran full-time with D.E.I. on limited sponsorship for the full season and at the 2008 Amp Energy Drink 500, he seemed to have scored a miraculous first career victory, but, on par for the hard luck Regan has had in his career, NASCAR dictated that Regan was below the yellow line, stripping him of his win and awarding it to Tony Stewart despite Smith’s protests he was forced below the yellow line.

More misfortune followed at the close of the season when D.E.I. shut down the #01 team due to a lack of funding, even though Regan was the 2008 NASCAR Rookie Of The Year. He managed to land on his feet with Furniture Row Racing in 2009 for a limited schedule and performed very well for the underfunded team, making all but two races he was slated to race in that year, which paved the way for a 2010 season that saw him finish 12th twice and earn a 28th place position in the final point standings, a career best for him. And 2011 started on a tremendously high note as Regan had one of the best cars on the track all of Speedweeks at Daytona and turned several heads during the 500 en route to an impressive 7th place finish. While it was a nice run, many dismissed his great qualifying effort as a one-hit wonder. Over the first seven races, he has started in the top 10 in six out of the seven races on the schedule so far and has started no worse than 12th proving his strong qualifying effort at Daytona was no fluke.

Granted, his on track performance since Daytona has been less than ideal, finishing no better than 22nd but this year has proven that Regan Smith has the speed to qualify with the best in the business. Maybe, just maybe, after all of the forks in the road that Regan has had to endure, he just might have finally proven his worth in the highly-competitive world of NASCAR. One thing is for certain, though. Regan didn’t have anything handed to him and despite all the adversity when lesser drivers would have phoned it in and called it a career, Regan has persevered. Will he be a Sprint Cup Champion one day? Highly unlikely, but one cannot ever question whether Regan Smith has the resolve to make it in the world of NASCAR.

Going back to 2009, Willie was reduced to start and parking for K-Automotive just to keep his career going. “Yeah, I definitely didn’t love doing it.” recalled Allen. “But I viewed it as a way to keep myself out there because you know how the old saying goes: ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’, but I used the opportunity to help me learn about different tracks and it was definitely a learning experience that allowed me to stay in the network of racing.”. Starting in 2010, Allen had an opportunity to race with the Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based Day Enterprises team. “Basically, I was start and parking with the Keselowskis and Mr. Day saw me racing late models around Nashville and he knew who I was and wanted to give me a shot in the car.” Allen said.

But an unfortunate tragedy struck Willie early in the 2010 season when he lost his father, Al, to ALS. “It was a big-time loss for me.” lamented Willie. “My dad was my biggest supporter on and off the track. He was always the first in the shop and the last to leave. I miss him more and more each day. I really miss his advice. It’s still hard not having him here.” Shortly after that, the Nationwide Series came back to Nashville SuperSpeedway, just weeks after a devastating flood hit the Middle Tennessee area. With so many ties to the area, Willie was the focal-point of a piece about the floods by ESPN in the pre-race coverage. “I welcomed the media attention that weekend.” explained Willie “It brought a lot of awareness to the situation and I had a lot of friends and family involved with the floods, and it got the word out about the recovery efforts.”

That race, in of itself, was an emotional roller-coaster for Willie. Due to an unapproved adjustment before the race, Willie was told he would have to start the race two laps down. “It was a crazy week-end.” recalled Allen. “We had a good car in practice and we did okay in qualifying. We weren’t as fast as we would have liked to have been but we felt like we had a good race car. I thought my crew chief, Newt Moore, was kidding me when he told me we would have to start the race two laps down. I was getting kind of aggravated with him because I’d never heard of NASCAR doing that in a race before.” But, almost in a Hollywood-esque twist, Willie managed to race his way back onto the lead lap. “I was definitely excited about the way things turned out.” said Willie. “We actually could have had a better finish if we hadn’t messed up on our tires. And it really meant a lot for our team to get complimented like that by Brendan post-race. We had a great car and I felt like the team fought hard to get back on the lead lap.”

Things continued to get better for Willie at Bristol at the night race in August, when he and his Day Enterprises team picked up a top 10 over several teams that had more funding. “Both the Nashville race and Bristol were so much different.” recalled Willie. “I loved Bristol and the atmosphere for the night race. That was a big, big night for us. In fact, that race and the Nashville race were both huge for us.” But shortly afterwards, Willie was out of the Nationwide Series for a while and found himself again on the outside looking in. “During that down-time, I was racing late models and working with my shock business, W.A.R. Shocks.” Willie explained. “I’ve been travelling and going to a lot of dirt races. I’ve been busy building a dirt late model chassis and been racing a dirt track car the last couple of weeks.”

Like with any other driver that unexpectly has found themselves with some down-time, Willie has had his struggles with it. “It was tough because I’m super-competitive.” Willie stated. ”I loved racing and wanted to race in one of the big three touring series and I hated watching it from the couch.” But during that time, Willie got to focus more on his business away from the track, W.A.R. Shocks “Our business is doing suspension work throughout the United States.” explained Willie. “We do some retail shock manufacturing, we revalve and work with customers. We do everything from dirt to asphalt racing and we’re trying to expand testing by getting a leg up on the competition. We’ve got on & off track support and a couple of guys who also race and work with me and the chances are if you are having a problem, we can probably figure out what the issue is.”

During the interview, Willie also reflected on how he’s evolved as a person and as a driver from his early years in NASCAR until now. “Definitely the business of NASCAR has changed. The whole sponsorship deal going on has made it much tougher, but it’s made me more of a fighter and made me not give up. I’ve learned a lot at the different track whether I’m start & parking or driving and it’s a constant state of learning.” As far as his plans the rest of the year with Day Entersprises go, Willie addressed those as well. “I think we’re going to try to run Nashville and Kentucky and we’re hoping to run more if we can get ourselves a sponsor. I’d like to run full-time.”

Unquestionably, Willie has been through hell and back in the last year and a half, but he feels it’s made him a better person in the long run. “It definitely has made me see that I can’t take life for granted and I’ve got to make the most of it every day. For example, we just found out a few hours ago one of our old crew members, Stephen Masch, just died from the car wreck he was in and it definitely maes you realize to make the most of each day.” At the end of the day, Willie still hopes to be a factor in NASCAR in the years to come. “We’ve just got to keep digging and make the most of things.” said Willie. “I’d like to run full-time and I’ve been racing on different levels, and hope to be running a different type of car every week this year. I’m hoping a sponsor comes around and sees what we’re doing at Day Enterprises and if there’s any sponsor’s reading this, we’ve got a good program at Day Enterprises and all we need is some sponsorship to make things happen.”