RocketRacin's Story
In the summer of 1995, Tom and I heard on the radio that a touring car of Dale Earnhardt's was to be shown at Peterborough Speedway, in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. Tom has been a Dale fan for many, many years, and relished the opportunity to actually see the car in real life. Living in Canada, where the drivers don't often visit, and not having the money to go to the US to see a live race, we figured this would be the only chance for us to ever see a real NASCAR car. Having been to the speedway, some 50 kilometers away, before, we were aware of the prices for admission. We counted all of our pennies, put gas in the car, and off we went on our little adventure, Tom, Cody, age 6 at the time, and I. We arrived at the speedway with snacks in hand, in plenty of time to get good seats for the evenings events. The sprint cars were the main attraction for most, but we were just there to see the car of Tom's hero!

Upon arriving at the admission gate, we were terribly dismayed to learn that because of the sprint cars, a special feature to this track, the regular admission price had been elevated beyond our avaliable funds at the time. We had enough cash on hand for one adult, and Cody. There was no doubt in my mind to send Tom in with Cody to see the car and to get some great pictures, but he, ever the gentleman, prodded me to the gate, and paid the man for just Cody and I. Cody was so excited, all smiles, and jumpy. "C'mon MOM!!! Let's GO!".I couldn't help but catch the excitement in his voice, and match it with my own. So in I went. The results are the pictures you see here. A kind gentleman standing nearby offered to take pictures of the both of us with the car. Poor Tom, who's hero's car was just within grasp, sat in the car for almost 1/2 an hour waiting for us.

I do believe he parked the car near the wall and stood on top of the roof so he could at least see the machine for himself.

We drove all the way back home in near silence. Each of us knowing we had been in the prescence of greatness.