A Gordon fan, not in disguise

JEFF GORDON, MANY YEARS AFTER
THIS STORY FROM DAYTONA.
(CHEVROLET PHOTO)

In the 1990s, I was at Daytona and working on a story for Winston Cup Scene. Walking along the main drag in front of the track, I was asking people how they picked their favorite drivers.

This one guy looked like a walking advertisement for Jeff Gordon, then the BIG THING in stock-car racing. This guy was wearing a 24 cap and shirt and carrying a Jeff Gordon cooler with a Jeff Gordon flag stuck through the top. I don't remember, but I think he had some other Gordon paraphernalia, too.

The weird thing is that his dad was a Ken Schrader fan, and other members of his sizable group wore or carried memorabilia from other drivers. I think Kyle Petty and Dale Jarrett were also represented.

I just waded in, laughed and said, "Obviously, we have a Rusty Wallace fan in disguise." I got a big laugh, and this guy and his family wound up the lead for my story.

If you're wondering, there weren't any Dale Earnhardt fans in the group.

For some reason, Winston Cup Scene didn't want the story, even though they'd assigned it to me. So I wound up selling it to Beckett Racing Monthly. Sadly, neither magazine is with us now.

Contact: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com. Also, my Twitter handle is EDITORatWORK.

More entries from TARJ

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

EDITOR@WORK blog entries 

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• What I do when I'm editing

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn•

Entries from The Dog Blog

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 12 years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

More blog entries by Tom Gillispie

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

Anecdotes by Tom Gillispie

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer outta there!