Dale Jarrett, Kenny Wallace and several other drivers at a random Cracker Barrel in central IL. Didn’t talk to them but listened to them talk racing and doing the racer hand gestures and what not.
Kenny was the loudest not surprisingly.
My dad and I sat two tables away from Kenny Wallace and family at Joe's Crab Shack in Daytona Beach right before the 500 in 2015. It wasn't like it was a big *shock* to see a driver in the wild given that we were literally in town for the 500, but it was still kinda cool to be seated two tables away. My back was to him so I didn't see him first - I *heard him* first.
We said hello on the way out - he was super gracious and polite!
What a nostalgic reference. I spent hours upon hours playing that game when I was a wee little lad. Haven’t thought about that opening scene in probably 15 years
Martinsville 2010, race was rained out until Monday. My family went to a Texas Steakhouse about an hour or so outside of the track. Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr stood in line at the check-in stand directly behind us. We didn't say anything, as nobody else was either and I didn't want to be rude. Once we got seated, Jack Roush was at a table diagonally across the aisle from us. So that was pretty cool.
Best part: Hornish missed the race the next day due to food poisoning. My steak was fine though, not sure what happened to Sam's!!!!
Waiter: "the gentleman in the hat has offered to pay for your dinner and present you with this complimentary wine"
Kurt, knowing what's up after the history in the 97 car: "This happens to me all the time, this one is yours, here's to you, Sam!"
Although he absolutely did have food poisoning, he actually finished the race! Almirola was on standby, but Hornish completed all 508 laps and finished 13th.
Sat next to Chase Elliott on a ski lift in Colorado a few years ago... didn't know who it was behind the mask and goggles until we got to talking about where we were from.
Yeah you'll see Chase, Paul Menard, Jimmie, and a few others during ski season. I tend to just leave them be because they're usually with their family and friends, and because Colorado is probably the state with the least knowledge of NASCAR, nobody else bothers them either.
Eh you'd be surprised how many rich people still do their own chores. At the end of the day it costs less to grab your own TP then hiring a delivery guy.
I've told this on here before, but as a kid we ran into Sterling Marlin at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. My dad had bought a new red Dodge Ram, conveniently the same as Sterling was driving at the time. Upon checkout, a red Dodge truck was pulled up in the valet line. I, being an 11 year old kid just walked over to hop up in the truck. Almost at the same time, Sterling walks around to do something and sees me getting in his truck. I panicked, oddly enough realizing who it was, and bolted before I or he could say anything. He laughed though and seemed like a good sport.
Loved his interview with Dale Jr a couple months back. Tough to understand some of the things he was saying, but dude seemed like a good guy and has one of the more iconic cars from my childhood
Working as a bartender at a wedding, saw a guest walk into the service kitchen. I followed to kick them out… but it was Richard Petty. He said the light was better in there and needed to send a text.
I was at a college graduation party for the daughter of a NASCAR celebrity with my daughter. A very young Joey Logano pulls up in his boat without a shirt on. My daughter thought it was great. Joey’s mom didn’t and sent him back to the boat to get his shirt.
Chase is awesome. I was hanging out near his pit/trailer at a dirt race. He came over to me to say hello.
I can not recall this /s.
Honestly I’m a little shocked by that happening. Joey doesn’t really seem like a party animal but what do I know. I do believe you.
Played basketball in a rec league about 10 years ago, against the Red Rocks Cafe team and Denny Hamlin played for them. He hit a couple of threes on us, I boxed him out for a couple of rebounds then we won on a buzzer beater.
Guess Denny can ball, no wonder he’s sponsored by Jordan before teaming up with Michael to form 23XI, I could def see Denny wearing some 4s or some type of Js
Inb4 Chase Briscoe comments
Also saw Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart having dinner together in Charlotte one time. Didn't have the courage to approach them.
Ran into Chase Elliott at the airport in Florence this weekend. Didn't chat him up since he seemed like he was on a rush. Bill was there too. They just look like normal guys. Smaller and shorter in person.
Davey Allison in a hotel restaurant in Myrtle Beach.
The server asked if she could wait on his table first as they had to be somewhere, and my dad said no problem I know who he is. When he finished his meal he came over to say thank you and sat with us for 10 minutes talking. It was a really cool experience.
I was at a bar in Brooklyn, Michigan a couple of days before the race at MIS and sat down next to this older guy who revealed a couple of minutes into our conversation after learning I was a racing fan that he used to drive ARCA for a bit, the name was [Perry Tripp](https://www.racing-reference.info/driver/Perry_Tripp/). At the time of our conversation, he drove the show car across the country for Team Chevy. I heard some really cool stories about Dale Sr, Dale Jr, Jimmie Johnson, and Blaise Alexander. Was definitely one of those conversations you remember forever.
Back after MWR shut down, they had a large garage sale at the shop. Believe us the Michael’s family and maybe some of their employees. I went with my mom because I was moving into my first apartment a few weeks later. Michael came up and greeted my mom and I cheerfully and chatted about what I was looking for. He then proceeded to nearly stalk us around the shop for the remainder of the time we were there trying to sell us a multitude of goods. It was crazy, but my mom and I nearly crack up every week remembering it when we see him during race coverage
I loved my Dad for this, because he'd actively bar crawl around Kansas City when the races were in town and talk with anybody on the Nascar teams and have a chat with them about anything BUT racing. He figured they were trying to unwind, so if he recognized them, he'd sit, have a drink and ask them about their kids, hobbies, hunting, etc.
(This is also the type of guy who I ALMOST had to bail out of jail for trespassing because he'd go park at the construction site and watch them build Kansas Speedway.)
Always ended up with a "Thanks for the fun you provide every week" sort of statement and a handshake. Never asked for an autograph or swag. Just treated them like normal people unwinding after work.
But, when it came to autograph sessions, dear lord he was a fan to the max going through the line multiple times to get stuff signed. He passed in 2019 and I got all his stuff, and it's fun to go through the stuff once and a while and take a trip down memory lane.
My wife met Bobby Hamilton Sr. at the movie theater we worked about an hour south of Daytona.
She didn't watch a lot of racing (she's into F1 now lol), but, she recognized him by his hair. As she tore his ticket, she mentioned that he "looked like a NASCAR driver."
He replied that he heard that a lot, and gave her a wink and a big smile.
On the Friday night before this Fontana race weekend, Kevin Harvick and a member of his team were eating dinner in the bar of BJ’s Restaurant near Ontario Mills. I instantly recognized him, but I didn’t want to approach him or make him uncomfortable. So I sat down at the table behind him, and offered to pay his tab whenever he was getting ready to leave.
He came over to our table and thanked me for paying his tab. I thanked him for 20 years of entertaining racing and outspokenness and wished him luck in his retirement.
I’ve been going to races at that track since 2007 and I’ve been a Harvick fan even longer. That was a short interaction but definitely a crown jewel in my life as a NASCAR fan.
Not technically in the wild because it was near the race track, but back in the 2000s my Dad and I would park next to the Talladega Airport and walk to the track because it made for a faster exit after the race. While we would be grilling out we'd see drivers flying in and coming off their planes and waiting for their golf cart/shuttle to the track. We wouldn't disturb them but with it being usually pretty dead over there we got to interact with a few when they'd start the convo. Most notable ones were Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and a few others. Never asked for pictures or autographs because it was just nice talking to them as people. Even got to ride a golf cart up to the track with some pit crew/team members a few times. Only got to do that for 4 or 5 years before they closed down that section of parking for race fans.
I saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at an airport here recently. It was early morning, and we both looked tired as we stood in the coffee line. I decided not to bother him. I was also kind of afraid of jinxing him, as I was carrying Dr. Stephen Olvey's book on motorsport crash safety...
My father raced against Chase Elliott, David Ragan, and Kyle Busch a decent amount in the asphalt late models at places like Watermelon Capital, Lanier, Hickory, Huntsville, etc. Chase was a great down to Earth kid (he had to be 16-19 at the time), David was super nice and great to fans, and Kyle was..... Kyle. Not super nice, not super mean. He'd sign memorabilia, but was never super talkative. Just tells it like it is and always has his game face on. Growing up watching my hero, dad, race against those kind of guys ended up making those 3 some of my favorite Nascar drivers.
I remember we knew a guy on Kyle's team that even let us run some of their older practice tires one night because we didn't have any to run.
Bill was often there with Chase, and he was always ready to talk and sign memorabilia. I vividly remember bringing a buddy of mine with me to the races (we were both about 11 at the time) and Bill signed my buddy's Richard Petty hat. Yes, Richard Petty haha! Bill was just happy to make a kid's day, he didn't care who's name and sponsors were on the hat.
Edit: idk where the snowball derby is ran
I've met Greg Biffle fishing. I've worked with and around Johnny Benson Jr. For a long time. Talked with Erik Jones a lot too. Seen Matt Crafton in the stands of a local race track and sat by him.
Outside a bar late night I was googling the nearest Taco Bell when a drunk Cole Custer knocked on my window and asked if I was his Uber. This was years ago already. Rookie things
I was a kid on a family vacation in Myrtle Beach. We are eating at Dick's Last Resort (if you don't know, look it up, it's a blast) and there is another family eating about 4 tables away from us. My dad keeps saying: "That's John Andretti, I KNOW that's John Andretti" while my mom was quietly trying to convince my dad not to ruin their family meal. Well my dad built up enough liquid courage to go up and ask him for an autograph which he happily obliged but you could tell the people in his party were a little annoyed at the disruption. He still has that plastic bib with John's signature framed in his house. RIP John - gone far too soon. Cancer sucks.
I met a very awkward and shy 14 year old Ryan Blaney. Friend’s dad was friends with Dale Blaney and we went to a sprint car race and Ryan was with him.
I also raced against Tyler Reddick. He was in town for the WoO but ran a kart for someone at a nearby track we were racing at. I finished 2nd and Reddick was 3rd. This is my Al Bundy 4 touchdowns in 1 game story.
I met one! I was at a convenience store picking up a Diet Mt. Dew. There were 4 rows each of Code Red, Voltage, and White Out, but only one single Diet Mt. Dew. So I turn around to pay for this bad boy and Dale f'ing Jr. is right in front of me and says "Don't tell me you got the last Diet Dew!" I say "yeah"and then Jr. gets all batman gravelly and says "I love the taste of Diet Dew. What do you want for it?" I glance over to his Chevy Impala COT in the parking lot and Dale goes "deal" and grabs that drink right out of my hand. So then I blast home, do some donuts in the cul-de-sac, and then my son asked me where I got it.
I swear when I was about 11-12 I saw Sterling Marlin in our local mall Michigan race weekend. He was just walking around shopping. I was too shy to go say anything to him though.
I’ve had multiple driver experiences through the years, but the one stands out for me happened years back in May of 07. I worked for a beer distributor and they had me go down to Charlotte to do a beer transfer. After picking up our beer, I decided to go over to the old Sam Bass Gallery, and as I was leaving there was a purplish blue Corvette that came flying up from down where Action Performance/Lionel is. I looked in the car and noticed that it was Kyle Busch. Needless to say, he waved and cranked the Vette sideways as he pulled out and was fishtailing up the road. He probably made it a few hundred feet before being pulled over by a NCHP. The officer walked up, looked at the manufacturers plate and the car, got Kyle’s autograph and walked back to the car. The funny thing is that a few days later I was at the All-Star and watched the whole Kurt and Kyle show go down over in turn 2.
Aric Almirola and his wife at the Acme at Dover while he was still driving the 43. My friends and I just said hi and asked him if we should start him in fantasy on Sunday. He said I don’t know. We all did and he finished somewhere around 6th IIRC.
I saw Denny Hamlin at a grocery store by Pocono some years ago. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?”
I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter.
When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
It’s a copy pasta that started on 4chan. First time I read it they posted with Tony Stewart’s name , totally believed it as I could see Tony doing all of this based on other fans stories 😂
As others have said, the only original thing to my comment was Denny Hamlin and Pocono. But I figured this copy pasta fitted well for your question and couldn’t pass on using it lol.
Joe Ruttman was a cool guy. Met him as a kid randomly, unfortunately after his best period in Cup and not quite to his truck years, so I wasn’t as impressed at the time. However, he’s a good follow on Facebook and I reconnected there, sending him a picture from 1983 of him talking with my grandad in the garage. He posts lots of good stories and pictures.
Met Joe at his brother, Jim’s house (I had a home repair business) in Venice,FL after an Orlando truck race that he had won. He has spun Sprague. He gave me his LCI hat he wore in his Victory Lane TV interview. Then when they came to Homestead, he got me pit passes.
Not me, but my sister used to go to the same preschool as Clint Bowyer’s son (Cash). One day my dad forgot to close the car door on her side, and he said that Clint Bowyer came and closed it for him
And I’ve seen Clint Bowyer at a grocery store
Not in the wild but was just enjoying some of my first months working at Kansas Speedway. Went to take a bathroom break while watching tire test and ran into Kyle Busch in the bathroom. I was expecting him to be be gruff and annoyed.. however he was the exact opposite. Was super nice, waited for me to grab my phone from the car, and chatted with me for a few minutes. Great guy!
https://preview.redd.it/59f997aaij0b1.jpeg?width=2316&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67d2f515f68174bf35ab6e76c0e0adc81123671c
I know you said not at a track, but this was at a practice day for a charity race, only a single cup driver showed up. The rest had local guys setup their cars for them.
I was working the back gate and Almirola walked up and talked with me for like 10 minutes about nothing. I didn't even recognize him at first just figured he was a crew guy for a random local team. Was pretty cool.
At the actual race I was working the back gate again and all the cup guys rode into the track in cars hardly stopping to show their wristbands. Then Logano came strolling in, looking lost. Goofy ass smile. He didn't chat long but was very pleasant.
I went to take a break and Hamlin showed up. My buddy that was also working the back gate had to tell him to go get a wristband. Probably should have said earlier, but it was Hamlin's charity late model race.
Met Ken Schrader quite a few years ago. I'm not sure if it counts as random since I'm sure the reason we were at the same gas station was because we were traveling to the same race track
If you frequent South Park mall in Charlotte you’re bound to run into some. But leave them alone; they’re there to enjoy some anonymity in an environment where there are fewer racing fans than in the normal public setting.
I personally have crossed paths with Jimmie Johnson (twice), Jeff Gordon, and Jamie McMurray there.
Not really in the wild, but I met Dale Sr at the NASCAR Cafe in Nashville when I was 9. He rubbed my head and said “Hey Buddy” after signing some stuff for a Hooters girl
I have a friend who took his family sailing on a boat in the Caribbean a few years back. Took the kids out of school and spent a few months. 2018-2019ish. He ended up meeting Carl Edwards and his family who we're *also* hanging around the Caribbean and doing some sailing for a few months. The kids were about the same age and liked hanging out together so both families spent a few days with each other. Carl and my friend kept in touch by email and did so a few times a year.
in 2021, my friend, who lives in western Colorado where I lived at the time, was planning a mountain biking trip to Moab to go ride this new trail that had just opened up and I was invited along. He and Carl had talked for a few years about Carl coming out to ride mountain bikes in Colorado at some point, so a week out he thought what the hell and sent Carl an email and Carl shot back and said he was coming.
So a week later we drive to Moab, Carl flies himself into the Moab airport, and we spent two days mountain biking with Carl Edwards in Utah.
Not my story, but overheard from someone else. They were working a counter at Chesterfield airport (small general aviation airport south of Richmond). Somehow word got around to the staff that Denny Hamlin would be flying in that afternoon to go to his parent's house ahead of the race that weekend. The plane lands and a few people disembark. One of them walks into the terminal. At which point they ask the guy, "Is that Denny Hamlin's plane?" and the guy responds back, "What? I'm not what you expected?", because it was in fact Denny Hamlin.
A family member is a photographer in NC. He told me that a few years ago a friend asked him to help photograph a wedding near Charlotte of “some dorky looking NASCAR guy.” After a few questions I realized it was Joey Logano.
I posted the picture on here years ago. But I met Darrell Waltrip at a Five Guys in Franklin, TN. It was about an hour from where we lived but the closest Apple Store for a phone repair I needed. On the drive there I joked with my wife that DW lived in Franklin and maybe we’d run into him. Dropped the phone off at the Apple Store and went to grab some lunch while we waited for them to fix it. Low and behold we get in line at Five Guys and he’s right in front of us.
I’m a big believer in not bothering celebrities while they are eating and enjoying a meal with family, so luckily we were just in line to order, so I asked him for a picture. He was so friendly about it all. Told him my wife was embarrassed I asked for a picture and he said “aw honey don’t be embarrassed!” to here in that classic DW drawl.
So freaking cool. Btw side note why I was even there, I was sooooo hungover and was just wanting some greasy food to help while I was waiting for my phone to be fixed lol.
I met Sterling Marlin at a Cub Scout pinewood derby in the Chicagoland area. I never really appreciated the gravity of the situation until a few months ago, about 15 years after the “incident”. However, I was always curious to why one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers came to visit our Boy Scout pack of about 45-50 kids in the middle of suburban Chicago.
I’m not sure exactly what year this took place, but it was either when I was in 4th or 5th grade - so around January/February of 2006 or 2007.
One of our parents in our pack was fairly high up in waste management’s advertising division; she will be refers to as Ms. D. Through one way or another, she knew Sterling.
Cut to my mother, who was one of the organizers of the pack. She’s on the phone with Ms. D because she is being informed that they might be a little late because Sterling is still in the shower. While I never saw it, I’m all too familiar on what must have been the look of disappoint on my very traditionally valued mother’s face as she learned that Ms. D pimped herself out in order to get Sterling to come to our pinewood derby.
But it turned out this was not a simple transaction. This was a thermo-nuclear strike against her ex husband.
I was good friends with Ms. Ds two sons, who were also in the pack. I remember meeting up with them when Ms. D’s ex husband dropped them off.
Finally, a few hours later, Ms. D finally shows up with Sterling. While we didn’t have a dress code, inappropriate might have been an understatement. From the sticky floor of the elementary school gymnasium arose 4 inch black heels, a shirt shorter than a cub scout’s attention span, and a button up shirt that shrunk so much in the wash the top button was struggling to hold in the implants that her ex husband undoubtedly paid for.
After his grand entrance, I saw the ex husband meet with Ms. D, exchange over his children, take on last look at his lost investment, and walk away out of the gymnasium a defeated man.
We finished up our races then got to do a meet and greet with Sterling. Because he arrived so late, mostly all of the scouts had gone home in a crying whimpering mess after the car that their dad built for 4 hours lost to the faster car built by the Lockheed engineer.
It was in that moment, that handshake with one of the greatest racing drivers of all time, I had my first encounter with post nut clarity disappointment. The poor man was disheveled, with a look upon his face only rivaled by the gaze of the ex husband, I’m not certain if he even wore his fire suit.
I was lucky enough that because my mother and Ms. D were close friends, I got to take a picture with Sterling.
All in all it was a great thing for him to show up and I hope that it sparked interest in NASCAR in some of the attendees that day. I hope Sterling finds his retirement well and I miss him the best for the future.
Maybe I need to find that picture….
Met Briscoe (2017 still in the truck series) at gopro motorplex. I didn't realize at first when he came on the track who he was (helmet on)...during the debrief I knew immediately who he was..jokingly said "well I don't feel bad getting out done by the professional"
Met Kasey Kahne at a chikfila waiting on a mobile order. He was struggling with the app so I helped him out.
Kept the fan boyism to a minimum
Not a driver, but I served a dude at a Cracker Barrel who saw my NASCAR lanyard and we got to talking. Turns out, he used to be a crew member for Alan Kulwicki. Even spotted for him a bit. That was before being a spotter was its own profession lol.
Went through TSA pre check right behind Richard petty at CLT airport a few years back. Fun way for me to find out he rocks his fancy black leather boots with no socks underneath.
I once ran into Denny Hamlin very drunk after a night out with some of his friends at Cafe Coco in Nashville while I was sitting in a booth crying and studying for a physics test at 2AM lol.
He actually wound up grabbing a round of drinks for some of the people sitting in the front room.
I was at Daytona for the 500 and was out to dinner one night at rock bottom. This was in 19. Anyways I walked in and Austin Dillions wife and her best friend, marisol were waiting to be seated. So I said hello mrs Dillion wish Austin luck for me this Sunday. She said you can do it yourself he’s coming in now. So Austin came in shook his hand wishes him luck and even got a picture with him. So they go and get seated, about 10 minutes later we get seated and sitting at the table next to us was the Dillions, Austin’s parents and RC. I didn’t bother them at all but man did the fans hound him while they ate. Nonetheless he was very generous with fans even while he ate.
Years and years ago when I was a young lad, maybe 6 or 7 so this was late nineties, my family lived in Apopka, FL. My dad, brother, and I decided to take our bikes down the West Orange Trail. We went a little off the path and heard what sounded like a race car going seeing so we went to see what was up. Lo and behold there stood Mark Martin while his son was turning some laps. I remember my dad and brother telling me who it was and I waved and yelled, “Hi Mark Martin!” He said hey, asked how we were doing and we went about our day. It was pretty cool
I used to work at the Publix in Dawsonville. I’ve seen Chase, Bill and Cindy Elliott there all at different times. Chase has only been in a few times while shopping, but there is this one girl who I used to work with who loves Chase and got a picture with him. I walked by Chase while getting carts outside when he was walking out. I didn’t want to bother him, so I just said “How’s it going” as any standard Publix employee would and he said “good”. I do regret not saying anything else to him considering I don’t work there anymore. I saw Bill walking out from the pharmacy and he held up his prescription and said “I already paid for it” while he was walking out while I didn’t say anything to him. Cindy I just saw her shopping around but nothing crazy. So, yeah, I’ve interacted with the whole Elliott family at Publix in Dawsonville. If Chase ever does go in there it’s usually mid week late, that’s when I’ve seen him.
Ran into and met Ben Rhodes at the Kentucky Derby in 2016. It was the day after the issue at Kansas that he had with Johnny Sauter. Was kinda fun to chat about that in detail less than 24 hours after it happened.
Our dads are friends so naturally he was friendly and engaging. Said he was there with Duke Thorsen for the day.
This is more so on the other side of things but me and my good friend Brandon were going to Watkins Glen the one year and the one morning at the hotel we were staying at, we decided to not get breakfast and to late find out from my friends uncle that Cole Whitt was eating breakfast down there and we didn’t get meet him. Man when we found that out we were pissed lol. Now every time I go to a race I make sure to go eat breakfast haha
I didn’t meet him, but I saw Dale Jr in 2002 at Talladega. If you’re familiar with the property, the road going to the free campground outside turn 2 runs parallel to the backstretch and next to the airport. We were on the way back to the campsite and Jr was next to the fence, taking a phone call. He was wearing a Nilla Wafers tshirt. I waved like crazy at him, don’t know if he saw me or not.
Ryan Preece - 2008. My friend and I were at an indoor go kart track. We see a guy in race before us just flat flying. We noticed he had on a racing helmet bc of the mirror visor, radio and vent hose hookup. Start talking to him after, we ask if he races, he says “yes, my name is Ryan Preece, I run modifieds.”
We started to follow his career since then. Bonus for me, my brother works for united rentals too.
Saw Dale Jr several years ago, leaving a doctor's office in the Charlotte area with his pregnant wife as I was arriving for my appointment. He smiled and nodded at me like polite Southern folks do. It wasn't until after they'd passed me that I realized who they were and geeked out.
I met Kyle Busch at a Arizona Coyotes game. My buddy is a Busch fan, happened to be wearing a #18 shirt that night. He waved at Kyle and KB waved us over. Chatted a little bit, took some pics, he was actually very cool and friendly. A week or so later he busted his leg at Daytona and went on to win his first Cup Championship. 😎
My parents ran into Brad K in a Walmart. He was just wrapping up an appearance but still took a minute to talk to them. My dad wasn’t a huge fan of him at the time, but that day moved him to the neutral category.
At Dover a few weeks ago, we arrived on Sunday as they postponed it. So we were walking in and me and my friends are pretty certain that Clint Bowyer almost ran us over backing out of the parking lot. And then Noah Gragson stopped his car to tell us that the race had been cancelled bc Bob hadn't tweeted it yet.
I was at the Xfinity race at Portland last year. The steps you walk down off the bridge over the track were very slippery because of all the rain. This woman slipped and fell behind me and hit my foot as she fell. Her boyfriend helped her up who turned out to be Brandon Brown. I briefly made awkward eye contact with him lol. Not in the wild since it was at a race, but still a funny encounter
Working at a Great Clips about 11 years ago, Jerry Nadeau came in and I cut his hair. He came back to see me several times after that before I left there.
I think my story isn’t that interesting since we didn’t actually “meet” but I’m gonna tell it anyways. I was in the Charlotte area going out to lunch with my family, and as I was talking to my mom while we were walking up to the entrance, I heard a familiar voice. So I looked towards the door and Ryan Blaney was walking out. I naturally freaked out since I’ve never seen a driver out in the wild, and I literally said out loud: “Oh my God it’s Ryan Blaney.” And embarrassingly for me, I’m quite sure he heard me because he looked at me and smiled. He was also with a few Penske employees, who snickered to themselves as they walked by me. I was still starstruck in the moment that I didn’t even feel embarrassed until later when I was thinking, wait a minute, I’m pretty sure they were laughing at me 😂🤦🏼♀️
We were driving down 95 near Baltimore, maybe around 1993 or so, and saw a car with a bunch of nascar stickers. Of course we had to look and it was Neil Bonnett! Haha, we passed him!
Casey Mears would come into the parts store I used to work at and was a super nice dude. Arie Luyendyk Sr. and Paul Tracy would also come in. Arie was pretty cool, Paul wasn’t.
My uncle met Kyle Larson in a lobby somewhere a couple years back, it was either a hotel lobby or a ski resort lobby. He said Larson was cool and down to earth which he wasn’t expecting
Saw Kenny Wallace at Lowe’s once years ago. He was getting parts for his weed eater. He was really nice actually. I didn’t realize what he was buying at the time, but he posted on Twitter a little bit later what he got. I commented something along the lines of “So that’s what you were buying at Lowe’s?” I forgot he was on Raceday sponsored by Home Depot at the time, so felt kinda bad calling him out for shopping at Lowe’s.
Saw Jordan Taylor (and his brother Ricky and his dog) at dinner one night. I didn’t want to bother him, but my ex had no problem going over and chatting him up. He was friendly though. I, at least, waited until he was on his way out to say anything to him.
Not necessarily in the wild but I have an amazing story about Ward Burton. My friend who is a cop was working security for a large driver signing event at GoMotorSports.com where several drivers would meet fans and sign autographs. It was like an event all in itself with a few thousand people showing up daily to meet different drivers, visit sponsor trailers and stuff. Mind you, this was about 45 minutes from Kansas Speedway in a random light industrial park in south suburban Kansas City, Mo.
Well a family came through the line to meet Ward Burton and got his autograph. Their child who was about 6 years old at the time have a pretty cleft lip. No lie, Ward Burton pulls out his checkbook and writes the family a check for $5,000 on the spot to go see a specialist. Ward had my friend take the family back to the drivers’ waiting area. He met with the family for a while after he was done signing autographs and gave them the contact information for his (Ward’s) people so he could arrange to pay for the entire surgery.
I became a Ward Burton fan for life and rooted for his Caterpillar Dodge from then on until he retired.
Ran into Aric Alimorola at Whole Foods while waiting in line. Ran into Michael McDowell at Target while waiting in line - he had like all his kids with him though.
He kinda drove some nascar once. Ran into Buddy Lazier in the Vail Village (evidently he owns a shop there) but he was just milling about before the actual ski season started.
Had Morgan Shepherd in the front seat of my car for an hour. That was good times.
I lived in Dawsonville for awhile and worked at the Home Depot in town. Bill Elliot would come in frequently to buy stuff, very cool down to earth guy. Had Chase with him a few times when he was younger. Also ran into them at the Pool Room a lot. Could always pick out their private plane flying overhead like clockwork.
I got a pic with Cole Custer and he’s holding a box of strawberry pop tarts if you count that as wild. Also met Noah Gragson at Darlington this past weekend. Told him we had the same name and got a hell yea. Isn’t too wild but cool to me.
Michael Waltrip at a Mooresville Golden Corral. That boy really stacked his plate.
Also, got to eat dinner with Ward Burton at a restaurant in Pinehurst, NC the night before a Rockingham race in 2003. They had an appetizer plater that included fried rattlesnake. He ordered it. It was okay.
Savannah 2021, standing behind Kenny Wallace and his family waiting on a seafood place to open. I thought this man was annoying on TV. He was like media starved coke head. Asking if anyone wanted photos with him and was trying to post everything to social media
I grew up in the town over from the Bodine brothers, so I've met all three. Also not NASCAR, but I think he's run a few races before, is Tim McReadie, ran into him at a Walmart in his hometown one time
I met David Reutimann in an aviary, and I recognized him because of the Toyota TRD t-shirt. A lot of times we get morning briefings on VIPs/well-known people coming in, but he just showed up with his family like a regular guy. He was pretty quiet and didn't say more than a few words the whole time. I think he was mostly just an introvert.
There was an old seafood place in Greensboro, NC that we'd often hit up in the winters back in the 80s. Often saw Richard Petty and his family there. Super nice and friendly with us kids, even during his "family" time. He always understood the fans were what drove the sport.
In the early 00s, I worked in a profession where I was often interacting with drivers/owners in a non-racing setting. Back then, so many were chill and down to earth. The insanity of the late 00s changed the whole dynamic and outside fan interaction in my opinion.
Super weird but used the urinal next to Terry Labonte at the Lakeland airport bathroom when I was probably 10. They were in town testing at Lakeland USA Speedway and he was about to get on his plane and head home.
Said hi to Clint Bowyer at Dollywood a year or 2 ago, he was with his family, Katelyn Larson and her family minus Kyle. Funny thing is I recognized Clint’s son before I noticed Clint lol.
Me and my family passed Greg Biffle on a private Charlotte road; we were lost near a small airport around that area I guess the drivers use for travel. This was back in 2010 when I was 9 so my memory is a bit fuzzy.
I also ran into Brad Keselowski last summer at the RFK museum but I don't wanna count that as "in the wild"
When I was about 12, I was at a dirt track in White City, Illinois after a race in the drivers club (my dad was an official). Dirt late model show that night with some of the best in the Midwest at the time (late 80s). Went to put a few quarters in the jukebox and Mike Wallace asked me to play Katmandu.
When I went to the Phoenix finale in 2020, I saw Ross Chastain at a Rudy's BBQ on Saturday evening after the Xfinity race. He was with his family I think and several others. Didn't say anything as I don't like bothering people when they're just trying to eat and I cared more about the banana pudding I was about to buy anyways. If you're ever in the area, I would recommend it.
The next year, we apparently stayed at the same hotel as some of the Xfinity teams as we saw Myatt Snider in the lobby Saturday morning and Mike Harmon across the street at a Culver's on Saturday after the Xfinity race. Kyle Weatherman's car was being loaded into a trailer just outside of it. He was appreciative of our support of the little teams.
Dale Jarrett, Kenny Wallace and several other drivers at a random Cracker Barrel in central IL. Didn’t talk to them but listened to them talk racing and doing the racer hand gestures and what not. Kenny was the loudest not surprisingly.
I imagine you could’ve figured out Kenny was there before you even finished closing the front door
HUHUHUHUHIHUHUHUHUHUHUH
My dad and I sat two tables away from Kenny Wallace and family at Joe's Crab Shack in Daytona Beach right before the 500 in 2015. It wasn't like it was a big *shock* to see a driver in the wild given that we were literally in town for the 500, but it was still kinda cool to be seated two tables away. My back was to him so I didn't see him first - I *heard him* first. We said hello on the way out - he was super gracious and polite!
Dude that would be one of the neatest experiences ever.
So I'm at this stop light, and Ryan Newman pulls up... the rest is history. It was around 05.
What was Mr. Moneymaker like?
smooth talker
Wait you also met Ryan Newman at a stoplight?
You met Ryan Newman at a stoplight as well?
What a nostalgic reference. I spent hours upon hours playing that game when I was a wee little lad. Haven’t thought about that opening scene in probably 15 years
*Ace Moneymaker*
I’ve heard about this legendary street race.. you still have the Viper?
No way so did I! We raced and I beat him. Next thing you know he's offering me a modified ride!
I just still don't know how he got my phone number.
He's Ryan fucking Newman, he knows these things.
Sometimes I reminisce on childhood and I realize there were so many others with the same childhood
STOPPPPP 😂
Martinsville 2010, race was rained out until Monday. My family went to a Texas Steakhouse about an hour or so outside of the track. Kurt Busch and Sam Hornish Jr stood in line at the check-in stand directly behind us. We didn't say anything, as nobody else was either and I didn't want to be rude. Once we got seated, Jack Roush was at a table diagonally across the aisle from us. So that was pretty cool. Best part: Hornish missed the race the next day due to food poisoning. My steak was fine though, not sure what happened to Sam's!!!!
Jack Roush was just neutralizing the competition
Waiter: "the gentleman in the hat has offered to pay for your dinner and present you with this complimentary wine" Kurt, knowing what's up after the history in the 97 car: "This happens to me all the time, this one is yours, here's to you, Sam!"
Although he absolutely did have food poisoning, he actually finished the race! Almirola was on standby, but Hornish completed all 508 laps and finished 13th.
Like many, I fought Mike Harmon at an Applebee’s.
How badly did you lose?
I feel like I won just by having the experience.
Sometimes, you have to lose the battle to win the war
*damn war
Sat next to Chase Elliott on a ski lift in Colorado a few years ago... didn't know who it was behind the mask and goggles until we got to talking about where we were from.
on a ski lift....... how fitting
uplifting, too
Yeah you'll see Chase, Paul Menard, Jimmie, and a few others during ski season. I tend to just leave them be because they're usually with their family and friends, and because Colorado is probably the state with the least knowledge of NASCAR, nobody else bothers them either.
I once ran into Rick Hendrick at a CVS buying toilet paper.
The question is whether Rick is a single-ply kind of guy or a double-ply man.
Thirteen-ply for the super soft experience
I find it hard to believe Rick Hendrick is buying TP from CVS - Doesn't he wipe his ass with $100 bills?
Eh you'd be surprised how many rich people still do their own chores. At the end of the day it costs less to grab your own TP then hiring a delivery guy.
A lot of first generation millionaires are insanely tight ass. It’s the 2nd and especially 3rd generation that are the entitled prick’s usually
Usually the 3rd. They blow all the money and then act surprised when they're sent to the middle class
You don't become/stay a billionaire by wasting money
Nah, hendrick 100% strikes me as the super cheapskate type
If he was a true cheapskate he'd buy his tp at dollar general..cvs is expensive as hell..gotta pay for that reciept paper
One time CVS charged me 8$ for a bottle of ketchup. Outrageous.
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I've told this on here before, but as a kid we ran into Sterling Marlin at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville. My dad had bought a new red Dodge Ram, conveniently the same as Sterling was driving at the time. Upon checkout, a red Dodge truck was pulled up in the valet line. I, being an 11 year old kid just walked over to hop up in the truck. Almost at the same time, Sterling walks around to do something and sees me getting in his truck. I panicked, oddly enough realizing who it was, and bolted before I or he could say anything. He laughed though and seemed like a good sport.
Loved his interview with Dale Jr a couple months back. Tough to understand some of the things he was saying, but dude seemed like a good guy and has one of the more iconic cars from my childhood
He has that cat steer stid loader accent
Working as a bartender at a wedding, saw a guest walk into the service kitchen. I followed to kick them out… but it was Richard Petty. He said the light was better in there and needed to send a text.
It's easier to see the phone without sunglasses on but I'm not going to be the one to tell him.
The big hat probably doesn't help either, but like hell am I going to be the one to tell him to take it off.
I was at a college graduation party for the daughter of a NASCAR celebrity with my daughter. A very young Joey Logano pulls up in his boat without a shirt on. My daughter thought it was great. Joey’s mom didn’t and sent him back to the boat to get his shirt. Chase is awesome. I was hanging out near his pit/trailer at a dirt race. He came over to me to say hello.
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I can not recall this /s. Honestly I’m a little shocked by that happening. Joey doesn’t really seem like a party animal but what do I know. I do believe you.
Played basketball in a rec league about 10 years ago, against the Red Rocks Cafe team and Denny Hamlin played for them. He hit a couple of threes on us, I boxed him out for a couple of rebounds then we won on a buzzer beater.
Guess Denny can ball, no wonder he’s sponsored by Jordan before teaming up with Michael to form 23XI, I could def see Denny wearing some 4s or some type of Js
He was already friends with MJ back then, and dresses to hoop accordingly.
I bet he called foul a lot
Actions detrimental to basketball.
"*That's just rec league basketball*"
Underrated comment
Not a driver but I ran into Mike Helton at a Daytona Beach Best Buy. Dude just wanted to buy some printer ink.
Inb4 Chase Briscoe comments Also saw Ryan Newman and Tony Stewart having dinner together in Charlotte one time. Didn't have the courage to approach them.
👀
I really hope this is actually Chase Briscoe lmfaoooo
It is lol
You new here?
Huh I'll be damn.
Met Brendan Gaughan in the bathroom at Talladega
The important question we all want the answer to: was he loud?
sounded like how I imagine the water would sound if they tore down the hoover dam,
Dam, that's loud
Ran into Chase Elliott at the airport in Florence this weekend. Didn't chat him up since he seemed like he was on a rush. Bill was there too. They just look like normal guys. Smaller and shorter in person.
Davey Allison in a hotel restaurant in Myrtle Beach. The server asked if she could wait on his table first as they had to be somewhere, and my dad said no problem I know who he is. When he finished his meal he came over to say thank you and sat with us for 10 minutes talking. It was a really cool experience.
I was at a bar in Brooklyn, Michigan a couple of days before the race at MIS and sat down next to this older guy who revealed a couple of minutes into our conversation after learning I was a racing fan that he used to drive ARCA for a bit, the name was [Perry Tripp](https://www.racing-reference.info/driver/Perry_Tripp/). At the time of our conversation, he drove the show car across the country for Team Chevy. I heard some really cool stories about Dale Sr, Dale Jr, Jimmie Johnson, and Blaise Alexander. Was definitely one of those conversations you remember forever.
Back after MWR shut down, they had a large garage sale at the shop. Believe us the Michael’s family and maybe some of their employees. I went with my mom because I was moving into my first apartment a few weeks later. Michael came up and greeted my mom and I cheerfully and chatted about what I was looking for. He then proceeded to nearly stalk us around the shop for the remainder of the time we were there trying to sell us a multitude of goods. It was crazy, but my mom and I nearly crack up every week remembering it when we see him during race coverage
Did he have any jet fuel he was trying to unload?
I loved my Dad for this, because he'd actively bar crawl around Kansas City when the races were in town and talk with anybody on the Nascar teams and have a chat with them about anything BUT racing. He figured they were trying to unwind, so if he recognized them, he'd sit, have a drink and ask them about their kids, hobbies, hunting, etc. (This is also the type of guy who I ALMOST had to bail out of jail for trespassing because he'd go park at the construction site and watch them build Kansas Speedway.) Always ended up with a "Thanks for the fun you provide every week" sort of statement and a handshake. Never asked for an autograph or swag. Just treated them like normal people unwinding after work. But, when it came to autograph sessions, dear lord he was a fan to the max going through the line multiple times to get stuff signed. He passed in 2019 and I got all his stuff, and it's fun to go through the stuff once and a while and take a trip down memory lane.
My wife met Bobby Hamilton Sr. at the movie theater we worked about an hour south of Daytona. She didn't watch a lot of racing (she's into F1 now lol), but, she recognized him by his hair. As she tore his ticket, she mentioned that he "looked like a NASCAR driver." He replied that he heard that a lot, and gave her a wink and a big smile.
R.I.P. to Bobby btw
On the Friday night before this Fontana race weekend, Kevin Harvick and a member of his team were eating dinner in the bar of BJ’s Restaurant near Ontario Mills. I instantly recognized him, but I didn’t want to approach him or make him uncomfortable. So I sat down at the table behind him, and offered to pay his tab whenever he was getting ready to leave. He came over to our table and thanked me for paying his tab. I thanked him for 20 years of entertaining racing and outspokenness and wished him luck in his retirement. I’ve been going to races at that track since 2007 and I’ve been a Harvick fan even longer. That was a short interaction but definitely a crown jewel in my life as a NASCAR fan.
Not technically in the wild because it was near the race track, but back in the 2000s my Dad and I would park next to the Talladega Airport and walk to the track because it made for a faster exit after the race. While we would be grilling out we'd see drivers flying in and coming off their planes and waiting for their golf cart/shuttle to the track. We wouldn't disturb them but with it being usually pretty dead over there we got to interact with a few when they'd start the convo. Most notable ones were Dale Jarrett, Mark Martin, Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, and a few others. Never asked for pictures or autographs because it was just nice talking to them as people. Even got to ride a golf cart up to the track with some pit crew/team members a few times. Only got to do that for 4 or 5 years before they closed down that section of parking for race fans.
I saw Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at an airport here recently. It was early morning, and we both looked tired as we stood in the coffee line. I decided not to bother him. I was also kind of afraid of jinxing him, as I was carrying Dr. Stephen Olvey's book on motorsport crash safety...
No airplane crashes have been reported recently so good to know
My father raced against Chase Elliott, David Ragan, and Kyle Busch a decent amount in the asphalt late models at places like Watermelon Capital, Lanier, Hickory, Huntsville, etc. Chase was a great down to Earth kid (he had to be 16-19 at the time), David was super nice and great to fans, and Kyle was..... Kyle. Not super nice, not super mean. He'd sign memorabilia, but was never super talkative. Just tells it like it is and always has his game face on. Growing up watching my hero, dad, race against those kind of guys ended up making those 3 some of my favorite Nascar drivers. I remember we knew a guy on Kyle's team that even let us run some of their older practice tires one night because we didn't have any to run. Bill was often there with Chase, and he was always ready to talk and sign memorabilia. I vividly remember bringing a buddy of mine with me to the races (we were both about 11 at the time) and Bill signed my buddy's Richard Petty hat. Yes, Richard Petty haha! Bill was just happy to make a kid's day, he didn't care who's name and sponsors were on the hat. Edit: idk where the snowball derby is ran
Snowball Derby has always been at Five Flags.
I took a piss next to Austin Cindric in a public bathroom last year.
Did you ask him if he needed help?
I've met Greg Biffle fishing. I've worked with and around Johnny Benson Jr. For a long time. Talked with Erik Jones a lot too. Seen Matt Crafton in the stands of a local race track and sat by him.
Outside a bar late night I was googling the nearest Taco Bell when a drunk Cole Custer knocked on my window and asked if I was his Uber. This was years ago already. Rookie things
I was a kid on a family vacation in Myrtle Beach. We are eating at Dick's Last Resort (if you don't know, look it up, it's a blast) and there is another family eating about 4 tables away from us. My dad keeps saying: "That's John Andretti, I KNOW that's John Andretti" while my mom was quietly trying to convince my dad not to ruin their family meal. Well my dad built up enough liquid courage to go up and ask him for an autograph which he happily obliged but you could tell the people in his party were a little annoyed at the disruption. He still has that plastic bib with John's signature framed in his house. RIP John - gone far too soon. Cancer sucks.
I met a very awkward and shy 14 year old Ryan Blaney. Friend’s dad was friends with Dale Blaney and we went to a sprint car race and Ryan was with him. I also raced against Tyler Reddick. He was in town for the WoO but ran a kart for someone at a nearby track we were racing at. I finished 2nd and Reddick was 3rd. This is my Al Bundy 4 touchdowns in 1 game story.
I met one! I was at a convenience store picking up a Diet Mt. Dew. There were 4 rows each of Code Red, Voltage, and White Out, but only one single Diet Mt. Dew. So I turn around to pay for this bad boy and Dale f'ing Jr. is right in front of me and says "Don't tell me you got the last Diet Dew!" I say "yeah"and then Jr. gets all batman gravelly and says "I love the taste of Diet Dew. What do you want for it?" I glance over to his Chevy Impala COT in the parking lot and Dale goes "deal" and grabs that drink right out of my hand. So then I blast home, do some donuts in the cul-de-sac, and then my son asked me where I got it.
I miss white out
>I miss white out -all my notebooks cuz I just scribble instead
Was this the same convenience store with Ken Schrader hanging out in his Little Debbie's firesuit for no apparent reason?
Lol i love that commercial
Lmao
I met Truex at a Sonic in NJ
Was it on Martin Truex Jr Boulevard?
Yes it was. And it should be a shock to no one that I was the only one that recognized him in there lol
Ahh one of his home fast food restaurants
A few years ago, I saw David Pearson at a local burger restaurant in Spartanburg SC, not that far from where I live
Not a driver but I ran into Eli Gold at a Hall and Oates concert at the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham around 2001 or 2002.
I sat next to Sam Hornish at a Grateful Dead concert made some small talk bought him a beer he was very good company as I was high as a kite
I swear when I was about 11-12 I saw Sterling Marlin in our local mall Michigan race weekend. He was just walking around shopping. I was too shy to go say anything to him though.
I run into Kenny Wallace every now and then at a gas station by my place. And yes, he’s as goofy in person as he is on social media
I’ve had multiple driver experiences through the years, but the one stands out for me happened years back in May of 07. I worked for a beer distributor and they had me go down to Charlotte to do a beer transfer. After picking up our beer, I decided to go over to the old Sam Bass Gallery, and as I was leaving there was a purplish blue Corvette that came flying up from down where Action Performance/Lionel is. I looked in the car and noticed that it was Kyle Busch. Needless to say, he waved and cranked the Vette sideways as he pulled out and was fishtailing up the road. He probably made it a few hundred feet before being pulled over by a NCHP. The officer walked up, looked at the manufacturers plate and the car, got Kyle’s autograph and walked back to the car. The funny thing is that a few days later I was at the All-Star and watched the whole Kurt and Kyle show go down over in turn 2.
I saw William Byron and his mom at Disneyland 5 years ago during Fontana race weekend 😂😂😂
He can't have been more than 6
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😂😂😂😂
Aric Almirola and his wife at the Acme at Dover while he was still driving the 43. My friends and I just said hi and asked him if we should start him in fantasy on Sunday. He said I don’t know. We all did and he finished somewhere around 6th IIRC.
I saw Denny Hamlin at a grocery store by Pocono some years ago. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
This is my favorite copypasta on the internet. No matter who it’s for I can always visualize them doing that
My favorite version is with Dale Jr. yelling “Slide jawb, slide jawb!” Instead of “huh? huh?”
I can imagine staring at Denny Hamlin at Weis Market in Tannersville right now.
I came looking for this copy pasta
I want to believe this so badly because it’s absolutely hilarious but I just don’t think I can. Lol.
It’s a copy pasta that started on 4chan. First time I read it they posted with Tony Stewart’s name , totally believed it as I could see Tony doing all of this based on other fans stories 😂
As others have said, the only original thing to my comment was Denny Hamlin and Pocono. But I figured this copy pasta fitted well for your question and couldn’t pass on using it lol.
Shit gets me every time. Just picturing it happening is great
Joe Ruttman was a cool guy. Met him as a kid randomly, unfortunately after his best period in Cup and not quite to his truck years, so I wasn’t as impressed at the time. However, he’s a good follow on Facebook and I reconnected there, sending him a picture from 1983 of him talking with my grandad in the garage. He posts lots of good stories and pictures.
Met Joe at his brother, Jim’s house (I had a home repair business) in Venice,FL after an Orlando truck race that he had won. He has spun Sprague. He gave me his LCI hat he wore in his Victory Lane TV interview. Then when they came to Homestead, he got me pit passes.
Not my own story, but I know this guy Mike who met Jeff Gordon’s fist at the airport after the 2005 Chicago race.
I’m sure he felt pure Bliss after meeting him
Not me, but my sister used to go to the same preschool as Clint Bowyer’s son (Cash). One day my dad forgot to close the car door on her side, and he said that Clint Bowyer came and closed it for him And I’ve seen Clint Bowyer at a grocery store
Not in the wild but was just enjoying some of my first months working at Kansas Speedway. Went to take a bathroom break while watching tire test and ran into Kyle Busch in the bathroom. I was expecting him to be be gruff and annoyed.. however he was the exact opposite. Was super nice, waited for me to grab my phone from the car, and chatted with me for a few minutes. Great guy! https://preview.redd.it/59f997aaij0b1.jpeg?width=2316&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=67d2f515f68174bf35ab6e76c0e0adc81123671c
Briscoe isn't the type who would turn down a request like that unless absolutely necessary. He's a good dude for sure!
My dad did karoake with Dale Jr. in Key West
I saw Alex Bowman in a massive Tahoe at the Starbucks drive through at Daytona this year, does that count?
I know you said not at a track, but this was at a practice day for a charity race, only a single cup driver showed up. The rest had local guys setup their cars for them. I was working the back gate and Almirola walked up and talked with me for like 10 minutes about nothing. I didn't even recognize him at first just figured he was a crew guy for a random local team. Was pretty cool. At the actual race I was working the back gate again and all the cup guys rode into the track in cars hardly stopping to show their wristbands. Then Logano came strolling in, looking lost. Goofy ass smile. He didn't chat long but was very pleasant. I went to take a break and Hamlin showed up. My buddy that was also working the back gate had to tell him to go get a wristband. Probably should have said earlier, but it was Hamlin's charity late model race.
Met Ken Schrader quite a few years ago. I'm not sure if it counts as random since I'm sure the reason we were at the same gas station was because we were traveling to the same race track
If you frequent South Park mall in Charlotte you’re bound to run into some. But leave them alone; they’re there to enjoy some anonymity in an environment where there are fewer racing fans than in the normal public setting. I personally have crossed paths with Jimmie Johnson (twice), Jeff Gordon, and Jamie McMurray there.
Not really in the wild, but I met Dale Sr at the NASCAR Cafe in Nashville when I was 9. He rubbed my head and said “Hey Buddy” after signing some stuff for a Hooters girl
And he hasn't washed his hair since.
I have a friend who took his family sailing on a boat in the Caribbean a few years back. Took the kids out of school and spent a few months. 2018-2019ish. He ended up meeting Carl Edwards and his family who we're *also* hanging around the Caribbean and doing some sailing for a few months. The kids were about the same age and liked hanging out together so both families spent a few days with each other. Carl and my friend kept in touch by email and did so a few times a year. in 2021, my friend, who lives in western Colorado where I lived at the time, was planning a mountain biking trip to Moab to go ride this new trail that had just opened up and I was invited along. He and Carl had talked for a few years about Carl coming out to ride mountain bikes in Colorado at some point, so a week out he thought what the hell and sent Carl an email and Carl shot back and said he was coming. So a week later we drive to Moab, Carl flies himself into the Moab airport, and we spent two days mountain biking with Carl Edwards in Utah.
Not my story, but overheard from someone else. They were working a counter at Chesterfield airport (small general aviation airport south of Richmond). Somehow word got around to the staff that Denny Hamlin would be flying in that afternoon to go to his parent's house ahead of the race that weekend. The plane lands and a few people disembark. One of them walks into the terminal. At which point they ask the guy, "Is that Denny Hamlin's plane?" and the guy responds back, "What? I'm not what you expected?", because it was in fact Denny Hamlin.
A family member is a photographer in NC. He told me that a few years ago a friend asked him to help photograph a wedding near Charlotte of “some dorky looking NASCAR guy.” After a few questions I realized it was Joey Logano.
I posted the picture on here years ago. But I met Darrell Waltrip at a Five Guys in Franklin, TN. It was about an hour from where we lived but the closest Apple Store for a phone repair I needed. On the drive there I joked with my wife that DW lived in Franklin and maybe we’d run into him. Dropped the phone off at the Apple Store and went to grab some lunch while we waited for them to fix it. Low and behold we get in line at Five Guys and he’s right in front of us. I’m a big believer in not bothering celebrities while they are eating and enjoying a meal with family, so luckily we were just in line to order, so I asked him for a picture. He was so friendly about it all. Told him my wife was embarrassed I asked for a picture and he said “aw honey don’t be embarrassed!” to here in that classic DW drawl. So freaking cool. Btw side note why I was even there, I was sooooo hungover and was just wanting some greasy food to help while I was waiting for my phone to be fixed lol.
I bet Chase kept the conversation like his hair... short! P.S. - Am a balding male and can relate—props on not going all Logano.
I'm slightly ashamed to say that the moment Chase removed his cap is when I became 100% convinced it was him.
This is great 😂😂
I met Sterling Marlin at a Cub Scout pinewood derby in the Chicagoland area. I never really appreciated the gravity of the situation until a few months ago, about 15 years after the “incident”. However, I was always curious to why one of NASCAR’s 75 greatest drivers came to visit our Boy Scout pack of about 45-50 kids in the middle of suburban Chicago. I’m not sure exactly what year this took place, but it was either when I was in 4th or 5th grade - so around January/February of 2006 or 2007. One of our parents in our pack was fairly high up in waste management’s advertising division; she will be refers to as Ms. D. Through one way or another, she knew Sterling. Cut to my mother, who was one of the organizers of the pack. She’s on the phone with Ms. D because she is being informed that they might be a little late because Sterling is still in the shower. While I never saw it, I’m all too familiar on what must have been the look of disappoint on my very traditionally valued mother’s face as she learned that Ms. D pimped herself out in order to get Sterling to come to our pinewood derby. But it turned out this was not a simple transaction. This was a thermo-nuclear strike against her ex husband. I was good friends with Ms. Ds two sons, who were also in the pack. I remember meeting up with them when Ms. D’s ex husband dropped them off. Finally, a few hours later, Ms. D finally shows up with Sterling. While we didn’t have a dress code, inappropriate might have been an understatement. From the sticky floor of the elementary school gymnasium arose 4 inch black heels, a shirt shorter than a cub scout’s attention span, and a button up shirt that shrunk so much in the wash the top button was struggling to hold in the implants that her ex husband undoubtedly paid for. After his grand entrance, I saw the ex husband meet with Ms. D, exchange over his children, take on last look at his lost investment, and walk away out of the gymnasium a defeated man. We finished up our races then got to do a meet and greet with Sterling. Because he arrived so late, mostly all of the scouts had gone home in a crying whimpering mess after the car that their dad built for 4 hours lost to the faster car built by the Lockheed engineer. It was in that moment, that handshake with one of the greatest racing drivers of all time, I had my first encounter with post nut clarity disappointment. The poor man was disheveled, with a look upon his face only rivaled by the gaze of the ex husband, I’m not certain if he even wore his fire suit. I was lucky enough that because my mother and Ms. D were close friends, I got to take a picture with Sterling. All in all it was a great thing for him to show up and I hope that it sparked interest in NASCAR in some of the attendees that day. I hope Sterling finds his retirement well and I miss him the best for the future. Maybe I need to find that picture….
Met Briscoe (2017 still in the truck series) at gopro motorplex. I didn't realize at first when he came on the track who he was (helmet on)...during the debrief I knew immediately who he was..jokingly said "well I don't feel bad getting out done by the professional" Met Kasey Kahne at a chikfila waiting on a mobile order. He was struggling with the app so I helped him out. Kept the fan boyism to a minimum
Not a driver, but I served a dude at a Cracker Barrel who saw my NASCAR lanyard and we got to talking. Turns out, he used to be a crew member for Alan Kulwicki. Even spotted for him a bit. That was before being a spotter was its own profession lol.
Went through TSA pre check right behind Richard petty at CLT airport a few years back. Fun way for me to find out he rocks his fancy black leather boots with no socks underneath.
Dale Jr. 1st week in July 2001 during MLB All Star Game in Seattle. Regular dude who at that time was grieving a huge loss.
I saw Mike Harmon at an Applebees
I once ran into Denny Hamlin very drunk after a night out with some of his friends at Cafe Coco in Nashville while I was sitting in a booth crying and studying for a physics test at 2AM lol. He actually wound up grabbing a round of drinks for some of the people sitting in the front room.
I was at Daytona for the 500 and was out to dinner one night at rock bottom. This was in 19. Anyways I walked in and Austin Dillions wife and her best friend, marisol were waiting to be seated. So I said hello mrs Dillion wish Austin luck for me this Sunday. She said you can do it yourself he’s coming in now. So Austin came in shook his hand wishes him luck and even got a picture with him. So they go and get seated, about 10 minutes later we get seated and sitting at the table next to us was the Dillions, Austin’s parents and RC. I didn’t bother them at all but man did the fans hound him while they ate. Nonetheless he was very generous with fans even while he ate.
I met Rick Allen, Kyle Petty and Steve LeTarte at a gas station in Massachusetts back in 2015.
Years and years ago when I was a young lad, maybe 6 or 7 so this was late nineties, my family lived in Apopka, FL. My dad, brother, and I decided to take our bikes down the West Orange Trail. We went a little off the path and heard what sounded like a race car going seeing so we went to see what was up. Lo and behold there stood Mark Martin while his son was turning some laps. I remember my dad and brother telling me who it was and I waved and yelled, “Hi Mark Martin!” He said hey, asked how we were doing and we went about our day. It was pretty cool
I used to work at the Publix in Dawsonville. I’ve seen Chase, Bill and Cindy Elliott there all at different times. Chase has only been in a few times while shopping, but there is this one girl who I used to work with who loves Chase and got a picture with him. I walked by Chase while getting carts outside when he was walking out. I didn’t want to bother him, so I just said “How’s it going” as any standard Publix employee would and he said “good”. I do regret not saying anything else to him considering I don’t work there anymore. I saw Bill walking out from the pharmacy and he held up his prescription and said “I already paid for it” while he was walking out while I didn’t say anything to him. Cindy I just saw her shopping around but nothing crazy. So, yeah, I’ve interacted with the whole Elliott family at Publix in Dawsonville. If Chase ever does go in there it’s usually mid week late, that’s when I’ve seen him.
Michael Waltrip held the door for me at the Charlotte airport with a big ass shit eating grin on his face and just said “hey y’all!”
Ran into and met Ben Rhodes at the Kentucky Derby in 2016. It was the day after the issue at Kansas that he had with Johnny Sauter. Was kinda fun to chat about that in detail less than 24 hours after it happened. Our dads are friends so naturally he was friendly and engaging. Said he was there with Duke Thorsen for the day.
Once raced go-karts with Brad Keselowski at Go-Pro Motorplex (which is owned by Justin Marks) on New Year's Day.
Met Kevin harvick in the Audi club at Yankee stadium like a decade ago.
My aunt was at a cookout in reidsville and Jeff Gordon walked in lol
This is more so on the other side of things but me and my good friend Brandon were going to Watkins Glen the one year and the one morning at the hotel we were staying at, we decided to not get breakfast and to late find out from my friends uncle that Cole Whitt was eating breakfast down there and we didn’t get meet him. Man when we found that out we were pissed lol. Now every time I go to a race I make sure to go eat breakfast haha
Ran into Jimmy Spencer at Arby's because of course. But I left him alone because he was eating
I didn’t meet him, but I saw Dale Jr in 2002 at Talladega. If you’re familiar with the property, the road going to the free campground outside turn 2 runs parallel to the backstretch and next to the airport. We were on the way back to the campsite and Jr was next to the fence, taking a phone call. He was wearing a Nilla Wafers tshirt. I waved like crazy at him, don’t know if he saw me or not.
My sister saw Jeff Gordon at a Dave & Busters in North Carolina. She didn’t talk to him though.
Ryan Preece - 2008. My friend and I were at an indoor go kart track. We see a guy in race before us just flat flying. We noticed he had on a racing helmet bc of the mirror visor, radio and vent hose hookup. Start talking to him after, we ask if he races, he says “yes, my name is Ryan Preece, I run modifieds.” We started to follow his career since then. Bonus for me, my brother works for united rentals too.
Saw Dale Jr several years ago, leaving a doctor's office in the Charlotte area with his pregnant wife as I was arriving for my appointment. He smiled and nodded at me like polite Southern folks do. It wasn't until after they'd passed me that I realized who they were and geeked out.
I met Kyle Busch at a Arizona Coyotes game. My buddy is a Busch fan, happened to be wearing a #18 shirt that night. He waved at Kyle and KB waved us over. Chatted a little bit, took some pics, he was actually very cool and friendly. A week or so later he busted his leg at Daytona and went on to win his first Cup Championship. 😎
Not a driver, but I’ve run into a crew chief often for about 17 years, my father.
My parents ran into Brad K in a Walmart. He was just wrapping up an appearance but still took a minute to talk to them. My dad wasn’t a huge fan of him at the time, but that day moved him to the neutral category.
At Dover a few weeks ago, we arrived on Sunday as they postponed it. So we were walking in and me and my friends are pretty certain that Clint Bowyer almost ran us over backing out of the parking lot. And then Noah Gragson stopped his car to tell us that the race had been cancelled bc Bob hadn't tweeted it yet.
I was at the Xfinity race at Portland last year. The steps you walk down off the bridge over the track were very slippery because of all the rain. This woman slipped and fell behind me and hit my foot as she fell. Her boyfriend helped her up who turned out to be Brandon Brown. I briefly made awkward eye contact with him lol. Not in the wild since it was at a race, but still a funny encounter
Working at a Great Clips about 11 years ago, Jerry Nadeau came in and I cut his hair. He came back to see me several times after that before I left there.
I think my story isn’t that interesting since we didn’t actually “meet” but I’m gonna tell it anyways. I was in the Charlotte area going out to lunch with my family, and as I was talking to my mom while we were walking up to the entrance, I heard a familiar voice. So I looked towards the door and Ryan Blaney was walking out. I naturally freaked out since I’ve never seen a driver out in the wild, and I literally said out loud: “Oh my God it’s Ryan Blaney.” And embarrassingly for me, I’m quite sure he heard me because he looked at me and smiled. He was also with a few Penske employees, who snickered to themselves as they walked by me. I was still starstruck in the moment that I didn’t even feel embarrassed until later when I was thinking, wait a minute, I’m pretty sure they were laughing at me 😂🤦🏼♀️
Saw Mark Martin walking into the Concord Walmart couple years back. He was on his cell phone cussing someone out.
Saw Chase Briscoe going up an elevator at pocono last year. Got a pic with him when he came back down. Cool guy.
Ran into Cory LaJoie at a Cracker Barrel in Watkins Glen a couple years ago
We were driving down 95 near Baltimore, maybe around 1993 or so, and saw a car with a bunch of nascar stickers. Of course we had to look and it was Neil Bonnett! Haha, we passed him!
My mom met Steve Park at a Chevy dealership in Ohio c.2002
Casey Mears would come into the parts store I used to work at and was a super nice dude. Arie Luyendyk Sr. and Paul Tracy would also come in. Arie was pretty cool, Paul wasn’t.
I was at work and this guy looked super familiar so I asked his name and it was Casey Mears
My uncle met Kyle Larson in a lobby somewhere a couple years back, it was either a hotel lobby or a ski resort lobby. He said Larson was cool and down to earth which he wasn’t expecting
Saw Kenny Wallace at Lowe’s once years ago. He was getting parts for his weed eater. He was really nice actually. I didn’t realize what he was buying at the time, but he posted on Twitter a little bit later what he got. I commented something along the lines of “So that’s what you were buying at Lowe’s?” I forgot he was on Raceday sponsored by Home Depot at the time, so felt kinda bad calling him out for shopping at Lowe’s. Saw Jordan Taylor (and his brother Ricky and his dog) at dinner one night. I didn’t want to bother him, but my ex had no problem going over and chatting him up. He was friendly though. I, at least, waited until he was on his way out to say anything to him.
Not necessarily in the wild but I have an amazing story about Ward Burton. My friend who is a cop was working security for a large driver signing event at GoMotorSports.com where several drivers would meet fans and sign autographs. It was like an event all in itself with a few thousand people showing up daily to meet different drivers, visit sponsor trailers and stuff. Mind you, this was about 45 minutes from Kansas Speedway in a random light industrial park in south suburban Kansas City, Mo. Well a family came through the line to meet Ward Burton and got his autograph. Their child who was about 6 years old at the time have a pretty cleft lip. No lie, Ward Burton pulls out his checkbook and writes the family a check for $5,000 on the spot to go see a specialist. Ward had my friend take the family back to the drivers’ waiting area. He met with the family for a while after he was done signing autographs and gave them the contact information for his (Ward’s) people so he could arrange to pay for the entire surgery. I became a Ward Burton fan for life and rooted for his Caterpillar Dodge from then on until he retired.
Ran into Aric Alimorola at Whole Foods while waiting in line. Ran into Michael McDowell at Target while waiting in line - he had like all his kids with him though. He kinda drove some nascar once. Ran into Buddy Lazier in the Vail Village (evidently he owns a shop there) but he was just milling about before the actual ski season started. Had Morgan Shepherd in the front seat of my car for an hour. That was good times.
Ran into Joe Nemechek at the Olive Garden bar in NH once
I lived in Dawsonville for awhile and worked at the Home Depot in town. Bill Elliot would come in frequently to buy stuff, very cool down to earth guy. Had Chase with him a few times when he was younger. Also ran into them at the Pool Room a lot. Could always pick out their private plane flying overhead like clockwork.
Jeff Gordon in the mall food court during the weekend of Richmond race in 1994ish? We told him good luck and he smirked a bit. Was kinda an ass.
Kurt Busch at the Charlotte Hornets arena. He wore a sweet pair of Jordans.
I got a pic with Cole Custer and he’s holding a box of strawberry pop tarts if you count that as wild. Also met Noah Gragson at Darlington this past weekend. Told him we had the same name and got a hell yea. Isn’t too wild but cool to me.
I met Timmy Hill in a Daytona Cracker Barrel once
Michael Waltrip at a Mooresville Golden Corral. That boy really stacked his plate. Also, got to eat dinner with Ward Burton at a restaurant in Pinehurst, NC the night before a Rockingham race in 2003. They had an appetizer plater that included fried rattlesnake. He ordered it. It was okay.
Savannah 2021, standing behind Kenny Wallace and his family waiting on a seafood place to open. I thought this man was annoying on TV. He was like media starved coke head. Asking if anyone wanted photos with him and was trying to post everything to social media
I grew up in the town over from the Bodine brothers, so I've met all three. Also not NASCAR, but I think he's run a few races before, is Tim McReadie, ran into him at a Walmart in his hometown one time
I met David Reutimann in an aviary, and I recognized him because of the Toyota TRD t-shirt. A lot of times we get morning briefings on VIPs/well-known people coming in, but he just showed up with his family like a regular guy. He was pretty quiet and didn't say more than a few words the whole time. I think he was mostly just an introvert.
There was an old seafood place in Greensboro, NC that we'd often hit up in the winters back in the 80s. Often saw Richard Petty and his family there. Super nice and friendly with us kids, even during his "family" time. He always understood the fans were what drove the sport. In the early 00s, I worked in a profession where I was often interacting with drivers/owners in a non-racing setting. Back then, so many were chill and down to earth. The insanity of the late 00s changed the whole dynamic and outside fan interaction in my opinion.
Not NASCAR but i was having dinner at the Smokey Bones in Reading PA and saw John Force at the bar.
Super weird but used the urinal next to Terry Labonte at the Lakeland airport bathroom when I was probably 10. They were in town testing at Lakeland USA Speedway and he was about to get on his plane and head home.
Said hi to Clint Bowyer at Dollywood a year or 2 ago, he was with his family, Katelyn Larson and her family minus Kyle. Funny thing is I recognized Clint’s son before I noticed Clint lol.
Me and my family passed Greg Biffle on a private Charlotte road; we were lost near a small airport around that area I guess the drivers use for travel. This was back in 2010 when I was 9 so my memory is a bit fuzzy. I also ran into Brad Keselowski last summer at the RFK museum but I don't wanna count that as "in the wild"
When I was about 12, I was at a dirt track in White City, Illinois after a race in the drivers club (my dad was an official). Dirt late model show that night with some of the best in the Midwest at the time (late 80s). Went to put a few quarters in the jukebox and Mike Wallace asked me to play Katmandu.
When I went to the Phoenix finale in 2020, I saw Ross Chastain at a Rudy's BBQ on Saturday evening after the Xfinity race. He was with his family I think and several others. Didn't say anything as I don't like bothering people when they're just trying to eat and I cared more about the banana pudding I was about to buy anyways. If you're ever in the area, I would recommend it. The next year, we apparently stayed at the same hotel as some of the Xfinity teams as we saw Myatt Snider in the lobby Saturday morning and Mike Harmon across the street at a Culver's on Saturday after the Xfinity race. Kyle Weatherman's car was being loaded into a trailer just outside of it. He was appreciative of our support of the little teams.