On a more serious note....
Thoughts, prayers, and get-well wishes to Steve Maynard, a member of Dale Earnhardt Inc.'s #15 and #11 teams, who was involved in a head-on automobile collision near DEI on Wednesdsay. Steve is listed in critical condition after breaking both his legs, his arms, his pelvis, and sustaining internal injuries.
Oh man. Prayers up for a full recovery for Steve Maynard. Awful accident.
Matt 18:20
Behind the Hauler Chat with Jr re: Terry Labonte....
ON TERRY LABONTE: "I have one story I will never forget. He and my Dad had a friendship that was really unique. They hunted and stuff together and anybody that hung with my Dad was cool as hell to me you know what I mean. If they got to go on a hunting trip with my Dad, I never got invited. I am 'Like Wow, he likes Terry, Terry must be really cool.'
"I was St. Louis in 1997 in my second or third Busch race and I pull out on pit road for practice, I don't know where I am at, I don't know this race track, I don't know nothing. I got this crappy old car and out there in the middle of all these guys waiting in line and I am trying to figure out if I am in the way, I don't know what I am doing. Terry pulls up besides me in his car, it was just weird to be setting next on that piece of asphalt, sharing that race track with him. At that point in my career, I don't know how old I was, but I hadn't really done anything significant as far as wins or anything. I didn't consider myself anything but a tryout. There I was sitting to who was the defending Cup champion, he won in l996 I believe, he is a man of few words. I was just very overwhelmed to be sitting next to him to go out to practice. I will never forget it, that was one of the first highlights of my career.
"We were in Watkins Glen, he and Dad went hunting but I don't know how much they talked. I had known him for years and never said one word to him or him one word to me, you know. He never talked to anybody, at least that was the impression he gave. I was sitting in my motorhome and him, Kenny Schrader and Dale Jarrett, Rusty Wallace and I don't know who else, a bunch of guys were hanging out and riding around the infield like they do on Friday nights, goofing off and giving all the guards crap and stuff. They go back to Schrader's bus, which was parked next to mine, Schrader always likes to come talk to me and he comes in and says 'Hey man, we are over at my bus, come on over.' So I go over there, I am standing there, this was three or four years ago, being around guys my Dad raced with kinda of made me feel overwhelmed a little bit. There I am sitting in the bus, they are talking guy stuff, old veteran talk. I am just sitting there and Schrader says come on over here and I said what do you want me to come over there for. Terry was sitting next to me and he nudges me and says 'Hey, I see you are still not wearing the Hans Device, this was before the rule, and he said, 'You ought to wear one, I would like to see you stick around for a while. Those were the first words the man ever said to me in my life. So the next week I immediately starting wearing the Hutchins Device, but he pushed it and if Terry Labonte asks you to do it, you do it."
-credit: gm racing
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=236611&FS=NASCAR-CUP