All Cheers- No Jeers

[Roselady3]

"Cheers and Jeers"...If you can't say somethin' nice...
By Carol Einarsson


January 8, 2002



So it's the off-season, and I had my little vacation, but I'm BACK. I thought this week I'd give EVERYbody's fan club a rest, and simply say something nice about everyone. I'll even try to be sincere. Really.


CHEERS to John Andretti for his smile. It doesn't seem to matter how much bad luck or wreckage comes his way, in post-race interviews, he is still smiling for us.

CHEERS to Casey Atwood for not burning his bridges. Even at his tender age, he hasn't done what most other guys might have - bad mouth a guy that broke his promise.

CHEERS to Johnny Benson's following. Ever cheerful and optimistic, you'd be hard pressed to find anyone that isn't eager for him to get his first win. Plus, you gotta root for a driver that looks like a math teacher.

CHEERS to Dave Blaney's sense of family. He says his favorite athlete is his dad.

CHEERS to Brett Bodine's victory, though it be only one, coming at North Wilkesboro. Now if we could just get the big money boys to play nice and open that track again,.....

CHEERS to Todd Bodine who suffers quietly with his team, and never stops wanting to win despite the mechanical limitations that exist. Oh, and he is NOT a cue-ball-headed-fool.

CHEERS to Jeff Burton for stepping into a role of spokesman for the drivers. I don't know how this fell upon HIM, but in the aftermath of Daytona, Jeff became the self-appointed "Personal Safety Police".

CHEERS to Ward Burton for not being bitter about his "little brother" often out-shining him on the track.

CHEERS to Kurt Busch not ever publicly endorsing the new age restrictions for NASCAR so nobody will ever have to know if he's a bit relieved that HIS little brother won't be beating him any time soon.

CHEERS to Stacy Compton who seems to be the master of qualifying at 'Dega and Daytona. On the pole for both Alabama races last year, and starting second and third at the Daytona visits, why isn't everyone spying his garage before plate race qualifying?

CHEERS to Ricky Craven whose win this past year was the highlight by far. So much gloom and misery and grief, but Ricky's victory made every single person feel good. I bet he's STILL walkin' on a cloud.

CHEERS to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. who started the season as a kid, grew into a man, and then became comfortable in his old clothes all over again. Oh, and he teaches us new things like "shizznit".

CHEERS to Bill Elliott who proved that even after seven winless years, he never forgot how to win.

CHEERS to Jeff Gordon who showed all of us (myself included) that while Ray might well have been the brains of the operation, he was, by no measure, the whole of the talent.

CHEERS to Robby Gordon who gives all of the anti-Jeff fans a different Gordon to cheer for.

CHEERS to Bobby Hamilton who's never once told us NOT to call him "Senior".

CHEERS to Kevin Harvick because love him or hate him, and call him an imitator if you will, but he's talented, outspoken, and has a smile that makes it impossible to stay mad no matter what he's done. Hmmm.. sounds familiar.

CHEERS to Ron Hornaday for his cool NAPA truck commercials awhile back, teaching the guys to drive.

CHEERS to Andy Houston, one of my son's favorites, because as he says, "He's just squeaky clean, and never has a potty mouth!"

CHEERS to Dale Jarrett for his continued support of the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Research. Okay, he also gets an honorable mention for his Big Brown Truck commercials, too.

CHEERS to Buckshot Jones for having the coolest nickname in racing. You gotta wonder if he'd be where he is now if he were known as Roy Jones.

CHEERS to Matt Kenseth who keeps a good attitude despite being largely ignored as the "third team".

CHEERS to Bobby Labonte's comic relief. Yeah, we liked the commercials with Tony, but I'm hoping this year finds Bobby reunited with brother Terry for more"competitive brother" commercials.

CHEERS to Terry Labonte who never loses his temper no matter how many times the TV people talk about how he's the only one that didn't lead a lap in the last thousand races or so.

CHEERS to Sterling Marlin for standing up under pressure. Surely it was difficult, but he never showed himself to be less than the gentleman that he truly is.

CHEERS to Mark Martin for realizing that a man's greatest success is his family. So what if he finishes his racing career without the much-coveted championship, he'll always be a champion to his son.

CHEERS to Rick Mast for being a self-made man, and starting his career at age 12 by "borrowing" his dad's car and racing down dirt roads when he would sneak outta the house. Oh how I long for the simpler times. CHEERS to Jeremy Mayfield's good judgment when asked to do an interview for a less-than-proper magazine. He declined with the explanation that he knew his mother wouldn't approve.

CHEERS to Jerry Nadeau for a sunny disposition. No matter when he's interviewed, he seems to have a smile -- that's just the thing that pleases sponsors.

CHEERS to Joe Nemechek for being Front Row Joe AND our favorite underdog all at once. We love ANY guy whose mom consistently comes to his races.

CHEERS to Steve Park for his dancing. While we've missed him immensely, I look forward to seeing the return of our favorite happy dance.

CHEERS to Kyle Petty's perseverance through adversity and his refusal to ever give up on Petty Enterprises.

CHEERS to Ricky Rudd for just being that daggum good. He's sure got the staying power, and 25 years later, is STILL a contender.

CHEERS to Elliott Sadler for his Jethro Clampett style. He's got kid brother charm all wrapped up with class clown antics - ALWAYS entertaining.

CHEERS to Ken Schrader, the best sport in auto racing. I'll still never forget the ARCA race a couple of years back when he unintentionally bumped the leader on the last lap. He could have simply expressed his apology after collecting the checkers for himself, but no. Rather, he STOPPED HIS CAR on the track to wait for the guy to finish spinning and get back on the track in front of Schrader, where he belonged. Okay, so maybe that doesn't win races, but it sure elevates a guy to HERO status!

CHEERS to Mike Skinner's foresight. Maybe he just can't win with Childress, and despite how silly that sounds to some of the less funded teams, perhaps his departure will be just what he's needed. Never underestimate a fresh start.

CHEERS to Jimmy Spencer for what seems like a mellowing life. Yeah, he's still outspoken, but things I've been hearing lately indicate that ol' Jimmy might be forgetting his old ways and moving in a kinder, gentler direction.

CHEERS to Tony Stewart for being his own person. His comedic timing is impeccable, and I do hope we get to see even more of that in the future. He really is just misunderstood a good part of the time, but you'd better copy this to a file, because you know how often I change my mind about him.

CHEERS to Hut Stricklin because in this sport packed full of competing beer and soda sponsors, SOMEone has to drive the coffee car!

CHEERS to Kenny Wallace for being the go-to-guy extraordinaire. He fills in whenever and wherever he's needed, whether it's warming a seat on a Monday night TV show, or filling in for a side-lined driver.

CHEERS to Rusty Wallace for smiling in the picture with my dear 10 year old.

and finally,

CHEERS to Michael Waltrip for sharing his faith and turning bad situations into opportunities to tell others of the Source of his strength.

[KC]

Thanks for the post.

[Joe Fan]

Great article.

[Emfa]

There's a lot of really, REALLY good stuff in there. A lot of things mentioned are why I like Nascar like I do.

[Roselady3]

Sometimes we all dwell on the NASCAR negatives.
Yep NASCAR is awesome- for those reasons & many more!