Aug. 9, 2025
Ink & Engines: Four Decades of Motorsports Storytelling with Deb Williams
Send us a text From sleeping peacefully under loudspeakers at dirt tracks as a baby to witnessing Richard Petty's historic 200th victory with President Reagan in attendance, Deb Williams has lived and breathed motorsports her entire life. Now in her fourth decade as a motorsports journalist, Williams takes us on a captivating journey from her humble beginnings in a North Carolina mill town to becoming the first female to cover NASCAR for an international wire service. The passion that drove ...
From sleeping peacefully under loudspeakers at dirt tracks as a baby to witnessing Richard Petty's historic 200th victory with President Reagan in attendance, Deb Williams has lived and breathed motorsports her entire life. Now in her fourth decade as a motorsports journalist, Williams takes us on a captivating journey from her humble beginnings in a North Carolina mill town to becoming the first female to cover NASCAR for an international wire service.
The passion that drove a 13-year-old girl to declare she would become a motorsports writer after spotting statistical errors in her local newspaper's racing coverage has never diminished. Williams shares colorful anecdotes from an era when racing coverage was built on personal relationships – times when journalists, drivers, and team members would gather at local restaurants after races, forging bonds that transcended professional obligations. Her stories of interviewing legends like Richard Petty (first as a starstruck fan, later as a professional) and dining with Mario Andretti and the Italian ambassador offer a glimpse into racing's rich human tapestry.
As president of the National Motorsports Press Association and a contributing editor for AutoWeek.com, Williams continues to shape racing journalism while teaching the next generation at Appalachian State University. Her perspective on how the sport's coverage has evolved – from the days when "everybody knew somebody on every race team" to today's more structured media environment – highlights what's been gained and lost as racing has grown into a national phenomenon.
Williams' story isn't just about motorsports; it's about perseverance, breaking barriers, and the power of community. In a world increasingly dominated by digital interactions, her emphasis on human connection and the racing family where "you know who's got your back" resonates more powerfully than ever. Whether you're a die-hard racing fan or simply appreciate stories of passion pursued against all odds, Williams' journey reminds us that behind every headline are the people who make the sport what it is.
Join the conversation about how motorsports journalism has evolved by sharing your thoughts on what we've gained – and perhaps lost – in racing's transformation over these past four decades.
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/womensmotorsportsnetworkandpodcast
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/womensmotorsportsnetwork/
LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melindarussell/
TIKTOK: https://www.linkedin.com/in/melindarussell/
X: https://x.com/IWMANation
FACEBOOK Personal Page: https://www.facebook.com/melinda.ann.russell
00:00 - Meet Deb Williams: Motorsports Writer
09:55 - Childhood Dreams of Covering Racing
15:26 - Four Decades in Motorsports Journalism
25:05 - Memorable Interviews and Racing History
37:07 - Human Connection in Racing Coverage
43:45 - The Racing Community: A Global Family
48:14 - Education, Writing, and Racing's Future
WEBVTT
00:00:02.664 --> 00:00:03.504
Hello everyone.
00:00:03.504 --> 00:00:10.035
This is Melinda Russell with the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, and my guest today is Deb Williams.
00:00:10.035 --> 00:00:13.567
And Deb, I'm so glad you could be on the show with me today.
00:00:13.567 --> 00:00:19.731
So welcome to the podcast and if you would, would you start by just sharing a little bit about yourself?
00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:22.045
Okay, well, thank you for having me.
00:00:22.045 --> 00:00:22.789
It's a pleasure.
00:00:22.789 --> 00:00:26.742
It's been an interesting ride.
00:00:26.841 --> 00:00:45.816
Needless to say, I grew up in a paper mill town in western North Carolina, 18 miles west of Asheville, in the southern Appalachian Mountains mill for about 45 years, and my mother worked various jobs.
00:00:45.816 --> 00:00:56.048
She was a full-time homemaker and then, when I got into junior high, she got on with the town police force and worked as a school crossing guard.
00:00:56.048 --> 00:01:03.950
And I have an older sister, who's 11 years older than me, who is a retired history professor at North Carolina State University, as is my brother-in-law.
00:01:03.950 --> 00:01:10.512
They weren't in the same field she was US history and he was European history during the Enlightenment era.
00:01:10.512 --> 00:01:19.879
So we've had a lot of teachers in our family and I knew from the time I was 13 years old I wanted to be a motorsports writer.
00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:36.436
So I'm in my fourth decade now of covering motorsports and I'm currently a contributing editor for AutoWeekcom and the president of the National Motorsports Press Association and on the board of directors of the Kowicki Driver Development Program.
00:01:36.436 --> 00:01:40.742
So you're keeping busy Just a little bit.
00:01:40.742 --> 00:01:45.712
Oh yeah, and I teach motorsports communications during fall semester at Appalachian State University.
00:01:46.459 --> 00:01:47.462
Oh well, that's just.
00:01:47.462 --> 00:01:48.887
You know one more thing, right?
00:01:48.887 --> 00:01:50.189
Oh my goodness.
00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.003
It's variety.
00:01:53.003 --> 00:01:55.549
You know it keeps everything going variety?
00:01:55.590 --> 00:01:56.921
wise it does.
00:01:56.921 --> 00:02:02.728
And you know we have to stay busy, otherwise you know what are we going to do.
00:02:02.728 --> 00:02:04.811
We have to find things to keep us occupied.
00:02:04.831 --> 00:02:07.075
Otherwise, you know what are we going to do?
00:02:07.075 --> 00:02:09.079
We have to find things to keep us occupied.
00:02:09.079 --> 00:02:10.960
Exactly, my mother raised me One.
00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:12.383
There was two things I was never allowed to say.
00:02:12.383 --> 00:02:21.191
I was never allowed to say I'm bored and I have nothing to do, because mother always said if you don't find something to do, I will find you something to do.
00:02:21.191 --> 00:02:28.026
And I think what you can find to do you will enjoy a lot more than what I can find you to do yes, absolutely.
00:02:28.186 --> 00:02:31.854
I grew up on a farm and I was the youngest of three daughters.
00:02:31.854 --> 00:02:37.135
My, my poor dad didn't have any boys to take over the farm, and neither did my.
00:02:37.135 --> 00:02:52.411
My uncle and aunt didn't have any children, and so, um, you know, the things they found for us to do was brush corn and snap beans and all those things, and it's like there was a lot of things I would have rather been doing than some of that.
00:02:52.919 --> 00:03:00.334
But well, I've been thinking a lot recently about the fresh garden we always had in the summer.
00:03:00.334 --> 00:03:15.962
All of us had a garden and I was thinking how nice it was to be able to just go out and get fresh strawberries and cucumbers and green beans and squash and corn, you know, for dinner, and then you put it up.
00:03:15.962 --> 00:03:19.352
We had grape vines, so we had the grapes and mother'd make jelly.
00:03:19.352 --> 00:03:23.064
But that was just a way of life and it was.
00:03:23.064 --> 00:03:24.867
You know everybody.
00:03:24.867 --> 00:03:29.134
I mean I had a pony, I had a dog and then later I had a horse.
00:03:29.134 --> 00:03:36.334
So you know, my uncle had cattle and I'd help them gather up hay and everything.
00:03:36.334 --> 00:03:39.046
So you didn't have your.
00:03:39.046 --> 00:03:40.951
This is your job and this is your job.
00:03:40.951 --> 00:03:42.442
It's whatever needed to be done.
00:03:42.442 --> 00:03:43.824
Everybody pitched in and did it.
00:03:44.444 --> 00:03:45.727
Absolutely so.
00:03:45.727 --> 00:03:47.090
We have a lot of similarities.
00:03:47.090 --> 00:03:58.703
I also had a pony growing up and a dog and and and so that was that was fun to do those things.
00:03:58.703 --> 00:04:02.930
And then the neighbor girl lived about two miles away and she also had a pony, so we'd meet halfway and ride our ponies and that was.
00:04:02.930 --> 00:04:05.841
That was a lot of good memories from back in those days.
00:04:05.841 --> 00:04:17.545
Yeah, so 40 years as a about 40 years or so as a motor sports writer how, at the age of 13, did you know that's what you wanted to do?
00:04:18.307 --> 00:04:27.305
Well, where I grew up in the Southern Appalachian mountains, there were two things that were really big where I grew up and that was football and cars.
00:04:27.305 --> 00:04:31.958
And my dad was really into cars and loved cars.
00:04:31.958 --> 00:04:39.355
He had me sitting on the car helping him wax it by the time that I was old enough to carry a rag.
00:04:39.355 --> 00:04:47.134
And I had a cousin who was in show cars and actually got top rod in the nation in 1992.
00:04:47.134 --> 00:04:50.447
And he was in high school with my sister who.
00:04:50.447 --> 00:04:55.220
They were in high school with Bosco Lowe who raced in the old Busch series.
00:04:55.220 --> 00:05:09.564
And you know we had the third mile track in Asheville, the weekly track, where Jack Ingram and Harry Gant and Bob Presley and all those guys raced every Friday night.
00:05:09.564 --> 00:05:21.322
And then we had Asheville Weaverville where they actually had the Southern Motorcycle Championships or Southeastern Motorcycle Championships before it was paved.
00:05:21.322 --> 00:05:34.211
And then, once it was paved, we had the cup cars race there twice a year up until I want to say 1970, probably, and so you know I was.
00:05:34.954 --> 00:05:35.935
I loved racing.
00:05:35.935 --> 00:05:40.254
Mother and daddy were going to races when mother was pregnant with me.
00:05:40.254 --> 00:05:52.290
The only place they could get me to quit crying and sleep until I was a year old was in the infield at ashford weaverville under the loudspeaker when it was dirt and then a cup.
00:05:52.290 --> 00:05:59.389
Excuse me, a couple who were in high school with my parents, frank and hilda presley.
00:05:59.389 --> 00:06:09.502
They actually filled in a car for ralph earnhardt in like 58 and 59 and I was down there at the garage one day with daddy.
00:06:09.502 --> 00:06:27.141
I grew up around car garages and ball fields and horse shows and so Frank Presley had pushed Ralph Earnhardt's car out front of Presley's garage so that he could work on the cars you know he and his son needed to work on.
00:06:27.141 --> 00:06:31.750
And that's the first race car I ever got to really touch and see.
00:06:31.750 --> 00:06:37.249
I put my hands on the passenger side and pulled myself up on my tiptoes.
00:06:37.249 --> 00:06:41.646
I guess I was about five years old and looked inside.
00:06:41.646 --> 00:06:42.507
Man, I was hooked.
00:06:42.627 --> 00:06:48.562
You know I loved racing and our extensions of our family loved racing.
00:06:48.562 --> 00:06:58.872
I had a cousin that was a big Fireball Roberts fan and daddy was always taking vacation every February to go to Daytona for the Daytona 500.
00:06:58.872 --> 00:07:06.072
And I still have a program that he brought me back from the 64 Daytona 500.
00:07:06.072 --> 00:07:29.562
Invariably I always got the flu and messed up his vacation, but I was raised that if you don't like something, don't sit around and grumble about it, get up and do something about it and do something about it.
00:07:29.562 --> 00:07:33.776
And so I was constantly finding statistical errors in the racing articles that were published in the Asheville Citizen, which was the daily newspaper I grew up on.
00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:39.975
And so at 13 years old I just decided well, I can do just as good or better.
00:07:39.975 --> 00:07:44.985
So I thought that would be a cool deal, would be to be a motor sports rider.
00:07:44.985 --> 00:07:53.375
Now I kind of had to alter it a little bit because I found I couldn't get a job necessarily if I limited myself that much.
00:07:53.375 --> 00:08:12.430
But so I said be a sports rider, preferably a motorsports rider, and I wouldn't trade the years that I covered everything for United Press International, from ACC football and basketball, the hostage situations to tornadoes, to hurricanes, I mean you name it.
00:08:12.430 --> 00:08:17.870
And that was when I got to cover Richard Petty's 200th victory at Daytona when President Reagan was there.
00:08:17.870 --> 00:08:22.603
So I've been very, very blessed.
00:08:22.603 --> 00:08:26.036
Not many people get to do what they want to do or their dream job, and I've been very, very blessed.
00:08:26.036 --> 00:08:31.149
Not many people get to do what they want to do or their dream job, and I've been fortunate to do it for over 40 years now.
00:08:31.990 --> 00:08:34.408
Wow, what a story.
00:08:34.408 --> 00:08:35.966
You need to write a book, deb.
00:08:35.966 --> 00:08:38.827
I've had a lot of people tell me that lately.
00:08:38.827 --> 00:08:49.315
Yeah, because you probably have met so many interesting people and told their stories that you could share those.
00:08:49.315 --> 00:08:51.200
Yeah, that's really cool.
00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:57.328
So I was a big Reagan fan, so I would have been tickled to death had I been there when.
00:08:57.328 --> 00:09:01.469
Reagan was at the race, yeah very, very cool.
00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:32.636
That was an interesting day because you know that was before they rebuilt Daytona into the palace that it is now and the press box had a line straight like sight line to the broadcast booth where President Reagan was with Ned Jarrett and they actually had a Secret Service agent stationed in the press box with us and they checked everybody going in through the gates.
00:09:32.636 --> 00:09:46.691
That morning we had the TRS Model 100s or the Trash 80s that Radio Shack sold and they looked to see if it had been taken apart and put back together.
00:09:46.691 --> 00:10:23.003
But the really cool thing that day that you would never see happen now because you don't have really the paper handouts, but back in 1984, you know they had the pit notes and the rundowns and the cumulative statistics and everything was printed out and passed out to all the media and so all of the media there that day that wanted Richard Petty to sign their rundown, richard sat in that press box and signed everybody's rundown.
00:10:23.003 --> 00:10:25.818
Until everybody had their rundown signed.
00:10:25.818 --> 00:10:26.822
That wanted them signed.
00:10:27.604 --> 00:10:28.908
Wow that's amazing.
00:10:28.908 --> 00:10:30.913
Those are the stories you don't really hear about.
00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:37.663
Yeah, yeah and they invited us all to the picnic that they had for the racing community down in the garage.
00:10:37.663 --> 00:10:42.442
But it was kind of like, well, you know, we are riding on deadline, I don't think we can come down there.
00:10:42.442 --> 00:10:45.921
But yeah, it was nice that they invited us, right.
00:10:47.043 --> 00:10:49.572
Do you have a favorite person that you've interviewed?
00:10:49.572 --> 00:10:54.245
Oh gee, that's a tough one.
00:10:54.245 --> 00:10:58.313
Yeah, or a few who would be maybe some of your favorites.
00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:00.782
Well, it was interesting.
00:11:00.782 --> 00:11:06.207
You know, richard Petty's got to be at the top of the list because growing up I was a Richard Petty fan.
00:11:06.207 --> 00:11:29.534
And it was interesting in that the first time I went to the garage twice in Randleman at Petty Enterprises to interview Richard, and the second time, as we were leaving, I was still with UPI then and I looked at the photo editor and I said you know, I think that interview went a lot better than the first one.
00:11:29.534 --> 00:11:32.327
And he looked at me and he said you know, why don't you?
00:11:32.327 --> 00:11:34.948
And I said no, why?
00:11:34.948 --> 00:11:47.989
And he said because the first time that you came here, you came here as a fan and it was something you had always dreamed of doing, which was coming to petty enterprises and sitting down and interviewing richard petty.
00:11:47.989 --> 00:11:53.244
And he said this time you came as a reporter and that's why it was better.
00:11:53.244 --> 00:12:01.964
Yeah, so, um, but you know I've uh, gee, it's it.
00:12:01.964 --> 00:12:04.808
Oh, I enjoyed the interview and burt Bart Reynolds, that was fun.
00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:06.731
Oh, why was that what?
00:12:06.731 --> 00:12:08.014
How did you interview?
00:12:08.054 --> 00:12:08.235
him.
00:12:08.235 --> 00:12:26.470
Well, that's when they were filming Stroker Ace, and they were filming Stroker Ace at Charlotte Motor Speedway and because I was with United Press International, they allowed me to come in on set and I got 30 minutes withurt Reynolds during a lunch break.
00:12:26.470 --> 00:12:28.740
So that was cool.
00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:32.005
Yeah, that is cool, very cool.
00:12:32.005 --> 00:12:36.754
Gee, it's hard to think right off the top of my head.
00:12:36.754 --> 00:12:51.227
Yeah, one thing that was really neat was the year that Mario Andretti was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame.
00:12:51.227 --> 00:13:13.072
Bill Broderick had handled the seating assignments at the tables and I was seated at the table with Mario Andretti and the Italian ambassador to the United States, who they had invited to be there for Mario Andretti, and he and Mario sat there and spoke Italian to each other through the entire dinner.
00:13:13.072 --> 00:13:17.672
I had no idea what they said, but I was just absolutely enthralled.
00:13:17.779 --> 00:13:29.369
You know who would have ever thought that a mill town girl from the southern Appalachian mountains would be sitting here at the dinner table with Mario Andretti and the ambassador from Italy to the United States.
00:13:29.369 --> 00:13:31.052
I mean, that was just a cool night.
00:13:32.261 --> 00:13:35.068
Yeah, it almost seemed unreal, didn't it?
00:13:35.068 --> 00:13:39.062
I mean when you stop to think yeah, yeah it did.
00:13:39.543 --> 00:14:00.198
And you know, so many times you're in the midst of just doing things and covering it, particularly if you're on deadline and you really don't think that you're actually getting to witness history and be a part of history until you reflect back on it and then it's like, wow, that's pretty cool.
00:14:00.198 --> 00:14:01.756
I wish I'd paid more attention.
00:14:01.756 --> 00:14:30.282
But you know, the friendship that I developed with the Petty family, particularly Linda Petty, was like my second mom when I was at the racetrack and I miss her tremendously and she had always wanted me to go out and spend a week with her and Richard at their ranch in Wyoming and unfortunately the time just never worked out before she got sick.
00:14:30.282 --> 00:14:41.278
But she it was funny because I was the editor of Winston NASCAR Winston cup scene then and Linda said I just hate that old paper because it takes so much of your time.
00:14:41.278 --> 00:14:42.442
She said we just can't.
00:14:42.442 --> 00:14:44.374
We can't go to Wyoming.
00:14:45.356 --> 00:14:47.081
Yeah, oh, that's.
00:14:47.081 --> 00:14:48.937
That makes you feel good, though, Doesn't it?
00:14:48.937 --> 00:14:49.692
It does, it does.
00:14:49.714 --> 00:14:50.966
Yeah, oh, that's that makes you feel good, though, doesn't it it?
00:14:50.985 --> 00:14:51.229
does it does.
00:14:51.249 --> 00:15:03.812
Yeah, and I know when I had Kyle Petty induct me into the National Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame Kelly Crandall was the president then and Kelly asked me.
00:15:03.812 --> 00:15:08.182
She said, why did you ask Kyle to induct you?
00:15:08.182 --> 00:15:10.789
And I said because he's always been the brother I always wanted.
00:15:10.789 --> 00:15:11.572
I never had.
00:15:13.195 --> 00:15:15.458
Yeah, very, very cool.
00:15:15.458 --> 00:15:18.183
What's your favorite kind of story to write?
00:15:18.183 --> 00:15:24.880
You know, like cover an event or more of a human interest story.
00:15:24.880 --> 00:15:28.913
Do you have a favorite kind that you like to write Early in my?
00:15:28.995 --> 00:15:29.676
career.
00:15:29.676 --> 00:15:50.344
I was always much better at hard news and investigative reporting, but as I've gotten older now I find myself more attracted to the human interest side of the business, and I think it goes back to the first managing editor that I ever had told me.
00:15:50.344 --> 00:15:55.474
He said your job, he said there's a story in everybody out there.
00:15:55.474 --> 00:16:10.283
Your job is to find it, and that's what I enjoy doing is is finding out the the interesting side of of people and and finding out what their story is.
00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:13.716
Yeah, you know, I love that.
00:16:13.716 --> 00:16:14.298
He's that.
00:16:14.298 --> 00:16:16.394
He said you know it's your job to find the story.
00:16:16.394 --> 00:16:18.499
Everybody has a story.
00:16:18.499 --> 00:16:23.581
That's right and it's it's if you're, if you're able to pull it out of them.
00:16:23.581 --> 00:16:56.018
Sometimes people are shy or they don't want to share, but if, if you can pull, pull it out of them and get them to talking about you know how they got where they are, or things they've learned along the way and people that help them, or mentors and just all those kinds of things, those are my favorite kind you know when, when I watch a football or racing or whatever, and they have the stories football or racing or whatever and they have the stories before the game or before the race where they, you know, interview a driver or someone.
00:16:56.018 --> 00:16:57.120
Those are my favorite.
00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:58.929
I love those kinds of stories.
00:16:59.671 --> 00:17:08.921
Oh, yes, most definitely, and it's funny how you find yourself getting into that vibe, if you will.
00:17:08.921 --> 00:17:34.003
A few months ago my brother-in-law and sister are now in an assisted living place because my brother-in-law has Parkinson's and I had gone to dinner with them in the establishment's restaurant and I kept asking this one woman who all these questions?
00:17:34.003 --> 00:17:38.916
And she finally looked at me and she said why are you asking me so many questions?
00:17:38.916 --> 00:17:42.893
I said, well, I'm a reporter, that's just what I do.
00:17:42.893 --> 00:17:46.065
But yeah, it was funny in my younger days.
00:17:46.105 --> 00:17:54.284
You know, you get used to looking at your watch for deadlines and I was out on a date one time and the fellow that I was on the date with looked at me.
00:17:54.284 --> 00:17:56.659
Said do you have to be somewhere at a certain time?
00:17:56.659 --> 00:17:58.326
I said why, what?
00:17:58.326 --> 00:18:03.078
And he said you keep looking at your watch and I said oh no, I'm sorry, that's just habit.
00:18:03.078 --> 00:18:05.172
You're used to looking at it for deadlines.
00:18:05.172 --> 00:18:16.201
But yeah, and I think that's one thing that we're missing today, people are missing that human connection.
00:18:16.201 --> 00:18:25.976
They tend to make themselves the story rather than being the person telling the story, and I think that's bad.
00:18:25.976 --> 00:18:35.136
We're losing the human connection and how to connect with people because we're on our phones so much.
00:18:35.136 --> 00:18:40.662
I get a report every weekend about how much I've averaged on my phone that week.
00:18:40.662 --> 00:18:50.957
I can always tell when I've been on it checking for certain emails and I'm watching for press releases or whatever, because my hours on the phone are up.
00:18:51.710 --> 00:18:53.614
Yeah, yeah, so true.
00:18:53.614 --> 00:19:12.292
And you know, even like the younger generations, younger than us, they don't really even a lot of them have good communication skills one to one, because they're so used to doing this and they don't capitalize and they don't spell right, and that just drives me crazy.
00:19:12.292 --> 00:19:19.473
But um, they don't, you know, when it's one to one it's almost like you have to kind of train them.
00:19:19.473 --> 00:19:25.935
If they're, you know, if they're a race car driver, they've got to be able to interact one to one with the press or whatever.
00:19:25.935 --> 00:19:39.708
But a lot of them are not able to do that unless somebody's taking them aside and giving them some training, and that's really a shame it is, it is and um.
00:19:40.650 --> 00:19:43.592
That's why they have all the media training and everything.
00:19:43.592 --> 00:20:16.059
And you know, I think if you go watch the first two episodes of the Earnhardt documentary on Prime Video, you see how Dale was shy and withdrawn and all early in his career in those championships with Richard Childress and RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company started sending him and Richard Childress to media training schools.
00:20:16.121 --> 00:20:17.923
Every year they won the championship.
00:20:17.923 --> 00:20:28.796
I mean, the man that you see in the 1990s is the intimidator, is nothing like the man that we saw in the early 1980s.
00:20:28.796 --> 00:20:33.144
Right, and it was because he was not self-confident.
00:20:33.144 --> 00:20:35.854
He was embarrassed at not having finished high school.
00:20:35.854 --> 00:20:54.854
He had just, you know, lost his father at an early age and he had had to just plug and scrape and work as hard as he could to get everything and he felt uncomfortable in a lot of social situations.
00:20:54.854 --> 00:21:08.104
So I think that's a good example of how you can come out of your shell and make it very beneficial to you yeah, very true, and you know, dale Jr is the same way.
00:21:08.711 --> 00:21:12.193
He was very shy, yes, and now look at all the things that he's.
00:21:12.193 --> 00:21:13.755
You know, dale Jr is the same way he was very shy.
00:21:13.795 --> 00:21:15.176
And now look at all the things that he's doing.
00:21:15.176 --> 00:21:19.540
You know he does a podcast three days a week and he's an announcer on television.
00:21:19.540 --> 00:21:24.085
Those are things that as a younger man he would have never dreamed of doing.
00:21:24.085 --> 00:21:35.457
He hated doing interviews, he you know, and and it's just practice, it's the more more you do it, the easier it gets and all those things.
00:21:35.457 --> 00:21:39.730
And sometimes when you're forced into that situation, you have to learn how to handle it.
00:21:39.872 --> 00:21:59.723
And when there are winners, and when you're Dale Earnhardt Jr, you've got to learn how to do it very, very true, and he even stepped out of his comfort zone earlier this year and to do the Red Bull soapbox races and that's totally opposite from anything he would have ever done.
00:21:59.723 --> 00:22:01.914
But you know, it's interesting.
00:22:01.914 --> 00:22:13.576
You bring that up about the social connection and that's one big thing I have noticed about the young reporters coming along now and a lot of it has to do with the fact that we have so many night races.
00:22:13.576 --> 00:22:21.377
You just don't have the schedule that's conducive to socializing anymore like we did when I first started out.
00:22:21.377 --> 00:22:43.463
But when I first started covering the sport now I was covering the weekly short track races at Asheville before I went with United Press International and started covering NASCAR Cup racing, which made me the first female to cover NASCAR on a regular basis for an international wire service.
00:22:44.630 --> 00:22:48.520
But we had all types of social events.
00:22:48.520 --> 00:22:50.596
We had all types of social events.
00:22:50.596 --> 00:22:55.174
I mean RJ Reynolds and Unical Unical had the 600 winners dinner.
00:22:55.174 --> 00:23:00.358
Darlington had the Unical Darlington Record Club.
00:23:00.358 --> 00:23:05.919
Unical sponsored what was the?
00:23:05.919 --> 00:23:11.303
They had a panel of experts with a dinner in Daytona all the time.
00:23:12.046 --> 00:23:17.122
The garage closed at 5, and I mean there was just PR people.
00:23:17.122 --> 00:23:21.913
You know, back then the teams didn't have PR people.
00:23:21.913 --> 00:23:27.557
The only driver that had a PR person was Richard Petty and that was Harvey Duck with STP.
00:23:27.557 --> 00:23:50.582
But you had Pontiac had a PR person, and Ford and Oldsmobile and Chevrolet and they would take different groups of media out and then when Felix Sabatis came along he would take out certain media people and you'd all wind up at the chart house in Daytona Beach, you know, picking on each other and everything.
00:23:50.582 --> 00:24:09.036
And there were certain restaurants in certain areas, certain towns and all where people would take out media, like Bob Kelly when he was with Ford would take three or four media people out to the Blue Coat Inn in Dover, delaware, to the Blue Coat Inn in Dover, delaware.
00:24:14.490 --> 00:24:22.541
And then there was a place in Delaware where it was a favorite place for everybody to go, teams and media and broadcasters to.
00:24:22.541 --> 00:24:45.961
It was the name of it Sambo's, and they just bring steamed crab legs out in huge trays and that you sit there with a mallet and break it right on the table and you know it was old newspapers rolled out was what covered the table, and when one table got done they rolled up the newspapers and put out fresh newspapers.
00:24:45.961 --> 00:24:51.840
So everybody had their favorite places to go eat on the circuit then.
00:24:51.840 --> 00:24:59.744
But you don't have that uh socialization anymore because of the schedule you know.
00:24:59.744 --> 00:25:22.579
Now you're at the racetrack 12 and 14 hours a day, and I know the day of the 600 and I live live nine miles from Charlotte Motor Speedway and I was at the track by 2 o'clock that afternoon and we didn't even get Ross Chastain for his post-race interview until 1 am and it was 3 am Monday before I got in bed.
00:25:23.549 --> 00:25:42.423
So there's just no time for that camaraderie that there used to be time for that camaraderie that there used to be, and that's really a shame because to me that's that's where you build those lifelong relationships and friendships and and you know you're kind of a cohesive.
00:25:42.423 --> 00:25:53.503
You might be writing for different news organizations and whatever, but yet you're all there to do the same thing and that's cover the sport the best it can be covered and tell the stories.
00:25:53.503 --> 00:25:59.282
And the fact that you don't have time to really spend with each other is kind of sad.
00:26:00.391 --> 00:26:01.194
Well it is.
00:26:01.194 --> 00:26:10.060
And you know, the interesting thing was when you had so many media covering it, you actually had your little clicks that would develop.
00:26:10.060 --> 00:26:18.520
You'd have one click and another click and you'd have another one that tried to kind of keep up with the other two, you know.
00:26:18.520 --> 00:26:26.155
But you also, you know the drivers didn't have motorhomes and they didn't have lounges in the front of the transporters.
00:26:26.155 --> 00:26:29.659
The front of the transporters was where they carried the engines.
00:26:29.659 --> 00:26:33.229
Front of the transporters, the front of the transporters, was where they carried the engines.
00:26:36.569 --> 00:26:41.500
So you build up, whether or not you got the stories depended on how you built your relationship with the team owners and the crew chiefs and the different crew people.
00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:47.579
I mean, I used to know at least one person on every race team and that's not the case now.
00:26:47.579 --> 00:27:01.376
But, um, you know that actually started kind of going away when race teams started getting pr people and you had pr people for drivers that some of them were very good and others were gatekeepers.
00:27:01.376 --> 00:27:07.753
Yeah and um, which is what led to the media availabilities that we have now.
00:27:07.753 --> 00:27:28.840
But but I was fortunate I had some really good mentors who took me under their wing and guided and coached me, and you know, for example, bob Latford, who a lot of people may not remember, but he was actually the one that created the point system that was used up until 2001.
00:27:28.840 --> 00:27:47.338
And Bob would tell me little things, like the first time I went to Daytona for my first speed weeks and he told me he said you need to make you a name tag that identifies you as the UPI person.
00:27:47.338 --> 00:27:59.692
Because he said, yes, the people in the Carolinas know you're with UPI, but when you get to Daytona there will be a lot of people who do not and you just need to have your name tag on.
00:27:59.692 --> 00:28:03.400
So if they're looking for the UPI person, they know who to find.
00:28:04.321 --> 00:28:10.722
And you know, back then too, you didn't have I mean, talladega had no infield media center.
00:28:10.722 --> 00:28:24.365
Charlotte didn't have an infield media center and you would go in the garage and get your, do your interviews and then go in the press box and write.
00:28:24.365 --> 00:28:29.338
And they always brought the driver the winning driver was always brought to the press box.
00:28:29.338 --> 00:28:33.516
So everybody worked out of the press box and now it's reversed.
00:28:33.516 --> 00:28:42.609
But you also don't have a lot of the people anymore that would pull jokes, like Tom Higgins and Steve Wade.
00:28:42.609 --> 00:29:00.103
And you know, there was one time Labor Day weekend, really hot in Darlington, south Carolina typical Labor Day weekend in South Carolina and we had a little bitty media center where you might could fit 12 people in it.
00:29:00.103 --> 00:29:13.502
And it was when Country Time, lemonade was in the sport and they had a lemonade machine, one of those things that you know where the beverage keeps kind of going like a drink machine.
00:29:14.410 --> 00:29:23.520
Well, while everybody was out in the garage interviewing the people they needed to interview, steve Wade took a bottle of vodka and poured it in the lemonade machine.
00:29:23.520 --> 00:29:27.925
That's funny.
00:29:27.925 --> 00:29:33.791
That's funny, you just.
00:00:02.664 --> 00:00:03.504
00:00:03.504 --> 00:00:10.035
00:00:10.035 --> 00:00:13.567
00:00:13.567 --> 00:00:19.731
00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:22.045
00:00:22.045 --> 00:00:22.789
00:00:22.789 --> 00:00:26.742
00:00:26.841 --> 00:00:45.816
00:00:45.816 --> 00:00:56.048
00:00:56.048 --> 00:01:03.950
00:01:03.950 --> 00:01:10.512
00:01:10.512 --> 00:01:19.879
00:01:19.879 --> 00:01:36.436
00:01:36.436 --> 00:01:40.742
00:01:40.742 --> 00:01:45.712
00:01:46.459 --> 00:01:47.462
00:01:47.462 --> 00:01:48.887
00:01:48.887 --> 00:01:50.189
00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:53.003
00:01:53.003 --> 00:01:55.549
00:01:55.590 --> 00:01:56.921
00:01:56.921 --> 00:02:02.728
00:02:02.728 --> 00:02:04.811
00:02:04.831 --> 00:02:07.075
00:02:07.075 --> 00:02:09.079
00:02:09.079 --> 00:02:10.960
00:02:10.960 --> 00:02:12.383
00:02:12.383 --> 00:02:21.191
00:02:21.191 --> 00:02:28.026
00:02:28.186 --> 00:02:31.854
00:02:31.854 --> 00:02:37.135
00:02:37.135 --> 00:02:52.411
00:02:52.919 --> 00:03:00.334
00:03:00.334 --> 00:03:15.962
00:03:15.962 --> 00:03:19.352
00:03:19.352 --> 00:03:23.064
00:03:23.064 --> 00:03:24.867
00:03:24.867 --> 00:03:29.134
00:03:29.134 --> 00:03:36.334
00:03:36.334 --> 00:03:39.046
00:03:39.046 --> 00:03:40.951
00:03:40.951 --> 00:03:42.442
00:03:42.442 --> 00:03:43.824
00:03:44.444 --> 00:03:45.727
00:03:45.727 --> 00:03:47.090
00:03:47.090 --> 00:03:58.703
00:03:58.703 --> 00:04:02.930
00:04:02.930 --> 00:04:05.841
00:04:05.841 --> 00:04:17.545
00:04:18.307 --> 00:04:27.305
00:04:27.305 --> 00:04:31.958
00:04:31.958 --> 00:04:39.355
00:04:39.355 --> 00:04:47.134
00:04:47.134 --> 00:04:50.447
00:04:50.447 --> 00:04:55.220
00:04:55.220 --> 00:05:09.564
00:05:09.564 --> 00:05:21.322
00:05:21.322 --> 00:05:34.211
00:05:34.954 --> 00:05:35.935
00:05:35.935 --> 00:05:40.254
00:05:40.254 --> 00:05:52.290
00:05:52.290 --> 00:05:59.389
00:05:59.389 --> 00:06:09.502
00:06:09.502 --> 00:06:27.141
00:06:27.141 --> 00:06:31.750
00:06:31.750 --> 00:06:37.249
00:06:37.249 --> 00:06:41.646
00:06:41.646 --> 00:06:42.507
00:06:42.627 --> 00:06:48.562
00:06:48.562 --> 00:06:58.872
00:06:58.872 --> 00:07:06.072
00:07:06.072 --> 00:07:29.562
00:07:29.562 --> 00:07:33.776
00:07:34.800 --> 00:07:39.975
00:07:39.975 --> 00:07:44.985
00:07:44.985 --> 00:07:53.375
00:07:53.375 --> 00:08:12.430
00:08:12.430 --> 00:08:17.870
00:08:17.870 --> 00:08:22.603
00:08:22.603 --> 00:08:26.036
00:08:26.036 --> 00:08:31.149
00:08:31.990 --> 00:08:34.408
00:08:34.408 --> 00:08:35.966
00:08:35.966 --> 00:08:38.827
00:08:38.827 --> 00:08:49.315
00:08:49.315 --> 00:08:51.200
00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:57.328
00:08:57.328 --> 00:09:01.469
00:09:02.279 --> 00:09:32.636
00:09:32.636 --> 00:09:46.691
00:09:46.691 --> 00:10:23.003
00:10:23.003 --> 00:10:25.818
00:10:25.818 --> 00:10:26.822
00:10:27.604 --> 00:10:28.908
00:10:28.908 --> 00:10:30.913
00:10:31.600 --> 00:10:37.663
00:10:37.663 --> 00:10:42.442
00:10:42.442 --> 00:10:45.921
00:10:47.043 --> 00:10:49.572
00:10:49.572 --> 00:10:54.245
00:10:54.245 --> 00:10:58.313
00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:00.782
00:11:00.782 --> 00:11:06.207
00:11:06.207 --> 00:11:29.534
00:11:29.534 --> 00:11:32.327
00:11:32.327 --> 00:11:34.948
00:11:34.948 --> 00:11:47.989
00:11:47.989 --> 00:11:53.244
00:11:53.244 --> 00:12:01.964
00:12:01.964 --> 00:12:04.808
00:12:05.409 --> 00:12:06.731
00:12:06.731 --> 00:12:08.014
00:12:08.054 --> 00:12:08.235
00:12:08.235 --> 00:12:26.470
00:12:26.470 --> 00:12:28.740
00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:32.005
00:12:32.005 --> 00:12:36.754
00:12:36.754 --> 00:12:51.227
00:12:51.227 --> 00:13:13.072
00:13:13.072 --> 00:13:17.672
00:13:17.779 --> 00:13:29.369
00:13:29.369 --> 00:13:31.052
00:13:32.261 --> 00:13:35.068
00:13:35.068 --> 00:13:39.062
00:13:39.543 --> 00:14:00.198
00:14:00.198 --> 00:14:01.756
00:14:01.756 --> 00:14:30.282
00:14:30.282 --> 00:14:41.278
00:14:41.278 --> 00:14:42.442
00:14:42.442 --> 00:14:44.374
00:14:45.356 --> 00:14:47.081
00:14:47.081 --> 00:14:48.937
00:14:48.937 --> 00:14:49.692
00:14:49.714 --> 00:14:50.966
00:14:50.985 --> 00:14:51.229
00:14:51.249 --> 00:15:03.812
00:15:03.812 --> 00:15:08.182
00:15:08.182 --> 00:15:10.789
00:15:10.789 --> 00:15:11.572
00:15:13.195 --> 00:15:15.458
00:15:15.458 --> 00:15:18.183
00:15:18.183 --> 00:15:24.880
00:15:24.880 --> 00:15:28.913
00:15:28.995 --> 00:15:29.676
00:15:29.676 --> 00:15:50.344
00:15:50.344 --> 00:15:55.474
00:15:55.474 --> 00:16:10.283
00:16:11.490 --> 00:16:13.716
00:16:13.716 --> 00:16:14.298
00:16:14.298 --> 00:16:16.394
00:16:16.394 --> 00:16:18.499
00:16:18.499 --> 00:16:23.581
00:16:23.581 --> 00:16:56.018
00:16:56.018 --> 00:16:57.120
00:16:57.120 --> 00:16:58.929
00:16:59.671 --> 00:17:08.921
00:17:08.921 --> 00:17:34.003
00:17:34.003 --> 00:17:38.916
00:17:38.916 --> 00:17:42.893
00:17:42.893 --> 00:17:46.065
00:17:46.105 --> 00:17:54.284
00:17:54.284 --> 00:17:56.659
00:17:56.659 --> 00:17:58.326
00:17:58.326 --> 00:18:03.078
00:18:03.078 --> 00:18:05.172
00:18:05.172 --> 00:18:16.201
00:18:16.201 --> 00:18:25.976
00:18:25.976 --> 00:18:35.136
00:18:35.136 --> 00:18:40.662
00:18:40.662 --> 00:18:50.957
00:18:51.710 --> 00:18:53.614
00:18:53.614 --> 00:19:12.292
00:19:12.292 --> 00:19:19.473
00:19:19.473 --> 00:19:25.935
00:19:25.935 --> 00:19:39.708
00:19:40.650 --> 00:19:43.592
00:19:43.592 --> 00:20:16.059
00:20:16.121 --> 00:20:17.923
00:20:17.923 --> 00:20:28.796
00:20:28.796 --> 00:20:33.144
00:20:33.144 --> 00:20:35.854
00:20:35.854 --> 00:20:54.854
00:20:54.854 --> 00:21:08.104
00:21:08.711 --> 00:21:12.193
00:21:12.193 --> 00:21:13.755
00:21:13.795 --> 00:21:15.176
00:21:15.176 --> 00:21:19.540
00:21:19.540 --> 00:21:24.085
00:21:24.085 --> 00:21:35.457
00:21:35.457 --> 00:21:39.730
00:21:39.872 --> 00:21:59.723
00:21:59.723 --> 00:22:01.914
00:22:01.914 --> 00:22:13.576
00:22:13.576 --> 00:22:21.377
00:22:21.377 --> 00:22:43.463
00:22:44.630 --> 00:22:48.520
00:22:48.520 --> 00:22:50.596
00:22:50.596 --> 00:22:55.174
00:22:55.174 --> 00:23:00.358
00:23:00.358 --> 00:23:05.919
00:23:05.919 --> 00:23:11.303
00:23:12.046 --> 00:23:17.122
00:23:17.122 --> 00:23:21.913
00:23:21.913 --> 00:23:27.557
00:23:27.557 --> 00:23:50.582
00:23:50.582 --> 00:24:09.036
00:24:14.490 --> 00:24:22.541
00:24:22.541 --> 00:24:45.961
00:24:45.961 --> 00:24:51.840
00:24:51.840 --> 00:24:59.744
00:24:59.744 --> 00:25:22.579
00:25:23.549 --> 00:25:42.423
00:25:42.423 --> 00:25:53.503
00:25:53.503 --> 00:25:59.282
00:26:00.391 --> 00:26:01.194
00:26:01.194 --> 00:26:10.060
00:26:10.060 --> 00:26:18.520
00:26:18.520 --> 00:26:26.155
00:26:26.155 --> 00:26:29.659
00:26:29.659 --> 00:26:33.229
00:26:36.569 --> 00:26:41.500
00:26:41.500 --> 00:26:47.579
00:26:47.579 --> 00:27:01.376
00:27:01.376 --> 00:27:07.753
00:27:07.753 --> 00:27:28.840
00:27:28.840 --> 00:27:47.338
00:27:47.338 --> 00:27:59.692
00:27:59.692 --> 00:28:03.400
00:28:04.321 --> 00:28:10.722
00:28:10.722 --> 00:28:24.365
00:28:24.365 --> 00:28:29.338
00:28:29.338 --> 00:28:33.516
00:28:33.516 --> 00:28:42.609
00:28:42.609 --> 00:29:00.103
00:29:00.103 --> 00:29:13.502
00:29:14.410 --> 00:29:23.520
00:29:23.520 --> 00:29:27.925
00:29:27.925 --> 00:29:33.791