If the Saturday morning on June 21 is anything like this morning (June 7), it will be glorious! As Great Race teams do their countdown to the start, MotorMouth goes through a similar routine with slightly different purpose. By now I have the names and backgrounds of all teams, their hometowns, their vehicles, and past experiences with Great Race…wow…like 39 rookie teams!. A big thing for me is to highlight the names of drivers, navigators and hometowns that might present a pronunciation challenge; it’s up to me to have the details correct by the time those teams role to the start line in Ogunquit. Sponsor tags, host city backgrounds, key players at local levels…all of the things that make the arrival and introduction of of the Great Race teams at every venue are the things most concerning to me, right now.
The anticipation grows with each preparatory step I make! Are you ready? Are there things you need me to know? A quick note to MotorMouth at [email protected] could really help us both!
Here’s to meeting you in Ogunquit!
We all appreciate the hard work and the time Motormouth spends to intrroduce the teams. See you soon.
My background is: A NASCAR pioneer that worked with Bill France Sr. and Jr. in the early days. Began operating dirt tracks in the 50s when NASCAR was starting. Worked at Darlington Speedway than was director of racing for Firestone in Akron. Involved in Indy, F1 and NASCAR as well as the Art Arfons land speed project. Later became president of Charlotte Motor Speedway and then president of Speedway Motorsports, Inc. We took the first motorsports company public on the NY Stock Exchange in 1992 and eventually bought or built Charlotte, Atlanta, Bristol, Kentucky, Sears Point, Texas , Las Vegas and New Hampshire speedways. Have been inducted into 13 halls of fame including the International Motorsport. Won over 29 awards nationally
and locally for civic and work with the auto racing industry including two from governors of NC. Graduated from University of South Carolina where a member of varsity football team and was selected to the Carolinas Boxing Hall of Fame with a 40-2 record including the Carolinas, Southern and Mid South championships. Live in Huntersville NC
Austin Hardy is my grandson and is almost 17 and a student at Providence Day in Charlotte. He is an outstanding amateur golfer, bicycle mechanic and waterskier.
Hey Motormouth- you always do an excellent job. You will have some interesting town names to work you tongue around this time! Good luck to all involved in this year’s race. Have fun and enjoy the ride. Desda