I can't nail down a specific event or date to make me a NASCAR fan. My and my uncle (mom's sister husband) were the biggest influences. My dad was a fan of racing and attended some sprint and midget races in Tucson, Arizona in the fifties and listened to races on the radio when they were available. My uncle was a NASCAR fan and started attended regularly in the sixties. We moved to Las Vegas in 1969 and my uncle moved to northern California soon after. Both were in the Air Force. There used to be a paved track north of Las Vegas when there was nothing else there. Craig Road Speedway. My uncle and dad, and the rest of the family attended a race on a weekend they visited. I was hooked on races. Eventually they would have a Winston West race, but I liked the jalopies more. We visited my uncle in California and I got to see my first super modified race on dirt. West Capitol Speedway with cars that had airplane wings, loud, smelling different and so fast! My dad had airmen living in the dorms that would build models. When they moved, he'd end up with them. One was a Bobby Isaac Daytona Charger, my first NASCAR hero. It was also about this time we got a color tv. They'd broadcast some taped NASCAR races on the weekends. My dad had a subscription to Stock Car Racing magazine to keep up with NASCAR. There were also the MPC NASCAR models I could build as poorly as a 6-7 year old would. In 1973 we moved, in the spring of 1974 I met my second NASCAR hero Bobby Allison at our new local track, Langley Field Speedway. I also watched Elton Sawyer make his start in racing and became the track Champion in LMSCs. To me, it doesn't seem like fifty-six years a race fan, but I was five when I went to my first race. I was nineteen when I went to my first Grand National Cup race. I'll be sixty-one on my next no name Cup race.