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12 Questions with Ricky Stenhouse Jr.

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The series of 12 Questions interviews continues this week with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., a two-time race winner this season for Roush Fenway Racing. I spoke with Stenhouse at Bristol Motor Speedway.

1. How much of your success is based on natural ability and how much has come from working at it?

That’s a tough question. I think a lot of us feel like we got here on our natural ability, but a lot of hard work goes into that as well. Growing up racing sprint cars, I had to work on all my cars and do all the work with some buddies. When I got here to NASCAR, you try to refine and hit your marks and maybe get a little more patient. So I don’t know if there’s a percentage, but it definitely takes both.

2. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and now Dale Earnhardt Jr. have all either retired in the last couple years or will retire soon. What’s your pitch for fans of theirs to become fans of yours?

I’m not really good at sales pitches. But I think right now we’re doing a good job at trying to get (Dale) Junior’s fans. Obviously, winning the superspeedways, Junior’s fans, I feel like he got a ton from his success on those, and he’s kind of got a big group of followers. So I’d like to snag a few.

But really, I just need to keep going out and getting us to perform better. I know that our best performances are still ahead of us. We’re still gaining on it, so I think if the fans want something to look forward to as we keep building, definitely come be a fan of ours.

3. What is the hardest part of your job away from the racetrack?

The hardest part is really just managing time. We don’t get a whole lot of time at home. There’s things that we have to do for our job, but there’s things that we want to do for our fun time outside of it, and it tends to end up causing a lot of travel. Sometimes I think you just get run down. So really trying to manage all of that — like right now I’ve been home one night in three weeks, so I think it’s just trying to not run yourself down too much and manage that.

4. Let’s say a fan spots you eating dinner in a nice restaurant. Should they come over for an autograph or no?

Yeah, I don’t mind at all. I think that’s cool, being recognized outside the racetrack. It’s funny, I got a lot of people coming up to me outside the racetrack at dinners and stuff, asking me if I did American Ninja Warrior. So that’s kind of cool. But yeah, just come on up.

So they recognize you from the show? They’re like, “Hey, aren’t you that guy?”

Yeah, and I told (Ryan) Blaney that — since he did it with me this year — and he’s said he’s gotten that a few times as well.

5. What’s a story in NASCAR that doesn’t get enough coverage?

There’s teams that do a lot with a little — and you recognize it, people talk about it a few times throughout the year at superspeedways. There’s points in the weekend that a car that doesn’t have as much resources is able to go put some fast laps down for the equipment that they have. Not necessarily go to the top of the board or anything like that. But I feel like that happens quite often.

6. Who is the last driver you texted?

Last driver I texted? (Kyle) Larson.

You have golf game coming up or something?

No, we went to dinner last night. We went to play golf yesterday on our golf group (the Golf Guys Tour). Last night we got back and we were like, “We’re tired, let’s go to bed.” Then he texted me, “Hey, are you still gonna go eat?” And I was like, “Yeah, let’s go.” So we went and had some Mexican (food).

7. Do you consider race car drivers to be entertainers?

Yeah, I think we are entertainers. I think everybody in sports is here for entertainment. Is it circus entertainment? No, it’s competitive entertainment where a lot of fans enjoy what we do and the show that we put on, and we try to go out and do the best that we can for our fans and our sponsors. But really, we want this to be a good race, which will be a good show for people to watch.

It does seem like a circus sometimes, though.

(Smiles) Yeah, I wasn’t gonna say that, but it seems like a circus sometimes.

8. What is your middle finger policy on the racetrack?

I may have done it one time. I get really mad if somebody does it to me — I feel like it’s kind of rude. Every now and then people will give a hand out of window and it’s like, “Oh, OK, they’re not super happy about that.” But the finger, I feel that’s a little far and I’ll try to run into them if they do it. So it really gets me kind of irritated.

So you’re not a finger-giver. Only one time.

Yeah, maybe once. Maybe. I’m saying maybe because I don’t recall. But yeah, I think it’s a little disrespectful.

9. Some drivers keep a payback list in their minds. Do you also have a list for drivers who have done you a favor on the track?

One hundred percent. I think that’s really the key if you want some of your races to go smoothly. If somebody lets me by and I’m way faster, if that position gets reversed, I try to remember that so I can pay that favor back to them and you can kind of expect that a few times. It goes both ways, but I think it’s starting to get back around.

I feel like back in the day, that was kind of known to be the code. Now I think people are realizing that they can make it tougher on themselves if they want. 

So after Mark Martin left, it kind of went the other way and now it’s sort of getting back to being more respectful because the younger guys sort of figured things out, perhaps?

Yeah, I guess so. From the sounds of it, Mark was really good at really…I don’t know if you say “courteous” on the racetrack. But some of your fans don’t like (being respectful) and some of your teams don’t, so you gotta balance it. You can’t just let everybody go; you have to race. We’re out there to race. So you just pick and choose your battles: When do you think it will pay off better for you to let somebody go, or to really push it?

10. Who is the most famous person you’ve had dinner with?

I don’t know. Probably Luke Bryan.

He’s pretty popular.

At that dinner, Pharrell stopped by. We didn’t technically have dinner with him, but he came by and hung out for a little while. That dinner was Blake Shelton, Luke Bryan, Pharrell stopped by and Little Big Town. It was a big group.

That’s a good dinner right there. That’s pretty epic.

Yeah, it was good. It’s fun sometimes. At the ESPYs you get a lot of good dinners as well — before Peyton (Manning’s) last year, we all had dinner. And there were also a lot of other people eating dinner — Blake Griffin, too.

You’ve had a better answer than a lot of the drivers this year.

Oh, that’s good. Yeah, Danica and I get to meet a lot of cool people.

11. What’s something about yourself you’d like to improve?

Patience. I get a little irritated pretty quick. Even if it’s throughout practice and we make changes that don’t quite go the right way. I’ll come in and talk to (crew chief Brian) Pattie and he’ll say, “Look, we had to do that. That was on the list of things we needed to try.” And I’m like, “Well if you felt like it wouldn’t be better, we shouldn’t do it!” So I get a little frustrated pretty quick, but sometimes it’s better. Not all the time. (Smiles)

12. The last interview I did was with Chase Elliott.  His question was: How is your golf game, and are you expecting to win the Golf Guys championship this year?

Oh wow. (The Thursday before Bristol) my golf game was not good, but I’m sitting third in points, so I feel like I have a good opportunity to win our championship. I really want to. Denny (Hamlin, who founded the competition) won it last year and we say he makes all the rules, so it kind of worked in his favor. But he’s second in points right now, so it’s gonna be a good battle.

I’ve got to go work on my game. We’ve been really busy this whole year, so I haven’t been able to work on my game as much as I wanted to. But we’re running better over here, so that’s really what matters to me.

How many matches or rounds do you have left?

I believe four rounds. We do eight events. The points increase as we go the last two events or three events. You want to run second or third every event, so then you can win the points by a lot.

When you win, it puts you at deficit. I won one event so far, but you gotta get so many points based on your handicap. Well when you win an event, we always add two points to your points that you have to get, so it makes it difficult and challenging to keep scoring those points. So you want to come on a run right as the Tour Championship (is approaching).

I don’t know who the next driver is, but do you have a question I can ask another race car driver in general?

My question for any driver would be: What did they do on the off weekend? And if it was fun, why didn’t they invite me?

I mean, I got plans, but…

At least you could get the invite.

Yeah, I mean a little reach-out like, “Hey, we’re doing this. Do you want to come?” That would be cool.

This interview was brought to you by Dover International Speedway. The cutoff race for the first playoff round takes place at Dover on Oct. 1. Here’s a link to buy tickets (and make sure to come say hi at the tweetup).

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News Analysis: Hendrick Motorsports changes numbers

What happened: Chase Elliott will switch from No. 24 to his family’s famed No. 9 next season — along with the current No. 24 team — and the current No. 5 team with William Byron will instead become the No. 24 team. The No. 5 will not be used by Hendrick next season, though team owner Rick Hendrick said in a news release he would not rule out its return at some point in the future.

What it means: Bill Elliott used the No. 9 for a large part of his career and son Chase followed suit as he rose through the ranks, so this is a dream come true for the Elliott family. Meanwhile, Byron now will enter the Cup ranks with higher expectations on his shoulders. Even though it’s just a number switch — and Byron will be with what is now the No. 5 team, which has underperformed — the prospect of Byron in Jeff Gordon’s car number is significant. Longtime Elliott fans may be on board with the move, but newer Elliott fans — many of whom had warmed to the driver because he was Gordon’s successor in the 24 — may be wondering what to do now.

News value (scale of 1-10): Seven. Even though it’s just a number change, it’s a pretty big deal to have a new driver in the famous No. 24 car, see the No. 9 return with an Elliott driving it and watch the cursed No. 5 car disappear — all in one announcement.

Three questions: Will Gordon fans who started backing Elliott because he was in the No. 24 follow the driver to the No. 9, or will they root for Byron and stay with the number? Will the No. 9 team be able to shake whatever bad luck comes with being the “fourth” number at Hendrick (No. 5, No. 25)? What is our obsession with car numbers in NASCAR and why does it seem bigger than jersey numbers in other sports?

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Injured veteran says Kyle Busch, Busch’s father-in-law ‘literally saved my life’

In the trophy case at Kyle Busch Motorsports, squeezed in between a pair of trophies signifying two of Busch’s lower series wins, there sits a much more significant piece of metal.

It’s a Purple Heart, accompanied by a letter from its previous owner — Chris Brunelle — explaining why it deserved to be in Busch’s hands instead of his.

And to hear Brunelle tell it, it’s quite a story.

Chris Brunelle’s Purple Heart and a letter he wrote to Kyle Busch are accompanied by a Kentucky state representative’s letter thanking Steve Sarcinella in the display case at Kyle Busch Motorsports. (Photo courtesy of Steve Sarcinella)

Brunelle served in the military for 23 years — first in the Marines and later the National Guard. He fought in the first Gulf War and made stops in places like Japan, the United Arab Emirates and Oman during his career.

But it was in Iraq — on March 30, 2005 — when Brunelle’s life changed forever.

Two months into his second tour there, Brunelle was traveling in a Humvee north of Taji (near Baghdad) when a suicide bomber used a car bomb to blow up Brunelle’s vehicle.

The explosion and impact killed Brunelle’s gunner — Spc. Eric Toth — and sent the Humvee into the air. It also badly burned another occupant, Ricky Brooks. Though Brunelle was unconscious at the time, he later learned the Humvee rolled five times after traveling 25-30 feet in the air.

Another unit, approximately 45 seconds up the road from Brunelle, immediately turned around to come back. They found Brunelle lying in the road, which was remarkable since the vehicle had heavy doors that can only be opened from the inside. To this day, Brunelle has no explanation for how he was ejected but believes it was divine intervention.

After being “burned up pretty bad,” Brunelle was sent to Fort Knox, Ky. to recover physically. But mentally, the wounds were still raw.

As time went on, Brunelle suffered badly from post traumatic stress disorder and spiraled downward while trying to handle with it on his own. He turned to drinking, dealt with marriage problems and constantly felt scared — even of sleeping, since he knew as soon as he closed his eyes, he would relive the moment that he wished to escape.

One day, while sitting outside at the bar he’d built outside his home, Brunelle decided to end his life.

“I said, ‘The hell with it,’” he said. “I’m gonna finish this. I’m going to drink this beer and then I’m going to end it all. I’m done fighting and arguing. This is fighting a fight you can’t win.”

By an incredible coincidence, it was then that one of his twin daughters came outside.

“Daddy, I just want to tell you I love you,” she said.

That calmed Brunelle down enough that he decided not to go through with the suicide plan. Shaken, he turned on the TV — to ESPN or FOX, he can’t remember which — and saw a story that resonated with him.

It was a story about how Kyle Busch had gotten in a career-threatening accident at Daytona, only to push through rehab, walk again and get back in the car for the NASCAR All-Star Race.

To this day, Brunelle has never met Busch. But he insists Busch saved his life.

“I’ve seen a lot of people hurt and messed up, so you grow immune to stuff like that,” Brunelle said. “But I saw that story and the Good Lord meant for me to see it that day. It made something click inside. It made me think. And from that day on, it’s been different.”

So as a gesture of his appreciation for Busch’s inspiration, Brunelle decided to send Busch his Purple Heart.

——-

Like packages and fan mail tend to do, Brunelle’s parcel containing the Purple Heart sat in a bin at Joe Gibbs Racing for a time before eventually reaching Busch.

Steve Sarcinella, Samantha Busch’s dad and Busch’s father in law, was at the driver’s home shortly after the package had been opened and was shocked by what he saw.

“Kyle said, ‘Steve, what’s this?’” Sarcinella recalled. “I said, ‘That’s a Purple Heart! Where did you get this? Do you know how big a Purple Heart is?’”

Busch had no idea what to do with it, so Sarcinella called a neighbor who suggested Busch put it on display at his race shop. That sounded like the most appropriate way to handle such an honor, so they put it in the trophy case at KBM. Sarcinella decided to call Brunelle and tell him about what happened.

That was the first time Brunelle and Sarcinella spoke, but it was far from the last. On a daily basis since then — for more than two years — Sarcinella has either called or texted Brunelle to see how he’s doing, send a Bible verse or pass along a motivational quote.

Every day.

“He doesn’t have to do it, but he does it,” Brunelle said. “If it hadn’t been for them two, I’d probably be a statistic right now.”

Sarcinella hosted Brunelle at the Kentucky race last year and also had him come visit the race shop in North Carolina. He was moved by what Brunelle has gone through and figured it wasn’t much of an inconvenience to reach out to someone who could use some support each day.

“God says if we can help just one person, we’re doing good, aren’t we?” Sarcinella said. “If that’s all I’m put on this Earth for, is to help Chris, then so be it.”

——

So why is this story coming out now? Brunelle, now 47, is intensely loyal to Busch and Sarcinella for their respective roles in changing the direction of his life, and it bothers him greatly when people talk poorly about Busch.

That’s why, when he heard a reporter talking about Busch on Sirius/XM Radio recently, he reached out with an email in hopes of sharing his story.

“People don’t understand what these guys have done,” Brunelle said. “People want to see the bad and no one wants to see the good. I’ve seen so much bad in my life.”

Brunelle said he has no motivations other than to tell people his story about how Busch inspired him and Sarcinella took it from there. Their collective actions, Brunelle said, “literally saved my life.”

“It’s about doing what’s right,” Brunelle said of sharing his story. “I don’t want nothing. I just want people to know what these guys have done.”

Chris Brunelle (center) and Steve Sarcinella (right) formed a friendship that helped save Brunelle’s life, the veteran says. (Photo courtesy of Chris Brunelle)
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Fan Profile: Justin Bukoski

These 12 Questions-style fan profiles are one of the rewards offered as a tier on my Patreon page. You can catch up on the other profiles so far this season here.

Name: Justin Bukoski

Location: Portland, Ore.

Twitter name: @justinbukoski

Age: 44

1. How long have you been a NASCAR fan?

It’s sort of a long story, actually. I grew up in North Carolina but was never a NASCAR fan. When I joined the Army, one of my buddies was a huge Formula 1 fan and I got hooked on it. Dale Earnhardt Jr. winning at Daytona in 2001 after his dad died almost got me hooked, but it wasn’t until Juan Pablo Montoya made the switch to NASCAR that I became a fan. As an F1 snob, I was sure he would show NASCAR what a real driver could do.

2. How many races have you attended?

Three.

3. Who is your No. 1 favorite driver?

Dale Jr.

4. What made you a fan of his?

He won Daytona after his dad died and then the win after 9/11 made me a fan even though I wasn’t a NASCAR fan at the time. Once I got to see his interviews, he reminded me of my friends I grew up with. It’s hard not to like that guy.

5. Who is your most disliked driver?

I can’t say I dislike them but I don’t like the way Joey Logano and Ryan Newman drive sometimes.

6. Why is that?

I dislike when Newman has a car that’s 5 mph slower than the car that’s trying to pass him, yet he still makes it as hard a possible for them to pass. It’s blocking, not racing. Logano causes a lot of wrecks. He doesn’t always make contact with people, but he puts people in situations that get them wrecked. I don’t like that and he doesn’t need to do it to win. Kyle Busch used to do that.

7. What is your favorite track?

Martinsville.

8. What is one thing you would change if you were in charge of NASCAR?

More short tracks and a smaller field; 36 cars are more than enough.

9. What is one thing you would keep the same if you were in charge of NASCAR?

The access you get to the pits and drivers. Nothing else like it in sports.

10. How often do you yell at the TV during a race?

Ha! More than once, but less than 10. I’ll have to count now!

11. Do you have any advice for other fans?

Have an open mind to changes. Also, take a non-fan to a race with you. And if you haven’t checked out Raceview do yourself a favor. You’ll never DVR the race again.

12. What else do you want the NASCAR world to know about you?

Me? Nothing. But I do want NASCAR to know there are fans up here in the Pacific Northwest. Don’t give up on bringing a race up here (just make it a short track, please!).

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Social Spotlight with Brendan Gaughan

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Each week, I ask a member of the racing community to shed some light on their social media usage. Up next: Brendan Gaughan, who is currently 12th in the Xfinity Series point standings for Richard Childress Racing.

One thing I saw recently was, you got so mad after Mid-Ohio that you didn’t want to post on Twitter. You’re like, “I gotta keep myself from posting.” How often does that happen?

With me, not very often. I tend to normally keep most of my emotions in check, but I was pretty hot after Mid-Ohio. Nowadays everyone in the world wants to vent so quickly. It’s very easy, and sometimes you have to remember that sometimes easy isn’t the right thing to do. So yeah, I stayed off Twitter for a couple of days because I wasn’t real excited about what I would have said.

That was probably a smarter move, because I’m pretty notorious for screwing my life up with my mouth, and for a change, I kept it quiet. I like to say I’m pretty proud of that. I’m only 42 years old, and I finally got there.

So in general, when you’re not having that self control, are you on Twitter everyday?

I don’t tweet everyday. I take a peek at it and look around. Nowadays, like everybody, I get most of my news off of my Twitter account. You follow the things you are interested in and you get the information you want you see the news you want. So I definitely do look through it to get some of my news, some of the social commentaries of things.

But I’m not a guy that posts everyday or something like that. When I do post, it’s normally about personal life and some racing stuff or answer people that ask specific questions. I like being able to respond to fans with it. It’s fun to give them a little bit of access to where they can get ahold of you so quickly, so easily.

You don’t respond to all of them, like if someone says, “Hi.” Sorry. Hi, yes. There. If somebody comes with a real question or something, it’s enjoyable to interact with the fans on social media.

Compared to earlier in your career when that wasn’t an option, how much has this enhanced your enjoyment of the racing? Has that made the fan experience more fun for you?

Well, I mean, actually for the most part, it’s made it less fun, if you want the truth. Here’s the problem that I have with social media, and I try to tell the kids this: I am glad that I did not grow up in this era, because of the ugliness that is on social media, how easy it is for people to be ugly.

But what’s funny is, you look at people who we like to call haters. You look at the haters that are on an Internet site or on Twitter, and you look at their (accounts). They generally have nothing nice to say about any facet of life.

So you go through, you look at a guy that’s saying something nasty about you. And he knows absolutely nothing about you, but most of the time it’s just kind of like what all the old psychology books tell you: If they hate you, it’s because they’re probably jealous.

And so you look at some of the stuff. They’re bashing on a football team, they’re bashing on a cheerleader, they’re bashing on some actor. They don’t have one positive thing to say. And so if that gives this poor guy who’s living in his mom’s basement at 35 years old some peace and happiness, then you know what? If it makes him happy for a moment of the day, let him have it. Because that guy needs happiness way more. I have it in my life.

But it’s tough though, for these kids. They’re 18, 19, 17, and they come into the sport, and there’s so many things that can quickly be said, be seen, be found and it’s tough. You have to be very mentally strong, because no matter who you are, you’re gonna get nasty things said about you.

At 18 years old, man, without having the mentors — I was lucky, I had great mentors in my life and got to come into this later after I had learned a lot of life experience. So I feel comfortable with it. But man, a lot of these kids, it’s gonna be tough for them to really stay happy sometimes. So I always tell some of them to stay off it. But we can’t; it’s too much part of our business model now.

You have thicker skin and you’re used to dealing with critics over the years. But an 18-year-old, like you said, is not necessarily equipped to be thrown into the fire on that aspect. So what do you say to them? What’s your advice?

I mean, everybody’s different. You can’t wrap one answer to the whole world. If it’s somebody that’s very personal and likes to interact, then you tell them to keep interacting and when the negative stuff comes in, just roll right on by it. If you’ve got somebody that’s a little shier or doesn’t like it, then don’t respond to most things and just use it for your business model.

You gotta play it by every person’s personality. And if you’ve got somebody who’s snarky and a moron like me, likes to go back and forth sometimes, it’s fun to pick on the haters. It’s an amusing day. You can always tell when I’m really bored, days that I try to do some of that.

So it is one of those time sucks — that’s all we talk about in this day and age, the time sucks are amazing. Candy Crush and Facebook and Twitter. Really, it’s a giant time suck.

How do you personally deal with the haters? Do you pull out the block button a lot?

No, I only block if you say nasty things about kids, family, get really ugly and dirty. I don’t tend to respond or listen to fake accounts, the “Not So-and-So” accounts. I pay zero attention to them. As a matter of fact, most of them are muted. I use the mute button a lot because then you don’t have to see, you just don’t have to deal with it.

And they don’t even know.

But that’s an easier button because you don’t have to see it, you don’t have to worry about it, and even the ones that are positive, most of them that are fake. The Orange Cone, that’s the only (account like that) I pay attention to. But for the most part, I tend to mute most people who remain anonymous. That’s part of the problem with the world today — it’s way too easy to be anonymous.

That’s for sure. So in general, even if you’re not looking at social media the entire time, are you on your phone all the time? Is it in your hand a lot?

Yeah, I think I’m one of those guys who’s guilty of it being surgically attached to me. It’s pretty bad, but my wife gets mad about it and I get mad the kids are using it too much. Then it’s in my hand when I’m saying, “Don’t.” So it’s a little bit hypocritical on me, but it’s fine.

You and I are old enough to remember the days before we carried these in our pocket, before we had everything in the world at our fingertips. My family had an Encyclopedia Britannica with all the addendums. So I remember doing book reports, and that’s where you went. Nowadays, you just pick the phone up and you can find out just about anything, and it’s made it really easy for some.

I’ve been racing for 20-plus years in NASCAR, and I remember before you left (for a race), you had to get a road atlas and try to figure out how you’re getting from the hotel to the airport to the track. You had to figure it all out ahead of time.

So it’s fun. Even the haters are fun. What I get amused about with social media is you get the guys that are haters that want to say nasty things, especially in our world. You get race car drivers at local tracks that want to say what they want to say.

I do have one favorite one, and I’ll leave his Twitter account unnamed. He is a guy who’s always just trying to say nasty things about a lot of different drivers. But I’m one that he loves to do it with. I even said back to him one day, “My favorite part about this is I know you’re going to walk up to me at an appearance one day and say you’re a big fan.” And he’s like, “Blah blah blah.”

Well, I found out the racetrack he raced at and I found out who he was. Amazingly enough, he actually won a (contest) from one of RCR’s sponsors years ago. Like to come to a racetrack and be a guest — and this is a guy who bashes Austin (Dillon), bashes me, bashes all of us. And he won a (contest), and he showed up with a picture, sat in the autograph line for me and said he was a big fan. And I signed it to him saying, “Told you you’d sit in my line and be a big fan.”

So it’s amazing. That’s the one thing I would say about me: You know if I like you or not, I’ll let you know. I’m not gonna hide it. (Social media) allows personalities to come out, and when you do get those people who are keyboard warriors, as soon as they’re in person, that warrior stuff really goes away.

It’s so difficult to say something mean to somebody’s face, so once you have that personal interaction with them and you know there’s a real person on the other side of it, it’s not so easy.

I’m a psych minor in college, and one of my favorite experiments was learning about the study between what people would do if they pushed the button and you heard somebody screaming in the other room. If you didn’t hear them, everybody pushed the button, just about. If you did hear him, less (people pushed it). If you could see him, (even) less. If you were in the room with him, (even) less. And it’s amazing what breaking that barrier down (can do). And that was a study from the 60’s.

So now the phone is just a live model of that psychological experiment. It’s really easy to say things when people are not in your face, and when they get there, they’re your biggest fan.

Speaking of actual fans, it does help keep you close to people who are your closest fans. I know there’s this one woman, @dianeinla, she’s a huge fan of yours.

Diane’s my old scorer! She was my scorer back when we had scorers. She was an old scorer for us and she was a great lady who still is a fan, still comes to races. She’ll be at Road America with me.

And of course, we would be remiss if we did talk about positive fans and didn’t say Raeann (Plumley), the lady with the tattoos. Everybody knows Raeann as the tattoo lady, and she is very active on social media. That poor thing, she gets picked on a lot on social media. I love Raeann.

I talk a lot about the negatives, but a lot of the positives — there are a lot of great people in the world too, and you can really keep up. As a matter of fact, a girl who’s a big fan of mine, her name is Cherri Montgomery, she’s out there in Arizona. She’s a handicap girl, who back in the Winston West days, she used to show up with Cabbage Patch Kids of Ron Hornaday, of me, of Mike Snow, my old PR guy. And she has all these Cabbage Patch Kids and she’s this sweet little handicapped girl.

Just (last week), she had to go back to the hospital and had a bunch of problems. I don’t keep in touch with the family that often, but on social media, they were able to get ahold of me and say, “Cherri — she’s struggling today.”

So I tweeted her this afternoon and just tweeted her a message of, “Hey, love you, miss you, you’re doing fine. Get up, walk, never give up. I don’t wanna hear this (excuses) crap. And then watch the race tonight.”

And they sent a picture to me two minutes later of her walking down the hallway. So there’s so many great things that come from social media, too, so you can’t ever let the negativity ruin something that can be so good and kind.

We talked mostly about Twitter, but do you use other forms of social media regularly?

You know, it all started because NASCAR really embraced social media before anybody in the professional sports world, and I wouldn’t have known anything about it except for they wanted us to start trying to use Twitter. That was six years ago, seven years ago or something and started using that.

I do Instagram; I do not have Facebook. So anything out there saying that’s me on Facebook, that’s not me. That’s all I really do social media-wise: Instagram and Twitter.

Last safety stop. Awesome dive and Operation Dog Tag was a success ???? #lakenormanscuba #scubadiving

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I’ve got too many jobs. It’s amazing how so many people have time in their lives. I have too many jobs; I gotta actually go to work. This next week, I’m in Mesquite on Monday at the CasaBlanca, our casino. On Tuesday, a new company I’m starting, we’re doing a big deal at the South Point in the hotel towers. Wednesday, I’ve gotta do a deal with my liquor company. So I’ve got too (little) time to spend to spend any more on social media.

Any last thoughts as far as the future goes? Like we’ve talked about how it is now. What do you think is next for social media?

God only knows, man. The technology world is so quick nowadays. One minute a computer is new, and the next minute it’s archaic and you’ve already got the next thing. So technology goes so fast now, it’s amazing that Facebook and Twitter are still making it. Who knows what the next one is going to hold: holograms and God knows what else. It’s an ever-changing world and the people who keep up with it will keep growing.

This interview was brought to you by Dover International Speedway. The cutoff race for the first playoff round takes place at Dover on Oct. 1. Here’s a link to buy tickets (and make sure to come say hi at the tweetup).

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Ashley Stremme heads to South Africa for Mrs. Universe pageant

Picture this: It’s the costume portion of the upcoming Mrs. Universe pageant in South Africa, and out walks a woman wearing something resembling a half-firesuit and carrying a race helmet painted with the American flag.

Everyone in attendance, including women from 83 other countries, will know exactly which nation Mrs. USA Ashley Stremme is representing as she competes for an even bigger crown.

Stremme, the wife of David Stremme, will carry one of her husband’s old Cup Series helmets with “USA” painted across the visor, ensuring there will be a racing connection to her part of the competition.

“The racing community has been a huge support factor in what I’ve done this past year, and that means more to me than they will ever know,” said Stremme, the daughter of former sprint car driver Joe Deihl. “It’s the sport that I love and grew up in since a little girl. So having that support is amazing.”

Ashley Stremme, wife of David Stremme, will represent the United States in the upcoming Mrs. Universe pageant. Photo courtesy of Ashley Stremme.

Stremme was previously named Mrs. United States (a different competition from Mrs. USA), so she has plenty of pageant experience. But one big change will be that for Mrs. Universe, all contestants are promoting the same cause — an anti-violence message toward women and children — while in this country, each woman picks her own platform.

As part of that, Stremme will participate in a “One Voice” march on Aug. 30 to promote the cause and is hoping the racing community will follow along with the hashtags #MrsUniverse2017 and #OneVoice.

She also prepared a video on domestic violence that presented as part of the pageant, along with the more standard elements like an evening gown competition.

Stremme won’t travel with any friends or family because she just wants to focus on doing her absolute best over the 10-day period (“I like to have my own space and not have to worry about David being lost somewhere in Africa,” she said).

She’s ready to compete and “bring back a little hardware,” she said, as well as answer questions from other contestants about the current state of U.S. politics.

“It’s extremely overwhelming,” she said of being selected to represent the country. “I’m proud to be from the United States and represent the United States. I’m going there to make a difference and try to impact people we come in contact with and better our world. I hope to do my country proud.”

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12 Questions with Chase Elliott

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The series of 12 Questions interviews continues this week with Chase Elliott of Hendrick Motorsports, who is seventh in the NASCAR Cup Series standings entering the final two races of the regular season.

1. How much of your success is based on natural ability and how much has come from working at it?

I feel like for me at least, a lot of it’s been probably from working at it, or at least having smart enough people around me to help me work through the different things that I’ve struggled with over the years. So I would probably attest it more to the knowledge of the people around me and their expertise in racing, or just dealing with people in general more so than anything, I feel like.

2. Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Carl Edwards and now Dale Earnhardt Jr. have all either retired in the last couple years or will retire soon. What’s your pitch for fans of theirs to become fans of yours?

I’ve had this question a few times and I don’t really know that there’s a right or wrong answer. But in my opinion, whatever people can find a genuine relationship with in a driver, whatever that is — if it’s a passion that they share with the driver or a thing they like about that driver, the driver’s attitude, the way they race, whatever it is — as long as they can make that connection with them and be genuine and not pull for somebody because somebody told them to, then whoever it is — if it’s me or somebody else, I’m good with that. It’s everybody’s right and decision to pick their driver and pull for them. If it’s me, great; if it’s not, then I get it, too.

3. What is the hardest part of your job away from the racetrack?

I’d say just managing our time. There’s just so many ways you can go about your week and different places we have to be. For us, we have meetings on Tuesdays, so a lot of times your week can be very broken up from traveling on Sundays, getting home on Sunday night, having Monday at home, Tuesday meeting day, Wednesday off, Thursday travel day. So not a lot of consecutive days in one place. I think just managing the time you do have in different places to try and make the most of the time you have off is pretty important.

As you know, we have a long schedule, and not getting too drowned in it throughout the entire year can be important to us. For us, we do it every week; it’s not just a region that we live in and can go to a couple of races a year, so we have to be very mindful of our schedule and try to keep it equal throughout the year.

4. Let’s say a fan spots you eating dinner in a nice restaurant. Should they come over for an autograph or no?

That’s a good question. If you’re eating, I’d say definitely not. I wouldn’t want to come bother them while they were eating dinner. I think there’s a right and wrong way to do that; it’s definitely further appreciated when someone will take some extra time — if they have the time — to wait until you’re done eating or at least wait until you’re walking outside or whatever. That will certainly be appreciated.

We try to get to everyone we can. Obviously we can’t get to everyone all the time. But when that does happen, I think just be aware of the conversation. We’re probably with friends or family, and that’s time away from the track and away from things. So any kind of respect as far as waiting and hanging out will be appreciated.

So you don’t mind an autograph as long as you’re not shoveling food at the moment. If you get up to leave, then you’ll do it?

Absolutely. I’m fine with it, it’s not a problem at all. But definitely it is the respect of when you’re eating or when you’re spending time with the people you’re with. That’s where, sometimes, it can be frustrating.

5. What’s a story in NASCAR that doesn’t get enough coverage?

I would say the playoff bonus points that have been going on throughout the years. It’s kind of something that the TV didn’t really talk about a whole lot until, I feel like, halfway through the season, and to me that’s what’s gonna make up the majority of our playoffs, and the guys who have won stages, won races and have racked up all these points.

I mean, we’ve got guys who’ve got in the high 30s of points, and that will just about carry them all the way to Homestead, if you know what I mean. Someone has a race advantage on you starting each round? That’s huge, and I don’t think we’ve emphasized that enough. Or at least I haven’t seen it. Maybe somebody has. But that’s a big story and one that’s gonna shape our playoffs.

6. Who is the last driver you texted?

Ryan Blaney.

Talking about your trip to Europe (which they are currently on)?

Well, yeah, a little bit about our trip. We were discussing that.

But we were hanging out here (at Bristol) last night, we were wondering what all the people were doing walking. We didn’t realize the hauler parade was going on last night, so we were wondering what was going on.

We got in a golf cart, rode around. We were trying to find a group in the campgrounds that was playing cornhole. We wanted to go play cornhole, so we were trying to find a happening spot that was having a good time so we could join in. But we didn’t find anybody because there were all down here watching the hauler parade.

7. Do you consider race car drivers to be entertainers?

No, I don’t think so. I don’t really see us as that. I think our personalities and the differences of opinions in personality might be entertaining, but I can’t say that we’re entertainers.

8. What is your middle finger policy on the racetrack?

I tell you, when something really didn’t really go the way you thought it should go or somebody’s not racing you correctly or the way you feel like you should be raced, it can be frustrating. I think that’s where it comes from. My policy on it is it’s probably better to not (use it) in general. Just doing nothing is probably the best thing, that’s probably gonna frustrate people the most. But at the end of the day, there’s gonna be times where you have to do something and those are just those frustrating days. So yeah, it’s been done.

9. Some drivers keep a payback list in their minds. Do you also have a list for drivers who have done you a favor on the track?

I definitely do, 100 percent. Racing is something that always comes full circle. There’s times if somebody helps you on early on in the race and you have the chance to do the same for them and it makes sense, then sure.

I think there comes a time in the race where those breaks and the slack are a little more forgiving at the beginning of the day versus what you can do at the end. We all understand that we’ve got to race and it’s hard to be as forgiving toward the end of the races because you’ve trying to fight for what you have. But if you’ve got a guy and they’re way better than you and it’s early on in the race, you’re doing nothing but holding both of you up.

In a lot of ways it seems dumb to let a guy go, but what could potentially happen is you’re slowing him down, the guys behind you are also catching you, so instead of falling behind and trying to make some lap times you might just get freight-trained when the next group catches you. It’s something that we’re all kind of conscious about as the race goes on, so I definitely pay attention to that and try to race guys how they race me.

10. Who is the most famous person you’ve had dinner with?

I can’t think of anybody outside the racing world. I mean, other than drivers, unfortunately I’m not cool enough to have dinner with entertainers or anything. So I don’t know of anybody.

No Eric Church?

Nah, no Eric Church. I hung out at dinner with a couple other performers, Chase Rice being one of them. He’s a super cool guy and great entertainer. But aside from the country music world or racing, I don’t know. I’m not sure on that one.

Well you have a high ceiling to improve on that.

Alright, fair enough.

11. What’s something about yourself you’d like to improve?

A lot of things. I think just, as far as racing stuff goes, I think as time goes on you want to try and take that next step and put yourself in that next caliber of drivers and not so much stay in one place long enough where you get labeled as that. So for me, I want to improve results, improve our qualifying efforts and really just improve our entire weekend.

I want to be, and I want our team to be, someone who people pay attention to. I don’t want to pay attention to them, I want them to pay attention to us and what we’re doing and us be a factor for them every single weekend. That’s probably the biggest thing I want to improve on, and I think it takes a lot of different things to make that particular thing happen. But I think that’s the ultimate goal.

12. The last interview I did was with Brett Moffitt. His question was: Whiskey or beer?

I was on a beer train for a little while, but I’ve kind of re-swapped over to the whiskey. So I’d say whiskey right now.

The next interview is with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. Do you have a question I can ask Ricky?

Is he part of the golf (group), those guys?

I’m pretty sure he’s in the Golf Guys Tour, yeah.

So I wanna know how his golf game is, and if he plans on winning their championship or not.

This interview was brought to you by Dover International Speedway. The cutoff race for the first playoff round takes place at Dover on Oct. 1. Here’s a link to buy tickets (and make sure to come say hi at the tweetup).