The 12 Questions series of interviews continues this week with Truck Series driver Justin Haley of GMS Racing. Haley won the Truck playoffs opener in Canada last month and is locked into the second round of the playoffs. This interview was recorded as a podcast but is also transcribed below for those who prefer to read.
1. How often do you have dreams about racing?
I actually had a dream about racing last night, which is pretty rare, I’d say. I don’t dream about racing too much. I’m a pretty heavy sleeper. But last night I dreamt we won Vegas, so by the time this comes out, I’m sure that’s going to be true or false. (Note: He finished third.) It was a two-in-a-row deal after (winning in Canada), so that was kind of cool.
2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize?
I think there’s a certain level of respect. Normally if it’s not too big of a deal, I just let my spotter know and my spotter relays it. Especially if we’re early in the race, you don’t want someone hot at you. But if you go out there and get into someone, there’s going to have to be some kind of communication the next week.
3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you?
I’d say it’s that I’m a hard worker and dedicated to what I do. I’ve put my all into it since I was a little kid. If I just keep working hard and putting everything into it even if it doesn’t work out, it’d probably be the biggest compliment.
4. NASCAR comes to you and says they’re bringing a celebrity to the track and they want you to host them. Who is a celebrity you’d be excited to host?
Man, I don’t even know. Kaz Grala? He’s a celebrity, right? (Laughs)
There’s some vloggers — I’m pretty big into vlogging. Like Casey Neistat or Roman Atwood. They’re pretty cool. I know Roman did a race awhile ago with Ty (Dillon).
I’m not really into the whole scene of music and TV. I don’t watch TV too much, unless there’s a hurricane coming.
I always tell everyone if I wasn’t racing and didn’t have to be on social media, I wouldn’t have any platforms. I like doing my own thing and bouncing off my family and friends.
Do you have to limit yourself on social media then?
I think you have to, to a certain point. I’ve been putting up some Instagram Stories and live videos with Kaz. He’s my best friend. He has a fan base and I have a fan base, so we like to connect them. I do spend quite a bit of time on Instagram — I usually do a post a day to try to engage fans and get my viewership up or whatnot. My tweets are kind of hit or miss. I don’t have a personal Facebook or Instagram, just for racing.
5. In an effort to show this is a health-conscious sport, NASCAR decides to offer the pole for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for one month. Would you do it?
Oh, for sure. I’ve gone vegan just to go vegan.
Are you a healthy eater?
Yeah. I think my PR girl and my manager and everyone in my family, they get pretty hot-headed (about his eating habits). I am a very healthy eater. I haven’t had a slice of pizza in a few years. Haven’t had a soda in a few years. Any snacks. Every meal for the past two and a half years has been pre-calculated.
It gets hard while racing, but you just have to make smart decisions. I am probably one of the healthiest eaters in the whole garage area — I’d say I probably beat Jimmie Johnson, because I never treat myself. It’s just kind of a lifestyle. I used to eat nachos every day and whatnot. I just found a groove and I like healthy eating. I feel better and I feel like it really affects my performance.
Can you give me a quick tip? I really struggle to eat healthy on the road.
I don’t even know if it’s healthy foods, but it’s making sure you put the right foods in your body. If I go out to eat at a dinner — like last night, I did with my team — I eat steak and mashed potatoes. That’s not bad. It’s got good carbs; I’m racing tomorrow, so that’s going to be good. It’s got protein in it.
I’m not going to eat a cheeseburger. I haven’t had french fries in years. It’s hard to do. Growing up, my parents always wanted me to eat healthy, but I never could until I got something in the back of my head that just wanted myself to do it. It’s more of a want in your head. It’s just a will.
6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I’ve picked a random race from your career and you have to tell me where you finished. This is the 2015 Watkins Glen K&N East race. Do you remember this race at all?
I do. I remember it clear as day. Dalton Sargeant was in it and William Byron. I ran third, I’m pretty sure — maybe fourth. Scott Heckert won — he was my teammate — and Dalton Sergeant passed me on the last lap for second.
Wow, that’s impressive. You did indeed finish third. You started fourth and led 12 laps.
I did lead? That’s kind of impressive, I didn’t remember that. But I was pretty salty. Even Sargeant, when he was my teammate this year, we’d always go back to that race.
I mean, there’s probably not too many races I couldn’t remember. Do people usually struggle?
It’s kind of 50-50. Some drivers can’t really remember and others can remember clear as day like you did.
I remember he shoved in my right-rear fender going into Turn 1 on the last lap. Then I hit him on the exit of the corner, and he had his tail cone flying after we got out of the carousel — his whole rear bumper flew off and hit my windshield.
7. Who is the best rapper alive?
Here we go back to the questions about musicians and whatnot. (Smiles) I don’t even know who rappers are these days. I’ve got no idea, to be completely honest with you.
8. Who has the most punchable face in NASCAR? Two people have said you for an answer this year. Noah Gragson said you and was serious about it, and then Kaz Grala said you, but he was kidding.
I’m not really sure who has the most punchable face in NASCAR. Kaz said me to be playful, and he actually called me up right after and was like, “Man, I said you!”
I don’t believe in violence. I like racing and beating people on the track, but I don’t ever find myself just going straight up and punching someone. It’s not really my style. I’d rather go talk to someone and have a conversation and become buds or something.
Is there still any bad blood with Gragson?
I’m good. Obviously Noah is a very aggressive racer and he likes to win as much as the next guy. I’m cool with Noah. I’m about cool with anyone in the pits. We race each other 20 weekends a year and you have to see them that much, and you just can’t have any bad blood with anyone. Life’s too short to do that. I’m good with everyone. I might be a little hot-headed after a race because we put so much into it, but at the end of the day, life is too short to hold grudges.
9. NASCAR enlists three famous Americans to be involved with your team for one race as part of a publicity push: Taylor Swift, LeBron James and Tom Hanks.
Well I think Taylor is definitely my motorhome driver. That’s a no-brainer. (Laughs) And I think we all know the reason why.
I think Tom Hanks would definitely be my crew chief. And then LeBron would be on top of his game (as a spotter). He’s taller than everyone, so we’d never have trouble looking over anyone to see. I don’t think I’d be a good spotter, because I’m so short that I couldn’t see.
Those are my three picks. I feel like I nailed that one. (Smiles)
10. What is the key to finding the best pre-race bathroom?
You hydrate yourself so much that you always have to pee, until you get far enough into the race that you sweat it all out and don’t have to pee anymore. Usually I use a nicer restroom — if that’s the media center or whatnot — before I go to driver introductions. Then on the ridearounds in the trucks, you have to go again, so you just have to hit a port-o-potty because it’s the closest thing. Then you’re missing the national anthem and you have to run out. I think it’s whatever is easily accessible.
11. NASCAR decides they would like the highlight reel value brought by the former Carl Edwards backflips and want their own version. How much money would they have to offer for you to backflip off your truck following your next win?
I can do a front flip all day long, but I didn’t know how to do a backflip. We were on the boat one day — it was me, Kaz and some friends. I’m like, “I’m going to do a backflip.” Kaz was like, “Whatever.” So I did a backflip and ever since, I’ve totally sucked. I cannot do a backflip. I’ve tried it from five feet up and I still can’t complete the full rotation. So if you ask Kaz, it’s unbelievable.
No. It’d be enough money to have neck surgery. I’d really have to up my insurance rate. I know (Daniel) Hemric can do it and hasn’t gotten to do one (after a race) in a long time. I’m good friends with Hemric, so I’d like to see him do it.
12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next interview. Last week was Clint Bowyer, and it was kind of a weird question.
Does he even know who I am?
It seemed like it, because he said, “I don’t have anything in common with those young guys. I don’t play Fortnite or anything like that.”
I don’t play Fortnite either.
Anyway, his question was like, “How does it feel to get beat by a guy like me who is so crazy?” But you don’t race with him.
I like Clint. He’s pretty down to earth. He’s a cool guy. Look at his playoff emoji. It’s a trucker. How much more down to earth can you be?
The next interview I’m doing is with Timmy Hill. Do you have a question I can ask him?
(Looks up Timmy Hill’s Twitter profile and sees a picture of mustache he grew for Darlington throwback week) As a 19-year-old driver who can’t grow facial hair, ask him how long it took him to grow that. Honestly, I’m kind of jealous.
Five thoughts after Sunday’s first-round elimination race at the Roval…
1. Roval Love
There were so many things to love about the entire Roval weekend before the race even started. The hype was real, the freshness of a new course injected a boost of enthusiasm into a long season and the whole thing replaced a traditionally ho-hum event with a huge unknown.
Given all that, the Roval was probably going to be viewed as a success even if the race turned out to just be OK.
At least they tried something different!, people would say.
Most of it was a fuel-mileage affair, where drivers tiptoed around the track and kept themselves out of trouble — which honestly was fine! That was the smart thing to do, and the strategy and doubts over whether they could make it to the end on fuel offered enough intrigue to keep fans interested.
But then the race suddenly delivered on its potential for chaotic entertainment — and without crossing the line into shitshow territory. Brad Keselowski stuffed it into the Turn 1 wall and the other leaders followed him into the barrier like the old Lemmings computer game.
GAHHHH!!! WHAT WAS THAT!?!?!
As it turned out, it wasn’t even the craziest moment of the race. As the playoff elimination battle was unfolding behind the race leaders, Jimmie Johnson saw a chance and tried to pass Martin Truex Jr. for the win — only to ruin both of their races.
Just like that, Ryan Blaney drove through the spins and ended up being declared the first official winner in a Cup Roval race.
But the unofficial winners were many: Marcus Smith, the father of the Roval who saw his brainchild come to life in a majorly successful way; NASCAR, which continues to have an excellently fun second half of the season; and the fans who came from all over the country to check the Roval out for themselves, then surely left feeling like they got their money’s worth.
Damn. When NASCAR is good, it can be so, so, SO good. And this was one of those weekends. I got so much enjoyment out of the entire Roval experience; I can’t imagine anyone feeling otherwise.
2. The idea of going for it
Imagine you’re Jimmie Johnson on the last lap. You barely made the playoffs, haven’t won all season — and hear about it constantly — and now you see an opening to grab a victory with a last-turn pass in the playoffs.
Now tell me you’re NOT going to go for it there. Really? Come on. I don’t believe you.
Yes, Johnson screwed up. Yes, he threw his playoff hopes away. But those type of calculations can’t possibly be factored in during a split-second decision.
Gee, what if I try to pass him, but spin myself out and then get passed by seven cars and miss the next round?
There’s no WAY that would even enter a seven-time champion’s mind! Winning racers don’t think that way. He saw a chance and went for it. I don’t even think it was that much of a “just gonna send it!” type gamble; he just messed up.
“If I knew the outcome was going to be that, no (I wouldn’t have tried it),” he said. “I want to stay alive in the championship points. But I really felt like I could pull that pass off.
“I wish I could go back in time and let off the brakes a little bit and take that opportunity, because the championship is what we’re here for.”
Of course he regretted the move with hindsight factored in. But at the time, you wouldn’t want him to do anything differently.
Truex seemed to have a much harsher viewpoint, though. He showed his displeasure by spinning Johnson out after the race — which is understandable, given the lost opportunity to win and get five extra playoff points.
“(Johnson) wasn’t ever going to make it through that corner whether I was there or not,” Truex said. “Just desperation on his part and pretty stupid, really, if you think about it because he was locked into the next round and now he’s out. I guess if there’s a silver lining, that’s it.”
3. Larson’s epic last lap
Someday, when we compile all of the great NASCAR moments from the otherwordly talent that is Kyle Larson, let’s not forget the last lap of the Roval.
Larson was out of the playoffs for about 20 seconds until he somehow drove all the way around the track with a wrecked car and passed Jeffrey Earnhardt about 100 feet before the finish line.
I normally wouldn’t dedicate so much space to a single quote, but you’ve got to read how he described it:
I knew I was in bad shape, so I guess you could say (I was) giving up. I couldn’t even drive my car, it was so badly destroyed.
But then they said (Johnson and Truex) were all crashed and they were coming to the checkered. I was getting on the oval (in the traditional Turn 1 location), and they said they were starting to crash, so I ran hard. We had so much camber and toe in our car, they said if I ran fast, I would blow a right front. But I was like, “You’ve got to go.”
So I ran hard through (the oval Turns) 1 and 2 and through the (backstretch chicane), and then I blew a right front (in the) center of (oval Turns) 3 and 4 and plowed the wall.
I was like, “Crap. I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get down to make the (front) chicane.” But luckily, it came down off the banking and I could turn right OK.
So I got through the 16th corner, and then I hit the wall again on the front stretch, and (Earnhardt) was stalled the whole time. He was like 100 feet from the start/finish line. I could start to see him creep in when I was getting to 16. I was like, “Gosh, don’t go! Don’t go!” And we were able to make it. Hey, I was pretty lucky.
To add to the barely-made-it storyline, there’s this nugget: NASCAR gives drivers with damage three laps to meet minimum speed. Larson, who had no chance of getting back up to speed, was on his third lap.
So had the race been one lap longer, he would have been eliminated through that rule alone.
4. Oh yeah…the winner!
How have we gotten this far without talking about Ryan Blaney? He won the race, after all.
Blaney might have seemed unusually chill after the race in some of his interviews, but that was because he didn’t really know how to digest the win. He appeared almost apologetic at times, like a driver who wins a rain-shortened race or through some other fluke scenario.
This really wasn’t in the same category, though, since he put himself in position to win if something happened. The leaders have wrecked and given the win to the third-place car many times in racing history — though not necessarily very often on NASCAR’s biggest stage. The bottom line is he shouldn’t feel bad about it.
But Blaney also isn’t the type of guy to be overly impressed with himself or brag in the first place, so feeling like he didn’t really deserve it was consistent with his personality.
“You’re happy you won the race. You’re happy for the team to do that,” Blaney said. “But me personally inside, there’s some of me (that thinks) … you don’t want people to look at it as, ‘Oh, you just won because the two guys wrecked.’ And that’s what it was.”
Blaney said that scenario had never happened to him in any race he’d ever run — including quarter midgets as a kid. So he just wanted to remain humble while also acknowledging the victory was worth celebrating.
“You don’t want to be kind of overjoyed about it, I guess, but you have to have some pride in it,” he said. “It’s a weird feeling.”
5. Moving on
Two big names are out of the playoffs after Round 1 — Johnson and Denny Hamlin — while young drivers Erik Jones and Austin Dillon also saw their hopes of gaining additional playoff experience come to an end.
Left behind are only two Toyotas — Truex and Kyle Busch — and three Chevrolets — Larson, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman.
Everyone else? Well, it’s a LOT of Fords. All of Stewart-Haas Racing and all of Team Penske has advanced to Round 2, setting up for a Ford-dominated playoffs just three years after the manufacturer was completely shut out of the final four.
I only correctly picked two of the eliminated drivers for Round 1 (Dillon and Jones), so take these next predictions with a grain of salt. (And yes, I’m updating my picks in the middle of the playoffs. Weak, I know.)
— Round 2: I can potentially see the second-round eliminations being less shocking than the opening three races. I’ll pick Bowman, Blaney, Aric Almirola and Clint Bowyer to get eliminated this round.
— Round 3: That sets up a final eight of Truex, Harvick, both Busch brothers, Keselowski, Joey Logano, Elliott and Larson. Out of those, Truex, Harvick, Keselowski and Kyle Busch will advance to the final four (not going out on a limb at all, in other words).
— Champion: I’ll stick with Harvick as my pick to win it all. For now.
WOW! After an insane finish at the Charlotte Roval, C.J. Woliver from FOX Sports joins me to help break down what we saw in the elimination race for Round 1 of the NASCAR playoffs.
Just when you thought money was the only way to get an opportunity in NASCAR, along comes a trio of talent-first stories to provide at least some evidence to the contrary.
First there was Ross Chastain, whose ability to elevate his JD Motorsports ride earned him a chance with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Xfinity team — for whom he recently won the Las Vegas race. The rest of his story is still unwritten, but at least he got a shot.
Then, on Friday, two talent-first drivers were given the kind of opportunities that represent hope for the future: Daniel Hemric was named driver of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 31 Cup car and Ryan Preece was announced as the driver of JTG Daugherty Racing’s No. 47.
Both will compete for Cup Series Rookie of the Year and neither had to bring armored trucks full of money to do it.
That might be a small victory, but it’s still notable these days.
Hemric, a North Carolina native, grew up with NASCAR dreams while racing in the Summer Shootout at Charlotte Motor Speedway. He became one of the country’s best Late Model drivers and has consistently contended in NASCAR’s lower ranks — albeit without a win.
“It just says it can be done,” Hemric said of making it to the top without millions of dollars behind him. “To any racer out there who thinks it can’t be done, today is a huge step to show it can be.”
Then there’s the story of Preece, who took a gamble on himself by borrowing money to secure two starts with Joe Gibbs Racing’s Xfinity Series team. In his own personal must-win situation, Preece finished second to Kyle Busch in his first race with JGR and then won at Iowa. That led to a pair of additional races in 2017, when he had two more top-five results.
This season, Preece won another Xfinity race — and $100,000 in the Dash 4 Cash, which allowed him to pay off his loans.
It also opened the door for even more opportunities with JGR and caught the attention of JTG Daugherty, which hired him on talent alone.
“If you are going to fall down that hole of ‘Money, money, money’ you will never make it,” Preece said. “I’m not saying it’s easy, it’s not. There were a lot of nights I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know what my future was going to be. I didn’t know if I could even make it to this level.
“I was going to try, though. I was going to try like hell.”
The effort resulted in a job at NASCAR’s highest level — and it might not have happened had he never invested in himself, first. As it turns out, that was a necessary part of Preece’s journey.
“The fact that he has been able to win in Xfinity against the best of the best, obviously that put him higher up on the list,” Geschickter said. “He was definitely on the radar anyway … (but) it didn’t hurt.”
Will stories like these suddenly become a trend? Not likely, as money continues to rule in today’s NASCAR. But that makes them all the more notable when a team rewards a driver with an opportunity based on talent — not how much money they can bring.
Holly Cain has been a longtime member of the NASCAR media corps. (Photo courtesy of Holly Cain).
Each week, I ask a member of the racing community to shed some light on his or her career path. Up next: Holly Cain from the NASCAR Wire Service. These interviews are recorded as a podcast but are also transcribed below for those who prefer to read.
What does your job entail now?
I am a writer for the NASCAR Wire Service. I work out of the Daytona Beach office and I help do all of the previews that go out on the wire for the Cup races and to a certain extent, the statistical previews for the Xfinity and Camping World Truck Series races. So during the week, I provide all of the advance information we send out to over 100 different outlets across the country to be able to use in their newspaper, magazine, whatever their outlet is.
So as coverage has been lessened across the country, NASCAR has stepped up with its own service to provide content to outlets that might want racing coverage, essentially. And you’re doing that.
Absolutely. And then Reid Spencer covers the actual races on the weekend, and sometimes I will go out and help as well. I also get to do some IMSA things, which I love because that was kind of my start in racing.
I’m interested in your career path. Let’s just start with the beginning. Did you grow up thinking you wanted to do something in media, like be a reporter?
Oddly enough, I did. My whole entire life, that’s all I wanted to do. I can remember back when we had huge tape recorders and I would simply read the newspaper into the tape recorder and pretend like I was doing the evening news.
My father (Ed Cain) was a sportscaster and a newscaster, so I get that part honestly. And my mom taught high school English for almost 40 years. So if you think about those two things, journalism makes sense. But I definitely took after my dad and always was doing that.
Where was he a newscaster?
He worked all over the place. He did New York Islanders hockey, he did the Minnesota Twins, the Minnesota North Stars when the hockey team was still called that, and then he worked in Seattle for many years and covered the SuperSonics when they were there, the Mariners, the Seahawks. So he had worked all over the country.
Did you tag along to some of the events when you were growing up?
A couple of the things, I would. I would go to some of the football games or the hockey games. My parents have all sorts of photos of me with the players. I have a photo of me with O.J. Simpson.
Probably the coolest thing that really inspired me with my father was when he was 22 years old, President Kennedy was shot and he was working at a small radio station in Florida. He actually drove to Dallas and was standing in the police department building right alongside Lee Harvey Oswald — and actually asked a question — when he was killed. My father is in movies and he’s in all sorts of clips and photos from that. So that was a really neat thing to see what kind of a journalist he was that he would pick up and go, and then as it turned out be feet away from one of the biggest stories in the history of our country.
What did he say over the years about that moment and being there when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot right in front of him?
Well, it was a very career-defining moment for him. He was only 22 years old, right out of college when he did that. What it always showed me was you have to go get the story. You can’t sit in a press room and expect it to come to you. He just was a shining example of what to do journalistically and was there to help me for many years.
So did you go to school for journalism and get on that career path from the start?
I wrote for the elementary school newspaper, the junior high, the senior high, the college newspaper. So I was one of those people. I wanted to do journalism, and I wanted to do television journalism. But back when I graduated in 1989 — I went to the University of South Florida in Tampa — it wasn’t such an easy path for a woman to be on television in sports. That wasn’t the way to do it.
I was told you need to get really good at writing about it and show you have the knowledge, and once you have the knowledge, we can put you on television. It wasn’t, “We’ll put you on television and we’ll help you from that point on,” it was, “You show us that you know the sport, you know how to ask questions, you can do interviews and write stories and know proper news judgment.” As it turns out, that wasn’t the path I took; I wasn’t on television that way.
But I love it. I love my career. I tell my kids all the time: “How lucky am I that I’m doing something I still love, to this day, every day?” I love working.
After you got out of college, what did you start out covering or doing?
I did not take a job in sports right away. I took a job at a little newspaper in Florida up in the panhandle. I lived with my best friend in Tallahassee — she was at Florida State — and where I worked in Marianna was an hour on a different time zone. So that was kind of weird; I’d go to work in one time zone and come home and be on another. But (that job) really helped me decide I was not cut out to be a news writer.
I can remember I had to go do man-on-the-street interviews. So I went to the local Winn-Dixie to do it, and I was just interviewing anyone who would stop and give me the time of day. I interviewed these two gentlemen, and they were kind of flirty with me — so much to the point where it was uncomfortable for me. They’re like, “We just live at blah blah blah, real close to here, you’ve got to come.”
Part of it was I had to take their photograph to include with their man-on-the-street question. So I get back to the office and turn in the photos I took and I start writing. The editor comes up to me and says, “Holly, did you not see the front page of the paper today?” I’m like, “Yes…” He said, “You see these two men on the front page for robbing a bunch of pharmacies in the area? These are the two guys for your man-on-the-street.” I said, “Well as a matter of fact, they told me where they live!” So I told my editor and they called the police and arrested them.
Needless to say, I was not cut out for the hard news. So I went back and took a job at the Sebring News-Sun in Sebring, Florida, which is about an hour south of my hometown of Lakeland. And that’s where my career really took off with sports and certainly with auto racing, as you would imagine.
No wonder you have an affinity for sports cars, then, being near the Sebring track. At that point, were you thinking covering racing could be a profession, or was that still not clear?
It definitely wasn’t clear. I was still in my 20s, and racing was just one of the things I covered. Looking back at my career now, I’m glad I had racing as a steady part of my job as a sportswriter. I worked for the small Sebring newspaper that only came out twice a week, and then I got hired at the Tampa Tribune.
While I was at the Tampa Tribune, I got to cover the New York Yankees — they had their spring training in Tampa. Back before the Tampa Bay Rays existed, we kind of adopted the Yankees. George Steinbrenner lived in Tampa. And it was really kind of neat. I can remember George Steinbrenner returning my phone calls at home. Or I would call and he’d take my call right away. It was amazing.
So I got to do that, as well as the Tampa Bay Bucs and really a whole lot of general assignment things. But the one thing that carried throughout my career was covering racing. Back then, a lot of IMSA, the GTP program, and then I’d go up to Daytona for the 500 and all that.
How long were you at the Tampa paper? Were you thinking you’d work there for life?
I was there 11 or 12 years. So I spent quite awhile there. I was really fortunate. I had other papers reach out to me with fantastic opportunities. I loved working at the Tribune. I had a job offer from another paper that was bigger than Tampa, another big city in Florida. But I loved the people I worked with so much. My co-workers used to laugh at me: They’re like, “They can’t give you any more money, but they gave you a better typewriter and a desk by the window, and you turned down whatever the difference was in money to stay because of the people.”
But I always did want to see where I could go. I didn’t get married young. I was always very open to things. So I was lucky to have another opportunity at the Dallas Morning News.
At the time you went to Dallas, I believe that was at the peak of their sports department. It was the top sports section. They had, what, more than 150 writers or something?
Oh, we had a huge staff. The sports section was like a book. It was great. We had all these general assignment reporters that could go and do anything, and if you could sell it was an interesting story, you could go and do that. We had all these fabulous columnists. Still to this day, I see them around the country and all the different things they’re doing. Dave Smith was our sports editor at the time and it was really a time of great opportunity.
It was a very rigorous job. The way it was run, you showed up and if you had a mistake or a typo, you had to answer to absolutely everything your column. You had to explain why you wanted to write this story versus that story. It was very good like that, but it certainly snapped you into some fabulous journalism.
What did you cover when you were in Dallas?
Texas Motor Speedway had just opened the year before, so I was doing that and I was primarily the motorsports writer. I had a whole page every week that was all motorsports. I loved it. I did the NHRA — they had two races in Dallas at the time — and the IRL had two races there. That’s when Tony Stewart was racing in the IRL; there were some absolutely fantastic races on that big oval. And NASCAR obviously was there, and they were still trying to get a second race. I was writing that story every year, I remember.
Holly Cain and Tony Stewart, circa 2009. Cain covered the bulk of Stewart’s racing career. (Courtesy of Holly Cain)
Back then when the sports section was so huge, were they embracing the racing and motorsports type of stories?
They did. They liked it. It was still a relatively new regular beat to the paper. They were very interested in the drivers and their backgrounds.
I also covered the Dallas Cowboys — I went to their away games and wrote sidebars for their games. So that was neat to be a part of, although that was kind of on the downswing of the Emmitt Smith/Troy Aikman days. They were just finishing up, so it was that weird time for the Cowboys. I lived in Valley Ranch across the street from the Cowboys’ complex, and I was supposed to be ready to run over there if I ever needed to because there was constantly coaching changes — Barry Switzer was the coach one of the years I was there. Again, it was great. I felt so lucky to be part of all that.
So you ended up going to Seattle next, is that right? How did that come about?
I ended up getting married, and the person I married was in the United States Army special forces, and they were based in Seattle. I had just accepted a job with USA Today and was going to go out there, and then was engaged weeks later. I had to call USA Today back up and say, “I’m going to be unable to take this job, as it turns out.” I had to live in Seattle, and you had to live in Maryland or Virginia if you worked for USA Today.
So I went west and really had a fantastic time getting them to start thinking about motorsports. It wasn’t something huge on those newspapers’ radars, but I convinced the Seattle Post-Intelligencer to hire me. I did general assignment work, but it also turned out to be the same time a kid named Kasey Kahne was coming up. Greg Biffle was coming up. Derrike Cope had won the Daytona 500 and he was from a small little town right by where I lived. So I was able to pull that off.
The fact NASCAR was on the rise at the time — you just went to the editors and said, “Hey, I just moved here. I have experience. I can help you guys.” And they were accepting of that?
They were. And it wasn’t just NASCAR at that point, either. I would cover Portland for IndyCar. But definitely NASCAR was the primary thing I feel like I was part of the change there. They had local short-track racing and Kevin Hamlin, who is the spotter for Alex Bowman now, he was out there just tearing it up. He was one of the stars on the local short tracks at the time. So it was a good time for me to be there in terms of having racing coincide with people out there in the Northwest.
When did you leave Seattle and what was after that?
I left in 2003 and took a job with AOL Sports.
This was the start of FanHouse?
Yes, FanHouse. At the very beginning. That was absolutely wonderful, too. I got to dictate what the coverage was going to be and do takeout (feature) pieces. I got to go out and spend a week in El Cajon (Calif.) to do a big Jimmie Johnson feature. That was amazing to meet the people, to see the house where he grew up, to do all this behind-the-scenes (Johnson background) no one had done before. So that was one of my most special things.
I covered the Indy 500 with Chip Ganassi (in 2010). I was in his pits when Dario Franchitti won, and I remember thinking, “OK, so this is how this story is going to be,” but he said, “No, we’re taking a plane and we’re flying up to Charlotte. We’re going to go up to the 600.” And Jamie McMurray almost won that race. I think Kurt Busch won and Jamie finished second to him. And after that, we flew back to Indianapolis later that night.
So you did the Double.
I did the Double. It was a lot of fun. I feel so fortunate for the opportunities I’ve had. And I’m not just saying that. You can see I get really excited talking about it.
So AOL FanHouse was either really ahead of its time or too ambitious. They hired a bunch of writers and then it all just folded, right? There wasn’t a lot of warning. Am I getting this right?
There was a text message that we all needed to be on a conference call in 20 minutes. They went a different direction. Interestingly enough, a whole lot of people who I had worked with in Tampa and Dallas had taken jobs with it as well. So it was kind of cool. I knew all my co-workers already.
So you lose your job. What’s your reaction? What do you do? You had kids…
I was Mom. I was president of the PTA and all those things. But I still loved writing and I still loved covering the sport. So I would freelance and do whatever I could, write big takeout pieces. And then eventually, I was offered a job with the new NASCAR.com, when they rebooted that whole thing. That turned out to be a really fantastic opportunity.
You were a reputable voice they could bring in, along with Kenny Bruce.
And David Caraviello was there as well. So the three of us were the main journalists for NASCAR.com at that point.
How was it being able to work for them and not feeling like things were going to change at the drop of a hat like at AOL?
That was definitely a better feeling, a lot more comforting for me. They gave us a really great platform. They really redid the platform. What I appreciated the most was it wasn’t just, “Tell us what happened the race,” it was “Tell us about the people in the race. Tell us about the crew.” They let us do feature stories, longform stories. Because I really believe that’s how people learn about the sport even more. Obviously the racing is important and that’s what it’s all about, but I’ve always appreciated the behind the scenes and I feel like readers do, too.
You obviously had a high-profile battle with breast cancer during this time. I know you kept trying to do as much writing as you could and kept plugging away. I’m not sure I would have been able to do that. You were doing chemo and writing at the same time. Why was it so important for you to keep working?
To be perfectly honest with you, it was a way to feel like I was going to make it, that things were somewhat normal. My cancer was Stage 3 and I’m HER2-positive, which is an extra enzyme of bad luck that only one in 10 people have and makes it even harder to recover. It’s just kind of an extra thumb in the side to the treatment.
But at the same time, friends of mine like Steve Byrnes were going through (cancer treatments). It was really bizarre how we call had this going on at the same time. Then Sherry Pollex was diagnosed. The three of us would often joke — we would be texting and it’s “I’m in chemo” and “I’m in chemo (too).”
But I remained so strengthened by them, and I was so grateful to NASCAR.com for not just letting me go because of all the extra medical issues. They were so good to me and so supportive, and so were the readers and the people we work with. It makes me emotional because sometimes you don’t find out how fantastic your friends are until they’re put to the test after you’re put to the test.
Holly Cain continued to work while undergoing treatments for breast cancer.
I feel like you having gone through this long, hard battle has given you a different outlook on life. What perspective did you gain during that time?
I think you probably hear this from a lot of cancer patients on appreciating the day, every day. My children were in junior high/middle school at the time, and I never wanted them to worry. I eventually got so sick and I had many complications arise out of it, so it was kind of hard to completely shield them.
But I tried so hard. I felt like the best part of it is knowing you just have to dig deep and you have to let the little stuff go. You can’t get upset about it. I am just so thankful to have every day.
I would go to bed at night and pray to God that I wasn’t going to die. And I really mean that. I’m not just saying that. Those would be my prayers all day long. “Please, God — let me see my son graduate. Let me see my daughter graduate.” Things like that. And it just changes your entire perspective.
But it also helps you appreciate the joy in life, too. And like you said, I do look at things (differently); I don’t get all crazed out by little (things). It also helps you really to appreciate the people around you and recognize your friends. I’m very blessed. Very, very blessed by the friends and people in my life.
So in that regard, does it frustrate you when you see other people have those gripes about things that don’t seem to matter as much? I was just complaining about the WiFi earlier.
I think to myself, “At least you didn’t have to find out like I did that it’s OK.” (Laughs) Just look over at me, I will give you the peace sign and tell you it’s going to be all right.
It would be nice if people like myself could remind ourselves of that and appreciate that every day without having to go through what you’ve gone through to gain that perspective.
I hope so. One thing I try and do on my Twitter account is I always try to find something positive. You will rarely if ever see (negativity). I always try and share that. It’s easy to go one way or the other, but going positive not only helps you, but the people you’re around. I don’t mean for this to sound trite, because I genuinely believe that. I’m always the girl who was giving the peace sign my whole life, and I really mean it. Especially now.
This is a tough time to get into journalism. Do you think there’s still a path for people have a career like you have? And where should they start these days?
I’m kind of torn on it. I obviously see the way social media has gone, and it’s (about) the quick hit. Frankly, you don’t even need to have studied journalism to do some of the quick (pieces) that are sent out that way.
I do believe there is something to be said for the art of writing, for the art of asking people and doing interviews instead of you making an assumption. Talk to the person, interview them. And don’t just talk to the one person; you want to talk to several others about that person.
I know it’s an art that’s being lost. But I feel like the best are the ones who go about things like we used to and had to. I love the fact though that people want to come in and tell stories, but that’s what they’ve got to do — tell stories. It should never be about the journalist. It should be about the subject you’re writing about and telling the story about. That’s going to be the important thing, because I think now it’s a little easier for that to get lost in it all.
Holly Cain poses with her children, Sydney and Matthew. (Courtesy Holly Cain)
Clint Bowyer puts his winner sticker on the car after winning at Michigan this year. (Getty Images)
The 12 Questions series of interviews continues this week with Clint Bowyer of Stewart-Haas Racing. This interview is recommended as a podcast, but is also transcribed for those who would rather read.
1. How often do you have dreams about racing?
I don’t really dream, Jeff. Helluva question.
Really? You just sail right through the night?
I can’t even remember my dreams. Don’t you ever wake up, and you’re like, “What the hell happened?”
Yeah, but sometimes I’m interviewing you in my dream. It freaks me out.
I don’t have that, Jeff. I don’t ever dream I’m interviewing with you.
2. If you get into someone during a race — intentional or not — does it matter if you apologize?
Yes, but it means zero. You’re still going to get retaliated, and sometimes, with peers and things like that, it just depends who it is. If it’s somebody you’ve kind of had a run-in with before or you don’t get along or you don’t speak off the racetrack or something else, they don’t really know you, they don’t know that that was (unintentional).
I mean, a guy like Jamie McMurray. He’s gotten into me before and it was a situation, like that wasn’t on purpose. Pissed you off, it was a bad deal, but it didn’t mean anything to me and I knew he’d be calling and as soon as he did, I was like, “I get it. It’s all good. Shit happens.” Same goes on the flip side of that.
It just depends. If it’s a kid that’s been racing you hard and doing something stupid for four or five weeks and making it hard and over-pushing the envelope and it finally catches up to you, that’s the one that gets to you and makes you mad.
3. What is the biggest compliment someone could give you?
I think the biggest compliment now in life is, “Your kid’s a good kid” and “he was polite.” (Bowyer’s son Cash) went over to somebody’s house the other day and they’re like, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe how polite he was.” You’re like, “Yes!” He didn’t get that from me, by the way.
But nonetheless, your pride comes from different things now. Once you have a family and kids and everything else, you know, yes — when somebody says you did a good job in the race car or something else, that’s meaningful. But when they say that about something that is your pride and joy gives you a compliment, it’s a good feeling.
4. NASCAR comes to you and says they’re bringing a celebrity to the track and they want you to host them. Who is a celebrity you’d be excited to host?
I think all of them. It doesn’t matter. If it’s a celebrity, it’s meaningful that they’re there, that they want to be there, that they’re choosing to be at our sport. So it’s always fun for me that we get to meet celebrities because I don’t view myself as worthy of being able to hang out with celebrities. I’ve always been starstruck and big-eyed. When you see somebody that you see on TV or grew up seeing on TV, I’m no different from anybody else. Like, “Holy shit, that’s whoever!” It still rocks you back on your heels and it’s a big deal.
If I had to pick somebody who the next celebrity would be or would blow me away, I don’t know. It would have to be somebody funny, because I like having fun in our sport, I like having fun in general. But when you are around people like that, you can kind of embrace the relationship a little bit more and show them the funny side of our sport. Get them in a car and put them in a situation and they’ll freak out or something like that. I like that aspect of celebrities and things like that.
That’s kind of a shitty answer to your question, but I’m serious, it doesn’t really matter who it is. If it’s a celebrity and they’re interested in our sport, they’re there, I want to be involved and I want to show them our sport.
5. In an effort to show this is a health-conscious sport, NASCAR decides to offer the pole for an upcoming race to the first driver willing to go vegan for one month. Would you do it?
For a pit stall? Hell no! For a win or something? I don’t even pick stalls anyway — we just complain about them.
6. It’s time for the Random Race Challenge. I’ve picked a random race from your career and you have to tell me where you finished.
I’ll tell you right now: Fail.
This is the 2014 July New Hampshire Cup race.
No clue, buddy. Not one clue.
You finished sixth. You started eighth. You led 36 laps this race. Brad Keselowski won. So you don’t remember this race?
No. I don’t even know what car I was driving.
7. Who is the best rapper alive?
(Laughs) What? There’s no such thing. There’s literally no such thing.
I will say this, I was at the beach with my spotter Brett Griffin and his two daughters and they sang this Cardi B song in the back of the van and I had to stop the van, I was crying laughing so hard. And I don’t know if I was crying laughing so hard because of the fact it was awesome they were doing it or the fact that I knew that Brett was going to be in trouble with his wife because they are definitely getting thrown out of school because of the words in that song that they knew already at such a young age. He is definitely going to get an ass-chewing. And that’s really why I was laughing, because I knew at some point it was going to come full circle to him getting in trouble, because I know damn well they knew that song because of him, not because of his wife.
That’s terrible though. You set me up for failure there! That’s bullshit.
You acted like you knew the answer right away!
I’m going to give you 12 questions one of these days.
He’s not even the most common answer this year.
Really…?
Yeah. Brad is.
It’s kind of the same face.
9. NASCAR enlists three famous Americans to be involved with your team for one race as part of a publicity push: Taylor Swift, LeBron James and Tom Hanks.
How did you pick those three?
I’m running out of questions, here…
Your dreaming is real. This is your dream? Holy shit. Your dreams are out of control. You pick Taylor Swift, Tom Hanks, and who?
LeBron. Choose one to be your spotter, one to be your motorhome driver, and one to be —
The jack man.
No, your crew chief. You could do jack man if you want, mix it up.
I think LeBron would be big enough. You wouldn’t want Tom Hanks to be the jack guy, you know what I’m saying. Taylor Swift wouldn’t be a very good jack guy.
No.
Well, we clearly couldn’t have Taylor Swift being the motorhome driver as a married man, because that wouldn’t last very long. One or the other wouldn’t last: You’d break down or your wife would break up.
That’s a good point.
(Laughs) So I appreciate you setting me up for failure once again on that.
But what are we gonna do with LeBron? Well Tom Hanks will be the spotter, you can understand him and he will be good. And then the crew chief, I guess LeBron’s in.
Well, you’re going to have to put Taylor there since you can’t have her as your motorhome driver. She’s going to be calling the shots.
Yeah. I don’t think LeBron could fit in the motorhome seat though, his head would be rubbing.
He might know how to grill or something cool.
Yeah, he makes enough money. All three of them make enough money that they aren’t going to drive your bus. That’s just the facts. But your dreams, I’m following along in your dreams here. They’re really screwed up, by the way.
10. What is the key to finding the best pre-race bathroom?
Ho ho! This is the key to success in motorsports. Everybody always asks, “What do you do pregame? What do you do before the race?” If you don’t do one thing before the race, you’re gonna wish you did that one thing the entire race. It’s three and a half hours out there, Jack. If you’ve got a Number Two issue on your hands for three and a half hours, you’ve got a hell of an issue on your hands. It’s a shitty situation. (Pretends to be upset with the question.) One more opportunity to set me up for failure!
11. NASCAR decides they would like the highlight reel value brought by the former Carl Edwards backflips and want their own version. How much money would they have to offer for you to backflip off your car following your next win?
I win the championship, I will do whatever you want. If you want me to do a backflip, get the pads out because I’m gonna need them. No way in hell am I gonna land on my feet.
This year?
Homestead. Done. You just bring it up and I will attempt a backflip. I probably need the roof to get the full rotation around and make sure I don’t land on my head because the door stop’s probably not enough, but I’ll go for it.
12. Each week, I ask a driver to give me a question for the next interview. Last week was Rico Abreu. He wants to know: Why don’t more Cup drivers pull like a Larson or a Kahne or a Stewart and dive back into some of these lower series, whether it’s sprint car racing or Late Models or things like that?
Rico, if he can’t be a big enough star on his own and he needs Larson to come back and bring the crowd for him, there’s enough being said. (Grins)
Here’s the thing: I do contribute to that level. I don’t race in it anymore, but I own two Dirt Late Model teams. I feel like through that connection, I am connected and I enjoy that. I enjoy short track racing and I think that’s very, very important, it’s always been a good platform for me. Partners, we’ve always built good partners at that level and even brought them to the Cup Series.
I love short track racing. I mean, if I never made it to Cup and I always raced at Lakeside Speedway in the Midwest and raced at Iowa in the (IMCA) Super Nationals that just happened, I was plenty content. Had a good time, was successful, had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories with a lot of good people. That’s plenty good enough for me.
Do you have a question I can ask the next interview?
Can you tell me who it is?
The schedule’s up in the air right now, so it’s either going to be Justin Haley from the Truck Series or Ryan Blaney.
Which I literally have nothing in common with. Like I don’t even think we speak the same language. I don’t know Fortnite like these kids do.
I don’t know. My question for the next driver is: Are they OK with me beating them? How bad does it bother them when somebody as crazy as I am is able to beat them on any given Sunday? Does it make them feel like a lesser person? Does it embarrass them? Does it keep them up at night dreaming like Jeff Gluck?
Previous 12 Questions interviews with Clint Bowyer:
Five thoughts after Saturday night’s NASCAR playoff race at Richmond Raceway…
1. This week was about next week
I’ve never seen drivers so sketched about a race as they are about the Charlotte Roval. Even when Talladega was in the elimination slot, there still wasn’t this much uncertainty and outright fear over what kind of impact a single race could have on their playoff hopes.
And that apparently had an effect on how Richmond unfolded. Whereas the middle race of a playoff round is often the crazy one, this one was mostly tame. Saturday saw only one “natural” caution (aside from the two stage breaks), which was tied for the fewest in the Stage Era.
“I’m honestly shocked by what we saw today,” Brad Keselowski said. “I thought this would be a slugfest. I thought there would be five cars running at the end. I think all these guys are so scared of next week, they didn’t want to dare put a fender on each other.”
It makes sense, right? The Roval is the biggest unknown to hit NASCAR in years. No one knows what the race will be like or how bad the attrition will be.
And it’s a playoff elimination race, at that!
Jimmie Johnson, currently on the outside of the playoff bubble, said he had “no clue what to expect” and plans to drive however is “the easiest way to survive.”
“(The Roval) is a hard enough lap to make on your own without any other cars out there,” Johnson said.
Keselowski, who is already locked in for the second round, said he’ll have “as much fun as you can have going into a race knowing you’re going to destroy about 30 cars.”
So instead of Richmond following in the footsteps of a wild opener at Las Vegas, it turned out to be more of an opportunity for drivers to hold serve and try not to screw themselves before they ever get to Charlotte.
2. Non-verbal communication
Kyle Busch and Keselowski don’t speak, so almost all their communication comes through their actions on the track or reading what the other had to say in an interview.
Richmond added another small chapter to their long rivalry. Keselowski passed Busch for the lead with 58 laps to go, but Busch caught him back about 10 laps later and they battled hard for the position.
When Busch pulled up in front of Keselowski after completing what turned out to be the race-winning pass with 36 laps to go, Keselowski gave him a mild shot to the back bumper.
“We rubbed a little bit,” Keselowski said. “Nothing big.”
But Busch didn’t like it. An NBCSN replay zoomed in to show Busch holding his hand out the window, palm open.
What did it mean?
“That was just, ‘C’mon, man,'” Busch said.
“I spent a lot of time racing hard with him, and it was good to be able to do that cleanly on my part,” Busch said. “And then when you spend 15, 20 laps trying to pass the guy and you get run into right as soon as you pass him, it’s kind of like, ‘Come on, man. Really?’ But oh well.”
Busch’s biggest gripe with Keselowski over the years is they always seem to run into each other when they’re racing. So Saturday probably won’t help.
For his part, Keselowski has tried to extend the olive branch in the past and does his best to practice a personal credo of “truth and grace.” But Busch tests that more than anyone.
“I don’t try to read his mind,” Keselowski said when asked for his interpretation of Busch’s hand gesture. “That’s the last place I need to be.”
As NASCAR’s only true, ongoing rivalry, it wouldn’t exactly be a terrible thing for the sport if their bad blood started boiling again in the midst of the playoffs.
3. September surprise
Of all the drivers in the playoffs, the easiest pick for first-round elimination seemed to be Austin Dillon. And you can’t blame people (like me) for feeling that way; he was the only driver outside the top 16 in points to make the playoffs, which made him an obvious choice.
But damn if Dillon isn’t putting together a nice little run through the first two races. He opened by finishing 11th at Las Vegas, then pulled off the surprise result of the Richmond race by running sixth. And that was no fluke finish; he ran in the top 10 for almost the entire race.
Now Dillon goes into the Roval with a 10-point cushion over the cutoff spot. It’s not much, but it’s better than being on the outside.
So where did this come from? Dillon seems to have picked the perfect time to have his first back-to-back top-12 finishes of the season.
“It’s heart, man,” he said. “That’s what we do at RCR. We might not have everything, but we’ve got a big heart and we’re going to work hard to do it.”
4. A word about Kyle
I didn’t want to start with this item, lest the angry mob of Kyle Busch haters suddenly close the browser window without reading the rest of the post-race column.
But, um…Busch is really, really good. It’s just that his brashness and unapologetically abrasive nature often blinds people to what we’re all witnessing.
In this case, we just witnessed a 33-year-old pass racing legend Tony Stewart on NASCAR’s all-time wins list — in 128 fewer starts.
Fifty wins already, and Busch is barely entering what are normally the prime years of a driver’s career. Jimmie Johnson, who now has 83 wins, only had 43 when he was Busch’s age.
The biggest question is: How high up NASCAR’s all-time wins list can Busch get? He’s tied for 11th now with Ned Jarrett and Junior Johnson.
Specifically, I’m wondering if Busch can catch Jeff Gordon’s 93 wins. Even David Pearson’s 105 doesn’t seem out of reach.
That’s a lonnnng way to go, to be sure. But if Busch can somehow pass Pearson for No. 2 on the all-time list in this era, that achievement might put him as the greatest driver ever — no matter how many championships he’s able to win.
5. The bubble
From the time the schedule came out, the Roval has been perhaps the most anticipated race of the 2018 season. And now it’s finally here.
“I don’t know if I’ve seen more talk about something than the Roval, really,” Joe Gibbs said.
So what’s that going to do to the points picture? Well, it could be anything. Great analysis, I know. But seriously! Your guess is as good as anyone’s.
Only three of the 12 spots are clinched heading into the elimination race, although Kevin Harvick is all but through. But there’s a LOT to be decided among the remaining drivers.
For example: Would you feel comfortable heading into the Roval if you were only 25 points ahead of the cutoff? Because that describes fifth-place Joey Logano, which means everyone below him is even less secure.
This is going to be insane, and I honestly cannot wait. Here are the current points:
Clinched: Martin Truex Jr. (points), Kyle Busch (win), Brad Keselowski (win).
