Our middle daughter, Lisa is a huge NASCAR fan and her favorite driver is Dale Earnhardt, Jr. A year ago she and I went to Daytona for the "Firecracker 400" as it used to be known. Before we went to the race last year I was working with a friend one day whose name is Matt H. I was telling Matt how excited Lisa was to go to the race. He began to tell me about growing up in Daytona and going to many events over the years. He said he had some stuff that would make our day more fun. He lent us a scanner and earphones and Lisa was able to listen to the conversation between crew chiefs and drivers. It was an awesome day, especially for her. Matt told me another story that day together about how his dad had given him a gift to do a Richard Petty Drive Along Experience. His dad passed away before Matt could use the gift and he said he really didn’t want to go anymore. The date on the gift voucher was December 13, 2000. Matt said he wanted to give that gift to my daughter, that was early summer 2007. Matt had verified they would still accept the coupon. As we were getting ready to go, now June 2008, I began to read the fine print on the voucher and it said it was good for one year from the date on the front! I thought with the price of gas, they may not still honor that. I called and emailed and was told to come on over. I printed out the emails as a back up and sure enough, they honored the voucher. Lisa was about to burst when she saw they had a car there that was "Dale, Jr’s." I told the guy she’d be willing to wait longer to ride in that and sure enough she got it. Three quick laps getting up to 165-170 MPH later and she was one excited young lady. Check out the pictures here on the site. So Matt, I really wish your dad were here and you and he got to enjoy the moment together! I also am really grateful you gave my daughter such a generous, very special gift! I’m sure she’ll treasure the experience as long as she has memory! Thanks Matt!!

 

Scott