Great idea for a thread! I'm loving these stories, guys.

Unfortunately, I don't have much to offer because I don't remember. I was born in November 1980 and started get dragged along to every track within a reasonable drive of Cincinnati in the spring of '81. Pretty much every week at The 'Burg, along with Northern Kentucky (now Florence), Eldora, North Vernon and everywhere in between. Racing was always life for the Mattlins- so much so that family vacations were planned so that we could hit up races while traveling.

One of my most vivid early memories was being at Daytona in 1984 for Richard Petty's 200th win. I can still see in my mind Air Force One landing just beyond the back stretch from our seats near the entrance to turn 1. Come to think of it, we camped in the infield that weekend in my Dad's full-size van and we were awoken at dawn by the Secret Service who flung the sliding door open without warning. Dad was really upset about it and told them so in some unnice words. "Just doing our jobs," they said and it was over in an instant. Great memories that REALLY make me miss my Dad. We never had much money, but I had a great childhood.