Also see Cars and Driving, Biking, and Racing--birthdays and significant events.

Page Toppers

• Along for the Ride
• And the Winner Is...
• At the Track
• Away He Goes

• Back in the Race
• Back on Track
• The Big Race
• Born to Race
• Breaking Away
• Breakneck Speed
• By a Length

• Can't Wait to Get on the Road Again
• Caution--Yellow Flag
• The Checker Flag
• The Checkered Flag
• The Competition

• A Day at the Races
• Driver Wanted
• Driving Force
• The Driver's Seat

• Easy Rider
• Enjoying the Ride

• Fast, Faster, Fastest
• A Fighting Chance
• Final Circuit
• The Finish Line
• Four on the Floor
• Full Throttle

• Garage Guru
• Gentlemen, Start Your Engines
• Go Fast! Turn Left!
• GO GO GO!
• Goin' to the Races
• Going the Distance
• Good to Go
• The Green Flag
• Green, Green, Green!
• Green Means Go!

• Hairpin Turns
• High Anxiety
• High Hopes
• Hot Wheels

• I Ain't Never Been Passed
• I'd Rather Ride Around With You
• It's the Journey, Not the Destination

• The Last Lap
• Life in the Fast Lane
• Life in the Slow Lane
• Life's Short--Drive Fast
• Little Boys Grow Up to Be Bigger Little Boys.
• The Long and Winding Road
• Loop the Loop

• Mr. Goodwrench

• A Need for Speed
• Not So Fast

• On the Fast Track
• On the Road Again
• On the Road Again...and Again...and Again.
• On Track
• One Lap to Go!
• Ooh! That Had to Hurt!
• Outpaced

• Pace Car
• Piston Power
• Pit Crew
• Pit Stop
• Portrait of a Winner

• Qualifying

• The Race is On
• Race to the Finish
• Racing Fever
• Racing Man
• Ready for the Pro-Circuit
• A Red Flag Warning
• Real Cars Are Made, Not Bought
• Rev it Up and Go
• Road Adventures USA
• Road Hog
• Round and Around

• Spin-Out
• Sportsman-like Conduct
• Still Playing With Cars, After All These Years!
• Superstar
• Survival of the Fittest

• Tailgating
• Take it to the Limit
• Taking the Checkered Flag
• Taste of Victory
• There's No Looking Back Now
• The Thrill of Victory
• Thrill Ride
• Today's Heroes
• Tools of the Trade
• Top Speed
• A Track Record
• Trophy Run

• Un-easy Rider
• Unrivaled
• Unrivaled Competition
• Unsportsmanlike Conduct (hopefully by the competition!)

• Victory Lap

• The Wheels on My Car Go Round and Round
• When the Week Ends the Fun Begins
• Where the Blacktop Ends
• Where the Rubber Meets the Road
• White Knuckles
• Winning with Style

• Your Mileage May Vary

• Zero to Sixty

Quotes

• Aerodynamics are for people who cannot build engines. (Enzo Ferrari)
• All I had to do is keep turning left! (George Robson, Winner of the 1946 Indy 500)
• Anyone can drive a fast car, few can drive a car fast.
• Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports...all the others are games. (Jim Dietz)
• Calling upon my years of experience, I froze at the controls. (Sterling Moss)
• The cost of racing hasn't increased in thirty years. Back then, it took everything you had. And it still does.
• Fast cars drag race, fast drivers road race.
• Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death... (Hunter Thompson)
• Friends don't let friends apex early.
• Horsepower has this tendency to break things. If you're not breaking anything you're not going fast enough.
• I always ask God for blessings of protection on that person in the car, for blessings of protection on the crew as they're attending to the car on pit road. And I always ask for peace of mind for the wife. (Dale Beaver, NASCAR chaplain)
• I don't know driving in another way which isn't risky. Each one has to improve himself. Each driver has its limit. My limit is a little bit further than other's. (Ayrton Senna)
• I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.
• I feel safe when I'm on the racetrack, I really do. I know that I'm surrounded by the best drivers in the world. That's something you can't say when you're driving down the interstate. (Sterling Marlin)
• I feel safer on a racetrack than I do on Houston's freeways. (A. J. Foyt)
• I live my life a quarter mile at a time.
• I was doing fine until about mid-corner when I ran out of talent.
• If I had all the money I'd spent on cars...I'd spend it all on cars.
• If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch.
• If you're going to lead, then lead.
  If you're going to follow, get the hell out of my way!
• In the old days drivers were fat and tires were skinny.
• It has been said that motor racing shares in common with sex the distinction of being one of the most popular, most maligned and least understood of human activities.
• It is amazing how may drivers, even at the Formula One Level, think that the brakes are for slowing the car down. (Mario Andretti)
• It is not always possible to be the best, but it is always possible to improve your own performance. (Jackie Stewart)
• It's basically the same, just darker. (Alan Kulwicki - on racing Saturday nights as opposed to Sunday afternoons)
• Life may begin at 30, but it doesn't get real interesting until about 150.
• Never drive faster then your guardian angel can fly.
• Never run out of real estate, traction and ideas at the same time.
• The number of laps remaining is always one more than the amount of fuel left in the car.
• The number of times you get hit in a pileup is directly proportional to the number of times you said "I think it will go OK today".
• The older I get, the faster I was.
• On the other side of fear there is freedom!
• Once you've raced, you never forget it...and you never get over it. (Richard Childress)
• Oversteer is when your ass hits the wall, Understeer is when your face hits the wall!
• Oversteer scares passengers, understeer scares drivers.
• A part never breaks during a test session, only during a race. And the part you need will be the one you left at the shop.
• The price for men in motion is the occasional collision... (Carroll Smith)
• Race car drivers love the fast lane.
• Race cars are neither beautiful nor ugly. They become beautiful when they win. (Enzo Ferrari)
• Racecar drivers love life in the fast lane.
• Racing is living, everything else is just waiting.
• Racing is the process of turning money into noise.
• Racing's less of a sport these days than a commercial break doing 150 MPH. (Peter Dunne)
• Second place is the first loser. (Dennis Anderson)
• The shortest way between two points is a straight line...what's the fun in that?
• Straights are for fast cars. Turns are for fast drivers.
• A 10-car pileup never happens behind you!
• There's no secret. You just press the accelerator to the floor and steer left. (Bill Vukovich)
• To achieve anything in this game you must be prepare to dabble in the boundary of disaster. (Sterling Moss)
• To finish first, first you have to finish.
• What sets these--and all--racers apart from less dare-devilish mortals is their complete lack of fear and their joy of doing something on the edge. They love to speed because it is dangerous. (Peter Golenback)
• What's behind you doesn't matter. (Enzo Ferrai)
• When I look fast, I'm not smooth and I am going slowly. And when I look slow, I am smooth and going fast. (Alain Prost)
• When you win a race you're on top that day, so take it for what its worth, have a good time and party, cause the next day when you get out of bed, the meter goes back to zero again. (Bobby Allison)
• Winners win races. Champions make it look easy.
• Wrecks are going to happen in this business, that's just a risk of the sport. If you can't keep from worrying about it, then you're in the wrong line of work. (Coo Coo Marlin)
• You will never know the feeling of a driver when winning a race. The helmet hides feelings that cannot be understood. (Ayrton Senna)
• You win some, you lose some, you wreck some. (Dale Earnhardt)

The Bottom Line

(Bobijean Cesnik-Neher, used with permission)

Records you've broken,
Innovations you've pioneered,
So what, you finished 'up front',
Charged to second from the rear.

That chassis you've designed
May be ahead by many a year,
But that's not the point of racin',
That's not why we're here.

There's no equal to the feelin'
When the final lap is done,
As having the checkered fall
When you're runnin' #1.

The Racer's Prayer

Lord, I pray as I race today,
Keep me safe along the way.
Not only me, but others too,
As they perform the jobs they do.

I know, God, that in a race,
I, the driver, must set the pace.
But in this race of life I pray,
Help me Lord, along the way.

Although I know I am a sinner,
Help me to believe that with God,
You're always a winner.

Victory in Heaven

(Tonya Rowland-Landewee, a sprint car driver in MO)

Heart pounding, breathing hard, stomach churning
As I put on my gear
Having already ran a mental race,
Climbing in, focusing on the dirt that lies ahead
I strap myself in and pray
Dear Lord, keep us ALL safe.

Lord, help me be the best driver
Or at least in the lead,
May I hold the best line
And have the fastest time.

In the darkest corners of my brain
I know the next turn could be my last.
If that is Your will, remind each driver and crew
We are blessed from above
To be able to do what we love.

Through God-given talent
Each driver feels a rush,
With God's guidance I will end the final lap
And the fans will cheer
A sounding trumpet to a champion's ear.

When my number is up, God
May my wings take my soul
to one final victory and I not brag
When I can carry the eternal checkered flag.

Sterling Marlin on Risk

Risk will always be there, there's no way to create a completely safe race car or make a race 100 percent safe. All you can do is make sure your car is in the best condition possible, and when you're on the track always use your head. After that I guess it just comes down to luck. I've been racing for over twenty years and I've had one pretty bad wreck, the one at Bristol. I guess if you race long enough the odds catch up to you, but hopefully I've got my wreck behind me. If not--well, I'll just have to deal with the situation when the time comes. It's just not something I think about. You can't race scared.

Ideas for Race Car pages

• My husband's race car is the same color as the sapphire album so that's nice. I use checkered flag stickers. I do a page for each race and decorate it with bright blue paper and accents in raspberry (color of his pin striping). Since he races a Dodge I cut the Dodge pentastar out of blue paper and accent with white and raspberry. On the off-season pages I use tools stickers. To begin each season use a title page with a poem or saying about racing. (JoAnn)
• Use checkered design line stickers (black and white) to make a checkered flag border around the page. Use the trophy die-cuts.
• Use brown or black circles with the centers cut out for tires. Cut the outside with the scallop scissors backwards or use a single-hole punch to cut half-circles into the edges. Use the 'tires' for journaling or to frame photos.
• Drawn roads, tire tracks, etc. with pens to connect pictures across a 2-page spread, or do more pages continuing together.
• Make a checked design from squares of paper. It can be a background or cover a small area of a page.
• Take a toy motorcycle or car--run the tires across an ink pad or color on tires with a pen and then run it across the page to make "tire tracks".
• Black pages work well with colorful racing photos.
• On either side of a two-page spread use yellow strips and checkered design line stickers then add red letters with the name of the speedway. (Frog Lady)
• Cover the top third of the page with small black squares--checkered flag style--then put a red box in the middle with Talledega on it for the page title. Use black gingham strips across the two bottom inner corners. (Frog Lady)
• I did some pics of my son watching his first race and checking out nascar.com on the computer. I made a title box using Red, Yellow and Black that said "Gentlemen Start Your Engines" and used racing stickers. (Frog Lady)
• Racing Pages by CMC O'brien
• Miscellaneous Racing Pages

You're a True Race Fan if...

• Every time you gas up, you yell to your wife to time you.
• Only the driver's side of your windshield gets cleaned.
• The word 'bank' makes you think of turn three at Daytona.
• When you have an accident, the first thing you try to do is pull off the steering wheel.
• You can remember every NASCAR driver's car number but can't remember how old your children are.
• You can remember the entire NASCAR series schedule but can't remember your wife's birthday.
• You consider slower cars in the left lane as 'lapped traffic'.
• You go to a stock car race and don't need a program.
• You know the back way to Talledega.
• You know who is leading the Winston Cup series.
• You make engine noises while watching racing on TV.
• You make sure to stay under 55 as you leave the gas pumps.
• You paint a large '3' on the side of your '74 Camaro.
• You paint your motorcycle helmet the same colors of your favorite driver.
• You plan family vacations around a race date.
• You say "But officer, I wasn't tailgating, I was drafting".
• You spell out NASCAR in Christmas lights.
• You think heaven looks a lot like Daytona Beach, Florida.
• You think the first car at a stoplight is 'on the pole'.
• You think the last four words of the National Anthem are "Gentleman start your engines!"
• You think the most effective form of advertising is on the side of a car going 200 MPH.
• You time yourself on your wrist watch when you pull up to a self serve gas pump.
• You wear a firesuit, racing gloves and helmet just to play Nascar Racing on the computer.
• Your mechanic tells you to stop referring to him as 'your crew chief'.
• You've ever written in Richard Petty's name on a presidential ballot.

You Might Be a Race Car Driver If...

• Despite of all the time and trouble, you're anxious for the season to start.
• Everywhere you go, you try to find the fastest line through the turn.
• More than one racer supply house recognizes your voice and greets you by name when you call.
• People know you by your class letter, car number, and car color instead of by name.
• The car gets waxed more often than your floor.
• The police have a picture of your car taped to their dashboard.
• The tire shop won't honor the tread-life warranty on any car you've been anywhere near.
• When someone mentions "The Good Book", you think of "The Auto Math Handbook".
• When you call home, instead of saying "Hi Daddy," your 3-year-old asks who has the pole.
• You bought a race car before buying a house.
• You buy cheap tires for your street car, to save money for your race tires.
• You buy Gatorade by the case.
• You buy new parts because you don't know where you put the spares.
• You came back early from your honeymoon in order to attend driver's school.
• You can tell it's Friday because the racing papers come in the mail.
• You can't remember when you last worked on weekdays and rested on weekends.
• You change your engine oil every other week.
• You complain the seat belts in the family car aren't tight enough.
• You critique the way people wave the flags at a parade.
• You do more catalog shopping than your wife.
• You feel compelled to beat your previous best time when you go on a trip.
• You feel naked in your street car without a roll bar and a five point harness.
• You get your first racing tee shirt and you are really excited.
• You have car parts in your cubicle at work.
• You have enough spare parts to build another car.
• You have more pictures of race cars on you desk than of your family.
• You have more than one roll of duct tape around the house.
• You have racing shops programmed on speed dial.
• You paid more for your race car than for your house.
• You plan your social life around the race schedule.
• You plan your wedding around the race schedule.
• You put all the race car receipts you can under 'Auto Repair Expense' on your budget.
• You refer to the corner down the street from your house as 'turn one'.
• You remember the details of every race you've been in, but can't remember your phone number.
• You select pets based on their ability to survive a weekend alone.
• You sit in your race car and make car noises while waiting for your motor to get back from the shop.
• You stick your arm out the window and raise it straight up before turning into your driveway.
• You take your helmet along when you buy new glasses.
• You think the last line of the Star Spangled Banner is: "Racers, start your engines!"
• You used to have money.
• You take care of your car like it's your child, then drive it like you stole it.
• Your 2-year-old knows the meanings of all the flags.
• Your criteria for selecting a 'significant other' includes auto repair skills. Air tools are a plus.
• Your daughter was an SCCA member when she was one day old.
• Your friends don't recognize you without a helmet and driver's suit.
• Your garage holds more cars than your house has bedrooms.
• Your bathroom reading material consists of racing supply catalogs and car magazines, none of which have centerfolds.
• Your wife can never find enough hangers because you've used all the wire ones as welding rod.
• Your wife decides to become a race official so she'll see more of you during the season.
• You've started looking for sponsors for your daily commute.

Flag Page Idea

Make a border using various colored racing flags. Write the meaning on matching papers scattered around the page along with photos illustrating the concepts. The meanings of flag colors is similar for all types of racing but there are variations among the different types of racing--and even from track to track. The same flag can mean different things if it is motionless or waving.

• Winning Flag (Checkered Flag) - This flag is waved by the starter at the end of the race, first for the winning car and then for all cars as they complete the lap they were on at the time the race ended. The winner usually carries a checkered flag around the track in a victory lap and is often awarded the flag to keep.
• Start Flag (Green Flag) - The green flag is waved by the starter at the beginning of a race and after a caution to indicate the race is restarting. It is displayed until the next caution or the end of the race.
• Caution Flag (Yellow Flag) - When held stationary the yellow flag means there is a problem up ahead and drivers must slow down and refrain from passing. When waving it means immediate danger ahead.
• Full Course Yellow - This is when all the yellow flags around the track are waving and it indicates a serious problem.
• Pit Closed Flag (Red with Yellow X) - This is used in NASCAR to indicate that the pits are closed. (During a caution the pits stay closed until all the cars are lined up behind the pace car.)
• Passing Flag (Blue with Yellow diagonal stripe) - This flag is shown to a vehicle about to be passed. Generally if the flag is held motionless it means a faster car is approaching from behind and if it is waving it means the car is ready to pass. This is most often used to signal lapped cars to get out of the way or faster cars. In some types of racing this is merely advisory and in others you can be penalized for ignoring it.
• Passing Flag (Blue Flag) - Some types of racing use the solid blue flag instead of the blue with yellow stripe.
• All Stop Flag (Red Flag) - This flag indicates an incident on the track that requires everybody to pull over were they are in a safe place.
• All Stop Flag (Black Flag all) - In sports car racing this is a mild version of Red Flag and it means the race is stopped and all cars are to come around and pull into the hot pits. In many types of racing Red Flag is the same as the sports car racing Black Flag All.
• Penalty Flag (Black Flag individual) - This flag indicates that an individual car to come in the black flag station. It usually means an infraction and is sometimes called an Infraction Flag. It is displayed beside a pit board with the driver's number. If the flag is ignored the driver can be severely penalized.
• Black Flag (rolled and pointed at a driver) - This is a warning that a driver is about to receive a black flag if they don't correct their conduct.
• Mechanical Problem Flag (Black with Orange Circle) - This means a car has to leave the track because it has some type of mechanical problem with the car that could cause danger. It is also called the Meatball Flag.
• Hazard or Oil Flag (Yellow and Red striped) - This flag means there is something on the track (oil, debris, etc.)
• Last Lap Flag (White Flag) - This is waved by the starter to indicate a driver is entering the last lap.
• Emergency Flag (White Flag) - In SCCA Club racing the white flag means an emergency vehicle is on the track, be cautious.
• Emergency Flag (White with Red Cross) - This means the same as the SCCA White Flag. It is used to avoid confusion with the Last Lap Flag.
• Emergency Flag (White Flag and Red Flag crossed over each other) - Same as SCCA White Flag
• Mid-Point Flag (two White Flags Crossed) - Some racing organizations display two flags crossed in an X shape to indicate the race is half over. In oval-track racing if the race has to be stopped after that point (because of weather, etc) the current order of the cars at the stopping time will be considered the final results.
• Mid-Point Flag (Green and White Flags crossed) - Same as two white flags crossed.
• Unsportsmanlike Conduct Flag (half black/half white split diagonally) - This is held motionless next to a pit board with the car number on it (the driver may get a penalty).
• Checkered Flag and Black Flag together - This indicates the race has ended with some kind of protest and the results are unofficial.
• Green Flag and Yellow Flag together - This indicates that the race is starting but the conditions aren't ideal (damp track, etc).

Songs about Racing

• 455 Rocket - Kathy Mattea (1997)

• Back in the Race - Roy Clark (1971)
• Ballad of a Drag Race - Tommy Dee (1960)
• Ballad of Bonneville - The Super Stocks (1964)
• Big Race, The - The Duals (1964)

• Cold Day in Daytona (tribute to Dale Earnhardt) - Michael White (2002)
• Competition Coupe - The Timers (1963)

• Dedicated NASCAR Fans - T. Graham Brown (1995)
• Drag Race - Bobby Lowell (1999)
• Drag Strip - The Fenderbenders (1964)
• Dragster - Johnny Fortune (1963)
• Dragster on the Prowl - The Dovells (1964)

• Fastest Thing in Detroit - The Rockets (1977)
• First Laps, The - Mike Vickers (1976)
• Four-on-the-Floor - Connie Cato (1973)

• Goin' to the Races - Old and in the Way (1973)
• Going to the Races - The Country Gentlemen (1969)
• Great Figure Eight Race, The - Johnny Bond (1965)

• Hard-Top Race - Merrill Moore (1955)
• Hill Country Hot-Rod Man - Junior Brown (2004)
• Hot-Rod Baby - Ronny and the Daytonas (1964)
• Hot-Rod Gang - The Stray Cats (1983)
• Hot-Rod Girl - Brian Setzer Orchestra (2001)
• Hot Rod Heart - John Fogerty (1997)
• Hot Rod Mama - Ramblin' Jimmie Dolan (1952)
• Hot Rod Race - Jim and Jesse (1967)
• Hot Rod Race #3 (Arkie Meets the Judge) - Arkie Shibley (1951)
• Hot Rod Race #5 (The Kid in the Model A) - Arkie Shibley (1951)

• I Ain't Never Been Passed - Jim Nesbitt (1968)
• I Love NASCAR - Toby Keith and Cledus T. Judd (2004)
• I Need a Race Car - Colleen Goff (2005)
• I'm a Hot-Rodder - Jerry Wallace (1964)

• Keep on Running - Travis Wammack (2001)

• Last Race, The - Jack Nitzsche (1964)
• Let's Go to the Drag Strip - The Tokens (1963)

• New Speedway Boogie - Toni Brown (2000)

• Ol' Race Track, The - The Mills Brothers (1968)

• Piston Power - Micky Dolenz (1998)
• Pit Stop - Mike Vickers (1976)
• Put on My Racing Gloves - Larry Siegel (2007)

• Race is on, The - Sawyer Brown (1987)
• Race Drivers Song - Gary Paxton (1980)
• Race That Took Place, The - 10cc (1969)
• Race Track - Earl Hooker (1953)
• Race Track Blues - Lee Rocker (2006)
• Racing Fever - Gerry Granahan (1964)
• Racing in the Streets - Townes Van Zandt (1994)
• Racing King - Ray Griff (1961)
• Racing Man - Johnnie Wright (1967)
• Racing to the Red Light - James McMurtry (1998)
• Racing with the Moon - Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra (1941)
• Readin', Ridin' and Racin' - The Super Stocks (1964)
• Rev it Up and Go - The Stray Cats (1983)

• Scatter Shield - The Surfaris (1964)
• Speedway - The Buddies (1965)
• Speedway at Nazareth - Mark Knopfler (2000)
• Spinout - Elvis Presley (1966)

• That's Racin' - The Association (1971)
• Trophy Run - The Super Stocks (1964)

• Waxahachie Drag Race - Ronnie Dawson (1999)
• Wheel Stands - The Super Stocks (1964)
• Wives and NASCAR - Bill Engvall (2007)

• Zero to Sixty - Shana Petrone (1989)