Hi Lisa. We haven't met yet. I just joined last week. You've got some great stuff here, and it makes it even better seeing how genuinely happy you are to have received these items. It doesn't matter how old we get, we can't put a price on the intrinsic value of these types of items to the individual. Your overwhelming appreciation for the items and the people who got them for you really shows in your messages too. It feels great when you get that signature or picture you've been hoping for. I really enjoyed looking at your pictures.
Indycar teams do a great job providing these cards for fans in the paddock area, as well as making the drivers available for such a low price. My wife and I were at the first day of the Detroit-Belle Isle Grand Prix at the end of May, and for only $25 we were able to purchase a paddock pass. Almost all the drivers had these cards available for passers by, and the drivers were out beside their haulers or helping with their cars all morning and early afternoon. We were able to get autographs from all the Andretti, Penske and Ganassi drivers with minimal effort, plus a handful of drivers from the single car teams. We had a really great day, and coming home with 13 autographs was just the icing on the cake.
They also had Robby Gordon's new Stadium Super Trucks series running that weekend. Robby brought his old NASCAR merchandise hauler full of the Speed Energy Drink t-shirts & diecasts that he had made in 2011 right before he dropped out of NASCAR, albeit at severely reduced prices. I bought two 1:24 and four 1:64 scale diecasts. Right after they pulled in after the Stadium Super Truck race I caught Robby's attention. His team, plus all the guys from the other trucks were all around him, obviously with urgent questions and problems that had arisen in the race they'd just run. People can say what they want about him, but I can tell you this...he dropped everything that was going on, made all these guys from his brand new racing series wait, and signed every single thing that I had. He took the diecasts out if the boxes, carefully signed each one, then carefully put them back in their boxes. He went and got pictures that I didn't even have, signed and gave them to me. Just a class act all around, from a guy who gets beat up in the media sometimes for his actions. The reason I told you this LOOOOOONG winded story is because of the similarities between Robby and Kurt in terms of their racing personas and how they'vehad some low moments publicly. Can't judge a person solely based on what you see on TV.
Cool stuff Lisa. Thanks for sharing these pictures!