E
Eagle1
Guest
This is really a pretty good story. 
December 6, 2004
Straight Outta…….
Compton. Compton, California to be precise. Not exactly Mooresville or Concord nor anything like Lake Norman. Not many Little E fans here, not many NASCAR fans period.
Of course, NASCAR would like to have more fans in the area. They are working on it and for that I applaud them.
I have written before that NASCAR is the most American of sports because it rewards the things that make this Nation great. Ingenuity, bravery, and business acumen are the traits that make NASCAR great. Beneath all that lies this current of competition and desire. All the ingenuity in the world means nothing unless you are willing to test your ideas against others and all the bravery in the world lies dormant without competition to test it.
I’m not a fan of “free rides” nor of quotas for minorities like myself. I believe such efforts rob of us of the dignity of the struggle to achieve. There is honor in the attempt, greatness to be found in the effort.
NASCAR, looking to expand its fan base, has established a diversity effort that provides minorities with an opportunity to pursue their racing passions. There are two efforts under way, one for drivers and another for crew members. Seeing as how drivers get TV Guide covers and all the attention anyway, let me tell you a little about the crew members’ part.
The program is designed to help minorities get their foot in the NASCAR door. They aren’t getting a free ride nor are they guaranteed anything. They will be chosen based on their abilities and desire. And I like that.
The program works like this: Minorities are offered an opportunity to try out for “x” number of scholarships at the “5 On 5 Off” school. The tuition is paid for by NASCAR, everything else is paid for by the student. If selected the student attends the school in Mooresville and learns the in and outs of being a team member. Once the student graduates, he/she is offered a chance to compete for a position on a NASCAR team.
The way the system is operated requires participants to demonstrate desire, requires them to compete, and demands that they strive. They will sacrifice for the chance, they will struggle to achieve, all for a “chance”. The only failure will be for those who do not try, struggle, or attempt. Competition and achievement: It is the NASCAR way, it is the American way.
Which brings me back to Compton, and how this world of NASCAR racing, became a lot more serious for our family.
My nephew is a blond haired, blue eyed, Mexican kid. When he was just a baby we all took to calling him “Huero”, the natural nickname for any fair-haired Latino. He speaks Spanish fluently, better than I do in fact. He grew up across the city line from Compton. In his young life he has seen what most of us only experience via cop shows. In his part of the neighborhood only one car carries a “Go Fast, Turn Left” sticker, and that would be his.
My nephew was introduced to the sport by yours truly. I started him out via TV. Once he got a hang of what was going on, I could expect the phone to ring sometime during the race with his voice gloating over what Jimmie Johnson had done. Of course it went the other way; I would call and gloat when Jamie fared better than Jimmie.
I explained to him the basic rules of being a NASCAR fan: pick a driver and stick with him, clap when the window net goes down, never wish a wreck on any driver, never leave a race early.
Watching racing on TV was fun, but like most fans, he really got it bad when he attended his first race. After that, he was hooked. He has been my racing partner for some 6 years now. But if things go right for him, he won’t be attending races with me for a while.
Oh he will still be going to many a race; he will be closer to the action than I ever have been. For you see my friends, he may be going over the wall.
This Thursday he leaves for Mooresville, NC and three weeks of training at the 5 On 5 Off Pit Training School. His daddy is driving with him, as it should be, but I can’t help wanting to be in that car with him.
He was lucky enough to get a scholarship, capable enough to perform, and fortunate enough to have a chance to compete.
As I stated earlier, NASCAR is the most American of sports because it rewards the things that make this Nation great. I think about my nephew and compare him against those traits. Does he have desire? Is he competitive enough to want to be the best?
He is willing to leave all of us behind to pursue his racing dreams. That takes a lot of heart, courage, and desire. It is hard to leave behind the life you know for one that is unknown. The most difficult thing in the world to do is often the simplest. In his case, pointing his car eastward and driving away from California will be a hard thing to do.
Compton may be dangerous, but it is known. Mooresville may be serene, but it ain’t home. I told him one of the biggest adjustments he will make is during the night when it is quiet. No helicopters searching for a suspect, no sirens, no gunshots, silence is eerie for an inner city boy.
Yet his desire to pursue his dream will lead him onward. He will get on the freeway and it will become an interstate. Desert and scrubs will give way to forest and farms. Brown will be replaced by green. It will be a different world for a Mexican kid from Compton.
I have no doubt he will do his best, strive to be faster, stronger, and agile. He was lucky enough to be chosen to participate, and hopefully he will be skilled enough to be selected to move on. He has the desire, the fire in his belly, and that hunger in his eyes. He will make the sacrifice, and take the chance. Only in America, only in NASCAR.
He has a competitive streak about him, but I have always seen him as a kid who was only concerned about how he looked, how he came out of the game. And I knew that modern day “Me’ism” doesn’t work on pit road.
But I listened to him talk about his interview for the scholarship. “It is all about teamwork.” he stated. I had heard this many a time from Benny, Wally, and Jeff Hammond, but I never thought I would hear it from my nephew.
“Some of the same things we tried to do on the soccer and baseball field are the things that are important on pit road. Accept responsibility, work together, and learn from each other were the same things the NASCAR guys were talking about.” The tables had been turned, the teacher was the student. Here he was reaffirming all the things I had only hoped he would learn. He had mastered them. Before me now stood, not my snotty nosed nephew, but a man.
I cannot say enough about this sport, this magnificent sport, where the virtues of being American are celebrated every time the cars take to the track, the sport which has helped him become who he is. If his good enough, if he works hard enough, he could make it and become a part of this great spectacle of racing we all know as NASCAR.
Maybe his story will start some other kid down the NASCAR road from fan to participant. Maybe he will be working a track somewhere and speak in Spanish to some kid who didn’t think he could be a part of this, only to realize he too is welcome. Maybe a kid, who is contemplating joining the neighborhood gang because he sees no other way, will hear the story of the kid from Compton and choose otherwise. Maybe, just maybe this could lead to greater things than even I could imagine. You know NASCAR can do that to you, it causes you to dream big.
Maybe I am giving a guy on pit road more credit than he deserves, but somewhere out there along interstate 20 heading to North Carolina is a young man with a trunk full of dreams and a heart filled with desire. Back here in LA is a family filled with pride. If he makes it, he will carry all of us with him over that wall.
Godspeed and good luck from a very proud uncle.
P.S. If you read this and wonder who Mike Hines was, he was I and I was he. I took on a nom de plume for my own reasons of privacy, but now see no need to continue with the masquerade. I will miss my anonymity, but I look forward to not having to continue the charade.
Discuss this and other racing matters in the Prodigys@Speed Forum
You can contact Mike at.. Insider Racing News
December 6, 2004
Straight Outta…….
Compton. Compton, California to be precise. Not exactly Mooresville or Concord nor anything like Lake Norman. Not many Little E fans here, not many NASCAR fans period.
Of course, NASCAR would like to have more fans in the area. They are working on it and for that I applaud them.
I have written before that NASCAR is the most American of sports because it rewards the things that make this Nation great. Ingenuity, bravery, and business acumen are the traits that make NASCAR great. Beneath all that lies this current of competition and desire. All the ingenuity in the world means nothing unless you are willing to test your ideas against others and all the bravery in the world lies dormant without competition to test it.
I’m not a fan of “free rides” nor of quotas for minorities like myself. I believe such efforts rob of us of the dignity of the struggle to achieve. There is honor in the attempt, greatness to be found in the effort.
NASCAR, looking to expand its fan base, has established a diversity effort that provides minorities with an opportunity to pursue their racing passions. There are two efforts under way, one for drivers and another for crew members. Seeing as how drivers get TV Guide covers and all the attention anyway, let me tell you a little about the crew members’ part.
The program is designed to help minorities get their foot in the NASCAR door. They aren’t getting a free ride nor are they guaranteed anything. They will be chosen based on their abilities and desire. And I like that.
The program works like this: Minorities are offered an opportunity to try out for “x” number of scholarships at the “5 On 5 Off” school. The tuition is paid for by NASCAR, everything else is paid for by the student. If selected the student attends the school in Mooresville and learns the in and outs of being a team member. Once the student graduates, he/she is offered a chance to compete for a position on a NASCAR team.
The way the system is operated requires participants to demonstrate desire, requires them to compete, and demands that they strive. They will sacrifice for the chance, they will struggle to achieve, all for a “chance”. The only failure will be for those who do not try, struggle, or attempt. Competition and achievement: It is the NASCAR way, it is the American way.
Which brings me back to Compton, and how this world of NASCAR racing, became a lot more serious for our family.
My nephew is a blond haired, blue eyed, Mexican kid. When he was just a baby we all took to calling him “Huero”, the natural nickname for any fair-haired Latino. He speaks Spanish fluently, better than I do in fact. He grew up across the city line from Compton. In his young life he has seen what most of us only experience via cop shows. In his part of the neighborhood only one car carries a “Go Fast, Turn Left” sticker, and that would be his.
My nephew was introduced to the sport by yours truly. I started him out via TV. Once he got a hang of what was going on, I could expect the phone to ring sometime during the race with his voice gloating over what Jimmie Johnson had done. Of course it went the other way; I would call and gloat when Jamie fared better than Jimmie.
I explained to him the basic rules of being a NASCAR fan: pick a driver and stick with him, clap when the window net goes down, never wish a wreck on any driver, never leave a race early.
Watching racing on TV was fun, but like most fans, he really got it bad when he attended his first race. After that, he was hooked. He has been my racing partner for some 6 years now. But if things go right for him, he won’t be attending races with me for a while.
Oh he will still be going to many a race; he will be closer to the action than I ever have been. For you see my friends, he may be going over the wall.
This Thursday he leaves for Mooresville, NC and three weeks of training at the 5 On 5 Off Pit Training School. His daddy is driving with him, as it should be, but I can’t help wanting to be in that car with him.
He was lucky enough to get a scholarship, capable enough to perform, and fortunate enough to have a chance to compete.
As I stated earlier, NASCAR is the most American of sports because it rewards the things that make this Nation great. I think about my nephew and compare him against those traits. Does he have desire? Is he competitive enough to want to be the best?
He is willing to leave all of us behind to pursue his racing dreams. That takes a lot of heart, courage, and desire. It is hard to leave behind the life you know for one that is unknown. The most difficult thing in the world to do is often the simplest. In his case, pointing his car eastward and driving away from California will be a hard thing to do.
Compton may be dangerous, but it is known. Mooresville may be serene, but it ain’t home. I told him one of the biggest adjustments he will make is during the night when it is quiet. No helicopters searching for a suspect, no sirens, no gunshots, silence is eerie for an inner city boy.
Yet his desire to pursue his dream will lead him onward. He will get on the freeway and it will become an interstate. Desert and scrubs will give way to forest and farms. Brown will be replaced by green. It will be a different world for a Mexican kid from Compton.
I have no doubt he will do his best, strive to be faster, stronger, and agile. He was lucky enough to be chosen to participate, and hopefully he will be skilled enough to be selected to move on. He has the desire, the fire in his belly, and that hunger in his eyes. He will make the sacrifice, and take the chance. Only in America, only in NASCAR.
He has a competitive streak about him, but I have always seen him as a kid who was only concerned about how he looked, how he came out of the game. And I knew that modern day “Me’ism” doesn’t work on pit road.
But I listened to him talk about his interview for the scholarship. “It is all about teamwork.” he stated. I had heard this many a time from Benny, Wally, and Jeff Hammond, but I never thought I would hear it from my nephew.
“Some of the same things we tried to do on the soccer and baseball field are the things that are important on pit road. Accept responsibility, work together, and learn from each other were the same things the NASCAR guys were talking about.” The tables had been turned, the teacher was the student. Here he was reaffirming all the things I had only hoped he would learn. He had mastered them. Before me now stood, not my snotty nosed nephew, but a man.
I cannot say enough about this sport, this magnificent sport, where the virtues of being American are celebrated every time the cars take to the track, the sport which has helped him become who he is. If his good enough, if he works hard enough, he could make it and become a part of this great spectacle of racing we all know as NASCAR.
Maybe his story will start some other kid down the NASCAR road from fan to participant. Maybe he will be working a track somewhere and speak in Spanish to some kid who didn’t think he could be a part of this, only to realize he too is welcome. Maybe a kid, who is contemplating joining the neighborhood gang because he sees no other way, will hear the story of the kid from Compton and choose otherwise. Maybe, just maybe this could lead to greater things than even I could imagine. You know NASCAR can do that to you, it causes you to dream big.
Maybe I am giving a guy on pit road more credit than he deserves, but somewhere out there along interstate 20 heading to North Carolina is a young man with a trunk full of dreams and a heart filled with desire. Back here in LA is a family filled with pride. If he makes it, he will carry all of us with him over that wall.
Godspeed and good luck from a very proud uncle.
P.S. If you read this and wonder who Mike Hines was, he was I and I was he. I took on a nom de plume for my own reasons of privacy, but now see no need to continue with the masquerade. I will miss my anonymity, but I look forward to not having to continue the charade.
Discuss this and other racing matters in the Prodigys@Speed Forum
You can contact Mike at.. Insider Racing News
