Worth the wait

This is my nephew Alex and I checking out the best race car in the history of the world (hyperbole alert) at Charlotte Motor Speedway in March. We were there for the Vietnam Veterans Homecoming, which was held in the infield.

Alex and I discovered racing at the same time. He's actually kind of the reason I started watching NASCAR. Just over 10 years ago, I was babysitting Alex one Sunday afternoon. Even as a baby, he was obsessed with Hot Wheels cars and pretty much anything with a motor. I was looking for something to do, and even though my family had never really followed NASCAR, I did grow up in North Carolina, after all. I'd gleaned that races happened on Sundays. Newsweek had also recently run a profile of Dale Earnhardt Jr., and I'll admit I was kind of curious. (Which probably makes me the one person brought to the sport by Newsweek.)

That was the April race at Talladega, which Dale Jr. won. Maybe if he hadn't, I'd never have watched another race again, I don't know. But I identified with this guy who wasn't that much older than me, who grew up not that far from me, and I was hooked.

Alex, too. This is the one thing he and I share that neither of us shares with anyone else in the family. It sucks that today, when our driver won for the first time in four years (almost to the day), Alex was up in the mountains at church camp. When Dale Jr. took the checkered flag, the first thing I did was to text his other aunt, who's volunteering at the same camp this week, to ask her to find him and tell him what happened. I couldn't bear him not finding out for another week.

It's hard to explain to people who aren't sports fans why some of us do care about the outcome of a game so much. From the outside, it can look so frivolous when there are starving children in the world. Being a sports fan is an outlet, a form of entertainment, sure. But it's also a way to connect with people, some of whom you wouldn't even have occasion to speak to in any other setting. I may not remember who finished second in that Talladega race 10 years ago, or even how Dale Jr. did the next week. What I remember is watching that first race with my nephew.

Hopefully he won't miss the next one, because it won't be another four years. Dale Jr. and his team have worked so hard to get themselves back into contention, and I know they'll be back in Victory Lane soon. And I love how appreciative Dale Jr. has been of the fans who've stuck with him - 30 percent of all NASCAR fans, reportedly.

I know of two in North Carolina who are thrilled tonight, and who can't wait for the next one.