As much time as I spend at race tracks you'd think my own granddaughter wouldn't have had to wait so damn long for her first trip to one. Between working on cars or working at the track, it just never seemed like a good time to take her and that's been eatin' at me long enough. This little sweetheart deserves better than that so this weekend was all for her. As much as I love Hilltop, the best place I could think of that would allow one on one time with her was Deerfield Raceway so we hit the road Saturday night. I'm not sure who had the bigger grin when we pulled into the place and she got her first glimpse of what grandpa has loved his whole life. Maybe us old folks have forgotten what it felt like to take in our very first racing experience, but Saturday night I was blessed enough to be reminded by seeing that gleam in her eyes all night long. Hell she was still glowing when talking about it today! Alright,,, I guess I was too. ;-) She picked up the way the show worked pretty quickly and was picking winners out of the field before the green dropped in many of the races. This girl is already smarter and better mannered than many adults I've seen in racing over the years. Go figure.

I've mentioned before that Deerfield is unlike any other track I've been to, and the maturity of the young drivers is more than just impressive. Not only do they handle themselves with class on the track, their interviews after the races will make any racer proud to have these folks represent the future of racing. What a great facility this is for the ultimate family racing experience from the stands or on the track. If you haven't checked this place out yet, you really should. And if at all possible, take a kid racing whenever and wherever you can. The sport can always use more fans and future racers, and you will be rewarded by the new found joy in their eyes. I know I was!