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EVENTS
CNNSI.com GROUP
COMMERCE
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Love in the garages Valentine's Day lives among the smoke and gas fumes
By John Donovan, CNNSI.com DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- Love is in the air. You may not be able to recognize it, what with all the gas fumes, the ear-splitting engine noise and the fog that has shrouded Daytona International Speedway this week. But it's here. Valentine's Day has dropped in on the run-up to the Daytona 500, and it's as plain as the hat on Richard Petty's head. Well, to most people, anyway. "Tomorrow?" car owner Ray Evernham asked Tuesday, the day before Daytona Valentine's Day 2001. "Oh. I didn't realize that. Shoot." With Sunday's Daytona 500 just days away, romance can't be the top priority for all of the hundreds of men, and a few women, working around the Winston Cup garages this week. Winning the Super Bowl of stock-car races -- or at least making a run at it -- is paramount to many. Still, winning Daytona is not the only priority. Some who have been through this before know, basically, that it's good for them and their relationships to remember the big day, to acknowledge it. No matter what's going on in the garage or on the track. "Everyone around here knows, don't make [plans] for Jeff on Valentine's Day," said driver Jeff Gordon. "This means a lot to me." Every year, Gordon makes special plans with his wife, Brooke. He plans on a quiet evening Wednesday. Some dinner, maybe. Some flowers. Some quality time. Because, after that, it's nothing but racing.
"I can't tell you," driver Rusty Wallace said when asked about his plans for the big day -- meaning Valentine's Day. "That's all my wife needs, to read that ..." It sounded, of course, like someone caught without any plans at all. Wallace denied it. "Sure I do," he said. "I'm all over it. I stopped by on the way over here for some things. I'm all over it." There are florists in Daytona Beach, and restaurants and candy stores and ... well, there's everything a guy or a woman would need to pass on the thoughts of love to a Valentine. Once, of course, the sweetie shows up. "I don't have any plans yet," said Winston Cup champ Bobby Labonte. "My wife [Donna] doesn't get in until [Wednesday]. We'll make plans then." Being the spouse of someone deeply involved in the Daytona takes a fair amount of understanding, of course. The Dodge teams, for instance, have talked all week about how hard they've worked to get the Dodge back to racing shape. Drivers and owners have all sorts of outside commitments to sponsors and media and fans, too. Still, those excuses generally aren't worth their weight in lightweight synthetic oil on Valentine's Day. Ask Gordon, who qualifies for the title of the garage Romeo and who, when pressed, says that, yeah, he considers himself romantic. "I think most guys can be romantic when they have the time," Gordon said. "It's all about making the time." Or ask Wallace, who fancies himself a fine catch, too. "Absolutely," he said with a smile, when asked if he was a romantic. "I'm the best." Even the busiest of people around the garages this week realize that, though car racing may be their lives, there's hopefully another big part to it, too. "You come here so focused," Evernham said as he headed to a hauler to talk to rookie Casey Atwood about his ride. "I'm lucky enough to have married a very understanding girl. She missed out on a lot of stuff, I'm sure. "But not a lot of women get a chance to stand in victory lane after winning a Daytona 500, which she has done. And I hope she gets to again." Now there's a romantic.
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