NASCAR Trick of Treat

I couldn't think of anything really witty to write, especially after using up the majority of my creativity on this week's column in the print edition of The Examiner. By the way, as promised, I posted my column online and will continue to do so in the future. So, instead of just not posting, like I am prone to do, I decided to run a guest column that was supplied to me by Cathy Elliott at NASCAR. I think you'll enjoy it and you might even learn something about your favorite driver that you didn't know before.

By Cathy Elliott
NASCAR
When I worked as the public relations director for a race track, I always commented when NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event weekends rolled around that I was going to have T-shirts printed up reading, "No I can't get you any free tickets."
I wasn't kidding. This is real problem for a track employee. One minute, you're being introduced to someone new and answering the old standby question, "What kind of work do you do?" Following your answer – "I work at Thrillseeker Speedway", for example – suddenly you become a shape-shifter in their eyes. No phone booth or spandex leotard required. Where mere moments ago you were perfectly normal, now you have become a human ATM.
Automatic Ticket Machine.
It seems our old buddy Bruce Springsteen may have experienced something along these lines, inspiring him to pose the question, "Is that you, baby, or just a brilliant disguise?"
Good question.
Obviously it's Halloween season now, the time of year when we go out of our way to disguise our real selves by dressing up in outfits ranging from beautiful to bizarre.
The tradition has Celtic roots. On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought they would encounter these ghosts if they left their homes. In order to avoid being recognized by them, people would wear masks so the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits.
All that seems fanciful and more than a little silly, but still the tradition of the Halloween costume continues. It is a chance to indulge your fantasies, to recreate your ordinary average self, to release your inner princess or pirate for just a few hours and present yourself to the world as something other than you really are.
Sometimes we do this brilliantly, a la Mr. Springsteen, but other times, not so much. (The shower curtain outfit, for the record, is never such a great idea.)
But what does all this talk of ghosts, ghouls and ghastly garb have to do with NASCAR? More than you might think.
It is tempting at this point to start matching drivers up with the Halloween costumes that might seem best suited to each individual – Jeff Gordon as an all-American astronaut, Jimmie Johnson as the indomitable Superman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. as brand-new superhero Awesomeman – but that would be too easy.
Something a lot of people get confused about is the difference between a person and a persona. In sports, this is particularly prevalent, and it’s all too easy to get wrapped up in the face an athlete presents to the public, and either refuse or fail to recognize the character of the person hiding underneath. But just as Halloween is the holiday of masks, inevitably it will end and some real faces will be revealed.
Take Kevin Harvick, for example. During his career, Harvick has earned a reputation as a guy who is willing to stand up and fight – sometimes literally – if he feels the situation warrants. Fellow drivers Carl Edwards and Kurt Busch have been the objects of Harvick's “attention” in the past.
Recently, Harvick heard about the hardships being endured by  Hall of Fame driver Sam Ard, a former NASCAR champion who in addition to battling Alzheimer's was also suffering extreme financial difficulties. Shortly thereafter, the Chevrolet van used in one of Harvick's sponsors' 2008 TV commercials miraculously found its way into Ard's garage, courtesy of racing's "Prizefighter".
Tony Stewart has had several well-publicized run-ins, both verbal and physical, with members of his own team as well as media folks.
What you might not know about Stewart, however, is that this "Bully" has a soft spot for animals and kids. He has donated millions of dollars to the Victory Junction Gang Camp, a facility for chronically and terminally ill children founded by the Petty family. Stewart rescues greyhounds and has paid for bullet-proof vests for police dogs.
How about Kyle Busch, the driver everyone loves to hate?
NASCAR's current version of "Darth Vader" decided, after visiting an orphanage in 2006, to start a foundation with a primary focus on kids with compromised living situations. The Kyle Busch Foundation has participated in lots of charitable events designed to help kids, like the collection of pajamas for orphans. Pretty good behavior from such an allegedly bad guy, wouldn't you say?
In NASCAR, as in life, what you see is not always what you get. Sometimes, if you take the effort to take a look behind the trick, you'll find there's a real treat hiding in there somewhere.