NASCAR Father's Day

Tell us your earliest memories of your son racing.

One of my earliest memories is when Casey would sit for hours racing his little Hot Wheels cars when he was about 2 years old.

When he was about 3, we took him to watch different bicycle races, and they had kids racing Big Wheels. Next time we went, Casey was racing Big Wheels with them.

By 4, he had moved up to BMX bicycles. Casey was so little that he couldn't touch the ground when he was on top of his bike, so I would have to hold the bike for the start of the race and then run down the hill to catch him when he finished. After BMX, he started riding a motorized Honda three-wheeler in the backyard and then moved on to racing quads at Bakersfield Speedway in California.

What characteristics has your son inherited from you?

Two things really stick out in my mind. One is that Casey stands on the gas, which he got from me. The other is that he has a ton of patience, which he probably inherited from his Uncle Rick [four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Rick Mears].

Describe your proudest moment as Casey's father.

I've always been proud of Casey - inside and outside of racing. From a very young age, he handled himself maturely. He's very focused and always seems to know what he wants out of life. He's a real caring person, loves his family and friends, and is thoughtful and respectful. I'm proud of him most as a person and as my son.

I remember being proud of him at a very young age when he decided he wanted to race and then went after it - on his own, 110%! Obviously, I'm proud of his successful moments in racing, too - bicycles, quads, go-karts, SuperLites, Indy lights, and now NASCAR.

So I guess I don't have one "proudest moment," I have lots of proud moments! The latest is watching him become a father himself. He is such a good dad and is all about that little girl! Sam is the apple of Casey's eye, and I'm really proud about how he is as a father.

What is a funny childhood story about Casey that sticks out in your mind?

The time I was teaching Casey how to play croquet. He was about 5 years old, and I was standing behind him, leaning over the top of him, placing his hands on the mallet and showing him how to swing it. I told him you have to swing pretty hard to hit the ball well enough so it goes through the wires placed in the yard. Instead of me stepping back before I told him to swing, Casey swung the mallet up really hard and hit me square in the forehead - almost knocking me out. I was literally out on my feet! It was pretty tense at first, but then we all got a good laugh out of it - and I got one heck of a bruise on my forehead!

Another funny story is our father-son fishing trip when Casey was about 5 years old. I decided out of the blue to go camping and fishing. We loaded up our chocolate lab in my Jeep, and on the way out of town, we picked up a tent, bought fishing poles, got our crickets for bait, and headed for the mountains. We arrived at dusk, proceeded to put up our tent straight from the box, which ended up being a disaster because we couldn't see anything at night, but we finally managed. We built a nice fire, sat around it for a while, and then went to bed. When we woke in the morning, we gathered our fishing gear and our crickets, and I noticed they were all dead. Ticked off, I dumped them out of the container around the ashes of the fire from the night before. Well, within minutes the crickets started jumping all over the place. They weren't dead; they were just cold. We were running around like crazy catching our crickets. After finally gathering enough crickets for bait, we gathered our fishing gear and headed out to find a nice fishing hole. We were walking on logs crossing sections of the river, and both Casey and I started to fall off the logs. Afraid for Casey to be downstream from me -- the river was moving pretty fast -- I flung him upstream, and then I fell in and caught Casey as he floated to me. So we had wet clothes, it was cold, AND our crickets were soaked and dead again! Plus we lost our fishing poles in the river. We went back to our camp, built a fire to dry our clothes, played around a little, and decided to go home since our bait was dead and our poles were gone. The fishing part of our camping/fishing trip was gone! At that age Casey didn't care. He had a blast and had stories to tell about falling into the river and killing the crickets twice!

What's your most cherished Father's Day gift from your son?

My Hot Rod - hands down! I think it was actually for my 60th birthday, but Casey said it also counted for Father's Day and Christmas, too! Ha! He surprised me by sending me to Barrett Jackson and letting me pick out my dream car. I have that baby sitting in my garage right now. I wear his mother out by telling her every day, "I LOVE my car!"

What are you hoping your son gets you for Father's Day this year?

A race win!!! As a matter of fact, it can come sooner than Father's Day if he wants.

Question for Casey: What is a memory you have of you and your father from childhood?

I would have to say when Dad and I both raced in the Mickey Thompson Stadium races. Dad raced for Nissan in the pickups, and I raced the SuperLites. It was a lot of fun racing with him! He taught me a lot about racing during that time - giving me pointers firsthand at the track. Those were fun days!

Tell us your earliest memories of your son racing.

I remember using my foot to show him where to hit the corner when he was racing in quarter midgets at the age of 4 ½. I would put my foot on the track and tell him to hit my foot - that's where he needed to be on the track.

What characteristics has your son inherited from you?

I'd rather not say, but does the apple fall far from the tree?!

Describe your proudest moment as Ryan's father.

So far there have been 31 years of proud moments! Obviously, our proudest moment at the track together was when he won the Daytona 500 last year.

We'd love to know of a fun childhood story about Ryan. What's a funny story that sticks out in your memory?

When Ryan was about 6 years old, he disappeared at a race track in Ohio. He was with a fellow racer playing with trucks and being kids, so they lost track of time. We finally found him at the creek playing with his friend.

What has been your most cherished Father's Day gift from your son?

I don't think we have ever NOT been together on Father's Day. That is Number One, and the best gift is that we get to spend time together. He doesn't get me a gift usually, but he has won several races on that day. When he has done that in the past, he normally comes over the radio and says that's for you, Dad.

What are you hoping Ryan gets you for Father's Day this year?

Take a guess!

Describe a fond moment that you've shared with Martin?

I'll never forget when he won the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship in 2004. It was at that moment that I felt like we had "done it." You dream of getting to that point with your son and work so hard to get there, so when you actually do it, the feeling is amazing.

Tell us your earliest memories of Martin racing.

Probably when he was 10 years old racing go-karts at the New Egypt Speedway in New Jersey.

What is it like watching your son race each weekend?

Well, I guess I'd have to say "sons" now. Martin's younger brother, Ryan, now competes in the Camping World East Series for MWR and drives a late model for MTJ Motorsports.

When I watch Martin race, it is a lot more enjoyable, and I can sit back and enjoy the race because he is at a level that he knows what he is doing. With Ryan racing I spend more time taking notes on what he needs to improve on. So it is definitely different watching them both race. But I still feel very lucky to get to do it.

What's your most cherished Father's Day gift from Martin?

The year after he won his first Nationwide championship, he bought me a new Corvette for Father's Day. I will never forget that.

What are you hoping your son gets you for Father's Day this year?

I wouldn't mind another championship!

Martin Truex, Jr.: Tell us a memory you have of you and your father from your childhood racing.

My favorite memory was the first time I raced against my dad; it was the only time we raced against each other. It was at New Hampshire Speedway at a Busch East Series Race. I qualified fifth in one of my dad's old cars, and he qualified fourth in a new car. We ran about 20 laps or so, and he was leading the race. I was about five car lengths from passing him for the lead when my engine blew. I was so close to passing him!

What is a funny story that sticks out in your memories?

One night after a race at Hickory Speedway, Brian and Jon Wood were going home, and I asked him if he knew where he was going. Brian's response was, "I don't need directions! I know how to get home!" Two hours later Brian called on his cell and asked how far the house was from Ashville, N.C. My response was, "Four hours...go the other way!"

Tell us your earliest memory of your son racing.

Brian was 8 years old, leading a go-kart race in Tyro, N.C. He had a complete straightaway lead on the field, but he kept looking back and all around until he drove off Turn 2 right into the hay bales!

What's it like watching your son race each weekend?

It's a world of emotions. It can be the greatest feeling in the world if he has a good race, and it can be the worst feeling in the world if he has a bad race.

Describe a fond moment that you've shared with your son.

This past year he flew me to Barrett Jackson, and we have started collecting old cars together. Sure beat the hell out of that tie for Christmas in 1988! (I don't wear ties.)

What's your most cherished Father's Day gift from your son?

A few years ago he flew me to Michigan for the race and he had "Happy Fathers Day Dad" on the hood of the car! Added bonus was that they put my name over the driver's door (I am not sure why they didn't let me drive)!

What are you hoping your son gets you for Father's Day this year?

A win! If I can't get the win, I will settle for a new ZR1 Corvette. Yeah, that will work.

Can you tell us your earliest childhood memory of Jamie racing?

He was 7 years old and I had just bought him a yard kart. Out behind the local go-kart track in Joplin, Missouri, there was this great big hay prairie and it used to be an airport at one time, so it still had the little concrete cases for the taxi lights and those were still in this field. Jamie was out there running around and around, and he didn't come in and I finally went out to go and find him. Well it turns out that he had hit one of those concrete cases and his nose hit the steering wheel, and it had bloodied his nose. So I helped to clean him up a bit and he went back out and ran around a bit more in the kart.

When we went home that night, he wanted to ride in the backyard, and our yard had a lot of big trees in it. I kept hearing him go around, and around, and around, and around, and pretty soon I heard the motor rev up, and then quit. Well he had run over one of the roots on the trees and it had turned the go-kart over. But that's the first memory I have of him running that go-kart.

I can remember his first go-kart race in Joplin, Missouri, and he had a great time. From that day on, he was racing every single weekend somewhere.

What's it like watching your son race every weekend, now in NASCAR?

It's not any different than when he was 7 or 8 years old honestly. I still get the butterflies when he gets in the car. But I have to applaud NASCAR for this, because of the HANS device and the SAFER barriers, all parents are a lot more at ease now, than they ever would have been because of both those safety factors. I actually feel pretty good about him in the car because I know how meticulous he is about safety.

Can you share a fond moment you've shared with Jamie?

In 1989 we went to Russia and ran go-karts with a quarter midget club. We got to spend 10 days in Russia, and in the mornings we had the opportunity to tour all the sights like the Kremlin, Red Square, etc. Jamie got to speak at a school because he won the first race over there, and I just remember it being a very proud moment for me to see him speak.

He's 33 years old now and honestly he hasn't changed much over the years. For about the past 25 years, it's been about the same thing in our family every week - we race. Racing is about the only thing we've ever done, but we've been fortunate enough that it's been very good to us. I'm just so very proud of Jamie and all that he's been able to accomplish for himself.