You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
Our Fans<br />
ONE RACE AND<br />
SHE WAS HOOKED<br />
For Marsha Stephenson, there’s everything to love about NASCAR<br />
Marsha Stephenson<br />
has a case of true<br />
NASCAR love, and<br />
she thinks it was<br />
meant to be. “I worked at the <strong>UAW</strong>-<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> National Training<br />
Center’s exhibit at Talladega (see<br />
page 27) one year, and that’s when it<br />
happened,” she says. “I was hooked<br />
— and I’ve been going to the races<br />
ever since.”<br />
For about eight years now, Stephenson<br />
and NASCAR have been a steady<br />
There’s nothing better than<br />
NASCAR for Marsha Stephenson.<br />
thing. “It feels like a vacation, going to<br />
the track,” explains the <strong>UAW</strong> Local 110<br />
member and 22-year Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong><br />
veteran. “I love all of it — the cars, the<br />
drivers, the sound of the motors. I used<br />
to watch it on TV, but being there in<br />
person is the best.”<br />
Her favorite part of a NASCAR race<br />
is the anticipation. “I really like the prerace<br />
introduction, when they take the<br />
drivers around the track in a truck,<br />
waving at the crowd,” says Stephenson,<br />
who rides a Harley-Davidson<br />
I love all of it — the cars,<br />
the drivers, the sound<br />
of the motors. I used<br />
to watch it on TV, but<br />
being there in<br />
“person is the best.<br />
“<br />
when she feels like taking a spin herself.<br />
Stephenson likes to spot her favorite<br />
driver on the <strong>UAW</strong>-Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong><br />
NTC co-sponsored Evernham team,<br />
Kasey Kahne, but she makes no apologies<br />
for having a second hands-down<br />
pick in the non-Evernham category:<br />
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Thanks to her NAS-<br />
CAR memorabilia collection, which<br />
includes two life-size, standup posters<br />
of Dale Jr., she can have him by her side<br />
any time she wants.<br />
Her enthusiasm for NASCAR may<br />
be recent, but Stephenson’s interest in<br />
motorsports is nothing new. “I grew up<br />
near Decatur, Ala., and my father used to<br />
race dirt track there,” recalls the St. Louis<br />
South Assembly Plant worker. “So I<br />
would go watch him drive in the mud,<br />
and I guess it stayed with me.”<br />
Indeed it did. Stephenson’s fondness<br />
for racing takes her to the track<br />
in Talladega, Ala., twice a year. That<br />
became a long-distance <strong>com</strong>mitment<br />
when she moved to St. Louis last year<br />
from Huntsville, Ala. She’s also been<br />
in the bleachers at Bristol Motor<br />
Speedway in Tennessee and Gateway<br />
International Raceway in St. Louis.<br />
In fact, Stephenson says the best<br />
thing about living in St. Louis is that<br />
she’s closer to more racetracks, including<br />
Indianapolis Motor Speedway,<br />
Chicagoland Speedway, Texas Motor<br />
Speedway and Kansas Speedway.<br />
“There’s less distance now between me<br />
and all those tracks,” she says, ticking<br />
off the locations. “And that’s very good<br />
news for me, because there’s nothing<br />
like going to the races.” ■<br />
— S.C. Biemesderfer<br />
MARK KATZMAN<br />
8 www.uawdcx.<strong>com</strong>
Change language