Cronrath always will have burning desire to race

She walks over, smiles and shakes his hand. Small talk follows and before he leaves, she gives the man her card. The encounter lasts maybe a minute and then with another handshake and a smile -- whoosh -- Richard Childress is gone ... on to meet the next person wanting his attention at Lowe's Motor Speedway. He'll do this routine ad nauseam on the day of the Nextel All Star Challenge, yet she sees the meeting quite differently. In the sport that values time more than the Swiss -- these could be the most important 60 seconds of Brianne Cronrath's career.

Beau Estes co-hosts the Jack Daniel's Post-Race Show with Nikki Alexander. It can be seen following every Nextel Cup race live on NASCAR.COM.

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For the Pennsylvania native, though, it's the handshakes and small talk that may be the most difficult aspect of her racing life. "Having to go and sell myself to owners is an uncomfortable thing because there are millions of us out there that are trying to do the same thing," Cronrath explains. "I would much rather come in on the quiet, have the results and have them meet me personally rather than kind of trying to sell myself in five seconds."

As long as she can remember, Brianne has been a racecar driver. In fact, it's not a metaphor to say it's in her blood -- it's just plain fact. Her dad, Bret, raced on the back tracks and since the age of 3 she has had a single favorite driver: "Dale Earnhardt is my idol." And with that kind of inspirational role model it's no surprise that she'd rather be in a racecar than on a television commercial.

Still, if ever a driver was born marketable -- it's Brianne. She has a down to earth personality combined with a smile that screams Madison Avenue. Truly, it seems in this day and age she'd be fast-tracked to the big leagues of the sport -- but Brianne doesn't want anything handed to her, especially a ride in NASCAR. She prefers to pave her own way around the track.

"To me that is the most important thing," Cronrath said. "I want to be there for the right reasons. I want to be there because I made it there. Marketing is a huge part of the sport and I'm well aware of that and that's fine but I don't just want to be another face out there."

Well, suffice to say she wouldn't be just "another face out there." Right now there are exactly zero drivers on the Nextel Cup circuit with a face like hers and to Brianne's way of "earn it" thinking, that's just fine. (Continued)