Indiana: An open-wheel state or a NASCAR state?

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- When I was a sixth grader at IPS School No. 82, my class took a yellow bus to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame Museum for a field trip. I faked sick so I could stay on the bus and work on my friendship bracelets; I had no interest in the cars inside.

As a freshman at North Central High School, I landed my first paying job during the month of May selling hot dogs from a cart on Georgetown Road.

I chose to take my earnings to the Mug n' Bun for onion rings instead of going inside to watch the Indy 500. I gave my tickets to the lady manning the hot dog cart next to mine.

By 2004, I was all grown up and had become a news reporter for the Indianapolis Star; this Indianapolis native had made it well into her 20s without stepping foot inside IMS.

That was until the day my editor told me I had to cover the Brickyard 400!

Huh? What? More importantly, why?

I covered news, not NASCAR! My editor and I went rounds. I explained to him the only reason why I knew the sport even existed was because I had recently seen Casey Mears on Days of Our Lives.

But like a dutiful journalist, I accepted the assignment, Map Quested the track and pondered different story angles.

At the end of the day, I was mesmerized by the sights and sounds of the colorful Cup garage and became hooked on the sport's energy. I loved the views from the Pagoda, the lush greens from the golf course and even the maddening "yellow shirts" misguiding everyone around the sprawling facility; it cracked me right up! I've since had to call my aforementioned editor and thank him for sending me to the place I had managed to avoid my entire life.

A few years later, I left behind my aspirations of crime reporting to be a full-time NASCAR journalist. I TiVo NASCAR shows, have a NASCAR mat in the floorboard of my car and some nights when I'm alone ... I wear a Tony Stewart T-shirt to bed.

Um yeah, bad scene, I know!

The point of my story is that in all my years in Indiana, it was the magic of NASCAR that caught and kept my attention, not the Indy 500 -- the race Indianapolis natives are expected to fawn over and embrace from birth.

Nope, it was the Brickyard 400, and then the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, that made me a race fan. But more than that, it was because our very own Hoosiers were competing in the race: Jeff Gordon, Stewart, Ryan Newman, etc. When NASCAR came to IMS in 1994, Hoosiers converged on the hallowed racing ground to see their beloved Hoosiers, and the Indiana fan base exploded. (Continued)