Coke, new and old, has a longtime racing presence

"Did he rip you off," asked the man wearing a long white beard and coveralls.

I turned away from the vending machine and laughed, explaining to the gas station attendant that I was merely admiring the photo on the Coca-Cola machine.

LMS cookout

To further celebrate Coke's involvement and the 50th running of the 600-mile race at LMS, the track and Coca-Cola are hosting the nation's longest cookout Friday, called the Coca-Cola Quarter Mile Cookout.

Requiring more than 7,000 pounds of Kingsford charcoal, the grill will measure about 1,320 feet, spanning more than four football fields in length if stretched end to end.

The oval-shaped, quarter-mile grill, assembled on part of the track's frontstretch and pit road, will be manned by celebrity chef and Food Network personality Tyler Florence.

Joining Florence will be some of NASCAR's Coca-Cola drivers Clint Bowyer, Bobby Labonte, Kyle Petty and racing legend Bobby Allison. All the drivers will tie on aprons and help grill up lunch for thousands of fans. The event is free and open to all ticket and credential holders for the Coca-Cola 600.

It was a life-size image of a young Tony Stewart dressed in his predominantly white racing suit with orange Home Depot accents worn his rookie year in 1999. And no, "he" nor the machine did not rip me off. I got my beverage.

In a sport where change is the only constant, discovering and holding on to pieces of the past is important whether it's an aging short track in the South or seemingly the insignificant Coke machine I found that day in small town Bunker Hill, Ind.

Before going back inside, the gas station attendant said his store is "too far out in the country to get a new one" so his patrons have come to appreciate their aging shrine, merely a vending machine to passersby unfamiliar with the Hoosier racer.

Further south at a grocery store in Carmel, Ind., sits a similar vending machine outside a meat market donning a comical photo of Dale Earnhardt Jr. sporting the blonde highlights in his rust-colored hair taken in the late-1990s when the driver was sponsored by AC Delco in the Busch Series.

It was years before the No. 88 driver joined forces with new Amp Energy sponsor. Back then he was still considered a Coke driver.

Certainly competing beverage company Pepsi will rush out to find this vending machine and quickly change the exterior, but until then, it remains to be a nice little reminder and reflection point for Earnhardt fans who long for the days of yesteryear.

This weekend in Concord, N.C., will mark a milestone for the creators of these vending machines, Coca-Cola, one of the sport's longest-standing sponsors.

The company has been the official beverage sponsor of NASCAR since 1998 and has held the naming rights for the last 25 of the 50 600-mile races at Lowe's Motor Speedway, the sport's longest race of the season.

The Coca-Cola machines, new and old, are just a small example of the company's presence in the sport.

"That's the great thing about NASCAR. The sport appreciates heritage and supports its sponsors," said Susan Stribling, spokesperson for Coca-Cola America. "The vending machine is one snapshot of the history of our involvement. We've been around so long it's nice to see our connection back to the sport. There are some people who see those machines and it touches a fond memory for them. We try to keep them updated, but it is also nice to have that history out there."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.