Gil, Ford Martin have deep bond rooted in auto racing (cont'd)

His mother says Ford's first sentence was, "uh oh Darrell spins." And he learned his letters and numbers, not in order, but in accordance to what letters and numbers were on the stock cars, Richard Childress Racing stock cars in particular because that is the team his father worked for.

Eventually he started reading Dr. Seuss books like typical youngsters, but the level at which he wanted to be involved with NASCAR was anything but typical.

In fact, Ronda jokes that Ford is more well-known around the Cup garage than his crew chief father.

Gil and Ford Martin celebrate with Clint Bowyer at Nashville Superspeedway.

That might be because Ford is a regular guest on Sirius NASCAR radio, he often times shadows broadcaster Matt Yocum during driver interviews and he used to appear on Tony Stewart Live. He also conducts his own post-race shows on You Tube recorded in his basement and calls on neighborhood kids to be production assistants. The graphics are usually cardboard signs taped to the end of a broom stick, but the shows are packed with information, despite the seemingly positive slant towards the RCR stable.

"It amazes Rhonda and I all the time," Gil said. "The people that recognize him walking with me on pit road, they want his autograph not mine. I know I'm partial because he's mine, but really he's just a good kid. He'll talk to anyone that will listen and his manners get him a long way, he knows that."

Ford says 'yes maam' and 'no sir' and has won the Christian character award at his North Carolina school twice. He takes a heap of abuse and taunting from the drivers inside the garage, though all in good fun. Still, you'll never see Ford pout or sulk. On the contrary, Ronda says he loves it.

"They tie his shoestrings together when he's not looking, Kevin [Harvick] has taped him to doors before," Ronda laughed. "They treat him like one of the guys."

His relationship with the No. 29 team and Harvick is special to Ford.

In 2003, Harvick asked Gil if he could bring Ford home with him for a sleepover.

"Oh, Kevin was so nervous," Gil recalled. "Kevin asked, 'what do I do if he needs to go to the bathroom.' I said, 'he's not a dog Kevin.'"

Gil picked Ford up around noon the next day and Harvick said he made the mistake of getting out old race tapes.

"Kevin said, 'man I'm tired, Ford had me up until 4 a.m. playing cars and watching old races.' He was about seven or eight then ..."

The milestones of Ford's childhood have flown by and now he is officially a teenager. But during the maturation process from hanging out in the garage, Gil has really come to lean on the young man for words of encouragement and support, this season especially as he and Harvick still struggle to resolve the team's performance issues.

"It's a tremendous feeling to have him there," Gil said. "He is a huge supporter of mine."

Everyone knows how to celebrate and they know the best parts of Victory Lane, Gil points out, but not everyone knows what to do when you're having a rocky season. (Continued)