Perusing the newsstands this week, I had to laugh when I reached the stack of Tiger Beat and Seventeen magazines.

Images of me tacking pinups of Kirk Cameron and Ralph Macchio to my wall with mom's high-heel shoe come to mind.

“

I have no problems with girls chasing me. That would be pretty cool.

”

-- AUSTIN DILLON

In my diluted teenage brain, I actually thought one day the cast of Growing Pains would call me to play Julie, Kirk's girlfriend. Clearly the bands on my orthodontic headgear were fastened too tight.

Those were the days. Spending hours swooning over and pining for a teen heartthrob, dreaming of ways to meet or find said heartthrob.

I get it. I was a major offender in my teens so when I'm at a race track and I see young girls lose their minds when Kasey Kahne walks by, I get it. I can also sympathize with the girl who once hyperventilated while waiting in line for a Joey Logano autograph. And had I owned a computer in my teenage years, you can bet I would've stalked Trevor Bayne on Google.

With NASCAR's marketing power and appealing personalities, the sport is more than capable of producing teen heartthrobs today despite its predominantly male and seemingly southern fan base.

Kasey Kahne was among the first to be marketed with the female fan and consumer in mind. Through his campaign with Allstate, the sponsor cast Kahne as eye candy that distracted women so much that they crashed their cars. That, coupled with his boyish good looks and talent on the race track placed Kahne among the top five most popular NASCAR drivers among women ages 18 to 34 as indicated by his merchandise sales.

Kahne said he believes his appeal and marketing strategy attracted new and younger female fans to the sport.

"I do, and I think, you know, just probably because I was young, racing pretty decent, and they were watching," Kahne said. "I think it just kind of all worked at the right time. Then you got the Allstate commercials, some of those things going on at the same time. It just worked. I think it was good timing. It seemed like racing has a lot to do with timing, and that was another part that worked out well with that group."

And while Kahne is now 30 and reaching veteran status, his popularity among the females has yet to wane. (Continued)