Juanita 'Lightnin'' Epton

A charter member of "Annie's Army" is perhaps the most fitting description of Juanita "Lightnin'" Epton, who began working in the Daytona International Speedway ticket office in 1958 -- or before the "World Center of Racing" opened with Speedweeks 1959.

William H.G. "Big Bill" France, the founder of NASCAR and International Speedway Corporation and the mastermind behind Daytona International Speedway, coined the phrase "Annie's Army" to refer to the loyal cadre of employees who worked for his wife, Anne B. France, the head of the ticket office.

As with many other jobs in racing, laboring in the ticket office is vital, yet behind-the-scenes work. Through the years Epton saw just one race "live" at the speedway, the 1998 Bud Shootout, when she sat in the Winston Tower.

That doesn't mean she's been insulated from the "atmosphere." Although she only saw one, she heard them all, saying at times the noise was nerve wracking. The counterpoint to the crackling intensity of race day is human contact. Fans often come down to the ticket office during the race to order next year's tickets, and many talked to Lightnin'. She always considered these fans, some of which held tickets since the first race, as family.

The fans also traditionally brought updates from the track to Lightnin', a Sterling Marlin fan. Sometimes the action came right to her. In a 1960 100-mile qualifying race for the Daytona 500, Lee Petty and Johnny Beauchamp went over the wall coming out of Turn 4. Epton said it sounded like a bomb went off, as the speedway's old ticket office was less than 200 yards from where the cars landed.

Juanita's husband Joe Epton was also involved in racing as the chief scorer for NASCAR, going back to the days of the beach-road course in Daytona Beach. Lightnin' started coming to Daytona in 1946 with Joe to help score the beach races.

Joe Epton, a fixture at a variety of speedway and NASCAR functions, coined his wife's nickname, as legend has it, because "you never knew where she would strike next."

Lightnin' says the nickname fits because she has been striking around Joe, with whom she celebrated 59 years of marriage in December 2002, and NASCAR for more than 50 years.