RICHMOND, Va. — It was hard for TV cameras to miss teenagers Isabella Smith and Sam Wheeler at Richmond Raceway on Friday afternoon. They were the ones dressed in formal wear, holding a sign that said, “We skipped senior prom for NASCAR.”
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The letters in the word “senior” included the No. 18 in their sign, showing support for Kyle Busch. The two young fans also had in their possession a life-size cardboard cut-out of the Joe Gibbs Racing driver. The right people saw it, calls were made, and before Saturday night’s Toyota Owners 400, Busch was personally greeting the couple to tell them they made the right choice.
“You guys are the smart ones,” Busch said. “Everybody else is talking about it.”
Wheeler, 17, and Smith, 18, made the trip up from Rocky Mount, North Carolina, where they attend Nash Central High School. Smith said they improvised with their own version of prom Friday night at the track, stringing up lights on the awning of their RV and dancing until the campground’s quiet time.
“We knew that it would be better, we’d have way more fun, we’d have a whole weekend of events instead of just one night,” Smith said. “Prom’s overrated.”