Doesn’t it feel like it was ten years ago that Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500? The NASCAR season is so long that it’s hard to keep track of time, or to feel the weight of it, if that makes any sense. That makes it much more important to look back at the year that was and remember the best moments. This is one of my favorite posts to write because I get to highlight all the posts that I loved writing this year, and remembering something happy makes you feel good. This has been THE hardest year of my life, to the point that I even thought about not writing anymore, and I want to make sure I remember those times that made me feel alive in a good way. Hopefully 2011 will bring more of them!
— Hard Card Credibility: I got one! Woo-hoo! Starting the year with “Get a hard card” checked off my list of goals was pretty awesome.
— Charlotte Adventure: Surreal is the best and only way to describe landing in Charlotte, North Carolina to attend the All-Star Race, the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame induction ceremony AND the Coca-Cola 600. I had a lot of fun exploring Charlotte and the surrounding areas. Other races/events I attended this year were the Pepsi Max 400 at Auto Club Speedway, the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway, the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma at Infineon (Just realized that I never wrote about my second day at the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, whoops!), and the 2010 NASCAR Champion’s Week in Las Vegas.
— Inside the Actor’s Studio with Tony Stewart: Thanks to Office Depot, While I was in Charlotte I had the opportunity to interview Tony Stewart for the very first time. It far exceeded my expectations by leaps and bounds. My worst fear was that it ended up on the crappy end of the spectrum of Tony Stewart interviews (something like this), but it was the complete opposite and Tony’s comments seriously made my life. I’m so thankful for that day because it spawned a whole new feature for this site, “Inside the Actor’s Studio with…” Since Tony I’ve published interviews with Martin Truex Jr, David Reutimann, Regan Smith, AJ Allmendinger, Elliott Sadler, Chip Ganassi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Marcos Ambrose, David Gilliland, Travis Kvapil, Brad Keselowski, Brad Daugherty, Marty Smith, Shannon Spake and Jeff Burton. More to come in 2011!
— Favorite Things Posts: These were the posts that I loved because they were either fun to write, made me laugh or both:
- why i should be the next director of the sprint cup series
- where the rubber meets the grass: experiencing major league baseball as a nascar blogger
- lady gaga poses for nascar, sort of
- racing and the single girl
- the great nascar baby bonanza of 2010
— Nationwide Series Driver Interviews: Curiosity should be my middle name, it’s pretty much what drives me and it’s what motivated me to interview a few of the drivers in the Nationwide Series. For 2011 Michael Annett will join Rusty Wallace Racing, Brian Scott has moved to Joe Gibbs Racing and Scott Lagasse Jr. is working on his NASCAR plans.
— Speaking Up: I had two very awesome opportunities to speak on panels about sports blogging. I can’t tell you how much fun it is to talk about NASCAR and my brand of writing. I absolutely love it and I’m so appreciative of the opportunity that the guys at Blogs with Balls, and the women at Blog World & New Media Expo, gave me to be a part of their events. There’s video of my panel at Blogs with Balls in my post about the experience.
Another reason to “speak up” is when you encounter an actual nut-job stalker stalking someone, in this case Danica Patrick. I still can’t believe that happened, but I’m also glad that nothing bad happened.
— Reader Survey: Thank you to everyone that has taken the reader survey for 2010! I appreciate your time and insight into what I’m doing right and what I could do better with this site. It helps a lot to know who you are and where I stand with you guys. If you haven’t taken the survey, do it now!
— ‘Fabulous’ News: Another task I checked off my list of “things to do” was the creation of ‘Fabulous’ News which allows anyone to quickly post their motorsports press releases, photos and videos to The Fast and the Fabulous.
— TWLOHA: I had a lot of apprehension about sharing my experience with suicide & depression with you guys because it is SO personal and I had no idea what the reaction would be. But I have so much respect and appreciation for what To Write Love on Her Arms does for people that have been in my situation that I felt like I had to show my support and I’m glad that I did. Whatever platform you have to help the causes you’re passionate about–whether that’s Facebook, Twitter or your blog–you should use them.
Thank you for a great year! 🙂
If you’re new here I suggest reading my year in review’s for 2008 and 2009, too.
