Hey Betty Jack this is Evan, the gay race car driver.
I am trying to get some sponsors so I can race Pro next year and keep moving up the ranks. I have been interested in racing my whole life and always knew it was what I wanted (and needed) to do with my life! I came out when I was 18 and had to leave home. It was very difficult through the years but I eventually saved enough money working as a mechanic to start racing myself (on a very poor budget!). Most of the people in racing now had alot of family support...something I never had. I am still racing today but it is getting more and more difficult financially as I move up the ranks. There has to be a person or group of people out there that wants to see a gay person doing well on tv in Pro races! I am out and not afraid to tell anyone! Most people don't think I am gay but when they find out I usually keep the people as friends and change their outlook on what a "gay" person is.
I had a hard time coming to terms with my parents non-acceptance of me (we stay in contact but they still don't-and never will understand) and want to help our youth through this tough time by being out and in a Pro environment. I wrote an article for Flavor Magazine addressing gay/teen suicide prevention and I hope I can do something to help our community come to terms with this problem through awareness. Here is a link to my website. http://www.edarlingenterprises.com/ It is new and still being fine tuned... I also have a blog http://evandarling.blogspot.com/ to talk to everyone and answer questions. I also did a radio show on worldtalkradio.com http://www.worldtalkradio.com/
show.asp?sid=228 on 2/20/07 you can go to the archive and hear Joshua Estrin and Lady Chablis interview me live!
It is nice to see a website like Gaytona for gay race fans. There are more of us than most people think and maybe with me going Pro in my division we can bring out more gay race fans together!!
04.24.08 Welcome, gay NASCAR fans! The off-week makes it seem like a long time since we've been racing. Are you ready for Talladega? Will we see a real show, or another yawner?
You get the feeling that NASCAR's Cringe-O-Meter must be off the chart when people read comments like the following posted after Texas by Trent Cherry of Ryan Newman's team:
"It was a boring race for sure. I have noticed that there have been some really exciting races and then there have been some dogs. This one was a dog. I don't see how fans can justify paying for a ticket at a high price and then seeing a race like this. Don't get me wrong, its the fans that keep me employed, but at least we can give them a better bang for the buck. Bristol was good, Matinsville was good. Cali, Atlanta and Texas were boring as hell. I hope Nascar hasn't messed up the racing with the new car."
Yikes!
Anyway, I want to tell you about a super site I found. Friends have you ever wanted to go to one Web site that has the TV listings for all kinds of racing -- NASCAR, F1, ARCA, IRL and more? Well I know I have. That's why I was so excited today to find the following site, and why I'm passing it on to you right now! Bookmark it!
Y'all know that like a bad tomcat who has to roam, I just can't help cheating on my NASCAR boys with my Formula One boys. Well, this week the super-elite F1 world has been rocked to its core by a wildly scandalous story published in London's News of the World. It seems the paper came into possession of a video showing FIA President Max Mosely in a shocking Nazi-themed S&M sex orgy with five hookers! I mean the details are sleazy: Mosely pretends first to be a concentration camp prisoner, then a torturer, the paper says.
What's even crazier is that his daddy actually was a big Fascist, and Hitler himself came to his daddy and mama's wedding! Mosely's auntie Unity was such a big Nazi-lover that when Britain declared war on Germany, she wrote a farewell letter to Hitler and then she shot herself in the head with the pearl-handled pistol Hitler had given her! Years later, she finally died. I mean, this whole story is just NUTS!
I try to keep this site from getting too hard-core smutty, so I would never repeat all the details from what the News described as a "FIVE-HOUR torture chamber video," but they're right there on the Web for anyone to read: http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/3003_nazi_orgy.shtml
From what are known in F1 as the "constructors" to Bahrain's crown prince, who promptly disinvited Mosely from this weekend's race, reaction has been quite swift. Anybody want to start a pool on how long Col. Clink lasts? Or maybe he's such a super-secret insider that he's totally bulletproof, no matter how many times he gets caught pretending to be der fuhrer, terrifying some pretend milk-maid? "Stay tuned, Bat-pervs!"
03.28.08 -- Jamie McMurray looked stressed while signing autographs during Speed Week in Daytona Beach.
Y'all, everybody join me in sending some love to Jamie McMurray. I previously noted how unhappy he looked when we got his autograph in Daytona -- and that was before the season started: A season that's seen him finish no better than 22nd. Because his Bristol finish left him only 36th in points, Jamie now joins the "go or go homers," who have to qualify their way in each week.
Thatsracin.com ran an AP story by Jenna Fryer that was almost painful to read, titled "McMurray in danger of derailing once promising career." Fryer talked about "the self-loathing McMurray" who was "despondent" and "couldn't sleep" after his finish last season and "who has proven through five-plus seasons to be extremely sensitive to the highs and lows of his career." "Until he gets his head back in the game, he doesn't stand a chance at saving his season."
I have to wonder if there aren't some code words in play here: "self-loathing"? "extremely sensitive"? These are things sometimes said about gays. Is the writer trying to say more than she's saying? I don't know, but it has to be agonizing for Jamie to see himself described as a dude on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
Whatever inner demons are making Jamie so tormented, I hope he finds a way to tame them. You need to love what you do, and do what you love. Never forget the words of Auntie Mame: "Life's a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" As Grandmother DeVine used to tell me, "You go and make them know you are somebody." Good luck getting back up front, Jamie.
Betty Jack's "Signature Report" on the Atlanta 500!
03.10.08: Welcome gay NASCAR fans! We sure had a Big Time Sunday down at Atlanta Motor Speedway with Amy and AJ and all the gang! After everyone woke up to a small blizzard on Saturday, Sunday was crystal clear -- if still too cold for my taste. We sure had fun with our NASCAR friends!
On with the snow, I mean the show: Sunday's race racked up some bad, bad reviews. Whether you blame it on the New Car or the Goodyears, something was badly off at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Let's hear what the drivers had to say:
"I guarantee you that no one who saw this race today thought this was a good race. You couldn't race side-by-side today. If somebody got beside you, you just had to let them have it....Don't do this at Darlington. I ain't going to sit here and just put up with this." -- Dale Jr.
"That was the most pathetic racing tire that I've ever been on in my professional career....If I were Goodyear, I would be really embarrassed about what they brought here....I wouldn't rerun this race for any amount of money in the world.... “It is just a shame that the teams work so hard and spend so much money to compete and then it is all dictated by a tire company that is building tires that aren’t worthy of a street car. The first thing I’m doing when I get home is dismounting anything that has got Goodyear’s on it and putting Firestone or something else on it so I feel a lot safer." -- Tony Stewart
"I felt like I was going to crash every single lap....I feel like I've run a thousand miles here. That was the hardest day I have ever had at Atlanta.... This car, this tire, at this track was just terrible." -- Jeff Gordon
So bad was the situation that the AMS press office even included part of that Tony quote in its pit notes. Those notes, by the way, opened with "Atlanta Motor Speedway Tire Comment," which assured everyone that President and General Manager Ed Clark had spoken with Stu Grant, Goodyear's racing manager, after the race and "pledged to make our track available to Goodyear to come to AMS on an as needed basis to get the proper compound they need before the Oct. 26 Pep Boys Auto 500."
Wow -- pretty stunning. But I totally give the excellent AMS team credit for acknowledging the problem. After all, it's no secret there has been a lot of speculation that Atlanta could soon be a one-race town if business doesn't pick up. Driving South on Sunday, I was still doing 60 when I was less than a mile from the gate -- where's that big line of cars heading down to Hampton from Atlanta? -- and pictures of both the infield and the stands show there was room for a lot more trailers and fans. AMS is a great track with a terrific staff and tens of thousands of loyal fans who come back every race for the exciting action. We deserved a better race on Sunday. The press this race received -- not to mention the image of shivering fans and gusting snow -- isn't likely to light up the ticket lines.
On "This Week in NASCAR," Mikey and Chad Knaus talked about how the New Car when running in packs, creates "uplift" where downforce is badly needed. The result, said Mikey, is that the leaders check out while the followers slow down even more because the car is bouncing around too much. There was some discussion of "what might have been" had NASCAR worked more to improve the Old Car instead of switching altogether to the New Car, but the guys laughed sadly, acknowledging that ship had sailed.
Indeed, nothing said on that Monday night broadcast was a telling as the fact that the first half-hour was an unvarnished commercial for the upcoming Bristol contest. Coverage of Atlanta (with its in-car audio from tormented drivers as the day dragged on -- "my hands hurt so bad," Kyle moaned) -- was pushed down to the second half of the show. You had to figure a Big Memo came down from Mount NASCAR: "Enough already with the complaining! You're killing us here!"
Gosh -- if you're NASCAR, what do you down NOW? You're committed to a New Car that is not producing the kind of races the fans love. It took years to create this car -- how can they fix it in time to assure the fans they are going to get the show they crave and yes, they should still buy those high-priced tickets, spend a month's rent on gas for the Canyonaro, and take the family to the race? In a sport known for high drama, this could prove to be the most riveting storyline yet.
