We have long said we have the best fans in motorsports at Pocono Raceway. Whether you have been coming to races for years or 2018 was your first time, we want to hear from you! If you would like to be featured, please e-mail Kevin at kteel@poconoraceway.com.
This week we hear from one of our great fans, Joanne, from Mallorytown, Ontario Canada. Enjoy!
Name: Joanne Slate
Hometown: Mallorytown, Ontario, Canada
Family: Husband of 30 years, three kids and four grand kids.
Pets: Three dogs, one cat, and a bird
Occupation: Bookkeeper
Question: How many times have you visited Pocono Raceway?
Answer: 20 years in a row.
Question: How/when did you get interested in racing?
Answer: I come from a dirt racing family, so racing is in the blood. We watched NASCAR on TV and when my 4 year old son kept talking about Jeff Gordon, we said well we have to take him to see Jeff race in person at least once. We did that in 1999 when he was 6 years old. He screamed and cheered in the stands. That day, Jeff Gordon gained 5 new fans. The kids made homemade signs and held them proudly wearing their 24 gear. The next year we bought a camping trailer and started coming every year. We bring the kids, grand kids and the dogs now. The last several years we have had Reserved Fence Line and leave sad counting the days until the next year.
Question: What is some advice you would like to give to possible first time Pocono Raceway fans?
Answer: Stay in the infield, best experience ever. We started doing that in our 3rd year I believe and never went any other way! Such a great race experience. We’ve attended several other races and love them but always come back to Pocono!
Question: What driver would you like to meet and why?
Answer: Thanks to Pocono’s fantastic fan experience we’ve met most of the drivers and got autographs and pictures with them. I have never gotten my picture with Jeff Gordon nor has my son, we would love that. Many years ago we started cheering for Jimmie Johnson also, love the Hendrick Motorsports team and I would love to meet him.
Question: Any additional experiences or stories at Pocono Raceway you would like to share?
Answer: We’ve made awesome memories at Pocono. Over the years, many of our friends and family started joining us on our trip. Many of them also make it an annual trip like we do. We are very proud to take credit for that and look forward to arriving, sometimes all together as a convoy, from Canada. Sometimes we have to travel separately but we all get there.
Leave a Reply