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I know Doug really well. I knew his youngest pretty well. It’s just gut-wrenching. I can’t imagine what he and his ex-wife went through.

That’s why it’s no different than when we lose a driver. Every week, we’re with these people more than we are our families. Whether it’s restaurants or golf outings or charity events or autograph sessions. And then you see kids like that … it’s just wrong. It shouldn’t happen. It makes you re-evaluate your faith. What purpose could this possibly have? Why would God want to take them away? But evidently, there’s a bigger plan that none of us know about – you would hope. But it happens every day. You try not to let it affect you. But when you’re close to someone like that, it can’t not affect you.

One of the biggest kids I try to teach to my kids right now is: you guys are race car drivers. So the minute you get a driver’s license or you start driving with someone who gets a driver’s license, the first thing they want to do is say, ‘I want to take you for a ride in my fast car.’ They always want to push you. They want to show you how good they are or what they can do, or they want you to show what you can do. It’s like peer-pressure or it’s like drugs. ‘Look, this drug didn’t affect me, try it.’ I and try to tell them, ‘Look, we do our stuff in a controlled environment. That’s where we do it. You don’t do it on the street.’ It’s dangerous enough with all that in place. But if you do one thing on the street and you lose control and you kill a kid, or you go into a house or you hit a tree, you’re never going to be able to live with yourself if you hurt someone else. You can’t let that happen. And all you can do is try and preach to them as much as you can and hope it sinks in. But we’ve all done stupid things.

Posted by Brian T. Smith

We saw [his sons] almost every weekend. We watched them grow up. I used to have a lot of fun with the little one all the time. You just always saw them. You knew they were there. It was cool, just cool. As I told Doug many times in the past couple months here, I feel really badly for him and what’s happened. He’s been a strong person with it.

I think he’s moving on and going forward and embracing it. He’s done a lot of good things because of it. I think he’s taking up that challenge on behalf of his kids to try and not let that happen to any other kids.

It is a family out here. We pretty much live together almost 10 months out of the year, so it is a big family. You have your ups and downs with everybody as time goes, but when things go tough for someone, everybody rallies together. And it is a family, no matter what. It’s a very small world.

Posted by Brian T. Smith

Note: Check Sunday’s Bristol Herald Courier for an in-depth feature on Herbert.

My boys knew everybody. They’d walk around and they knew … Kenny Bernstein … Schumacher … So it’s been tough. And I think, for a lot of them, it’s been tough on them, too. Because they knew them. I mean, they’re friends with them. I mean … you know … can I imagine getting through it? I guess so. If my life … my life would be different if I didn’t have the racing. Because that’s my hobby. But it’s also kind of like a family out here, too. And every race that we go to is kind of like the first race, because I see people here that I see in Bristol every year. And I see people in Pomona that I see in Pomona every year. So every race, every weekend, it gets a little bit easier to talk about, because I have time to think about it. And it’s kind of like when it very first happened, the edges were very sharp. And then after a little while, the edges kind of get a little bit rounded off and it gets a little bit easier and you try and make sense out of things. We’re doing the program called B.R.A.K.E.S. for kids, and that’s been a help. I talked to a group of kids down here this morning … just about driving safe. The teenager driver is the most important component of the car, because they have more control over the outcome than anything to do with the car, anything to do with anybody else and they’re the most important thing – I think that maybe opens their eyes a little bit. So I’m just trying to do what I can do and deal with it the best that I can and try and, if we can, make something good come out of it by helping other kids, too. But as far as getting by without drag racing; drag racing is part of my life. I like it. My boys like it. I don’t … in fact, I’ve got pictures of the winner’s circle here at Bristol with both of them. So I mean, this is a fun place. This is a special place.

Posted by Brian T. Smith

The weather is holding out and the crowd is still filing in.

Good atmosphere here at Thunder Valley today. Non-stop qualifying on the strip. Accessible drivers and crews throughout Nitro Valley. And a diverse crowd is taking it all in.

Posted by Brian T. Smith

Carrie Myers recently completed her first season as a professional basketball player overseas.

The former Lee High and Valparaiso (Ind.) University star averaged 11 points per game for DBC Houthalen, a team in Belgium’s top women’s pro league. She’s enjoyed the experience, enjoyed the Belgian culture and is continuing to work on her game as she awaits the beginning of practice in mid-August.

Myers related a neat story to me in an e-mail last week and I felt compelled to share it.

She and German teammate Katharina Fikiel recently traveled to France to attend a men’s professional game since Fikiel knew some members of the Reims, France ProB league team.

After the game, Myers and Fikiel were chatting with some members of the team and there were quite a few Americans on the squad, from such places as Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma.
Myers then turned to one of the guys and said, “So, where are you from?”
This is how the rest of the conversation played out according to Myers:
“Ah, you won’t know where I am from,” the stranger replied.
“Try me,” said Myers, who is from the Stickleyville community of Lee County.
“You know where Knoxville is?,” the player asked.
“Heck yeah! It’s two hours from my house … I’m from Southwest Virginia,” an excited Myers said.
Stranger: “Southwest Virginia!? You know Bristol?”
Myers: “Yes”
Stranger: “Abingdon?”
Myers: “Of course”
Stranger: “How far southwest are you in Virginia?”
Myers: “Well, about as far southwest as you can go without being in Kentucky.”
Stranger: “Oh, like Pennington Gap and Jonesville?”
Myers: “Yes! I’ve never met anyone who actually knows where I’m from. Stickleyville?”
Stranger: “Yeah, I know Stickleyville.”

A stunned Myers and the French pro continued their conversation and talked about Pennington High School, where Myers’ dad had spent time as head coach.

Turns out that the American player and Myers’ fellow Southwest Virginian was none other than former Ervinton High School and East Tennessee State University star Trazel Silvers. He’s also not the only local player in the French ProB League. Josh Shoemaker (Gate City) plays for Chalons, competing in the same league as Silvers.

Just goes to show that it’s a small world, huh? 

Posted by Tim Hayes