On the Right Track
A NASCAR BLOG BY Jeff Gluck
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Superstitions go by the wayside - at least for a few races
Sep
13
LOUDON, N.H. – Rick Ren is one of the winningest crew chiefs in Craftsman Truck Series history, but he’s always celebrated in victory lane without wife Joann at his side.
To say Joann Ren is a little superstitious is like saying Kyle Busch gets a little booed. Joann has believed she brings bad luck to her loved ones’ teams ever since she was younger, as her father’s favorite sports teams often took a turn for the worse when she walked in the room.
So Joann has stayed away from Rick’s racing in the truck series for the most part. When she has showed up or allowed herself to watch on TV, something bad usually happens.
In the interest of her husband and his driver Ron Hornaday, Joann has self-sacrificed.
But after Hornaday and Ren won the series championship last season, Joann grudgingly agreed to attend some races this season. And when Hornaday won at Gateway last weekend, Joann finally visited a NASCAR victory lane for the first time in the 18 years she has known Rick.
“I finally got the monkey off my back,” she wrote in an e-mail. “I guess I cannot call myself bad luck any longer, huh?”
Since she agreed to show up at Gateway, she even got to ride in the pace truck before the race, snapping a cool photo (note the “Objects in mirror may be closer than they appear”).
Despite that, Joann won’t be in New Hampshire for today’s truck series event – just in case the bad luck monkey hasn’t gone too far.
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Comments
2 responses to "Superstitions go by the wayside - at least for a few races"
otis gleason said:
Sep 18, 2008 at 3:38 PMJeff, Just read your story in latest issue of scenedaily,When are you reporters going to give a driver some space when he needs it.? You need to drive a wrecked racecar for 400 laps and loose the race due to things beyound the drivers control, Get out of the car and act nice because only the reporter does'nt know the questions he is asking are stupid. If I were Kyle Busch I would never give you the time of day.And after reading your collumns this time you really disappointed me.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportmike stalling said:
Sep 20, 2008 at 11:42 AMif i was anybody i would not give kyle busch the time of day. what a big baby. go home and cry on you mommys shoulder loser
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