Wednesday, June 16, 2010

M&M’s Most Colorful Fan of NASCAR

My Friend Is Featured In The NASCAR Hall Of Fame


You can imagine my pleasure when I learned that my friend, Cindi Peace was selected as the 2009 M&M’s Most Colorful Fan of NASCAR. For the contest, she entered a photo of herself in front of a Petty racecar. Kyle Petty is one of her favorite NASCAR celebrities. To win, Ms. Peace first had to win a weekly round, to be sent to the finals. In the finals, her photo had to survive each additional round. In the end, Cindi’s photo was chosen by fan vote to be the M&M’s Most Colorful Fan of NASCAR.

Of course, you know that I voted for her and it was really neat being able to share her progress via her updates. Below is our interview regarding her “once in a lifetime” NASCAR Experience.

NASCAR Race Mom: Please tell us a bit about yourself?

Cindi Peace: I live in a rural farming community in central Illinois with my husband of 21 years, Bobby, and our 16-year-old daughter, Kelsey. I work for the local park district as a groundskeeper at our city's cemetery.

I've been a NASCAR fan for about 10 years and have been a Kyle Petty fan for at least 9 of those, until he retired. I now root for a lot of different drivers but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Kevin Harvick.

NASCAR Race Mom: What was your first NASCAR Experience?

Cindi Peace: The first race we attended was a Busch (now Nationwide) series race at Gateway in 2004 and our first Cup race was the Daytona 500 in 2006.

NASCAR Race Mom: How did you earn your way into the NASCAR Hall Of Fame?

Cindi Peace: Amazingly, I won the M&M's NASCAR's Most Colorful Fan Contest. I submitted a photo, got friends & family to vote like mad for me and couldn't believe it when I kept making it through the weekly rounds to end up one of 3 finalists. Then it was up to the judges to decide the winner & for some crazy reason they chose me! There were so many creative and what I thought were more "colorful" photos submitted than mine so I was truly shocked to win.

NASCAR Race Mom: What was your favorite part of your NASCAR Hall Of Fame experience?

Cindi Peace: That's a hard question to answer....it was all such a blast! Meeting Junior Johnson was such an honor. Being included in the Hall of Fame is an honor as well, and one I don't feel I deserve. Touring Joe Gibbs Racing and getting to see all the behind-the-scenes parts of a race shop that most people never get to see was incredible. Also amazed at being able to tour NASCAR's Research & Development shop. Lots of fun seeing how they inspect the cars as well as test the safety equipment. We met so many wonderful people and they all treated us like royalty so I'd have to say the people were my very favorite part even though the entire experience was amazing. Thanks for letting me share my experience!


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