"She was watching E-bay on the final day of the auction,"
Mike said. "She kept calling me at work to tell me what the
current bid was. She called to tell me that somebody got it
and what the final bid was. I told her that was my bid and
she was shocked. Since then she started a countdown in
months, days and hours until we left for Charlotte."The Lewins left Green Bay, Wisc., for Charlotte, N.C., last Monday. Their week of racing began on Tuesday at Lowe's Motor Speedway. Mike and Liz both attended the Richard Petty Driving Experience that afternoon. Tuesday evening, Valvoline/Cummins driver Mark Martin made a special trip to the speedway to give Liz some private driving lessons and take her for the ride of a lifetime. Martin watched as Liz followed the Petty driving instructor to learn the line of the race track. When she came back to the pits, Martin gave her some expert advice on how to get around the track. Later that evening, Martin took her for a ride in a two-seater Winston Cup car. Martin turned a 33-second lap with Liz in the car, which is pretty impressive considering the pole for the race a few weeks prior was 29.101-seconds. Surprisingly, Liz was more nervous on her own than riding with Martin for four laps.
"Driving by myself was scarier for me because I knew Mark was watching me," Liz said. "Once I got in the car with him I was fine. It was just too short. I could have gone a few more laps with him. He was surprised with the lap times we turned. Mark told me our times would have been a provisional in the race, but it felt like the pole to me."
Wednesday started with a limousine ride to WCNC TV6, the Charlotte NBC affiliate. Liz was interviewed live on the morning show along with footage of her ride with Martin.
"We stopped for breakfast after the morning show and one of the waitresses recognized me," Liz said. "The whole thing just didn't seem real."
After breakfast, the Lewins had a chance to visit the Roush Racing shop where Martin and Jeff Burton's cars are prepared. They were able to tour the entire shop and meet many of the crew members.
"That was really neat," Liz said. "I can't believe how clean
it is. It sure doesn't look like any garage at home. I was
able to see Mark's Talladega car, and it was weird to be a
fan and be right next to it after just seeing it on
television a few days earlier."The Lewins used the remainder of Wednesday and most of Thursday to visit other shops in Mooresville, N.C., and Concord, N.C., before departing for Rockingham, N.C., on Friday morning. They spent the entire weekend at the track and were able to watch practice and the Busch Series race from the top of the team's transporter. They spent Sunday in the pits with the team.
"Hanging out in the garage all weekend was incredible," Liz said. "It is hard to stay out of the way because there is so much going on. Being on the top of the transporter during "happy hour" was great, but Jimmy (Fennig) made me dizzy watching him run around up there."
Although the Lewins did not get to go to Victory Lane, they did get to spend a week that would make any race fan envious.
"The whole experience was awesome," Liz said. "I work with a bunch of doctors, and the only way I could explain it to them was to tell them it would be like golfing with Tiger Woods. I was surprised that Mark is just as genuine in person as he is on television. He is as cool to talk to as he is to watch race. It was rewarding to do it and contribute to a good cause. The amount of money just became a number, and I think the true race fans will understand. It will never be the same to just watch it on television after having been so close to it all."
"It was fun to have Liz and Mike with us all week," Martin said. "I'm glad they enjoyed it after making such a huge donation to Big Brother/Big Sisters. I just can't believe that Liz was more scared driving on her own than with me. I would have been scared to death to ride with me. I wish we could have had a better finish for them on Saturday and Sunday. It would have really made the week special to end it in Victory Lane, but I think they feel like they got their money's worth out of the trip."
