Fan photos, fun photos

On a slightly less serious note ...

The NASCAR Hall of Fame boondoggle is very big, very serious  news and will be for quite some time to come. That won't change, either, wherever the new hall of fame lands after much careful, thoughtful and no doubt prayerful consideration by the NASCAR brass.

The Shane Himiel mess, too, hasn't left the headlines.

How many attorneys at law do you suppose share the current NASCAR view that Mr. Hmiel has no appeal options left after his second substance abuse issue and subsequent parking?

Strictly on the fun side, though - and not that I see anything wrong with the Shane Hmiel jokes making the rounds - please see ThatsRacin.com's fan photos.

We're not talking photo essay contest winners here, although some fans shoot every bit as well as a few of the professionals we know. Some are e-mailing us their images of race cars, the drivers, even flyovers before races. Those we've got, thanks. Plenty of them.

Our favorites and the ones we're after are those fans send of themselves, their family or group. The grins are big and the fun being had, obviously, is the real deal.

That's the side of stock car racing we like most, the fun of it.

Sure, it's fun to debate the many issues - good and bad, even the tragic, career destroying ones - but it's really hard to beat the blast fans have when the race is on or is about to be. Same with the ones we see of fans visiting their favorite team's shop, posing with one of their favorite drivers or team owners.

I think it's great to take racing seriously, and I do so regularly. That doesn't mean that we - as race fans - need to take ourselves so seriously all of the time.

So, next time you and yours are deeply involved in not taking yourselves seriously in a racing context, shoot an image for us to share with other like-minded fans. Just click on that link right there on our home page.

We'd appreciate it.