NASCAR fan follows hobby at home and on the road

On an early February day that should have been triumphant for Susan Chandler, she was feeling blue.

A new software program was being installed on the computers of her medical billing company, Twin Physician Services. It was a critical upgrade and required her focus and physical presence, but part of her longed to be somewhere else.

"I'm depressed I'm not at Daytona," she said with a sigh.

Usually every February, Chandler and her husband, David, are driving their fifth wheel to Florida for the Daytona 500, where her beloved Tony Stewart this year raced his No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice Chevrolet to a disappointing 22nd place on Sunday (Jamie McMurray won).

But duty called, so the couple's annual pilgrimage to one of Chandler's favorite races had to be canceled. Instead, she will get her NASCAR fix next weekend when the Sprint Cup Series stops at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Chandler, a mother of two grown sons and president and co-founder of her own company, is a NASCAR nut, one of those fans so devoted that she holds season passes to the Phoenix International Raceway, an infield spot at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a dune buggy painted to look like Stewart's old Home Depot car, driver autographs and every piece of memorabilia one can imagine. An entire room in the Chandler home is dedicated to NASCAR.

Her husband? Well, he likes NASCAR, but he's mostly just along for the ride.

"I tag along and drive the RV," David Chandler said. "Of course, we both have fun, but she's a bigger fan."

Chandler's love of NASCAR started in 1999, during Stewart's rookie year. He has been her favorite driver ever since. She's partial to races in the Sprint Cup Series, which driver/owner Stewart races in.

"I happened to watch a race once and they were talking about an engine," Chandler said, thinking back to what, exactly, drew her to NASCAR. "I think it's the strategy. It's the speed, the sound. There is nothing like sitting there when they all take off. I just love that."

David Chandler races boats on Lake Mead, so the mechanical talk was something she knew. The water makes her keep some distance, though. With NASCAR, Chandler can walk into a garage area before a race, see the cars up close, talk to the drivers.

"We get garage passes and get to go in. I love talking about the engine stuff, how they (adjust) the tires, I like that stuff," Chandler said. "It's interesting to me. I don't know any girls who will talk about that stuff with me."

Chandler doesn't seem like the stereotypical NASCAR fan. She knits, cooks, reads mysteries, drinks wine and doesn't much care for beer. But she also likes engines and speed, the smell of fuel in the air and getting her hands dirty.

"NASCAR people are nice people," Chandler says. "The girls at work would kid me and say, 'We're going to save our beer cans to get your ticket.' But it's not like that. I know doctors, architects, lawyers, motivational speakers who all love NASCAR."

For the past five or six years, since they bought the RV, the Chandlers have traveled to at least four NASCAR races each year, often five or six. Over the years, she has spent thousands on trips to races, tickets, souvenirs and incidentals. For a trip to Daytona, Chandler budgets $5,000, but that's for a six-week, cross-country trek in the RV.

They would do more, if it were up to Susan, but they balance out NASCAR with a few boat races for David.

"My goal is to get to Bristol," Chandler says of the race track in Tennessee. There's a night race during the fall that she'd like to see, especially since it's run on a short track. "I'd like to go this year but I say that every year. Something usually comes up, though."

When they're not on the road, Susan Chandler is sitting in front of the television most Sundays from February to November, watching a race. She also records it so she can go back and watch the best parts again.

In the beginning of Chandler's hobby, they sat in the stands; now they arrive days in advance of a race and set up the RV in the infield. While the infield at a NASCAR race once had a reputation as a boisterous, rowdy and sometimes raunchy place, it's now dominated by fans like the Chandlers.

"I was worried about that at first," Chandler said. "But the infield is so nice, it's like tailgating at football, only they're friendlier and more fun."

By Wednesday, they will park the RV in the infield at the speedway -- they have a spot in the backstretch -- and return home to finish preparing for the weekend. On Thursday, the Chandlers will load up their two dogs and head back to the RV, which will serve as their base of operations as they tour the garage area and visit with their temporary neighbors.

"Vegas has the best infield to watch a race," Chandler said. "You're right in the middle of all the excitement. I can't wait."

Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564.