NASCAR Fans Helping NASCAR Fans: How One Good Deed Led To Another

Sandie Longs loves NASCAR. But because her heart is bigger than her bank account, she can’t express the passion for her favorite sport in person very often.

Instead, Longs spends her free time tweeting her enthusiasm for NASCAR under the handle @vegangymmie, sending numerous messages to drivers, spotters, media and other fans involved in the sport.

With few exceptions, Longs is overwhelmingly kind and positive in her tweets to others. She maintains her optimistic approach despite having somewhat of a rough go in life because, as she said, “It’s better than crying.”

But one of the most difficult times of year for Longs, 41, is when her beloved NASCAR and its drivers visit Texas Motor Speedway, which is only a short drive from her home in McKinney.

There’s only one problem: Longs not only can’t afford the tickets, but even if she could, she doesn’t have a car.

That’s where fellow race fan Boyd Adams comes in. Adams, who tweets under the @racepix handle, lives approximately 10 miles away from Longs and had connected with her about their common interest via Twitter.

“We kept in touch, and the conversations became more than just about racing,” Adams said. “Family stuff, the daily grind and all that.”

But last fall, money became tight for Adams, too. The 49-year-old was laid off from his job shortly before last November’s Texas race.

Adams said he figured, “Man, I’m not going to have the money to go to the races,” but he was given free tickets to all three events that weekend.

His wife, though, couldn’t attend. She found out she had to work on each of the race days, leaving Adams with an extra ticket. That’s when Adams decided to get in touch with Longs.

“I contacted Gymmie to see if she might be interested in going to the races,” he said. “And she was excited to do that.”

Adams’ wife told him to be on his best behavior – in order not to scare a woman he had never met – so he picked Longs up in the front of her apartment complex instead of at her door. That way, he said, it would reassure her that he “wasn’t a creep” and she could back out of the situation if she wanted.

Obviously, it turned out Adams was a good guy, and the two Twitter friends were literally off to the races together.

“It’s a pay-it-forward kind of deal,” he said. “You do a good deed, and hopefully it leads to another.”

In this case, it did.

Adams’ wife had to work again on Friday and was unable to attend the Texas Nationwide race, so she told her husband to invite Longs instead. But husband and wife planned to be at Saturday’s Sprint Cup race together, and since Longs couldn’t afford a ticket, she knew she wouldn’t be able to go.

Sprint caught word of Longs’ predicament late Friday afternoon, and a representative for Miss Sprint Cup decided to award Longs two free Sprint Cup race tickets for tomorrow night.

A happy Longs was handed the tickets during qualifying on Friday, and, as she did last fall, she’ll have the opportunity to see all of her favorite Cup drivers in person (which, by the way, includes most of the field).

And how will she get to the track?

Adams, of course, plans to give her a lift.