the About Jayski Page!

Welcome to my Home, pull up a stool!

Updated on 8-27-2008
Lots of Graphics, may take a while to load

Who is Jayski? What is a Jayski?

R.I.P. Smokey
1994-2008

Jayski....from the book, "Stock-Car Racing Lives" by Richard Sowers(see below)

Kevin Patrick

A PROUD UNCLE my one and only nephew [no nieces either], Kevin Patrick, my sister Tracy and her Husband John's boy. He was born a week after I moved to NC in Jan 2004.

Latest on Jayski

After many mods to the outside, the house is coming along nice. I love being here and in the Mooresville, NC area. I am pretty much back into my old hermit mode and staying out of the limelight as I didn't care for it in 2004 and got side tracked too much and pulled in too many different directions. Really concentrated on the site in 2005 and beyond, back to what got me here frame of mind. Do not like being on TV or in the spotlight, just like doing the site which even thou is owned by ESPN, they have given me 100% control of content and do not censor anything I do.
I NOW [as of July 21, 2007] am a married man.......found a nice lady, Peg, who I knew way back in 1983. We went to Hops back in Dec 2004, shortly there after she became my girlfriend and on Dec 28, 2006, I proposed at the Biltmore and she said yes. We got married in July 2007. Peg is a Charotte area school teacher who has no interest in NASCAR and nothing to do with a team or the sport. This works well for me. But on the other hand, she is super about understanding my work commitments, lack of time on the weekends and the crazy hours I keep to do this site and not traveling much if any. She had two great kids, Drew and Jenny who I get along with well. Plus I get along well with her pets Scout, Meica and Bugs.

Jenny and Peg made a Snowlady on Feb 1, 2007, our first snow in a while

Drew does BMX racing, he liked to jump and grind

NOT AS GOOD? BALONEY I SAY! Sometimes I get folks who think the site is not as good as it used to be or I went corporate or sold out.....well..they are full of baloney...NO one tells me what to post or not to post. ESPN hosts the site and handles some advertising content, they do NOT own any piece of the site [but if they made a HUGE offer...who knows...lol]. None of the advertisors have the right to tell me what to post or force anything on me, or I would turn it down. I still do the site by myself, if I do hire someone to help, it'll be someone I know and trust, not looking for interns or some I do not know.
THANKS: Jayski, founder of the popular NASCAR news site, Jayski.com and his readers have exceeded their initial pledge of $75,000 for the Victory Junction Gang Camp Computer Lab, raising more than $85,000 [at last count in mid 2007]. The pledge was exceeded after the camp received a $17,211.23 donation from a group who only want to be recognized as "Fans of Jayski.com in the Cup, Busch, and Truck garage." "We are thrilled that Jayski and his supporters have done so much for Victory Junction," said Pattie Petty, CEO and co-founder of the camp. "Having a computer lab enables campers to learn about and use the latest and greatest technology. Members of our Summer Staff don't get to watch a lot of TV while they're here at camp so the computer lab lets them stay up to date with the latest news, as well as stay in touch with friends and family." The Computer Lab is located inside the Silver Theater at Victory Junction and it consists of 20 computers as well as printing and scanning equipment. The Victory Junction Gang Camp is a member of the Association of Hole in the Wall Gang Camps and is free to children and their families. The camp operates solely on the generous donations of individuals, corporations and foundation.(Victory Junction Gang Camp PR)(2-14-2007)

So what do I post? what interests ME! If others like it, cool, if not......oh well. Can't have everyone like me or the site. If folks don't like it, move on and go elsewhere, I really don't wanna hear about it.

I don't just post whatever someone sends me, I need to have a history with the person telling me the news/rumor. Just because someone sends me a story link, a news item, an image....does not mean I will or have to post it. I may or may not...depending on if I think it is worthwhile, about the Cup Series, a good image and no some hoax, which I get 5-10 a week.

I won't say on the site 'EXCLUSIVE'...or....'AS HEARD HERE FIRST'.....or stuff like that, it is just self serving back slapping. Do I work hard? sure I do, but don't most of us...at whatever you do? So you don't need to hear I work hard. I update the site 5-15 times a day or as warranted, to keep folks informed and up-to-date as possible. Will I miss things sometime.....sure will. Hey I have to sleep, eat, go to the dentist, doctor, shop, spend time with my wife and friends, walk the pooches, watch some TV or a movie. But 90% of the time I am home and prepared to update the site.

Some folks call me rude, I never mean to be rude with my email but
I am very busy with the site, sometimes working as much as 15 hours a day
so sometimes I am blunt and to the points
or someone cusses me out and is very nasty
so I may tell them 'if you do not like my site or the way I do things, go elsewhere'
I will not belittle or cuss back at anyone, but I will stand up for myself.
I post what I find interesting and what I think readers will be interested in
I do not post rumors just for the sake of having rumors, I check them out with sources.

Why did Jayski start this page/site? a little history
Back in August of 1996 [August 26, 1996], I heard that Lake Speed was losing the Spam sponsorship (see two images #9 Univ of Nebraska Ford - Image 1 and Image 2) and would be sponsored by the University of Nebraska. I searched and searched and could not find a thing about it on the Internet. I had this home page and an Ernie Irvan page, so I started posting this and other information I found on a Silly Season page. The posts and news kept growing and was getting to difficult to do on one page, so did a Winston Cup team chart for 1997 and the news kept coming and was finding stuff/ In 1996 there were very few NASCAR related sites and the Jayski Silly Season site became more then one page. As time went by, I started accumulating very good sources and was able to generate news I could not find elsewhere and pool other info from other Internet sites, racing magazines and newspapers, TV shows and the race coverage. The website address was very long and my local Internet at the time was slow and unresponsive to problems. I remember when I hit 100 visitors/page views on one day, I thought that was amazing (The site as a whole now does over 550,000 page views a day and 90,000 daily uniques during the season and around 800,000 people a month - as of Dec 2006). I finally decided I needed to change the website address and held a one month vote where www.jayski.com was the overwhelming choice. I hooked up with Xobyte in Tennessee where the page was kept until Feb 3rd, 1998 where it was moved to NetSource with a faster connection and server with much more bandwidth. To defray costs of maintaining the server, the additional bandwidth and updates to my system and IP, we put up 4-8 banners with paid advertising. In 2000, I signed with Digest Company, Racing Champions/Ertl. With their help the Jayski site has gotten bigger and better in 2000 but they decided the partnership was not working out for them and didn't renew. But I had a few interested companies in partnering up with me, and narrowed it to two and after weeks some tough thinking, I decided on Knight Ridder/Thatracin as I felt the partnership would allow the site to grow and be seen by more people and have been with them since Jan. 2001. In 2004, Knight Ridder and I decided to part ways. I had a few good offers from companies, one being ESPN. Being a sports guy, this seems like a perfect match for me and the site and I signed with them. The site has been hosted at ESPN.com since Dec 31, 2004 after Thatracin dropped the site 12 hours early, but ESPN picked up the slack immediately. In 2007, ESPN is televising all the Busch Series races and the final 17 Nextel Cup Series, which should allow Jayski.com to grow even more and reach more NASCAR Fans if ESPN promotes the site [which they have not at all as of Oct 2007]. I still control the content and site design 100%.

With the site as a full time job since 2000, I now maintain the 1500+ pages on the site easier, find more and new exciting information on NASCAR Nextel Cup, plus have hired two friends to help with the Busch Series and Truck Series sites. I often get asked to start NHRA, IRL, ARCA, ASA, WoO, CART, and other series site. Sorry, but no plans to do that as I am a Nextel Cup fan and started the site because that is my interest. Any other site would detract from the CUP side and I won't allow that, as I enjoy and support CUP. Plus hiring Scott and Nancy in 2006 to do the Busch and Truck sites. In 2005 I started posting my own results and points standings also. One of the biggest sections is the Paint Scheme sections, which is posted images of the different paint schemes teams/drivers race throughout the season [going back to 1997]. I do not post driver images, headshots or crash images. Anyhow that is why I started it and some future plans. Enjoy the site!!

My full time job since Dec 3, 1999 is actually the Jayski Website. It keeps me busy and work around 10-15 hours a day into working on it
So What is good in Mooreville? some places I check out, shop at or go to:
Food around Mooresville: Waffle House; Cracker Barrell; Lancaster's; What-a-burger; Big Daddy's; Big Al's; Papa's Hot Dogs; Brusters Ice Cream; Dairy Queen; CiCi's; Vinnie's at the Lake; Micky and Mooches, Soiree and Jeffrey's
Food in Concord [25 miles from Mooresville]: Quaker Steak and Lube; Uno;
Shop at: Harris Teeter; Food Lion, BJ's; Target; Wal-Mart; Sam's Club [Kannapolis]
Linens N Things; Home Depot, Kohl's

Need tires or auto service? recently got new Goodyear tires at Gemini Auto Care - Goodyear Auto Service Center in Concord, NC

Insurance Needs: Newman Insurance - 704-799-0403 on the web at: newmansweb.com

Real Estate needs, call Kathy Chenette at Allen Tate Company, 704-896-5113

Tree Service: Lake Norman Tree Service, 704-663-0518 - ask for David

Spinkler Systems: Bill's Lawn Sprinkler Systems: 828-478-2742 or 1-800-478-2741

Power Wash and Seal of Mooresville, NC (704) 975-5473 - Dave

K9 Cabins for you dog kennel needs, Troutman, NC, 704-528-3517

and if in the Atlanta area and need some garage organization: garagegeek.com

Tell them Jayski or Jay told ya to call

THE GEM Market: anyone in deep South New Jersey, Cape May County, don't forget to go visit the GEM Market in South Dennis, NJ for your sandwiches and convience store needs. Tell Adam and Kyle, Jayski said HI.

A National Newspaper columns/articles about Jayski:
Nascar.com won't duck tough issues by Chris Jenkins (2-6-2002)

Stock-Car Racing Lives
by Richard Sowers
(chapter about Jayski)

Find out more about Jayski, even a picture, in the book "Stock-Car Racing Lives" by Richard Sowers and published by David Bull Publishing(1-800-831-1758). JAYSKI, is a chapter in the book, along with NASCAR owners, drivers and other interesting people. Talks about how I started this site and why, many quotes and even a picture of Jayski.

Jayski with Hair?

Had some fun at the Ocean City Boardwalk back in June 2003 with John [Lafeen], Wilsey and Karen.

The Jayski and TV..a scary thing

have done three national NASCAR interviews:
on Oct 23, 2003, aa camera crew came to my then residence in southern NJ for a live interview for Speed Channel's Wind Tunnel with Dave Despain. I was on air for about 20 minutes and dressed up a Jayski Crew Shirt with all my advertor's logos, a good on something Dave said a week before about someone in a suit and tie, that is was good not to see al lthe logs, so I had fun with it and it went very well.

Jayski.com and its somewhat mysterious man behind the monitor Jay was featured on Fox’s Totally NASCAR on Oct. 3, 2002 with Sean Pagrano

And back in June 1998, I appeared on TNN's NASCAR show with Ned Jarrett, Stephanie Burner and Steve Waid, I was interviewed via tape in NJ by Randy Pemberton, for about a five minute piece, it was very cool and my first real exposure.

Jayski on May 12th, 2002 at Daytona Intl Speedway
where I took the Petty Ride Along Experience, three laps at speed around the track
it was a blast, Daytona USA was fun too.

My last 'real' job found me as a programmer/database analyst in New Jersey. I worked with Microsoft Access, PowerBuilder, some Oracle, Windows NT 4.0, supporting a third party software-Travel Manager, working on the Internet/Intranet and Networking/Internet.

Check out the The Unofficial Jack Daniel's Commemorative Decanter Web Page
by Kurt one of my best friends
We went down in Oct 1999 and Oct 2001 for the Barbecue.
Kurt doesn't update the site anymore, but it still has some interesting stuff and lots of pics on it.

My job before that, I programmed in Visual Basic and did a lot of database work in MS Access. Other jobs include: Craps Dealer, Slot Attendant(casinos), graphic artist, printer, technical recruiter, USAF, Aircraft Mechanic and McDonald's(my favorite food!).

I was in the US Air Force from 1982-1986 and was stationed mostly at Dover AFB, DE. I was a C5-A Crew Chief and General Aircraft Mechanic, also worked in Supply and on the Aircraft Inspection Docks(ISO). I still maintain friendships with 6 former Air Force buddies(Joe H, Ed, John B, John W, Jim and Dan) and try to visit/call/email them as often as possible.

A C5-A flying over and past the Golden Gate Bridge

The JAYSKI Zoo!

I love animals and have one dog Sandy [had 2, but Barnee passed away in Dec 2007].
My two Reba and Angus.
And since I got married in July 2007, we have four cats with Meica and Scout
Angus is named after...of course...Angus Young of the great AC/DC!
Reba was my sister's cat and she moved and couldn't have her at the new place
Guss passed on in Feb 2004 and my folks really miss her and they lost their outside cat, Dexter in August 2008.
Smokey was my Grandma's cat, I took care of him from July 2001 until he passed August 27, 2008, he was 15
My boy Sammy passed away two days before Dale Earnhardt, that was a tough weekend.

sandy playing

This is my dog Sandy, got her on 1-29-2001, she is a beauty.

The Angus Cat

He was the last addition to the Jayski Zoo, my sister found him in NJ on the side of the road in Aug 2004
He is a trip, has a wild tail, and loves to eat and chase Reba, who hates him

The Kitties [Aug 2001]

reba on my chair

This is Reba, or 'rat girl' as i call her, her meow sounds like a rat. She is very skitterish

pet my tummy

Smokey was the mellowest cat on earth, he passed on Aug 27, 2008 after 15 years

in a box

Smokey squeezing all 18lbs of himself in a beer box

R.I.P. Barnee
1992-2007

Barnee walks himself, drinks from the birdbath (yum, bird poop) and zonked out
Barnee just showed up one night in Dec 1994 and never left, not a mean bone in his body
Sadly Barnee passed away in his sleep on 12-12-2007 after 15 happy years

barnee bone

More Barnee, what the heck do I do with this thing? His Christmas 2000 gift

My late pets

Sam snoozing upside down and sitting at my computer in my chair. Sam passed away on 2-16-2001 at the age of 13.

I am it!

Guss passed away on Feb 29th, 2004 and she will be missed by me and my folks
1988-2004

knickers RIP

This was Knickers, she passed on to a better place July 1998 and our tribute to her...(thanks Dad)

palm tree

Places I have lived:

North Carolina	New Jersey	Delaware	Florida	Pennsylvania	Maryland	Texas

2004-present Mooresville	1961-1963 Wildwood 1963-1978 Sea Isle 1978-1982 1985-1988 1992-2004 Cape May CH 1989-1991 Hacketstown	1982-1985 Dover	1991-1992 Miami	1988-1989 Malvern	1988 Coumbia	1982 Air Force Basic Traning Tech School

and now.....North Carolina...since January 23, 2004

My Favorite Sports Teams

I am a long suffering Philadelphia sports nut. I follow the Eagles, Flyers, Phillies and 76ers. My family has season tickets to the Eagles [section 228, the upper NE bowl in the Linc]. My Dad and Uncle Bud still go to most every home game, now that I am in NC, I don't go to any, but I watch with DirecTV/TIVO.

Would be cool Bumper Stickers!

"Very Funny Scotty! Now beam down my clothes"
We have enough youth, how about a fountain of SMART?
What is a "free" gift? Aren't all gifts free?
He who laughs last thinks slowest.

I collect Department 56 North Pole Villages, I have over 50 houses and 35 accessories. Gave up trying to keep up with the new stuff, some of it looks junky and Dept 56 is putting out too many items each year to keep up [$$$] But it looks great at Christmas! After not putting them up since Christmas 2002, loos like I will be able to in 2007

Some of my North Pole Dept 56 Village set up for Christmas 2001

I also collect Franklin Mint Corvettes, 1/24th scale, and have 28 of them now, the following years:
1953-white,1954-red,1955-skyblue,1956-green,1957-red/black tires,1957-red/white walls,1958-black,1959-red,1960-aqua,1963-red,1963-silver/fiberglass,1965-black mako shark,1967-black,1967-half paint/half clear,1968-blue,1969-orange,1975-canary yellow,1978-silver(my favorite vette),1982-maroon,1984-metallic blue,1986-yellow,1988-white,1993-maroon,1997-red, 1997-black,1998-silver,1998-gold
1998 Indy 500 pace car and 1957-red,1978-red 1/43rd scale

moving check bar

My favorite beverage with Coke/Pepsi/Cola. Don't drink much anymore, but when I do, this is my preference. Or I have a Micalob Ultra, Yinling Black and Tan. Can't find Smutty Nose or Furstenburg beer around here.
I used collect all kinds of Jack Daniel's stuff but too much out there now to keep up with!
I have also been a Tennessee Squire since August 10, 1983.
(sorry, I don't sponsor strangers to be a Squire...so please do not ask)
One of my best friends Kurt has an awesome Jack Daniels Decanter/Bottle page which resides on the Jayski server.
Click on Jack above and go visit, but it is not updated anymore and more for a historical overview!

You Might Be A Redneck If...

You have a Jack Daniel's poster in your living room"....

Jack Daniels makes your list of "most admired people"....

The worst day of your life was when you dropped your bottle of Jack Daniels the other day....

The best day of your life was when you found an unopened bottle of Jack Daniels "over yonder in them hills....

You name your twin boys Jack and Daniel...._{Jeff Foxworthy}

Go to Official Jeff Foxworthy Website for more Redneck jokes

Jayski Pet Peeves...

(no particular order, they all tick me off)

Lack of consideration as a whole
Failure to use turn signals
Holding a door for someone, only to have them NOT acknowledge you
You are standing in line, a new one opens up, the morons behind you run to it, when the next person in line should really be next to go.
Driver HAS to pass you, then gets in front of you and SLOWS down
Rude and nasty email for no good reason
Talking in a movie theatre while the movie is showing
Folks who talk on cell phones while driving, sometimes you need to, but not for full conversations and not at the expennse of paying attention to the road.
People who have no awareness at all or do not pay attention to anything but their own little world

Some of my Favorite Musical Artists

I love Rock 'N' Roll Music and tend to swing toward the hard rock or blues side. Other favorites include (no order): Bloodline, Collective Soul, Cracker, Wallflowers, Barenaked Ladies, Billy Joel, Van Halen(with Dave or Sammy), Blues Traveler, Ozzy Osbourne, Metallica, The Cars, Moe, Billy Squier, Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Robert Cray, The Boss(Springsteen), and George Thorogood (the above images are: AC/DC(my ultimate favorite), Stevie Ray Vaughan, KISS and Judas Priest). And I really like this new singer, Avril Lavigne, what a voice and great music. And no it's not devil music(had some idiot try to convert me). I have over 875 CD's....

Two of my Favorite Actors, Bill Murray and Jimmy Stewart(a real hero)
Check out the Jimmy Stewart Museum Website.
Other favorite actors include: Russell Crowe, Jason Statham, Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis,
Mel Gibson, Michael J. Fox, John Cusack, Kevin Spacey and Jack Nicholson.

Some of my Favorite All-time Movies

Animal House,   Bachelor Party,   Better Off Dead,   Blade Runner,   Borat,   Blues Brothers

Caddyshack,   Chasing Amy,   Christmas Vacation,   Clerks,   Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Die Hard,   Duel,   E.T.,   Gettysburg,   Gladiator

The Godfather I and II,   It's a Wonderful Life,   Lethal Weapon,   Lord of the Rings [all 3]

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,   Mad Max,   Magnolia,   The Matrix

40 Year-old Virgin,   Jaws,   Mr Smith Goes to Washington,   O Brother, Where Art Thou

Office Space,   Pulp Fiction,   Reservoir Dogs,   Road Warrior,   Saving Private Ryan

Sixth Sense,   Snatch,   Something About Mary,   Star Trek - II,IV,   Star Wars - IV,V,VI

Stripes,   Talladega Nights,   Terminator I and II,   The Transporter,   Titanic(old and new)

A good site to find out about movies is: www.allmovie.com

bomb bar

Some of my Favorite TV Shows

no order of preference

24,   LOST,   The Shield,    Prison Break,   Rescue Me

My Name is Earl,   Simpsons,   Family Guy,   Scrubs,   King of the Hill,

The Office,   Friday Night Lights,   The Unit,   CSI: Miami and NYC,    Entourage

Flight of the Conchords,   How I met your Mother,   Law and Order: CI and SVU,   Curb Your Enthusiasm,   30 Rock

Jericho,   Big Love,   Burn Notice,   Monk,   Psych,   DeadZone

Boston Legal,   Weeds,   Saving Grace,   The Adventures of Old Christine,   It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Some Old Show that were favorites:

Sopranos,   70's Show,    Rome,   The Class

Arrested Development,   Deadwood,   Six Feet Under,   Alias,   Malcolm in the Middle

Seinfeld,   M.A.S.H.   Cheers,    OZ,    Dream On

Friends,   NYPD Blue,   Sex in the City   Quantum Leap,   Taxi,

All in the Family,   Brady Bunch,   Boomtown,   Miami Vice,   Nash Bridges

Homicide,    Fraiser,   Wiseguy,    Dallas,   Carnivàle

Firefly,   Three Stooges,   Cow and Chicken,   Max Headroom,   Beavis and Butthead

Enterprise,   Star Trek,    Star Trek-Next Generation,   Star Trek-DS9,    Star Trek-Voyager,

Bugs Bunny, The Monkees, Banana Splits, Kimba, Speed Racer

blue bar

Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain

The movie Gettysburg opened my eyes to a little known Lt. Col. in the Union Army I had never heard of before; Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain. Jeff Daniels did an exceptional job portraying this Civil War hero and Chamberlain has now become one of my heroes. A recent trip to Gettysburg just enforced my worship. Chamberlain was immortalized by his critical role in the Battle of Gettysburg, where his courageous leadership of a handful of men on Little Round Top saved the day for the Union army. But unlike Lee, Jackson, and Hancock, he was no professional soldier. When the war broke out, he was Professor of Natural and Revealed Religion at Bowdoin College in Maine, and spoke five languages. Click here or on above image to go to JL Chamberlains links

Joshua Chamberlain Statue
Freedom Park (N. Main St.) Brewer, ME
from the Bangor Region Site

A statue of Joshua Chamberlain overlooks his home town, Brewer, Maine. See the full image and some good info at the
Bangor Area Information Resources Network site

http://www.alplm.org/home.html

Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan

My favorite presidents (click on pics for their sites)
and another Abe Lincoln site

Made in the U.S.A.

A few of Jayski's other pages (have over 1500 now):
Email Address / Advertising Info
Jayski's Silly Season Site Main Page
Jayski's Silly Season Site Cup News
Auto Racing Links
Jayski's Cool Links
Jayski's Ernie Irvan Site
Jayski's Mark Donohue Tribute

DISCLAIMER
This page is for entertainment and informational purposes only.