By Jamie Fulcher

We left the house at around 6:45am and headed to Charlotte. It wasn't a very pleasant drive down, considering we drove in rain for a part of the way. We arrived at the shop at around 9:45 and took our places in line. I called Paul when I got to the shop so I could meet him. Then, the boring part began.....watching...waiting.....commiserating. At around 10:15, a dark colored Chevy Tahoe came flyin' through the parking lot and up behind the shop with a four-time Winston Cup champion inside.

A few minutes later, the line started moving for us to head inside to where the event would take place. It was very nicely decorated. Pepsi and Fritos had set up tons of food for us, along with a catering service out of Charlotte. We took our seats and at around 11:15, Jeff walked into the area we were in. We greeted him with loud cheers as the door opened. He had been upstairs meeting with several kids whose visits were arranged through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. As he walked up the aisle, he shook my dad's hand and told him thanks for coming.

He got up to the podium and explained a little bit about the event schedule. He then answered some questions from the floor, and it was off to sign autographs. We were about the 6th row to go up to get ours. We got up to the table and my dad handed him my Cookie Monster car to sign. My dad pulled out a picture of my nephew who is almost 2 months old wearing his JG outfit and showed the picture of him to Jeff. Jeff said "Aww...how cute! Ya'll are raising him right." Then Jeff took the picture and signed it for my nephew. I thought that was AWESOME of Jeff to do that. My mom sat my Elmo car down for Jeff to sign and then Jeff posed for a picture with both of them.

Now...my turn! I handed him my 'Martinsville Raced Version' car for him to sign. We chatted for a bit about how he needed to be in Victory Lane again next week in Martinsville. He said he was using the same car but he hoped it didn't end up with all those marks on it. We both agreed it would be ok as long as he ended up in Victory Lane. I told him that I had bought my nephew that outfit because his dad was a Rusty Wallace fan and that I was working on turning him into a JG fan. Jeff simply said "That will probably never happen" and just grinned. He asked if I wanted a picture and of course I said YES! He grabbed my hand and we took a picture together. He told me thank you for coming and I told him thank you for being so nice, and that he was an awesome person. As I walked away from the table, I could hardly believe it was over....or so I thought.

He signed the rest of the autographs and they handed out door prizes. My dad won a Rainbow Pit Crew Diecast, my mom won a Rookie of the Year car and card, and I won a travel coffee mug with Jeff candy cars inside! Jeff finished the autographs and went to the podium for a few more questions. He thanked us for coming and walked away from the podium. As we walked down the aisle, he shook my hand and said "Thanks for coming!" I almost died at that moment. He is very nice when you meet him, and he looks you straight in the eye while talking to you. At 1:15, we left the shop and headed to the gift shop area to do a little browsing, and then it was back home to Martinsville after that. Needless to say, Jeff is by far the most down to earth person I have ever met. Hope to do it again next year!