Yesterday,
Carol Bickford (Jeff
Gordon’s Mother)
co-hosted
“Dialed In” with Claire
B Lang
on XM Satellite Radio,
live from Darlington,
South Carolina in
celebration of Mother’s
Day. Below are quotes
from Carol and from one
of their guests, Martha
Earnhardt
(Dale
Jr.’s grandmother).
An edited
version of this show
will air Sunday at 1pm
Eastern on XM Sports
Nation, XM 144.
Carol Bickford Broke the
News that She is Working
on a Cookbook with
Martha Earnhardt:
“Martha is such a great
lady. I’ve known her
for a number of years,
but doing this
[cookbook] project that
we are doing together
has really been very
special for me. Just
getting to know her a
little bit better has
just been great and we
have just done nothing
but laugh. It’s just
been wonderful.”
Carol Bickford on
chasing Jeff Gordon with
wooden spoon:
“I think he was 5, maybe
6 years old. He’d done
something that had made
me angry and I got the
wooden spoon out. He
always knew that if you
opened that drawer the
wooden spoon was coming
out and he was in
trouble. He ran from me
and I was chasing him
around the house and I
took a little swing and
hit the wall and left a
spoon mark in the wall.
And we started laughin’
so hard, even my
daughter Kimberly was
there at the time and we
all started laughin’ so
hard we were just rollin
on the floor. So I
completely forgot what I
was mad about.”
Martha Earnhardt’s
reaction to Dale Jr.
getting wrecked last
weekend at Richmond:
“You don’t want to know
what I was doing. I was
irate. I told my
minister on Sunday. I
told him ‘I almost lost
my religion last night’”
Martha Earnhardt on not
going to the track
anymore:
“I haven’t been back
since Dale got killed.
I think my age and just
the hassle of getting
there and back and the
crowds kinda get on my
nerves more than they
used to. That’s part of
it. Of course losing my
child on the racetrack
just sorta done
something to me.”
Martha Earnhardt on Dale
Jr. Racing:
“I would’ve said no. I
don’t think he needs to
(be a race car driver),
but he’s really proven
to be a really good
racecar driver. I’m
really proud of him and
everything he’s
accomplished. When Dale
(Sr.) decided to put him
in the Busch car, I told
Dale, Sr. that he’s not
ready to get in that car
yet, he doesn’t have
enough experience. But
Dale Jr. proved me
wrong, but in my eyes I
didn’t think he was
ready.”