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CNN Live Sunday

Interview with Ronda Rich

Aired May 05, 2002 - 18:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Ronda Rich, she began her career as a journalist covering the Winston Cup circuit in the mid '80s just as stock car racing was becoming one of the nation's favorite sports and boy has it. She has a new book out. Here it is, "My Life in the Pits." It profiles great drivers like Dale Earnhardt, Bill Elliott and other big names we know in NASCAR. I want to thank you for being with us.

RONDA RICH, AUTHOR "MY LIFE IN THE PITS": Thank you for having me.

CALLAWAY: It's great to have you here. I have to ask, I look at you. I know you have been a write for some time. What in the world made you spend ten years following the NASCAR?

RICH: A mean old sports editor who sent me to the races, and said go and cover that. I said that is beneath me, and he said, well go or you lose your job. But I fell in love with the people in the sport. It's a sport of great hospitality, of great courage, of great heroes and it was just a fantastic experience.

CALLAWAY: And you really have seen it grow from when you first started covering it to now, haven't you?

RICH: Absolutely. Absolutely. It started taking off in the mid '80s, about the time that I came along and it's just hugely popular, but I was NASCAR when it wasn't cool.

CALLAWAY: Now tell me, what surprised you the most about the drivers? I know you said they're not ego maniacs, macho kind of guys all the time. Now my experience covering NASCAR is a little different than yours, but you say they're really nice people out there?

RICH: Oh, you know I always found it to be a sport of southern gentlemen. They were wonderful to me, great mentors for me. It took a lot of time to teach me, and that's what this book is about. "My Life in the Pits" is about the lessons I learned on the NASCAR Winston Cup circuit.

CALLAWAY: Life lessons you had.

RICH: Yes, and life lessons. It's that coming of age that every young woman has or every person straight out of college, but it just so happens that my coming of age was in a very famous arena with some of the most famous people in motor sports.

CALLAWAY: I have to talk about Dale Earnhardt because I think a lot of hearts were broken when he died tragically.

RICH: Absolutely.

CALLAWAY: And I know you have fond memories of Dale and his whole family.

RICH: Well let me tell you something. Dale Earnhardt was more intimidating off the racetrack than he was on the racetrack, because in person you had to look at those steely no-nonsense blue eyes and he didn't let you get away with anything, and my day was ruined if I'd be walking through the garage and I would hear, "hey, come here." And inside I'd start quaking and I'd go, I don't want to go, but I'd never let him see that because if he ever knew that he intimidated me, I knew he'd be relentless. I'd go and I'd stand up to him in the greatest case of false bravado you've ever seen.

And it was great lessons for me. It was great training, because listen I learned if you can take on Dale Earnhardt and hold your own with him, the rest of the world is a piece of cake.

CALLAWAY: We know how much you liked Dale Earnhardt, but you actually have another hero from NASCAR that you say has really had a big influence in your life.

RICH: Richard Chilbiss (ph). He wrote the foreword to "My Life in the Pits" and that meant the world to me, but Richard Chilbiss personifies the American dream. There's this kid who came from North Carolina with nothing and built this great empire.

CALLAWAY: How much is he winning like $15 million.

RICH: Fifteen million just with Dale, but he has other teams. Six Winston Cup championships with Dale and championships in the other arenas of NASCAR like Busch Grand National. And the greatest thing about Richard Chilbiss is he never has changed.

CALLAWAY: Not a bit.

RICH: And of course who he is still a very humble, kind person.

CALLAWAY: He's not only the American dream but the NASCAR dream.

RICH: Yes.

CALLAWAY: Comes from a small town and ends up a millionaire. Quickly though, we haven't seen enough women in NASCAR racing, although all of the advertisements for NASCAR seem to be targeted toward women with Tide and Folgers and we know who buys that right at the grocery store. When are we going to see more women on the track?

RICH: Well you know, I don't think that NASCAR's ever tried to keep them out. I don't know that there's been a lot who have wanted to come up through the ranks. You're right. It's the women's products that has helped to drive the core of the sport and the enormous growth, and I think that it's just going to continue to grow. My best friend Debbie races and I'm rooting for her because I know I'm going to see her in a Winston Cup car one away.

CALLAWAY: Well, I hope so, and maybe she'll be $50 million richer too.

RICH: That's right and she will be my hero instead of Richard Chilbiss.

CALLAWAY: Ronda Rich, thank you for joining us.

RICH: Thank you.

CALLAWAY: The name of the book is "My Life in the Pits."

RICH: Thank you.

CALLAWAY: And we mean the NASCAR pits. Thanks for being with us, Ronda.

RICH: Thank you.

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