Becky Yousik

Chief Scorer

The first time I went to a stock car race was at Riverhead Raceway. I was eight years old, and my father took my cousin and I to the track to watch an Enduro. It was Memorial Day Weekend and a guy my father worked with was racing.At 17, I made my next trip to Riverhead Raceway for a regular Saturday Night show, and I was hooked. My favorite division at the time was the Chargers; I absolutely refused to watch the Modifieds, because to me they didn’t look like a “real” racecar. I always watched Danny Turbush; he drove the 8 Charger car. I was friends with his sons in high school, and that’s how it all started. My favorite memory in racing, so far, would have to be the night that two cars I was associated with both won in there respective division. The #12 Charger car driven by Dennis Krupski, and the #33 modified driven by Ken Heagy. I still remember the date, May 12, 1999. It was the first win ever for Dennis in the Charger division.The first job that I ever had with a racecar was scoring for Enduro cars. I would go to the track on a Sunday afternoon to watch friends race, and I’d almost always end up scoring for a number of different people. I enjoyed this job and I became very good at it. I’ve found it’s something that you either love, or hate, but it has to be done. A lot of people don’t realize exactly what scoring entails. It’s a job that consists of recording lap times off an official NASCAR scorers clock and keeping a written record of them. Along with keeping a record of lap times, I also track caution laps and pit stops. These records are what determine the official finishing results. Other duties associated with scoring are taking practice lap times, not only of our car, but those of other competitors. This allows us to determine how we stack up against the competition. Once qualifying begins, I record all the qualifying lap times and then tabulate the starting positions. I then report back to the team exactly where we’ll be starting. There are some strict rules of conduct to be followed when in the official scoring area. Many times these rules are difficult to follow, one of which is to show little, or no emotion. I find it very difficult to show no emotion with some of the things our car is involved with on the racetrack. It is very difficult when you have 36 people in one room rooting for 36 different cars, and tensions run high.I was asked to score for the TS Team by Ken Heagy, and was more than happy to accept my position. I will be handling the tour effort as well as Ken Heagy’s Riverhead effort at Riverhead Raceway in 2001. I’m looking forward to an exciting season, with a team that has a lot of potential. If I could turn wrenches I probably would, but for now being part of the team, and scoring makes me happy.

Becky