Biography

I'm just like most everyone else -- wasn't born into wealth (still don't have it, either), went to school, got a job. The rest of the fill-in-the-blank is memories of growing up in a small town (Aberdeen, Miss.) where everyone knew you -- or your mom and dad, which meant you got away with nothing.

There was no traumatic moment that shaped my life, no daily drama in the house, so you won't see me on a talk show blaming my folks for how I turned out as an adult. My parents never told me I couldn't do something. They did, however, remind me that everything has consequences.

My first newspaper job was editor of the Magee Courier / Simpson County News. Without question it was the best learning experience; you did everything and learned how to make-do.

After a short stay in Columbia, Miss., I also worked in Vicksburg, Miss., Baton Rouge, La., and Jackson, Tenn., before catching a wave to surf the World Wide Web with CNNSI.com in April 2000. I joined NASCAR.COM in November 2004.

Nowadays I spend my off time coaching youth baseball and spending as much time as possible with my boys, Russ and Jeremy, and three beautiful girls -- my wife, Mandy, and daughters Peyton and Reily.