American Sniper’s widow details her husband’s NASCAR fandom – USA TODAY
CONCORD, N.C. — Taya Kyle, the widow of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, will attend Sunday’s Coca-Cola 600 and receive Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Stonewall Jackson Award.
The racetrack’s award, which honors patriotism through personal support of the military, would have made her husband proud. After all, Chris Kyle — who wrote American Sniper — was not just a patriot, but a NASCAR fan.
Kyle was fond of wearing a No. 8 Budweiser hat in honor of his favorite driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., who he’d once met at a race. Although Taya Kyle told USA TODAY Sports it took her husband awhile to warm up to racing.
“He was such a proud-to-be-a-redneck kind of guy, and I was shocked when I met him that he wasn’t into NASCAR at first,” she said this week during a phone interview. “One of these military outreach type things invited him to go to a race, and he got to meet Dale Earnhardt Jr. and was so impressed with his humility.
“He was a huge fan after that. He was in awe of how tough the guys on the pit crew are and how fast they have to work and the drivers and the strategy. He was sort of roped in from there on out.”
Earnhardt said Tuesday he was aware Kyle was a fan, but didn’t recall their actual meeting. It likely came at a time when Kyle, the deadliest sniper in U.S. history, wasn’t a high-profile figure yet.
Kyle, who was killed by a troubled veteran at a shooting range in 2013, was portrayed by Bradley Cooper in the Oscar-nominated movie based on Kyle’s book.
“I saw a picture of him that somebody sent to me with a No. 8 hat on,” Earnhardt said. “It surprises you sometimes some of the people who follow the sport.”
Since the movie’s release, Taya Kyle has used her platform to advocate for several military-related issues, including supporting the troops who return home.
She praised NASCAR for its efforts in boosting morale. Of the veterans who commit suicide every day, she said, 70% fought in the unpopular Vietnam War.
“To me, that says so clearly that a country that is not grateful leaves a scar so deep that it never goes away,” she said. “When I see NASCAR and Coca-Cola coming together to do something really big and cool at Charlotte Motor Speedway and making a big celebration for our military, I feel hope and I feel inspired that we maybe can save some of our veterans from having the same fate as our Vietnam guys did.”
Kyle has been on a book tour promoting American Wife: A Memoir of Love, War, Faith, and Renewal, which she hopes will help people understand what it’s like to be a military spouse.
She said she’s been pleased to see the reaction of military wives, many of whom have told her they’re inspired to open up more about their experiences. Kyle said military spouses are “still in the trenches doing the hard work and I want to be there for them.”
“As the public gains an understanding of what that experience is like for military wives or even first responder wives, I think their neighbors and family and friends are starting to understand their lives and reaching out to them and saying, ‘I’ve been around you for years and never realized the behind-the-scenes,’ ” Kyle said. “In that regard, it’s extraordinarily helpful that they don’t feel so alone, too.
“A lot of them don’t even talk about it. I didn’t talk about it to other wives when Chris was serving. So hopefully it’s opening up a dialogue between the military wives to know they’re not alone and it’s OK to talk about it.”
Because of her efforts, the speedway decided to recognize Kyle as part of its pre-race ceremonies. Charlotte always has a patriotic tribute before its Memorial Day weekend race, and the track is expecting more than 6,000 active duty and former military members and their families to attend.
The Stonewall Jackson Award “recognizes recipients who have demonstrated, by example, the highest standards of patriotism through personal support of the military and/or by personal service to sacrifice above and beyond the call of duty,” according to a speedway press release.
“It’s so nice of them to give me an award, but I also want to be clear I’m going to do everything I can to keep earning it in the future,” she said. “It’s not something I take for granted and think ‘I’m done.’ It’s a lifelong thing we have to commit to so we can help keep these marriages together.
“I’m excited to go because I think it’s going to be a great show.
Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck
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