As you travel west on I-64 through Illinois toward St. Louis, Mo., there’s nothing quite as welcoming as that big arch just across the Mississippi River on the east side of St. Louis. Seeing it, whether for the first time or the 10th, makes me feel welcome. You kind of get a breathless feeling, like you’ve finally arrived somewhere. Soaring high above the city’s skyline, the Gateway Arch suggests to newcomers that, yes, you’ve finally made it. I can only imagine how travelers and MORE

As Brandon Sheppard stood in the pit area of The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C., last month accepting congratulatory handshakes and hugs for a dramatic victory in the opening-night Textron Off Road World Finals feature that put a cherry on top of his 2017 World of Outlaws Craftsman Late Model Series championship season, his biggest fan — and, often, biggest critic — was a few feet way wearing a smile that matched the one on the 24-year-old racer’s face.

That ecstatic person was MORE