A fan of racing since the earliest days of his life, there is no doubt that Virginia-native Johnny Overman is a Hardcore Race Fan. Now thanks to HardcoreRaceFans.com and the Atlanta Motor Speedway, the 50-year-old has been named the Official Hardcore Race Fan of the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Overman and three of his fellow race fans will make the trip to Atlanta next weekend for the speedway's 100th.

Following in his father's footsteps, Overman became a fan of the sport at a young age. When his dad would go off to races at the famed tracks in Daytona and Darlington, Overman would listen in on the radio and never missed a race. On the weekends his father would take him to Langley Speedway, his local NASCAR track, where he cheered on some of the best short-track drivers around.

A fan of Gene Lovelace, Overman felt a connection with those drivers that fueled his passion for the sport. "All them boys out there raced hard. They were just people like me. People that worked everyday and just went out there and raced." Overman told HardcoreRaceFans.com.

Johnny attended his first NASCAR race at the Richmond International Raceway in either 1983 or 1984. While he cannot remember the exact date of that first NASCAR experience, he clearly remembers the excitement and leading up to the event. With snow falling that weekend, Overman and his friends went to the track hoping to see the race.

"We pulled up in the truck, sat there all night long waiting to get in the infield," Overman said. "It was awesome, absolutely awesome."

A fan of Gene Lovelace on the local circuit, Overman pulled for some of the biggest names in the sport; including David Pearson, Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough, Dave Marcis and Terry Labonte. Now a self-described fan of the sport, Overman  pulls for Clint Bowyer and Mark Martin, partly because he is driving the Kellogg's car that Labonte drove for many years.

"I've just been a Chevrolet man all my life," Overman explained. "I don't have anything against a driver, I've just been [for] Chevrolet, that's all."

Along with great stories from his past, Overman wrote in his entry about his NASCAR-themed garage and listening to races on the radio. Complete with die-cast cars, 50th anniversary memorabilia, a Dale Earnhardt Jr. cut-out, the controversial 1987 Winston poster (thanks to Tim Richmond), photographs from the races he and his friends have attended, a few barber chairs, a television and two refrigerators to "keep the beverages cold," Johnny's garage seems like the best place aside from the track to watch a NASCAR race.

When he's not in his garage on race day, Overman explained his wife no longer allows him to listen to the race on the radio and drive at the same time - thanks to a close encounter with an eighteen-wheeler.

"I get in the draft," Overman proudly told me. "They just won't let me bump them a little bit. If you think about it, I'm listening to the race and I don't care what's around me - I'm watching the cars around me, but I'm paying attention to the race. It seems like your foot goes a little faster."

Although he has attended a number of races at the Lowe's Motor Speedway and the Richmond International Raceway, next weekend's Kobalt Tools 500 race weekend will mark his first trip to the Atlanta Motor Speedway. Earning the title of "Official Hardcore Race Fan of the Atlanta Motor Speedway," Overman will have the an experience like no other.

"It's awesome man.  I would have never dreamed it until I got on there and checked it out," Overman said of being named the Official Hardcore Race Fan of Atlanta Motor Speedway. "It really feels good. I never really won anything, you know. Especially to get a trip to Atlanta, that's one of the best tracks to go to.

"Things are hard with us right now," Overman added. Explaining that his wife might be going through a bit of breast cancer, Overman said, "I told her I didn't know if it was a good time for us to go and she said, 'When is the next time you're going to get to go to Atlanta?' and I said, 'Never' and she goes, 'Go baby,' so it's definitely exciting for me."

Hardcore Race Fans are the best fans in all of sports, and we at HardcoreRaceFans.com are proud to team with Atlanta Motor Speedway to lend a helping hand. Times may be tough, but the passion and the love of the sport that fans have continue to drive us more than anything else.

Below is Johnny Overman's winning entry. A true Hardcore Race Fan, we look forward to honoring Mr. Overman and his friends and family as the "Official Hardcore Race Fan of the Atlanta Motor Speedway" during the Kobalt Tools 500 race weekend.

"I have been into racing since I was a kid. My Dad went to a lot of races and he would take me to our local race track, Langley, to watch racing. I have a garage that is all racing, from posters to pictures from races my wife and friends went to, to banners that all the people we hung with before and after racing would sign. It looks great. My wife won't let me drive and listen to racing as she say I turn into the driver. I remember one time on a trip I was forced off the road from a trucker as there was no way for me to slow down as he came over into my lane. From then on no racing on the radio when I drive. I have visited several tracks but never Atlanta. Sounds like a true Hardcore time to me. Let's start the engines."