For Mother’s Day, Christy Wakefield was caught sleeping in the garage. Her racer husband, Jim Wakefield, took a photo of Christy in that moment and shared it on Facebook.
“He thought it was funny,” Christy, of Delta, Alabama, said. “He was the one who told me to take it easy because it was my holiday. Then, he caught me sleeping.”
Christy’s recliner is a fixture in the garage shared by Jim and their sons Jaxon and Lane.
“I run errands for the boys, but I am mostly there for supervision and moral support,” said Christy. “Yes, they do need supervision to get things done efficiently.”
Jim competes in the 604 late model class at the Talladega Short Track in Eastaboga, Alabama. Lane, 18, has raced, but now helps his father and Jaxon with their cars. Jaxon, 12, started racing in the Young Guns four-cylinder class at Hollis Speedway in Heflin, Alabama. This year he steers a factory stock at trio of Alabama tracks — Hollis Speedway, Talladega Short Track, and Penton Motor Speedway in LaFayette, Alabama. (For more on Penton Motor Speedway, read “Penton Motor Speedway Reopens”.)
“A mother worries about driving, but Jaxon hurt his arm playing baseball and had a delay in driving this year,” Christy said. “He just started doing well in the past couple of weeks.”
Christy and Jim didn’t grow up around racing.
“Some of Jim’s buddies convinced us to come see them race — that was all it took,” said Christy. “We had to get involved. I love racing. I never dreamed I would be at a dirt track every Saturday night.
Jim works as a logging trucker and runs a sawmill. Christy Wakefield teaches first grade.
“The kids I teach know about race cars,” Christy said. “Their mommas have showed them videos and pictures of us racing.”
Fortunately, Christy’s Mother’s Day was more than just taking a nap.
“The boys took me out to eat — it was a wonderful day,” Christy said. “That reclining chair is always there for me. After dinner, they told me to just relax, and I did.”
Mike Adaskaveg has written hundreds of stories since the website’s inception. This year marks his 54th year of covering auto racing. Adaskaveg got his start working for track photographer Lloyd Burnham at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway in 1970. Since then, he’s been a columnist, writer, and photographer, in racing and in mainstream media, for several outlets, including the Journal Inquirer, Boston Herald, Stock Car Racing, and Speedway Illustrated. Among Adaskaveg’s many awards are the 1992 Eastern Motorsport Press Association (EMPA) Ace Lane Photographer of the Year and the 2019 National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) George Cunningham Writer of the Year.
