Name: Rob Tiongson
DOB: 10/4/1985
Fan since: 1991
Resides: Metro Manila, Philippines
Favorite drivers: Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brian Vickers, Dale Jarrett, Robby Gordon, and David Starr
Favorite tracks: Daytona, Indianapolis, Talladega and Infineon
Rob is a 22 year old college student originally from Metro Boston, Massachusetts. He is currenty residing in the Philippines with his family consisting of his lovely parents, his never-aging but older sister who basically defines what an awesome sister is, two cats who are black and named after TV characters, and a dog who should really be a puppy, but is a dog because he’s grown up. A NASCAR fan since 1991, he started out as a fan of the Ford brigade, cheering for the likes of Davey Allison, Dale Jarrett and Mark Martin before he stumbled upon some flashy vibrant colored car piloted by Jeff Gordon. Seeing the sport evolve and the torch passed on (by succession or tragedy), NASCAR is basically his life, more so than the major four sports of his home city. If he’s not talking about NASCAR, he’s probably following other forms of racing like the IndyCar racing series, NHRA, F1, or the merits of American Idol….if truly bored.
His fandom of NASCAR all started from a visit to a local toy store in which his mother asked him, “Would you like a new train set or a racecar?” Having realized that his interest in locomotives was waning and recalling how his father loved cars, he figured he’d continue the family legacy of being a car aficionado by having his mother buy him a 1/24 Dale Jarrett Citgo Ford model by Racing Champions (now Ertl) in 1991. As they say, the rest is history and his frequent trips to toy stores or the local department store often had the young boy and his parents buy die-casts left and right to the point that in 1998, he actually had about the entire field. This would cause one of his notable superstitions in positioning the cars to reflect the current race’s starting line-up to a top “20″ rundown whenever he felt like it.
Once a writer for a popular fan site for a 4-time champion, Rob continued to show his huge fandom of the sport by becoming a full time NASCAR columnist for Suffolk University’s The Suffolk Voice, an online newspaper by students who wanted an alternative from the traditional Suffolk Journal newspaper. He wrote a weekly column called In The Pits, where he reviewed each race from the first quarter of the 2007 season as well as some (sadly bad) predictions of the Chase or a notable race. Despite being a Filipino-American, there’s that Southern boy in him, so he likes to believe, although he wonders if he’d be welcomed at Talladega Superspeedway (that’s like asking if a Yankees fan if they feel welcomed at Fenway Park in Boston).
A message from Rob:
This has truly been a project about three years in the making. My co-pilot or co-driver, Katie, was the driving influence behind me wanting to create this blog about racing, as I found someone who had the same passion and thoughts on racing as I did! Even though she’s from the new-age of racing, she possessed this knowledge and insight of racing that could’ve fooled me as being old school, but she’s been a fan of it since the monumental 2001 season. I owe my biggest thanks to my friend Katie for not only being my NASCAR chica-forever, but also one of my best friends personally “off the track.” I want to thank the folks at the old Last Lap and Special K forums, who are good friends of mine. Obviously, I want to also thank my family for helping me find my “true” voice in writing as well as my passion in stock car racing.
I also want to say thanks to racing announcers Bob Jenkins and Mike Joy, both who I shared a small correspondence with in 2000 and 2005 for the latter. Speaking for all us fans, I don’t think the sport would’ve gained its huge tv following without great announcers, color commentators, pit reporters and the people behind the scene who are truly unsung heroes in making each race a pleasure (or at least something to talk about) to watch. And lastly, I just want to thank all of you who may stop by here at our blog. While it is a blog by fans for fans about racing, I personally think it’s just another great example of what friendship means to me. This collaboration and blog for all of you personally means how awesome of a friend Katie is and I really look forward to the years ahead in both of us writing for you, the fans!
