‘Back of pack’ makes for front-running race fan

This was Teri Randall's knowledge of motor sports five years ago: She assumed all race cars were the same. She heard V-8 and thought vegetable juice. She didn't know internal combustion from internal organs. She believed NASCAR competed against Formula 1, and NHRA against both. She wondered when in the world the Judd sisters got into the engine business, and why Jimmie Johnson not only changed the spelling of his first name but also traded in football for stock cars.

"What can I say," Randall says now. "I'm blonde."

If all goes as expected today, she'll also be rich.

Randall is 49 and proof that sitting at your computer and clicking a mouse over and over for months with the hopes of winning some Internet contest really can pay off. That it doesn't take the most sophisticated strategy to conquer incredible odds and put yourself in position to live an amazingly more comfortable life. That it doesn't take any strategy at all, unless you count betting on who you feel has the best butt to be some sort of intricate plan for discovering wealth.

Randall is a Las Vegan spending today in Florida, where Johnson likely will have to oversleep and miss the start of the race at Homestead-Miami Speedway not to win his second consecutive Nextel Cup title and, with it, a check for $1 million for Randall.

All because she liked how he wore a pair of pants.

The wacky story: Randall entered the Sprint Millions contest that began in mid-July, where fans submitted the name of a NASCAR driver they felt would win the Nextel championship and continued voting for that person until early September. Once the field was narrowed to 12 drivers for the Chase, one finalist was randomly chosen to be paired with each driver.

Most days, Randall voted for Johnson three or four times. Some days, when her job as a claims auditor became more boring than, well, you might imagine one as a claims auditor could be, she would click his name 10, 20, 30, 50 times.

That's not the crazy part. This is: She chose Johnson not for any career statistics such as number of wins or top-10 finishes or fastest speeds at specific tracks, but by scouring the Web for pictures that showed each driver's backside.

It's like choosing your favorite candy bar based on Sue Ellen Mischke's dislike for undergarments on "Seinfeld." Not that there's anything wrong with that.

"I know what looks good and what I like," Randall said. "I had to go with something I have experience with. Things like stats and who their crew chief was and how many races they have won meant nothing to me.

"There are a lot of pictures out there of them from the front, but you really need to search to find the good ones of them turned around. Their faces and eyes were sort of the backup criteria, the second level of elimination for me. But (Johnson) was a runaway winner."

Is it any wonder Randall grows on you? Her NASCAR intelligence increased greatly upon meeting her husband of two years, Ron. They were each laid off from jobs in Florida, moved here, bought a house with nothing down and today are an 18th-place finish or better by Johnson from paying off the mortgage.

Randall used to sleep through races as Ron watched on Sundays. Now she doesn't miss a left turn, walking around her house nervously while wearing a wireless device that allows fans to listen to drivers speak with their crew chief.

She even talks to Johnson and gives advice on how many tires to change and when to pit for fuel (he can't hear her, of course), which would seem really bizarre if I didn't hold news conferences in my own head following Madden08 games (an entirely different and disturbing story).

But now comes serious stuff, hours from a possible payout of $660,000, after taxes. Already, her position as a finalist earned Randall and Ron a trip to Talladega, Ala., where she met Johnson and attended the pre-race driver's meeting. If she wins the money, her first check will be a donation to Johnson's foundation for helping poor families. Then she'll pay off the house and put some away for future trips to NASCAR races.

"I'm not sure if (Johnson) knows why I picked him, but it wouldn't bother me," Randall said. "Once he won last week and went 86 points ahead, I was so excited, we just started drinking Jack Daniels. We don't usually do that on Sundays."

You have to love her chances today. She seems to own that something special. A local radio station recently awarded a Maui vacation to the ninth caller.

It turned out to be Teri Randall. She and Ron enjoyed the trip immensely.

No word, though, about any butts on the beach.

Ed Graney's column is published Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. He can be reached at 383-4618 or egraney@reviewjournal.com.