55 Straight

We found Larry on Twitter.

Now that might sound a bit odd to you as you’re reading this in a program, but it’s true. Part of the TicketGuardian mission through FanShield is not to just #protechtwhatmatters, but to find the type of fan who lives and breathes their chosen sport, and that’s exactly how we stumbled upon Larry. We were talking about how excited we were for the TicketGuardian 500 and to be part of the NASCAR and ISM family when Larry tweeted at us that it would be his 55th year going to the race. We had to know more.

It turns out Mr. Larry Ogburn has been coming to ISM from California, and later Kingman, Arizona since he was 12. His deep love of racing grew from watching his father work as a mechanic in the early years of racing at the then (ISM formerly-Phoenix International Raceway). From there the seed would be watered annually, and the love for auto racing grew and bloomed. Now 55 years later Larry has taken his children and his grandchildren to races for six straight decades.

Five years after Larry’s first race, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. 25 years after Larry’s first race the Cold War ended and the Berlin Wall fell. Larry’s 31st year saw the dawn of a new millennium, and in 2018, Larry’s 54th year of going to ISM, his young grandchild saw his first race. Racing hasn’t just been a pastime for Larry, it’s been a lifetime. We’re honored to have Larry as our guest at this years TicketGuardian 500. Larry represents everything we do. We’re built by fans for fans, and Larry is who we work for because Larry is one of us.