Dean Strom Profile

The Pits
This time it is 2006 ARA Winston Series Late Model and Nostalgia champion Dean Strom:

First Car: 
1977 Mercury Bobcat Wagon, powder blue in color.  It burned a quart of oil a day.  I always had this nice smoke screen behind me.

Favorite car that you have owned:
I’ve never been a big car guy.  However, I had a 1981 copper-colored Mustang for a number of years.  I did really like that car.  It had a straight six and was very clean.  The thing ran forever…that engine design was too good, so Ford stopped making it.  Within a few months of each other, however, the car got hit pretty hard in each door…oddly enough each time the car was parked outside a West Allis bar.  The replacement doors were not the same…the windows leaked, the doors didn’t seal right and the car was never the same.

Favorite all time race driver and why:
Harry Gant.  I don’t know why, I just always liked him.  I got to meet him a few times.  I started liking him when he made headlines by being a “bridesmaid” in something like 13 races before winning his first race.  My liking him must have had something to do with rooting for the underdog.

Least favorite race car driver and why:
That’s a tough one.  Kurt Busch was my hands down least favorite driver…then his little brother came around.  I think we have a tie.  Why the Busch’s?  Have you ever heard either of them talk?  Nuff said.
Favorite movie: Caddyshack 

Favorite movie about cars:
Grand Prix starring James Garner seems to be the logical choice for ISF drivers and fans, but my heart lies in stock car land, and I’m an Elvis fan…so I go with Speedway. 

If stuck on a deserted island and only sports you are able to watch is either Chicago Cubs baseball or Chicago Bears football, what do you choose? Why? 
Da Bears.  Football rocks over baseball and I can almost stomach the Bears but I can’t stomach the Cubs.  Where’s that Bartman kid…I want to give him a high-five.

Favorite ISF race track:
Former ISF track, the old Rapids.  Current ISF track, the Deckertring.

Heather Thomas or Heather Locklear? 
This is really a tough one.  As much as I love Heather Locklear’s sassiness, I used to have a thing for Heather Thomas…I mean, what other reason was there to watch T.J. Hooker?  Heather Locklear is younger, however, and that is a bonus.  But I have to give the nod to Heather Thomas.  Here is my thinking.  Heather Locklear was married to Tommy Lee at one time.  Did you ever see the Tommy and Pam Anderson sex on the boat tape from 10 years or so back?  Tommy is hung like nobodies business.  I can’t compete with that.  I would just be a disappointment to Heather Locklear…therefore Heather Thomas gets the nod.
    
     

(editors note: it should be Locklear at top and Thomas at bottom, however those buggers at angelfire somehow keep getting in here. the pictures are there for 10 minutes then gone)

You can only eat one food for the rest of your life, what is it?
The taco salad that my wife makes.

What is the better song:
Eddie Grant’s “Electric Avenue” or Katrina and the Waves “Walking on Sunshine”? 
Another tough one, but Katrina and the Waves gets the nod here.  As a side note to this question…I recently attended a wedding reception.  The band played “Walking on Sunshine.”  However, the band had a GUY lead singer…it sounded really gay.

Tommy Thompson or Scott Walker, who would have been the better governor for Wisconsin in 2007? 
Scott Walker.  On yet another side note…Melanie and I met him too…in of all places, while eating the free continental breakfast at a hotel in Shawano.  Mel spotted him and I said,” That’s not Scott Walker.”  She said, “Yes it is, and I’ll show you.”  She got up, walked over and introduced herself.  I’m turning her into a good little conservative.

Favorite TV show:
All-time?  Without a doubt, ALF.  Current?  Sopranos.
     
First “real job” was:
As a telemarketer selling HBO.  That was before Milwaukee had Cable TV and HBO was the first premium TV service you could buy.

If you couldn’t root for the Badgers, who in the Big 10 would you root for? 
My friends Ted and John and I pondered this very question just last year, while in a drunken stupor, at our annual Badger road-trip.  Ohio State is the obvious choice for reasons I cannot divulge in this forum…but they are too popular.  So I’ll say Indiana.

Favorite girl on “The Facts of Life”:
Nancy McKeon (Jo), hands down…not even close.  And that is odd, cuz I normally prefer blondes...and Blair was a blonde.

If someone was holding a gun to your head and forced you to choose between one of the following activities, which would it be:
1. Riding a tandem bike with Dan Margetta at the lakefront
2. Flying a kite at the lakefront with Dan Margetta
Is shoot me an option?  No.  Damn!  Well then, riding a tandem bike, but only as the driver.  I look at it like this.  With a tandem bike, I can steer and Dan has to just shut up, sit in the back and pedal.  Then, at any given moment, I can hop off and ghost ride the bike right into the lake and Dan can’t do anything about it.
  

Thanks Dean!
Until next time...it's not bad being in the pits!