Riding around on the pace lap before the start of Friday’s Craftsman Truck Series Dodge Dealers 250, Randy Briggs decided to get into the spirit of Valentine’s Day. He hit his radio button, got his girlfriend Mary Ward on the radio and proposed. It wasn’t until 106 laps later that he got his answer and a hug. “She did say yes, but I had to make sure I heard her right on the radio,” Briggs said. “She gave me a hug and said, ‘You bet.’ ” Briggs, who finished 14th after a stop-and-go penalty forced him to lose a lap, had been thinking about popping the question for quite some time. “She’s already listed in the media guide as my fiance, even though she was still my girlfriend,” Briggs said. “I mean, three years is enough. I was rolling around [before the start] and I talked to my brother. I talked to Michelle [Mary’s niece, who serves as the team’s media-relations agent], and I thought, ‘We’ve been together for three years. We’re at Daytona.’ Mary and I have come down here three years in a row, to race here with our own truck, as she’s listed as the owner.” The team operates on a shoestring budget and hopes Briggs’ good run Friday will attract enough funding to run a full season. But the unusual proposal likely gets them more attention. “It’s Valentine’s Day,” Briggs said. “Her birthday was [Thursday]. It just seemed like the right time.”(Orlando Sentinel), congrats from Jayski…(2-15-2003)
