October 3, 2025 • 5 mins
Mark Garrison takes a trip to Charlotte Motor Speedway to talk to NASCAR's souvenir queen Trisha Knox, to find out how she fell into the racing lifestyle.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
This is good Morning Get with Bo Thompson and Math Troutman.
Back at it from Charlotte Motor Speedway and to be specific.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
High above the track, you guys have in some speedway club.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Mark Garrison, WBT news director, joins us and we talked
last hour to our listener Karen, who's been waiting in
line down at the entrance to get some autographs. And
you know we're going to talk to a NASCAR driver,
Chase Brisco coming up. Marcol Smith is going to be
with us. But what I love about this weekend also
is we get the opportunity to spotlight some people you
may not know that are huge important parts of this
(00:38):
weekend at the track as well.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Mark, what you guys know, I love beating all the
characters out at Speedway. I mean there are just so
many of them, all kinds of vendors, you know, ticket scalpers,
They're all just really interesting people. Yesterday I met a
woman who well you might call her the Queen of
racing souvenirs. Now, this story proves that all of us
are wired little differently and for some people finding the
(01:02):
right job as well. It's everything I.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Love NASCAR, and it's just about as close as I
could get to being with it.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Trishknox is sixty four years old, and she's made a
good living getting close to Nascar. Dale the forty six
they call up selling fans a little piece of races.
What is your biggest seller here? That would be Dale Junior,
even though Dale Junior isn't racing anymore. Anything with his
name on it sells.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Shirts, die cast hats, taste the one that keeps NASCAR going.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I see got these Dale Junior bud jacket?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Oh? Absolutely? Antem pretty? What are those?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
For thirty years, Trishknox has been setting up her big
white souvenir tent at NASCAR tracks, selling all kinds of stuff.
Race fans are willing to spend, aren't they? They are
like this.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Race fan I collect die cast. I got a bunch
all of my living room.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Die cast race cars that is complete with sponsor and
driver names.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Price, well, they ranged from any horror from fifty dollars
to I think I got it one for six hundred.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Six hundred dollars for a die cast car. Well, it's autograph.
It's a signed autograph senior car by the late Dale
Earnhardt Senior. But six hundred bucks was a little rich
for the guy's blood, though he fell in love with
a painting of earnhart sor I'll take you forty dollars
for that. Sould needs some hell honey. Trish Knox calls
(02:25):
herself a gypsy workaholic traveling the NASCAR circuit. But she
fell into this racing lifestyle by accident when she went
to a race in Bristol, Tennessee, back in nineteen ninety
five and started chatting with a souvenir guy.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
And I was going to the race and a guy
asked me to watch his tent, and I'm a salesman,
and he never came.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Back, so I ended up running. He never came back.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Now, she ended up partnering with him at some races,
then decided she would go out.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
On her own. I love it that I'm married to this.
It's sid to a real guy, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Trish says, there's just nothing like living in a camper
selling souvenirs to die hard race fans.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
You're free out here, I mean, it's like camping out
all the times. We have our own little world out here.
A lot of people call us gypsies, but we have
money in our pockets put it that.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Way, but then she was quick to save. Money is
not the real object.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
I don't care nothing about money. Just enjoy what I
do and if the money comes with it, that's fine.
But I normally give it to the family, the kids
or whatever.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
And over the past thirty years, Trish says she's never
had a pit stop, not one vacation. Don't you ever
go Hey, I think I'd like to go to the
beach and just hang out.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I couldn't do it. I don't know how. I really don't.
To me, this is relaxing.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Really.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
She figured out as a teenager that she loves selling
stuff when she got a job at a fireworks stand
in sweet Water, Tennessee, and that town technically she's still
called home.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
When I go home, which is my vacation supposedly, so
I visit with my mom, my dad, his grandkids in
the morning, and at not I set up a farworks
tent and I sell far works to the community and
I sell out every year.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
What she really likes is meeting people. I have four granddaughters,
like these folks who came to the race in Charlotte
from Canada bought shirts for the grandkids and then with
a little urging from Trish.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Is that it for you? No cars or nothing like that?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Also found a cool car for one of the other kids.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Yay yo, I am so happy, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
And Trish Knox is happy too. With a good sale,
she got their money, didn't I you watched. But more
than that, Trish says she made friends with some new
race fans. Bye, thank you who promised to find her
in a couple of weeks at the race in Talladega.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
My boots go everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
You're just kind of a nomad, aren't you.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
And I'm proud of it too, because I get to
meet different people from different places and see a lot
of the country and then you know it's God's country.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
You know, it's just super nice.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I'm going to tell you wore me out just watching
Trish work yesterday. She is a dynamo. But now get this,
Besides traveling the NASCAR circuit, she has two stores where
she sells sports souvenirs, ones in rock Hill, another in Concord,
and she's opening a third in Gaffney.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Wow, it's a multitesker right there.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
I'm telling you, I do love that.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
You know, we all have that thing in our hearts
that you know, that drive us to do what it
is we are meant to do. And I think she
found her niche in life.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
She sure did. And I think she's making a lot
of money at it too.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
But yeah, she's probably out there right now as we
look over the speedway.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Oh yeah, big old, big old white too. Mark. I
think I think I think her a little.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I think her little crush.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
No, she just tried to sell me some stuff. That's
all part of the crush. That's right, Thank you, Mark.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Ye
This is good Morning Get with Bo Thompson and Math Troutman.
Back at it from Charlotte Motor Speedway and to be specific.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
High above the track, you guys have in some speedway club.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Mark Garrison, WBT news director, joins us and we talked
last hour to our listener Karen, who's been waiting in
line down at the entrance to get some autographs. And
you know we're going to talk to a NASCAR driver,
Chase Brisco coming up. Marcol Smith is going to be
with us. But what I love about this weekend also
is we get the opportunity to spotlight some people you
may not know that are huge important parts of this
(00:38):
weekend at the track as well.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Mark, what you guys know, I love beating all the
characters out at Speedway. I mean there are just so
many of them, all kinds of vendors, you know, ticket scalpers,
They're all just really interesting people. Yesterday I met a
woman who well you might call her the Queen of
racing souvenirs. Now, this story proves that all of us
are wired little differently and for some people finding the
(01:02):
right job as well. It's everything I.
Speaker 3 (01:05):
Love NASCAR, and it's just about as close as I
could get to being with it.
Speaker 2 (01:09):
Trishknox is sixty four years old, and she's made a
good living getting close to Nascar. Dale the forty six
they call up selling fans a little piece of races.
What is your biggest seller here? That would be Dale Junior,
even though Dale Junior isn't racing anymore. Anything with his
name on it sells.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Shirts, die cast hats, taste the one that keeps NASCAR going.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
I see got these Dale Junior bud jacket?
Speaker 4 (01:35):
Oh? Absolutely? Antem pretty? What are those?
Speaker 2 (01:39):
For thirty years, Trishknox has been setting up her big
white souvenir tent at NASCAR tracks, selling all kinds of stuff.
Race fans are willing to spend, aren't they? They are
like this.
Speaker 4 (01:51):
Race fan I collect die cast. I got a bunch
all of my living room.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
Die cast race cars that is complete with sponsor and
driver names.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Price, well, they ranged from any horror from fifty dollars
to I think I got it one for six hundred.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Six hundred dollars for a die cast car. Well, it's autograph.
It's a signed autograph senior car by the late Dale
Earnhardt Senior. But six hundred bucks was a little rich
for the guy's blood, though he fell in love with
a painting of earnhart sor I'll take you forty dollars
for that. Sould needs some hell honey. Trish Knox calls
(02:25):
herself a gypsy workaholic traveling the NASCAR circuit. But she
fell into this racing lifestyle by accident when she went
to a race in Bristol, Tennessee, back in nineteen ninety
five and started chatting with a souvenir guy.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
And I was going to the race and a guy
asked me to watch his tent, and I'm a salesman,
and he never came.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Back, so I ended up running. He never came back.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Now, she ended up partnering with him at some races,
then decided she would go out.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
On her own. I love it that I'm married to this.
It's sid to a real guy, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Trish says, there's just nothing like living in a camper
selling souvenirs to die hard race fans.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
You're free out here, I mean, it's like camping out
all the times. We have our own little world out here.
A lot of people call us gypsies, but we have
money in our pockets put it that.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
Way, but then she was quick to save. Money is
not the real object.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
I don't care nothing about money. Just enjoy what I
do and if the money comes with it, that's fine.
But I normally give it to the family, the kids
or whatever.
Speaker 4 (03:27):
You know.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
And over the past thirty years, Trish says she's never
had a pit stop, not one vacation. Don't you ever
go Hey, I think I'd like to go to the
beach and just hang out.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
I couldn't do it. I don't know how. I really don't.
To me, this is relaxing.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
Really.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
She figured out as a teenager that she loves selling
stuff when she got a job at a fireworks stand
in sweet Water, Tennessee, and that town technically she's still
called home.
Speaker 3 (03:54):
When I go home, which is my vacation supposedly, so
I visit with my mom, my dad, his grandkids in
the morning, and at not I set up a farworks
tent and I sell far works to the community and
I sell out every year.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
What she really likes is meeting people. I have four granddaughters,
like these folks who came to the race in Charlotte
from Canada bought shirts for the grandkids and then with
a little urging from Trish.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Is that it for you? No cars or nothing like that?
Speaker 2 (04:21):
Also found a cool car for one of the other kids.
Speaker 4 (04:24):
Yay yo, I am so happy, thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (04:28):
And Trish Knox is happy too. With a good sale,
she got their money, didn't I you watched. But more
than that, Trish says she made friends with some new
race fans. Bye, thank you who promised to find her
in a couple of weeks at the race in Talladega.
Speaker 4 (04:45):
My boots go everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
You're just kind of a nomad, aren't you.
Speaker 3 (04:49):
And I'm proud of it too, because I get to
meet different people from different places and see a lot
of the country and then you know it's God's country.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
You know, it's just super nice.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
I'm going to tell you wore me out just watching
Trish work yesterday. She is a dynamo. But now get this,
Besides traveling the NASCAR circuit, she has two stores where
she sells sports souvenirs, ones in rock Hill, another in Concord,
and she's opening a third in Gaffney.
Speaker 1 (05:15):
Wow, it's a multitesker right there.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
I'm telling you, I do love that.
Speaker 4 (05:20):
You know, we all have that thing in our hearts
that you know, that drive us to do what it
is we are meant to do. And I think she
found her niche in life.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
She sure did. And I think she's making a lot
of money at it too.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
But yeah, she's probably out there right now as we
look over the speedway.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Oh yeah, big old, big old white too. Mark. I
think I think I think her a little.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I think her little crush.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
No, she just tried to sell me some stuff. That's
all part of the crush. That's right, Thank you, Mark.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
Ye
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