Cindi Coleman knew she had a soon-to-be racer on her hands when she saw her 3-year-old son fall asleep on his Power Wheels doing laps around the cul-de-sac.

"He had gone around so many times, I looked out and saw his little head nodding. That was our early indication," said Coleman, mother of Brad Coleman, driver in NASCAR's Nationwide Series.

In the years to follow, her son became enamored with racecars and would soon leave the family's Texas home at 14 years old to live with a racing family and further his on-track aspirations. By 18, he was on his own in North Carolina.

Coleman wouldn't be there in the morning to shove a Pop-Tart in his hand on the way to the school bus and snapping the quintessential prom night photo in the foyer would have to wait.

Traditional high school and teenage mother-and-son memories would be traded for trips to racetracks and long-distance phone calls on how to nurse a wound from a hard lick in Turn 2.

Being a mother is challenge enough but being a NASCAR mom, parenting in the fast lane, comes with its own unique set of trials and triumphs.

In light of the upcoming Mother's Day festivities in Darlington, S.C. this weekend, I called on a few NASCAR moms to clue me in on what gears they needed to switch when their young sons said, "Mama, I wanna go fast," or how they learned to support their sons beyond selling candy bars for the PTA board.

Brad Coleman at 13, strapping in for his first race.

What I found out, after hours of good old fashioned girl talk, is that motherhood in NASCAR never really winds down; the demands before them today rival the demands the mother's had when the boys were in diapers and unable to sleep through the night.

Being a NASCAR mom requires an all-hands-on-deck mentality. They run their sons' merchandising operations, fan clubs and personal finances. Dutifully, they sit atop the war wagon nearly every Sunday and keep score for their sons and field countless fan requests.

Gaye Busch knows the life twice as well, as she is the matriarch for Kyle and Kurt Busch, two very accomplished and eager individuals. For her, mothering the boys began at a racetrack and will likely remain at the track for years to come.

In their home town of Las Vegas, Busch was pregnant with Kurt while she officiated over local dirt track races. She supported her husband, Tom Busch, a popular Late Model racer in the 1980s and 90s.

Gaye has been involved with racing for more than 30 years and was more than prepared for the day Kurt decided to go racing professionally. Kyle, well, mom said he knew before the eighth grade.

"Kyle programmed himself at an early age to become a racer," she said. "He was taking summer school in the eighth grade so he could finish high school a year early. He wanted to be Dale Earnhardt"

Like a supportive mother, Busch helped her boys achieve their dreams by providing a loving foundation and a no-nonsense parenting style; long hair, earrings and tattoos were not allowed. Good grades -- As and Bs -- were required or else they couldn't race.

Racing was a privilege, she said, and the boys earned it by being good in school, keeping up on their chores and helping out with the family tool business.

"They both graduated with honors, we never had problems with drinking or drugs, and they never hung out with the wrong crowd," Gaye Busch said. "They were too busy to get into any real trouble. I feel bad they missed out on some fun with their buddies but they wanted to race."

And race they did, all the way to the big leagues of NASCAR, where mother Busch is still hands-on helping to run both of her sons charitable foundations and scoring for Kyle's No. 18 car every weekend in the Cup Series.

For the third year in a row, Busch and other NASCAR moms will receive tribute in Darlington this weekend in light of the Mother's Day holiday. She will walk across the driver's stage with both Kurt and Kyle.

Here is where it gets tough.

“

Seeing that they are happy and great at what they are doing, to see a dream that they had as teenagers come true as young adults, to see them come this far and live this life is a great accomplishment.

”

GAYE BUSCH

"There will be a lot of hurt feelings this weekend, it will be very hard on me walking across the stage in front of Junior Nation," Gaye lamented.

She is referring to the anticipated backlash and boos from Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans that hold her son Kyle responsible for the wreck at Richmond last weekend. After the recent tangle, the media labeled her son public enemy No. 1.

Sure the fans boo both Kyle and Kurt time after time, but this weekend will be especially loud, she fears.

"It's just part of it I guess, but they don't understand how hurtful it can be especially on Mother's Day," she said. "I've always told Kurt and Kyle to keep their chins up and let it roll off their shoulders, get used to it. Sorry my boys weren't born in the South and sorry they win."

The track in Darlington usually holds a tea or a luncheon for the NASCAR moms, and in years past, Busch has sat with Brenda Earnhardt, Junior's mother.

"I don't know who I'll be sitting with this year," she added.

But Gaye didn't raise either of her sons to back down from a challenge or the competition, otherwise they may not be enjoying the success they have found today.

My hat goes off to Gaye Busch for many reasons.

Working extra hours at the local school district to pay for racing trips; driving Kurt to the tracks when he couldn't because he was too tired to drive from working the night shift at the Water District; and hand-delivering 400 fliers around Las Vegas to spread the word about an event for Kyle's foundation are just a few that come to mind.

And my admiration for Cindi Coleman is just as great.

Her adventures as a NASCAR mom are just beginning. Her son is too new to evoke cheers or jeers.

Nevertheless, she is taking her first step into the business side of supporting her son this weekend in Darlington as many NASCAR mothers before her have done.

She, with the help of NASCAR wife Ann Schrader, is set to make several sponsor-related appearances promoting a special Mother's Day, Huggies and Pull-Ups paint scheme on her son's No. 27 car. The sponsor will present the Women's Auxiliary of Motorsports a $10,000 check benefiting Children's Chance, a charity that provides help to families who have children battling cancer.

"Brad would kill me for saying this but having Huggies and Pull-Ups on the car Mother's Day weekend is only fitting because I can't tell you how many diapers I changed," Coleman laughed. "It doesn't seem that long ago that I was changing his diaper, but in my mind he'll always be my baby."

Still, NASCAR moms have to learn to let go of their son's hands earlier than the average mother, because racing requires a maturity level that most only get through years of life experiences.

"When Brad asked to move away from home for racing, it nearly ripped my heart out," Coleman said. "As a mother, I'm anticipating four years of high school for us to get sick of each other and then he'll go to college. My empty nest syndrome came four years too early, but how many mothers can say their sons know what they want to do at age 14 with such certainty."

Coleman's maternal gear switched from picking out colleges to finding her then 19-year-old son an apartment close to his race shop in North Carolina.

"I have a housekeeper that goes to his house once a week," Coleman said. "She keeps an eye on things for me. He is a young man still but he's earned all the trust and respect I can give him, I'm happy he is living his dream."

Coleman said while it's not the traditional parenting roles she grew accustomed to with her older son, Brandon, she feels blessed to have the opportunity to fill the unique role as a NASCAR mom.

It's a role Diane Newman, mother of Cup driver Ryan Newman, has had years to practice. En route to Darlington, Newman shared some of her experiences of balancing motherhood between home in South Bend, Ind., and NASCAR life in North Carolina.

The journey started when her son was five years old and even before that, according to her husband, Greg Newman, who spots for his son's No. 12 Dodge on the track.

"The minute I delivered Ryan, his dad said we were going to get a quarter midget," Diane Newman said. "It was nothing about how I was doing or feeling. He just said now we were going to go racing."

And they did -- all over the country.

"I was fine as long as he didn't miss school," Newman said. "I always made sure that he was ready to go to school on Monday morning, and that all the chores were done around the house. We all pitched in and got it done many weekends out of the year."

Up until this year, Diane ran her son's fan club until the operation grew too large and needed to move to North Carolina. Now she divides her time between Ryan and his sister, a registered nurse in Indiana who has two children.

What she enjoys most, as do both Cindi Coleman and Gaye Busch, is the enormous sense of pride she has for her son and the ability to see Newman live out his dream.

"When I'm home or elsewhere, friends will introduce me as Ryan Newman's mom and I say, 'oh come on now be quiet,' but I get really excited to hear their reaction, it's such a good feeling," Newman said.

Her son is South Bend's biggest star and as well as one of NASCAR's brightest.

And as for safety, the average person might assume NASCAR moms are basket cases.

How can they watch their children crash into walls at high rates of speed? How can they bear to watch when death is a possibility?

It's simple -- they just do and they maintain their best game face week in and week out.

For Mother's Day last year, Coleman received a cross from her son and wears it every weekend. Around her neck, she rubs the metal symbol as she watches the 20-year-old round corners at speeds nearing 170 miles per hour. She knows the dangers but has confidence in her son's ability.

Newman still gets nervous watching her son, who has been dubbed the Rocket Man for his high qualifying speeds.

And Newman has flipped midget cars and slammed into walls but his most serious injury came as a kid jumping off bleachers at a track in New Carlisle, Ind. He broke his collar bone, but still has never broken a bone on the track.

The mothers know the dangers, but can't get overwhelmed with worries; they put their faith in NASCAR safety and the ability of their sons.

Busch said of her son Kyle, "He's my no fear child, he's always been that way and we don't know where it came from. He definitely has his own personality. He's a Taurus, definitely a bull."

So the greatest gift for these mothers on Sunday is merely looking at their boys and saying, yep, that's my son. I had a great part in raising that boy who millions of fans watch on TV every Sunday.

"Seeing that they are happy and great at what they are doing, to see a dream that they had as teenagers come true as young adults, to see them come this far and live this life is a great accomplishment," Gaye Busch said.

Yes, but an even greater accomplishment, one that is ongoing, is motherhood in NASCAR.