Discovery-one of the most extensive Robby Gordon collections revealed from a DIE HARD Robby Gordon fan who passed away.MUST READ!

Fellow Robby Gordon fans, I have acquired one of the most awesome collections of Robby Gordon treasures that has yet to emerge.I joined PlanetRobby to honor the incredible woman who devoted much of her spare time following Robby Gordon.Her name was Kristy Phelan. Her memory is still captured by her very membership to this Club. This is a quote from her profile on PlanetRobby Question:"When did you become a Robby fan ?"
Answer:" I became a Robby fan about nine - ten years ago through my music instructor. He would have me tape races for him, and in taping the races, i began to watch and discuss them. Robby has been bantered around in every conversation, until he was the only conversation!"

I only recently met her Husband Joe, and our common ground quickly became Nascar, Robby Gordon, and Kristy.The obvious pain of the loss of his Wife Kristy was heartbreaking, and as I look through her collection, I have been blown away by her loyalty to Robby Gordon.

Joe began telling me of Kristy traveling about, trying to spectate as many Robby Gordon races as she could. Kristy's face had become familiar to Robby as a result, and they had become friends over time,as I gathered from my hours looking through the many, many autographed photos,cards,hats,and even a very special Indy car that I discover has Robby Gordon's Signature on.

As, I continue this discussion over the next few days, I will allow you fellow fans all that I find out about this very special person Kristy Phelan. The following is a memorial that I recently located that I will share now to glean a "snapshot of who Kristy was.

Kristy Phelan
DeKalb, IL
May 31, 1947 - January 8, 2012
Services: Newman Catholic Student Center
512 Normal Rd.
DeKalb, IL
815-787-770
Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. with a rosary service to be said at 8 p.m., at Conley Funeral Home, 116 W. Pierce St., Elburn, on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. A mass to celebrate her life and faith will begin at 10 a.m. , with a time of visitation from 9-10 a.m. at the Newman Catholic Student Center, Christ The Teacher Parish, 512 Normal Rd., DeKalb, IL, on Thursday, January 12, 2012. A military presentation of the flag to honor her service to her country will be held outside the church following mass.
Final Rest: Private Family commital service
Private family burial will follow cremation at a later date.

KRISTY L. “Kris” PHELAN, age 64, of DeKalb, formerly of Genoa, passed away peacefully at her home, surrounded by the love and prayers of her family, Sunday, January 8, 2012. BORN: She was born May 31, 1947, in Sterling, IL, the daughter Harry and Fern (Lofgren) Woodyatt. EARLY YEARS: Kris grew up in the Kirkland and Genoa areas and attended local schools. She graduated from Genoa-Kingston High School in 1965. MILITARY: Following graduation she worked in Sycamore and DeKalb Hospitals before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1968. Kris faithfully served her country until her honorable discharge in 1973. MARRIAGE: Upon her return to civilian life, she met Joe Phelan, a fellow veteran, while going to night school. A whirlwind courtship ensued and before long they were united in their love and life on March 31, 1973 in Portsmouth, NH. RESIDENTIAL HISTORY: They began their new life together in Groton, CT, where they welcomed their first daughter, Laura. Later, they were transferred to the naval station in Charleston, SC, and added Lisa to the family fold. Knoxville, TN then became home in 1981 where she graduated from the University of TN as a Medical Technologist. They were transferred again, this time to Shreveport, LA for a time. It may not have been their favorite place to live, but it became special because that is where they welcomed twin daughters, Sarah and Stephanie. The last transfer was to Genoa, IL became home in 1984. Two years later in 1986, Harry Brian made the family complete. OCCUPATION / WORK HISTORY: Kris dedicated her professional life to the medical field working in many hospitals throughout the country. She most enjoyed her time working at the Keesler Air Force Base, the Children’s Hospital in Knoxville, TN, as well as the local hospitals in DeKalb and Sycamore. MEMBERSHIPS: Kris was a proud member of the National Honor’s Society as well as the “notorious” Red Hat Society. As a board certified Medical Technologist in Tennessee and Illinois, Kris was involved in a number of professional organizations. Her faith led her to give of her time and heart to the St. Catherine Catholic Church in Genoa, IL, where she was Director of Religious Education and was invested in the youth and bereavement ministries. She also was a hospice volunteer for DeKalb Hospice. LIFE NOTES: Kris had a huge heart and was everybody’s mom. Her home was also everybody’s home- even strangers on the street were invited to live and sometimes became family for several months. She had a crafters soul, sewing baby blankets, clothes for her children as well as angels and crosses for her family and friends to treasure. Her talents in the kitchen were renowned for better and for worse. Thanksgiving Dinner became the center of the family’s culinary universe. All other meals paled significantly in comparison, mostly involving noodles, hot dogs or noodles AND hot dogs but all were made with love. She was a big sports fan as well. All sports were fair game with the exception of baseball. A tomboy at heart, she cheered loudest for her New England Patriots, Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks as well as #55, Robby Gordon. Above all she loved being a mom. Nothing gave her more joy than to spend time with her family. SURVIVORS: She is survived by her loving husband Joe, 5 children: Laura (Nathan) Schaefer, Lisa Phelan, Her “special twins”, Sarah and Stephanie Phelan and Brian Phelan; Her parents, Harry and Fern Woodyatt, Three siblings: Rick (Billie) Woodyatt, Skip (Andrea) Woodyatt and Nikki (Roger) Burdick; Several aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins; Boomer, her favorite four legged friend, and a family of “adopted” children who knew and treasured the love of their “mom”. VISITATION / FUNERAL Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. with a rosary service to be said at 8 p.m., at Conley Funeral Home, 116 W. Pierce St., Elburn, on Wednesday, January 11, 2012. A mass to celebrate her life and faith will begin at 10 a.m. , with a time of visitation from 9-10 a.m. at the Newman Catholic Student Center, Christ The Teacher Parish, 512 Normal Rd., DeKalb, IL, on Thursday, January 12, 2012. A military presentation of the flag to honor her service to her country will be held outside the church following mass. Private family burial will follow cremation at a later date. MEMORIAL In lieu flowers, a memorial has been established in her name to benefit her favorite charities.
"Kris, may the Angels guide you into Paradise! You will be missed by all who knew and loved you! It is not "Goodbye," but only "Until we meet again!" We love you!
Alaisa Emmens 1/10/2012"

Wow, I never met this person,,and until three days ago I never heard of her before! I am writing this as a tribute to an outstanding person, and sharing with you all,,and hopefully Robby Gordon himself, what an avid fan he had in Kristy Phelan.

I brought the collection into my garage, I had to prepare an area over 80 square feet to lay the collection on to display it. My wife came out, I told her this story, she looked at all the things that Kristy had collected over the years of following Robby Gordon, and she began to cry, and so did I.

I welcome any comments, especially from those who may have known Kristy personally. In the days to come, I will reveal the treasures of her life as a Robby Gordon fan.
Thank You for reading.I may be the newest Robby fan now!
Sincerely,
Daniel Abbott

You may visit my Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/capturedillusion?fref=browse_search

Photos with this discussion are a portion of the collection and the first Treasure revealed:
The 2004 88th Indianapolis 500 license plate contains 8 autographs!
1 .Robby Gordon (Top Center-of course!)
2. Sarah Fisher (upper right corner)
3. Scott Sharp (upper left corner)
4. Dan Wheldon (lower right)
5. A.J. Foyt IV (lower left)
6. Dario Franchitti (center bottom)
7. Darren Manning (upper right just left of Sarah Fisher)
8. Bryan Herta ( just right of 500 dead center)

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Thanks for sharing, bless her soul!

Welcome to PlanetRobby and thanks for sharing your tribute.

Welcome to the Planet That's a really nice collection. Thanks for sharing it & Kristy's story with us.

Thank you Daniel for sharing Kristy's story.

Kristy joined the Planet, March of 09.As a member she followed the adventures.We didn't know her passion,but it's obvious by the range of memorabilia that Kristy enjoyed everything Robby raced.

Godspeed Kristy
REST IN PEACE KRISTY ! Now you'll have a front row seat for every race .
:~)

Daniel, Thank you for sharing this with the Planet, rest in peace Kristy.

Thanks to those who responded to this post thus far.
It does hit home when a fellow enthusiast is no more.You re-think the wisdom of how you might spend the remaining time left on earth, what you might leave behind, and even if it made a difference to just one person.The good Lord tells us to be good stewards of what He has blessed us with, time, as well as material things.I am blessed to find that Kristy helped many people. I admire that.

Well,as stated in my Pilot discussion, I will reveal the many pieces of "treasure" as the days follow. This time I am focusing on 3 VCR tapes in the collection (found no autographs on them.. ha ha) they are labeled as follows:
1. Robby / Wind tunnel 04-02-2006
2. Practice and Qualifying Goody's Race 02-09-2004
3. 2007 Drakar

Now I do not own a VCR, and I am not sure if this is private recorded videos, or copies of commercial video footage?
Anyone care to guess? I will attempt to hunt down someone with a VCR and review them, and get back to you all with my notes.

God Bless! Daniel

1 is a weekly tv show on sundays that is 30min to a 1hr sometime and Robby was a guess on there many times they would talk about all kinds of raceing that went on that week and take call in from race fans
2 is maybe a race that she tape Practice and Qualifying from home or a race she went to and took video of at the track am at work and cant look it up but it cloud be a race Robby won
3 Daker is about a 14 day race and every nite they would do a late nite 30min tv recap of what went on that day in the race
they love showing Robby all the time
those are my guess

Thank You Dave for the information.Helps quench my curiosity since I have no friends that still have a VCR, although they tell me I can find them all the time at bargain thrift type stores for 5 and 10 bucks. I shall move forward. I appreciate the feedback.

Daniel, thanks so much for taking the time to share Kristy's story. Very touching.

Looking forward to seeing more of the collection.

RIP Kristy Phelan.

Liked the collection, thanks for sharing it with us, and as a former owner of one I also like the pit bull piece

Thank you David Z!

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