Sheridan, newly married as of last Sunday, is an inventory specialist at a NAPA AUTO PARTS warehouse for a group of 12 NAPA stores at Worman's Mill in Frederick, and has been employed there for 20 years. Here new husband, Chip, is also a former NAPA employee.

"That's where incoming freight gets distributed to the 12 stores," said Sheridan, a grandmother of four. "We're like a hub warehouse. We were an independent company originally and NAPA bought us out in 2005. That location has been there since 1993. And I've been at a couple of different stores. If they need inventory straightened out there's where I go."

Although a NASCAR fan, Sheridan is new to NHRA drag racing. "This is exciting," she said. "It's completely different. These cars are definitely louder than the NASCAR cars. It's a great privilege to be a part of this program and to be here with everyone at Don Schumacher Racing and the NAPA Funny Car team."

Jeffrey Riling, Senior Vice President of Quaker City Motor Parts (part of NAPA AUTO PARTS), was involved in the process of selecting Sheridan for the honor. "Linda truly makes a difference for our customers in our warehouse," he said. "When Linda had first started working for us there was a little accident in the warehouse. A large part had fallen off a high shelf and hit Linda in the head and knocked her unconscious. An ambulance came and took Linda away and the next day I called the warehouse to get Linda's home address to send her flowers, and they said, 'Linda's here, do you want to talk to her?'

"And I got Linda on the phone and she told me other than the shaved head and the stitches she was taking a few aspirin for a headache. She never missed a beat. And Linda is a truly a special person for us and our customers and I couldn't think of somebody better to support as the NAPA Honorary Crew Member this weekend."

Sheridan's non-wrenching crew-member duties included escorting the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car to the staging lanes for the first round of eliminations on Sunday. She also helped retrieve the car at the end of the track following NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car driver Ron Capps' run.

She also met and chatted with the entire NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge Funny Car crew, was a special guest in the NAPA hospitality area throughout the weekend, received a NAPA team jersey, experienced an up-close-and-personal view of the NAPA crew as the team worked on the car, and enjoyed a private tour of the team transporter and pit area.

The side window of the NAPA Dodge also sported Sheridan's name as today's NAPA Honorary Pit Crew Member.

NAPA AUTO PARTS distribution centers at each NHRA event during the season have different criteria for choosing the persons who are potential NAPA AUTO PARTS Honorary Crew Members.

Courtesy of Judy Stropus