Leona Czandowski, the beautiful blonde bomb from Springer, New Mexico located on the Colfax plain at the foot of the Taos Mountains. Soon after Leona graduated from high school in 1968, her father was killed in a hunting accident when the jeep he was driving over turned on a steep mountain road. His son Darryl was there but the area was so remote, nothing could be done to save him.

Leona was never a mama's girl and dreamed of earning enough money to leave Springer and go to Denver, Colorado. In Denver she wanted to get a job and attend dance classes. Her aunt lived outside of Denver so this dream would not be hard to fulfill.

This sounds strange, but Leona wanted to be a girl, all her young life she was placed with her dad and brother in a mechanical world of gas stations, cars, trucks and farm equipment. She was called Leon by many of the boys in town; this teasing was a form of flirting with her, as young boys often do not know how to talk to girls, so they attempt to make fun of them to have conversation.

One boy in her life was Billy Huskie, he had been sweet on Leona since grade school, and was upset that she wanted to leave Springer. There was chemistry between them, but Billy often marched to the tune of her big brother Darryl. Leona disliked her big brother's protective nature towards her, this came on after her father died. With the man of the house gone, Darryl felt he was needed now to provide the steady hand which his father had given to them all those years. But Leona wanted to be her own person, and Darryl and his friends kept her under their thumb as much as they could.

But those days passed and when Jim Bronson came to town that week, Leona jumped at the chance to break away from Springer and the mold of, little sister. With the money she won from winning the demolition derby, she bought a bus ticket, a new dress and headed north to Aunt Jennifer's outside Denver. She got a job, at the mercantile store helping customers and became aware she had a fancy for numbers, and began helping the bookkeeper at night.

Six months later she enrolled in dance class, and loved moving with the music, but soon realized this was not really a profession to pursue as a full time job. She made her application to the local junior college and began taking courses which would provide her a background to maybe take accounting and finance at the University of Denver. Five years later she graduated with a degree in accounting and would earn her Certified Public Accounts license.

Within the next few years she would marry a man she went to the university with, he was a lawyer, however the relationship ended in divorce, and Leona would receive custody of their daughter Becky. She was looking to slow down and with Aunt Jennifer moving to a retirement home, she decided to move back to Springer.

That fall she opened and office for finance and tax preparation, and would become a candidate for county clerk. She would become re acquainted with Billy Huskie, who now owned two of the town's three auto parts stores. They would become good friends over the next two years and marry in 1983.

Darryl Czandowski is the half-brother to Leona; they shared the same father, with different mothers. The son of and alcoholic father in a small ranching town in New Mexico and wore the back hand of his father many times while growing up. He graduated from high school in 1963 and joined the service in 1964; he served in the Marines for two years. Coming home to a father that was aging, he was able to buy his father's gas station when he passed away from and accident in 1968.

Darryl had been a tank mechanic in the Corp and loved working on cars. His good friend Billy Huskie and he dream all through high school of owning a car dealership some day and sponsoring a race car.

After a decade of owning the gas station, Darryl sold out and moved to Charlotte, North Carolina were he managed to break into NASCAR stock car racing one weekend by filling in for a tire changer for the number 21 car and the famous Wood Brothers. By 1984 he was the crew chief for the number 77 car, but would retire in 1986, after the Daytona Race, because of a heart condition.

Billy Huskie grew up best friends with Darryl Czandowski and was in love with his half sister, Leona, since childhood. When Darryl joined the service, Billy quit high school and joined the Marine Corp on the buddy program with Darryl. When he returned home he earned his GED and went to college and earned a degree in accounting. He had just come home with his diploma when Leona was bent on owning and driving a race car someday. With a small inheritance from his mother, he purchased a share in one of the auto parts stores in town, he felt this could lead to the local Chevrolet dealership, a dream he had all his life and a nationally competitive race car.

Billy asked Leona to marry him in late 1969, she said no, and she left town to find her own way up north in Denver. Eight years later she returned, with a young daughter, named Becky. Billy hired Leona to handle his taxes for his businesses, and six months later he again asked her to marry him, and she did. They now have their own son, named Brady.

Billy eventfully acquired the Chevrolet dealership and two auto parts stores. He bought the local race track and helps young drivers and mechanics get into racing.

You would never know it to look at Bear Hudson, but he was rich. His father and grandfather had owned most of the land in what became Springer, New Mexico. His wife was Navajo Indian and they enjoyed the simple life of raising their family.

Bear in earlier days had been sweet on Leona's mother before she married, so he harbored a kind affection for her and helped her anyway he could in growing up. He had secretly made arrangements with Leona's Aunt Jennifer to provide money for Leona to help pay for her education in Denver. When she returned to Springer, Bear ensured the bank would give her the loans to start her tax and accounting business.

When Billy was able to secure the Chevrolet dealership out right, Bear helped him at the bank and then the secret of him helping Leona all those years was out on the table. Of course Leona was overwhelmed with surprise which quickly turned to admiration for the junk yard man, who gave her a hard time, but always felt fatherly towards her in supporting her dreams, funny that they both has blue eyes.