Lane DeGregory: PLANT CITY — The queen was late.
By the time she pulled into the new RaceTrac, hundreds of people already packed the parking lot for the grand opening.
The high school marching band was tuning up, the Budweiser Clydesdales were huffing in their harnesses, and the queen's court was waiting beneath a balloon arch. The four teen girls wore what the queen wore: ruffly red sundresses, white jackets with strawberry sequins and the mandatory lipstick they called "old lady red."
The queen grabbed her crown off the dashboard of her red VW Jetta and stepped into the sunlight. Bending into her driver's side mirror, she pulled back her long blond curls and pinned on the 7-inch tiara.
"Hey!" …
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