All Star Race Day Part 2

Our all too short of time on pit lane came to an end then, and we headed out to sit in the stands with Smitty and Jen for a while, watching the mini pre-races on the ¼ mile oval on the frontstretch…as they lined up the cars for the crew chief race, those of us joining the couple of hundred Nascar Member Club people going down for the All-Star Race driver intro Mosh pit headed out…it meant missing the Open driver intros while we were herded down to turn 4 and through the tunnel into the infield, where we were split into 2 groups for the 2 sides of the stage…our group got to watch the Open from behind the infield fence at the exit of pit lane…closest I’ve ever been to the cars going by at actual race speed in race conditions…pretty cool!!

How disappointing it was to see Carl lead all those laps, then to see those 2 cars behind him start to creep up…then suddenly fly by him…you could tell something went bad wrong with Carl’s car…and we heard him on the radio, talking with Bob and Bobby about it, and he said “Well, maybe the fans will vote us in…” We’re sorry, Carl, we tried!!! Talk about Mad Edheads…I LIKE Kenny Wallace, but I dislike anyone being voted in by a huge campaign, or simply a huge fan base (Like Dale Jr in the “Most Popular Driver” voting, or Martin Truex Jr a couple of years back in the All-Star voting, when all the Dale Jr fans ganged up to vote him in…you just know you really have no chance, even when you try your best…fan vote things annoy me because of that, because you can generally pick, not far into the voting, who’s going to get it).

Then it was time, and they herded us down to the driver intro stage…literally…I mean, we tried to get pics of the cars we were passing, lined up and on display, but this was for TV, they had to have us in place before the intros started…very frustrating, they did the same thing on the way out, some guy yelling at us “Come on, hurry up, we’ve got 4 minutes to TV…” Well, there’s only so fast you can go when there are hundreds of people in front of you….

But being down there was SOOO awesome…and I figured out something. You’d think they’d get new uniforms for something like that…you can’t see it on TV, but in person, the 8 and 11 crews especially have faded uniforms, presumably from sun exposure…we noticed it at the PCC, too. It doesn’t show up on TV, though….

I knew based on the campaign they had going on that Kenny was going to get voted in, despite our best efforts, but a little part of me had me holding my breath when they made the announcement…then my heart fell to my toes. Same feeling I get when Carl gets wrecked on the track…

So now we’re back in the stands watching the All-Star race, which was rather uneventful…the only problem we really had was, knowing Carl was going to be a pit reporter, we tuned our scanners in to the TV frequency, but found that it kept cutting out…I ended up having to hold it straight up by my shoulder to get a good signal…the things we do to hear Carl during a race!! LOL But Fox needs to work on that, I have NEVER had that problem at a race track before.

After the race, we thought we might go out for a drink, but the race traffic put the kybosh on that idea…so Smitty fired up the grill, and we had some more burgers, brats and dogs…YUMMY!!!

Before we knew it, traffic had thinned, and it was 1am, so we each headed for our warm beds, pleasantly tired as you can only be after a race weekend that you have squeezed all the fun out of it that’s possible.

Sunday, after seeing Paige off at the airport, Maureen, Jen and I went to see Shrek 3, which I personally laughed my butt off through, then having a few more hours of sunlight, we headed back out to Roush to see if anything was open…it wasn’t, so after snapping a few more pics of the haulers, back in their berths behind the shop, we decided to head up to Lake Norman and hang out.

We relaxed in Jetton Park, watching the boats go by, wishing we were out there, just chatting and relaxing…a lovely afternoon. I know each of us wondered at least once if any of the boats going by or just floating out there contained any familiar faces, because the weather was perfect, and I KNOW some of the drivers, crews etc. had to be out there enjoying it, on a well-deserved Sunday off.

After a bite to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings, where we kicked butt in trivia, it was off to bed…even MORE tired, but not wanting to miss anything. We’ve pretty much decided whoever wins their millions first has to buy a house on Lake Norman, and we’ll hold Edfest THERE every year!

Sadly, I was too tired that night, and couldn’t get to sleep…leading to me waking up Monday morning to the sun shining through the window. This was bad because my flight time was 8:05am, and I had planned to head to the airport at 6am.

Yup. 8:30 am. UGH!! I have NEVER slept through a flight before!!!!

After a phone call to Delta, I had myself booked on a later flight, thankfully, because Tuesday it’s back to the grind.

We boarded our plane basically on time…only to sit there for 2 steaming hours…steaming because we were sitting in a tin can with wings on a tarmac in 90 degree heat, with no air conditioning!! It seems the plane needed a jump start, and their jump starter didn’t work. Neither did the next 2 they borrowed…finally the third worked, because the passengers were steaming physically AND mentally by the time we finally got rolling…

I was just thankful that I still would have an hour between flights at my layover, many missed their connecting flights because of the delay…but GEEZ, that was ridiculous. I know they had no idea it was going to take that long, which was why they didn’t let us get off the plane and relax in the air conditioned terminal, but it was just crazy.

Oh, and yes, being on a plane that has ANYTHING on it that doesn’t work DOES tend to make me a mite trepidatious about flying on that plane. LOL

By the time I got off that plane, I looked like I should be in a hip hop video…my cotton pants stretched out because I sat in them on those vinyl seats (yup, it was an OLD plane with vinyl seats) and sweated…they were so baggy, I was worried I was going to lose them…and me without a belt available! LOL

I tell you, that cold Budweiser at Cincinnati airport never tasted so good…if I’m going to sweat that much, I prefer it to be because I’m on pit lane in 90 + degree heat!! UGH!

I came home to see if the cats had survived without me for the week…they did fine, but the apartment was a MESS!!! It took me an hour of sweeping, vacuuming and mopping to get the kitty litter mess cleaned up from 2 cats left alone for almost a week…oh, well.

Well, back home in Lala Land again…I’ll get through the rest of my pics as soon as I can. As I mentioned to those at Edfest, if you want copies, pm me your address, and when I get them done, I’ll send you a CD…oh, and Jamie Jo, I forgot to pay you for the coozie from Harley…I’ll include that with yours.

All Star Race Day, May 19, 2007.

Dust Devils, Mosh Pits, Mad Edhead Disease, and Sweating for a BAD reason.

(Due to the length, this is a 2-parter...too much happened on Race Day to squeeze it into one!!)

And WELCOME BACK BOBBY!!!!!

Saturday we didn’t crawl out of bed QUITE as early as Carrie Lynn and her Mom, but early enough that the hotel coffee was still fresh, so that’s something…we were meticulous, the meat products and beverages were all packed in ice chests, the cameras and scanners were charged, sunscreen liberally applied to strategic points (Unfortunately, Maureen and I forgot our arms and hands….I now have the worst farmer’s tan/burn possible on those areas!!! But my nose is not beet red…that’s something!!), hats and sunglasses and other important things loaded into the car…or so we thought…I couldn’t figure out why the heck, as we drove down the road, it was so darned bright out there….then realized the sunglasses I had set on TOP of my bag in the hotel room, so as to NOT forget them, did NOT make the transition from room to my face in the car…yup, blonde again….fortunately, we had to stop for a couple of bags of ice down the road, so I grabbed a $7.00 pair, and chatted with the lady behind the counter about how busy she was bound to be that day, being so close to the track…then off to the designated meeting point where those of us where were not intrepid enough to crawl out of our warm beds at 3am where meeting up to go find where our Edfest campsite would be…It was actually easier to find it than we thought, as at 8am when the race is a night race, there really aren’t that many people there yet…Carrie Lynn and her Mom had staked out a spot right at the end of Souvenir Alley, which was very handy for checking out signing times and all that.

At 10am we headed up to see if Carl’s hauler was open yet, and it was JUST opening up…I got to meet Dell, and chatted with him for a while, then we found out it was Mark’s birthday (the “kid” who happens to be my age, but appears very young, who works the hauler with the gals) so we wished him happy birthday…again, and again, and again, all day long, every time we went by to his embarrassment. LOL I know he heard it a lot because the gals posted it on the white board normally used to advertise when Carl’s going to be signing LOL. He apparently used to work in Mark Martin’s hauler, because he said “That was fine when I worked MARK’S hauler, everyone thought they were wishing HIM happy birthday!!!” LOL

So we took food orders from them, as I knew how many of us there were, and how much food we had, so I figured we might as well make sure THEY get a good meal, too… Waste not, want not…as it was, Smitty, being one of the local Edheads, took home lots of extras at the end of the day. They were so pleased…when we delivered the food a while later, we sang Mark Happy Birthday, and gave him some Birthday cookies…LOL

After much visiting and a great feed grilled up by Grillmaster Smitty (who, BTW, was the only MALE Edhead there with us…funny how the ONE guy always ends up being Grillmaster…LOL) it was soon time to start packing up a bit to go actually do more than sit around, talk and eat…LOL…I went to the car to change into my sneakers for on pit lane, and as I was sitting in the back seat, with the door open, doing so, I heard people behind the car (the car was facing the Edfest site, but a row away) started hooting and hollering, so I looked up from trying to remember how to tie my shoes (J/K!) to see this huge cloud of dust and debris swirling right towards me!!

Now, MY momma didn’t raise no fool…I immediately slammed the door and watched from the clean safety of the car LOL…it was impressive, I saw the moment the tent pole went through the tarp, and tables flipping, tents flying around…of course, the camera was off, and by the time I thought to fire it up, it was all over…oh, well!!

Dusting off and putting things back to rights, after making sure we had a few good group pics (minus Brandi and Pam, who were off getting into mischief of their own! LOL) we then headed off to pit lane, myself, Mae97, Paige, Jamie Jo, and her sister KK…Jamie Jo especially seemed impressed, as walking across the track onto pit lane, instead of through the tunnel, was a first for her…it IS kinda cool to be on the same surface that the cars will soon be whizzing by on….

Down on pit lane, we soon found out that the 99 crew was continuing with their recent trend of pitting more towards the ENTRANCE of pit lane, instead of towards the exit as they used to…opposite end of pit lane from where we were sitting, in Ford section, but oh, well…we went down there, said hi to Trent and Tracy and Mike, the guys I know…and just hung out for a while there, because the breeze that had caused such havoc out in the parking lot was now being blocked pretty good by the stands, and it was quite warm down there, but right by the 99 pit stall, there was a nice breeze, so we relaxed for a while, and just took it all in.

While saying Hi to the guys, we saw 2 suspiciously familiar figures going down pit lane BEHIND the pit boxes…but they just didn’t LOOK right….what was it…oh, I know…they were in disguise, not sporting their 99 garb!!!! Hallooing them, we waved, and they indicated they were on some sort of mission, but they’d be back…so off they went…very mysterious, I say, but when an Edhead gets something in her head, it’s best to either get out of her way, or just stand back and watch…LOL

After a while, we crossed over that yellow pit wall (how odd it all looked, the walls yellow…I never noticed before if they did that for the All-Star race each time, but I guess, since they always have to put another coat of paint on after each race anyway, it was no big deal to paint them yellow now…I bet they’re back to white next week!!!) and started strolling down behind the pit stalls, just checking things out, enjoying being there…peering into the garage, just soaking it all in.We met back up with those mysterious, low-key Edheads, a ways down…ONE of them appeared kind of perturbed at the other one…

Turns out the perturbed one had been “forced” by the other to do SOMETHING that went very against the grain for her…she appeared to STILL have the heebie jeebies, despite having liberally applied the antidote… I think she should have repeatedly applied, that might have made her feel better…LOL

While we stood there and chatted, a 99 crewman approached us, in our Edhead finery (well, MOST of us!!) and joined our conversation, introducing himself…this was John, and he seems like a really nice guy, I recognized him from other races I’d been to, but had never had the chance to meet him…in fact, he remembered me from Las Vegas, he was there when I showed up on pit lane to say hi…

…he’s the guy who grabs the tires when Trent and Tracy toss them towards the wall during pit stops, and has the next one ready for them to grab, at least, that’s the part of his job he told us about…mind you, HIS turn of phrase about what he does was MUCH more entertaining than my description…LOL So I said “So, if a tire gets away during a pit stop, it’s usually your fault….” He got all serious looking and said “Yeah” So I said “Well, none of that tonight!!” and he laughed.

Roush Racing, Charity and Trackside, and Wounded Edheads

Well, day 3 has come and gone...It started off rather roughly enough, at 4:30am, I woke up for a "Pit stop", and found that I had slept on my hand in such a way, that it hurt to turn in half the natural positions I generally can turn it in...OUCH!!! Made doing the hair later a chore, I tell you...so needless to say, I was awake from 4:30 on...UGH Fortunately, whatever was tightened up later loosened up and I got use of my hand back...but for several hours I was a wounded Edhead...

Later in the morning, we headed off to do some last-minute shopping, picking up supplies for tailgating on Saturday,

Then we were off to Roush to meet up with the other Edheads...we toured the museum, got pics in (part of) Carl's Scott's car, of course we had to have each of us "driving" it. Then we went out front for a group pic by the Roush fountain, with another Edhead who showed up with her family just for the day, Ithildin. We were so happy another Edhead showed up, we didn't even quibble at the fact that her son was dressed head to toe in Jeff Gordon gear...he's young, she's got plenty of time to swing him to the RIGHT side...LOL

As the Roush Cup shop is just up the street from the store and museum, that was next on the list. We delivered the basket, one of the team picked it up and took it back to the 99 shop....the haulers were already gone, so we didn't know if it would get to the team at the track for the All Star races, but we figured at worst, it could be put on the hauler for the Coca Cola 600 weekend...we had to ask him to slow down for a pic, which he was apparently reluctant to do, he just tried to grab and run LOL...

We wished him good luck for the races, then gawked a bit into the hallowed halls of the Roush shop. Unfortunately there was only one 99 car in view, right by the windows...apparently his shop is in the next room...but that 99 car had a nice little sign on it: "Thanks Race Fans...from the 99 crew"...HOW SWEET!!! I had the thought maybe they appreciated being cheered on during their practice the day before...LOL

After that, we each went our own ways, some to do race shop tours, and a much-dwindled group headed out to the Speedpark for the Edfest 500 2007...only 4 participants this year...

Unfortunately, the result was much the same...Jen showed her eye for horsepower and nabbed the fastest car again...left the rest of us in the dust...LOL

Jen's win WASN'T without controversy...but the little guy in the 29 was as aggressive as the NASCAR driver in the 29, bumping ad lib and taking no prisoners, and his antics eventually got him spun...I was just sorry I wasn't the one who did it!! The little squirt started behind me, and barely waited until we got out of the gates before bumping me to pass me...despite the big "No Bumping" signs plastered liberally around the track.

Paige insisted she had an "equipment failure" that kept her from contending...lo and behold, we have photographic PROOF of that failure!!

After that refreshing competition, it was off to the track for some browsing and gawking...we chatted with the gals at the souvie hauler, and got their assurances that as soon as they knew if Carl would add on a last minute signing the next day (not likely, but fingers crossed) they'd let us know.

We then headed down the road for lunch at a charity function for Speedway Children's Charity...Jen and I were proud to say we ate BBQ and drank beer for kids!! LOL It was yummy BBQ at Texas Land And Cattle Steakhouse, and even though we were too early to see any "celebrities", it was worth it. While eating, we DID watch the Ginn blimp overhead, going so up and down, we were just waiting for it to crash...they were CRAZY having it out on such a breezy day, it was obvious that they had quite the battle on their hands, keeping it in the air. For some reason "Hindenburg" kept flashing through my mind, watching that blimp bob up and down, like a....well, like a balloon in a wind tunnel! LOL

Back up the road, we visited the Sam Bass gallery, where Dave Moody was broadcasting his Sirius satellite radio show amidst the telethon going on...kinda cool to see the face that goes with the voice I listen to each week!! Down the road, the Motorsports Authentics tent sale was on...we browsed through, but it's sad that it's no longer Team Caliber, and Roush owned, because it was the same problem as in most NASCAR stores...8, 20, 24, 48 and 9 were the main contributers. Oh, and the 3, of course.

We split up at this point to get the banner and park and get to Trackside, we all managed to get signed up for the PRE-RACE DRIVER INTROS MOSH PIT tomorrow!! It's through the Official Nascar Members club...a bunch of us are going to be a few of the hundreds down there...hope I don't drop a crewman!!!! LOL

Then we were on to Trackside at the Speed Stage, where, if you watched at all, I KNOW you could not miss the banner...the boom camera guy even got bored of ignoring us, and decided to give it a close-up...at that point, we figured our job was done...however, we DID also manage to get Jeff Hammond to sign the banner, too...we didn't unravel the entire banner, so unless he saw it during the broadcast, I don't think he has any idea he essentially just became an honorary Edhead, signing the Edhead banner...LOL

Then off to qualifying. Dizzy yet???? Actually, I had to make a detour to the car to drop off the banner, as they wouldn't let it in to the track with the wooden poles on it...what a difference different tracks make, we had it in at Fontana and Phoenix no problem...but we soon were up in the stands, waiting, and before we knew it, our boy was on the pole!! WAY TO GO CARL!!! Let's keep the momentum going!!

And you should have heard the shocked gasps when MARK MARTIN spun out on his qualifying run!!! He's the LAST one you'd expect to see that from...And the CHEERS when the Killer B's reeled off their 11.6 second pit stop to help Matt bump Jimmy Johson off the pole were priceless...one Jr fan in front of us even will soon be owning a Matt Kenseth hat, if he was half serious about his bet to buy one if Matt bumped Jr off the pole. LOL

All in all, a pretty full day...we DID walk right past Mike Joy, before we realized who he was, and turned around and called his name, waving at him...that's the only close encounter to speak of, although I DO think Brandi and Pam may have a few stories of their own adventures to add. I'm thinking they might have had a few close encounters...or where they of the "art" kind??? LOL

Well, I'm zonked, and it's another early day tomorrow, trying to get to the track plenty early to set up camp for the day...note to self, slather up on the sunscreen...the neck is DEFINITELY a little red after today!!

Edheads on the loose--May 17 2007

Well, Day 2 found 5 gals in "Official Edhead" shirts bouncing back and forth between Concord Mills Mall, Walmart and Roush Racing...we garnered a few looks, I tell ya...And 2 of them, separate at the beginning of the day, having a "Close Encounter" of the NASCAR kind...peripherally involving Carl!! Imagine their enthusiam at running into Clint Bowyer at the Harley shop...and having Clint call Carl and tell him he was taking pictures with Edheads! Too cool!

We started out after a long night's rest for the mall, having a day to burn. En route, I had a brilliant thought...."Let's go over to Roush!!!"

Twist Paige's and Maureen's rubber arms!!!

So off we went...explored the museum, but not too thoroughly, knowing we would be back tomorrow, then into the Roush shop...giving the gals behind a counter a bit of a double take in our matching shirts...The shirts, of course, engendered some explanations, as they were running a shop selling OFFICIAL Carl stuff...but once they realized we were with the official fan club, they were all smiles and cheery.

They loved the shirts so much, we brought 2 1/2 others back later (Jamie Jo and "lil bun in the oven", and her sis, also decked out in her Edhead finest this day, after honoring Kasey Kahne yesterday.)

Anyway, after grocery shopping for saturday, and a few other things, Jen let us know that last year the 99 crew had had pit practice around 4:30pm on the thursday...so you KNOW we weren't going to miss that!!!

Back to Roush again, we hung out outside the fence as they practiced, dodging official people who were allowed in and COT carcasses on wagons...and watched as the boys fine-tuned their pit stops. I let my intern "CCN PHOTOGS" do their best, I know they're going to have some great shots...my camera, however, suddenly flashed "Memory Card Full" after a few pics...turns out my Phoenix photos were still on it...DOH!!!! I did manage to get a few before this happened, though.

We didn't bug the guys, as they were working, and had to proceed inside for mandatory work-outs, but Mike Brown DID come over and chat with us a little bit...he's looking good, he's been working out, slimmed down a bit so that with his "summer cut" as he called it, we almost didn't recognize him at the PCC.

Anyway, we then headed off to Quaker Steak and Lube to meet up with the rest of the group...a scrumptious meal later, we had chatted and caught up, and only a few food-related or bill-related mishaps, as often happens when there's a large group at a restaurant.

Pam and Brandi brought the "work in progress" scrapbook, which they were returning to the hotel to finish last night...it's AWESOME!!!! I also gave them my home-made banner from last year's Edfest, the one everyone signed, properly hemmed and minus the Duct Tape (as classy as that was)...just the "Living the Dream" side, as the other "Edheads on the loose...we need wedge!!" side was just for fun...but I'm thinking I SHOULD have sewn them together...oh, well, if I find it in the future (I think it's at home in Canada) I MIGHT bring it out for future events....

Sadly, the time to eat took longer than we thought, and by the time we got to the Speedpark, a "educational delay" had occured...that being, apparently most of the staff there are high school students, and had school the next day, so they closed before we got there...BOOO!!! Who needs an education, anyway??? LOL

So, the Edfest 500 of 2007 will TENTATIVELY be held on the "educational delay" time of AFTER Roush racing shops tomorrow morning...time TBA...sorry, live telecast not available unless you have Speed2, CCN's new NASCAR channel. All Carl, all the time.....BTW, I'm sort of an imposter this weekend...my CCN Press credentials are in the mail!!!

Night all!!

The Nurse hits NC for a NASCAR weekend

Hello from a brisk and blustery NC!! It’s Thursday (May 17) prior to the All Star Race weekend, and the day after the Pit Crew Challenge. I stepped outside for my "morning constitutional" this morning, and was nearly blown away, and my little toesies curled up in the cold! Hopefully it will warm up.

My trip back east tuesday night was uneventful, if tiring (the guy next to me and I basically took turns napping on each other's shoulders second leg of the trip...I kept waking up to his morning breath!!! Too bad his boyfriend was in the next seat...he was kinda cute!!! LMAO!!)

We got together with Smitty and his family and Jen, Jamie Jo and Paige, Maureen and I, for dinner last night, then off to the PCC. It was cool to finally meet Smitty and his family is great...it's a shame he's not around the boards any more, but that's the way it goes.

En route from the restaurant to the Pit Crew Challenge wednesday was a bit of a challenge for us...having Smitty with us, who is intimately familiar with downtown Charlotte, we took a short cut...involving one interesting incident of sliding down a steep grass hill on our butts...you'd think I'd have no problem with it, with these skis I call feet, but I was wearing flip-flops...which were full of grass by the time we got to the bottom...LOL

The Pit Crew Challenge was AWESOME, even though our boys had some bad luck...it still amazes me how ONE bad pit stop can ruin your day!! Race day, that's so true, but in this format...unfortunately, it made for a short night. However, the team that beat them went all the way to the final round, and we found ourselves rooting for them, since most of our favorites got eliminated. If you’ve never done the Pit Crew Challenge at Bobcat arena in Charlotte, I recommend you do it…it just reinforced for me that our favorite Nascar drivers couldn’t do this without these pit stop warriors.

I was still so proud of our 99 crew, they got their car across the finish line first...but by the end of the night, I was a basket case, waiting to see if there were any raised fingers from officials on pit stops after each round, indicating penalties...AND I was VERY proud to see Carl there, supporting his guys. He, and Jeff Burton were there in support, and the Busch boys and Bobby Labonte all rode IN their cars during the pit stops to support them...Jeff Gordon, Jimmy Johnson, Dale Jarrett…it was awesome to see, and I hope more drivers start doing this. Where would they be without their over-the-wall guys???

Well, it's off to a day of shopping (and hopefully a pedicure!!) today, then dinner tonight with the whole group. Caught this cut pic of Paige and Maureen admiring a....MAP????? Sure, yeah, it's a map....LMAO!!!



See you all later! This community computer is a popular place...I'd better get off, or the lady bowlers who are waiting in line are going to think very poorly of Edheads...that's right, there's a ladies bowling tourny here this weekend, and we're sharing a hotel with them...unfortunately, that included the gals partying next door and in the hall until 4am last night, too...UGH!!

Bye for now!!