Sunday March 9th
“I know you don’t mind if I call you Matt, but if you call me Bob one more time…." Then they made the rounds of radios, each saying “Hi Bob!” pretty much confirming Bob Osborne may not have been at the track, but he was listening. I imagine Trackpass was frustrating him with their 5-7 (or more) second delay.
Once Carl’s car was out of the race (blown engine, with the typical let-down…this was the 3rd time in the past 6 months I had attended a race that Carl blew an engine in…in fact, I think it was only the 3rd time total that Carl had lost an engine in a race…geez, if it weren’t for the fact that Carl had won the race in Las Vegas last week when I was there, I’d be thinking I’m bad luck for Carl!!), I made an “executive decision” and headed for the rental car, which was on the other side of the track from me. It was obvious to me who would win, my gut told me Kyle Busch’s luck would hold this day, and I didn’t feel like facing race traffic by myself after a long race weekend, so it was time to vamoose.
Oh, before you express your disappointment in me as a NASCAR fan, let it be known, the first thing I did (O-kay, SECOND, after firing up the heater!!) when I got into the rental car was find the MRN station on the radio. I listened to the rest of the race as I drove to the hotel, and as I pulled into the parking lot, the Shrub was pulling into Victory Lane. I’m glad I listened to my gut and left…when the other fans leaving the track were fighting the traffic, I was cozy in my (lacking of internet…yup, my SECOND race weekend in a row in digs that had malfunctioning internet!) lovely hotel room, watching the post-race coverage on TV, and checking out my pics. So there!
All in all, this was a fabulous race weekend, meeting wonderful people I had only met on-line before, marred only by Carl’s engine problems (he WOULD have won his third in a row otherwise!!) and the cold, and my Canadian blood rose to the challenge with the latter. Another first time at a track checked off the list…next, Bristol. And not just Bristol…the Bristol night race!! But first, a couple of little pit stops at Infineon and Gateway.
It’s gonna be a LOOONG time until June rolls around, for this gal used to attending around 8 races a year the past couple of years.
Hoping for warmer weather, we awoke to a bright sunny day. But sadly, still cold, and the wind whipped up again later that morning. I guess I was doomed to the weirdest farmer’s tan I have ever had…just my face and hands.
As Tracy and Jean-Marie were destined to leave the race early this day, Tracy to catch her flight and Jean-Marie to head back to the warmth of Florida, we took separate cars, and arrived at the crack of “Pit lane just opening”…in time to see the General Lee with his unconventional (or not, considering the surroundings) driver being pulled in, presumably in preparation for the stunt planned for pre-race:
As Tracy and Jean-Marie were destined to leave the race early this day, Tracy to catch her flight and Jean-Marie to head back to the warmth of Florida, we took separate cars, and arrived at the crack of “Pit lane just opening”…in time to see the General Lee with his unconventional (or not, considering the surroundings) driver being pulled in, presumably in preparation for the stunt planned for pre-race:
In hot pursuit:
Upon entry, we found that pit lane was as busy as always on Sunday morning. We quickly found the 99 pit stall, where I dropped off a little CCN (Commodore Comedy Network, available through the RoushFenway Racing message boards) special story for the guys…something about the AFLAC Duck riding along with Carl to Victory, only to be spun afterwards on pit lane by Mark Martin, who was just telling them congratulations. Funnily enough, this race would also be the race where the new AFLAC commercial, with the Duck driving the car to victory with Carl in the passenger seat, aired. CCN’s editor in chief, Commodore, is typically closed-mouthed about the coincidence.
Proceeding down a few stalls, we chatted with Cameron, one of the crew guys on the 17 team, formerly of the 60 Nationwide team. He’s a really nice guy, and it was fun hanging out with him, but I suspected we were keeping him from work he had to do, even though he didn’t seem to mind!!
After this, we wandered happily along pit lane, just enjoying the atmosphere, and too soon it was time to head to my seat. Bidding Jean-Marie and Tracy good-bye, as I wouldn’t see them again before they left, and their seats were in another area, I headed up to the stands.
Emerging from the tunnel to the infield, I heard the crowd roar…and walking down to the fence, was able to fire up my trusty Canon just in time to catch the General Lee, Bo Duke (John Schneider) at the wheel, performing the pre-race stunt, resulting in Roscoe P Coltrane (not really, it was a stunt driver) in a Sheriff’s car on it’s side on the tri-oval grass, leaving a huge divet!! Of course, the stunt driver was fine, and my favorite Duke emerged from the General Lee not 50 feet from me!! AWESOME!!
Proceeding down a few stalls, we chatted with Cameron, one of the crew guys on the 17 team, formerly of the 60 Nationwide team. He’s a really nice guy, and it was fun hanging out with him, but I suspected we were keeping him from work he had to do, even though he didn’t seem to mind!!
After this, we wandered happily along pit lane, just enjoying the atmosphere, and too soon it was time to head to my seat. Bidding Jean-Marie and Tracy good-bye, as I wouldn’t see them again before they left, and their seats were in another area, I headed up to the stands.
Emerging from the tunnel to the infield, I heard the crowd roar…and walking down to the fence, was able to fire up my trusty Canon just in time to catch the General Lee, Bo Duke (John Schneider) at the wheel, performing the pre-race stunt, resulting in Roscoe P Coltrane (not really, it was a stunt driver) in a Sheriff’s car on it’s side on the tri-oval grass, leaving a huge divet!! Of course, the stunt driver was fine, and my favorite Duke emerged from the General Lee not 50 feet from me!! AWESOME!!
After the Dukes display, I headed down front for Driver Intros…I had known that after the Dukes of Hazzard, John Schneider had had a signing career of sorts, and he was part of the pre-race entertainment musically, also.
Of course, I snapped tons of photos in driver intros:
Of course, I snapped tons of photos in driver intros:
The race was awesome…right up until Carl’s engine went south. Prior to that, listening in on the scanner, I wondered how many times Carl would call Robbie “Bob” before Robbie made a comment…and I wasn’t disappointed.
Under Caution, Robbie finally addressed this issue, I paraphrase:
Under Caution, Robbie finally addressed this issue, I paraphrase:
“I know you don’t mind if I call you Matt, but if you call me Bob one more time…." Then they made the rounds of radios, each saying “Hi Bob!” pretty much confirming Bob Osborne may not have been at the track, but he was listening. I imagine Trackpass was frustrating him with their 5-7 (or more) second delay.
Once Carl’s car was out of the race (blown engine, with the typical let-down…this was the 3rd time in the past 6 months I had attended a race that Carl blew an engine in…in fact, I think it was only the 3rd time total that Carl had lost an engine in a race…geez, if it weren’t for the fact that Carl had won the race in Las Vegas last week when I was there, I’d be thinking I’m bad luck for Carl!!), I made an “executive decision” and headed for the rental car, which was on the other side of the track from me. It was obvious to me who would win, my gut told me Kyle Busch’s luck would hold this day, and I didn’t feel like facing race traffic by myself after a long race weekend, so it was time to vamoose.
Oh, before you express your disappointment in me as a NASCAR fan, let it be known, the first thing I did (O-kay, SECOND, after firing up the heater!!) when I got into the rental car was find the MRN station on the radio. I listened to the rest of the race as I drove to the hotel, and as I pulled into the parking lot, the Shrub was pulling into Victory Lane. I’m glad I listened to my gut and left…when the other fans leaving the track were fighting the traffic, I was cozy in my (lacking of internet…yup, my SECOND race weekend in a row in digs that had malfunctioning internet!) lovely hotel room, watching the post-race coverage on TV, and checking out my pics. So there!
All in all, this was a fabulous race weekend, meeting wonderful people I had only met on-line before, marred only by Carl’s engine problems (he WOULD have won his third in a row otherwise!!) and the cold, and my Canadian blood rose to the challenge with the latter. Another first time at a track checked off the list…next, Bristol. And not just Bristol…the Bristol night race!! But first, a couple of little pit stops at Infineon and Gateway.
It’s gonna be a LOOONG time until June rolls around, for this gal used to attending around 8 races a year the past couple of years.
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