Home Port, Edheads, and Talent on Dirt.

Friday July 18, 2008

Friday morning dawned sunny and hot (funny how this weekend always seems to fall during a heat wave in MO!) and we headed out for Columbia. It’s a nice drive, and arriving at IB Nuts and Racing, we found Aimee, Jean Marie, Jan and Commodore awaiting us. Browsing through, I was disappointed to find that there was very little Kenny Edwards stuff on display…talking to the lady behind the counter, we found that Kenny had a load of t-shirts in his car, and that he would be in around 2pm, so we planned to come back after lunch. I wanted that Kenny Edwards t-shirt I should have bought 2 years ago!!

But for anyone who is in the Columbia area and desires autographed Carl Edwards things, he occasionally stops in there and signs things to leave to be sold to fans, and there are mementos of Carl’s racing on the walls…so look up IB Nuts and Racing in Columbia, MO, officially known as “IB Fruits and Nuts, Too” http://www.ibnuts.com/servlet/the-template/locator/Page And who knows when you might run into an Edwards boy there.

So loaded up on snacks and Carl Edwards items, after having enjoyed the items on display there (a side of Carl’s truck from when he ran the Truck series, trophies, photos, etc) we headed down the road to Home Port.
Perche Creek Yacht Club. A club like no other. Many of us were already members, the remainder wanted to BECOME members. http://www.percheyc.com/

Meeting up with Commodore, who had gone on ahead, and MK, his lovely wife, we proceeded to enjoy Home Port’s wonderful home cooking and the company of our fellow Edheads. The new members submitted their applications, and I sponsored Jeff on his application, earning myself a gold PCYC pin. Yay!!

Lunch passed too quickly, and Commodore then dipped into his “Everything Edwards” goodie bag, handing out miscellaneous prizes for drawings. Commodore Comedy Network calendars, photos, pins etc. were drawn for and everyone got a prize, and lots of pins.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to St. Louis, but first, a trip back by IB Nuts and Racing to see if Kenny brought his new t-shirts in.

No go. Sadly, they were in his other vehicle, (don’t we all know what THAT is like!!), but we got to meet up with Kenny Edwards, Carl’s little brother, and chat with him a bit, then we headed back to St. Louis. Part of the group was headed to Gateway Raceway for practice for the next day’s Nationwide race, but my group was headed to Tri-City Raceway for our role as Roger Kaido fans. This was going to be fun!!

Arriving at the track, we nabbed seats at the turn 4 end of the grandstands to have a view of the garage outside the track as well as the track. One quick phone call, and Buz joined us from the backstretch, were Roger’s pit was.

The report was that they were having problems with an oil leak…on Roger’s feet. But the young man was soldiering on. Can you imagine how slippery that must have been….sure sometimes you have to deal with a slick track, but slick floorboards???? I’m sure the leak wasn’t THAT bad, but that’s what I imagined.

A $5 pair of plastic goggles and $2 rental of seats with backs were the best investment of the day….we thoroughly enjoyed all the races, but the highlight for us was of course watching this (almost) 14 year old, racing older kids and men, man-handle a car around the track, avoiding the wrecks and picking off positions, starting 18th (of 23 cars) and finishing a respectable 11th place (would have been 10th had the car that spun before the start finish line not backed over it before Roger got there) and keeping the car under control on a track that seemed, to me, to get slicker as the night wore on.

Roger did an AWESOME job, but was disappointed in himself, because he held back a bit, this being his only race car and not wanting to get involved in someone else’s wreck his first time out….he just wished he could have gone all-out, but wisely and maturely realized that could keep him out of other races, if he damaged the car. Roger could teach the likes of Stephen Wallace and Kyle Busch a thing or two, maturity-wise.

Later, watching David Stremme, David Ragan, Stephen and Mike Wallace, Kenny Schrader, and Andy Petree race in the final race (Kenny Wallace chose to be flagman) topped off the night, and we headed home after congratulating Roger on his run, coated in dirt (I’m still picking it out of my ears!!) and happy. There’s no better way to spend a Friday night before a NASCAR race than at the racetrack!!

Gateway: Tailgating, Trackwalking, and Nationwide was on our side!!

Saturday July 19, 2008

Race day dawned sunny and, you guessed it…HOT!!! It was going to be a steamy scorcher, but I’ve come to expect nothing else when it comes to this race weekend.

Loading up into the car, Jeff, Jamie Jo, Robin and I buzzed through McDonald’s for a more substantial breakfast than the hotel offered (there’s only so many muffins I can eat and I want something more, especially when looking at a long day at the track!) and it seemed our luck was turning. You see, Thursday night at Ruby Tuesday’s, when I went to pay for dinner, a sum of money fell out of my purse and under the booth table, and I didn’t realize it until the next day when I went looking for it…someone on the cleaning staff of Ruby Tuesday’s in Collinsville, Ill, ended that night VERY happy!!!

THEN Friday night, I went to upload my pictures to my computer, many of which had been taken over 2 days getting coated in dirt at Tri City Raceway…and the memory card failed and got erased. Having had a memory card accidentally erased before, I didn’t panic. I knew that as long as I didn’t take more photos on it, at least some of the photos could be retrieved, so I went to my back-up memory card for the rest of the weekend.

So having had 2 episodes of bad luck already this weekend, I was leery, waiting for the third to occur. Bad luck just ALWAYS seems to happen in 3s, I’ve seen it over and over through the years. So we were pleasantly surprised when we made it to Micky D’s JUST in time for breakfast…right after we ordered, they turned the menu over to lunch. YAY!!

Off to the track we went, and pulled into the south entrance of the parking lot in which we were to try to get together with all the other Diehard Edheads attending today, for tailgating. We parked to wait for admittance, and I headed up the line after calling Aimee and finding out that Michelle and some others were already in line. In short order I found them (they were easily identifiable by their Edhead shirts, and again, they all recognized me immediately). We chatted a bit, and then I returned to my group to wait for them to open the gates.

An hour later, we were in and setting up camp, holding a couple of spots for others still to arrive….

By 1:30pm we were in line waiting for the gates to open. Carl was to have a signing at his souvenir hauler, and we wanted to get in right away to get tickets for it. Jamie Jo was ESPECIALLY vocal about this, fearing that we wouldn’t get there in time and not having been to a Carl signing in a LOONNNGGGG time. A couple in our group had season passes, and as such were allowed through 30 minutes before the rest of us, Jennifer being one of them, so she headed in to get in line for tickets.

And BEFORE they started letting the general masses in (supposedly at 2pm, but it was 2:09pm before they let us pass) Jennifer called me and told me the tickets were all gone. Turns out they had been handing them out all day Friday, too, and there were only a few left.

Thanks Gateway. That sucks that something like that can happen. Would it have HURT them to let us ALL in at 1:30pm??? That was just unfair.

However, a bright spot…over the PA system came the announcement that the track walk, set to start at 2:15pm (again, they COULD have timed that better and gotten more participants, if they had held it 30 minutes later…we had to almost run to get there in time) would include Mike Wallace, Landen Cassill and CARL EDWARDS!!! YAY!!

Rushing down there, the half a dozen or so of us who chose to do it arrived just in time to make the walk with Carl, and let me tell you, that was SOOOO much better than waiting in a hot line-up for a few seconds with him at his signing later that afternoon. Plus, we could still get pics of him and listen to his Q&A at the signing, from the crowd out front.

It was relaxed and casual, and Mike Wallace, being a Wallace and possessing a wicked sense of humor, just HAD to comment on my t-shirt, made especially for this event:
Credit: Jeff Meyer

“Hey, if he [Carl] wins, will you take off the shirt???” causing Carl and everyone else to laugh, and Carl to say “THAT would be a good promotion!!” Hey, taking it off WOULD be easier than actually doing a back flip myself!!

I enjoy track walks anyway, but it was especially fun with Carl and Mike Wallace (who, at one point, rallied a few of the fans walking behind Carl and his group to up and run past him, “tour-de-France” style, commenting “These young guys are just so out of shape!!” or something to that effect, then hopping on a golf cart and riding a short bit. LMAO!!), and too quickly it was over, and the drivers all peeled off for their various haulers, Carl saying he need to grab some lunch. I got to talk to Carl’s PR guy, Randy Fuller, and it turns out Kate was there, but kept a low profile, so I didn’t see her myself, but a few of the others chatted with her, too.

Back at the tailgating site, we all cooled off (multiple bottles of Vitamin water all around!) and I was thankful for the neck cooler wraps I had picked up at a local drug store, as were several others, because the heat was really getting to us, despite the shade of our awnings. Relaxing and enjoying the company, other Edheads popping by to visit as the afternoon progressed, enjoying Buz’s wife’s home cooking and BBQ’d goodies. How could it be any better?

We went back in to enjoy Carl’s signing at his souvenir hauler after he qualifyied in 3rd position for the race. Michelle took Jennifer’s ticket to get Carl’s signature because Jennifer’s boys had spent the afternoon on the Fan Walk getting drivers autographs, and had gotten Carl’s on the track walk, as we all had, and didn’t want to stand in the hot line. The rest of us stood out front and chatted back and forth with Carl.

Then, he DID IT AGAIN!! Like 2 years ago, when he won at this track, his home track, he invited all Edheads to join him in Victory Lane. He seems to only do that when he has a good car and a good feeling about the race (and knows there is a group of Edheads gathering). Jamie Jo called out “Don’t make promises you can’t keep!!” and he seriously looked at her and said something along the lines of he did it 2 years ago, and they were there, and he wanted us there again, if he won.

So we started formulating a plan. Buz and I, being the 2 adults in the group who had been here 2 years ago and were part of the group privileged to get into Victory Lane with Carl when he won, had already gotten re-aquainted with the security guard who had helped get us in then, and Buz went to talk to him again this time when we came in for the race, telling him what Carl had said. I know this gave that guard heartburn, because he had had to work hard to get us in 2 years ago, but being a diehard Carl fan himself, he was game to help us again.

Piling into the stands, the anticipation in the Edhead camp was buzzing. It just felt like it was going to be a good night, we just KNEW it!!

The race started out with a wimper, in that the track had a power surge, and lost power, and was running on generator power immediately after Driver Intros were completed…the only reason we knew the National Anthem was on (plus many of the drivers and teams, as evidenced by the milling around during the Anthem on TV) was that someone noticed the Jumbotron showing her singing it. The PA system was out, the scoring pylon was dark, and there were several dark patches of lights around the track.

The flyover?
Actually, the flyover was the 2 inch long dragon fly who flew over our heads at that same instant….So fast, I couldn’t get the camera focused on it…those darn flyovers are so impressive, but over so fast. LOL

But the race must go on, and it started without the PA system, or functioning yellow and red lights (so the drivers had to rely on their spotters and seeing the flag to know if a caution came out) and with a couple of dark spots visible around the track:
but by the time the first caution came out, they seemed to have the power issues at least patched up, and we could hear the broadcast over the PA system.

The race itself was AWESOME for a Carl Edwards fan, as he never ran lower than 7th, and his closest competition (the 99, 88, 17) all suffered problems that dropped them out of the race…It looked a little bit there at the end that Joey Lagano might have something for him, but Carl just drove away from him.

12 laps to go, using hand signals, I indicated to the nearest Edhead to pass on to their next Edhead that with 10 to go, we were going down front, ready to witness the flip. The message passed through the group like a wave through a crowd.

Jamie Jo insists she was a nervous wreck those final 10 laps, and Robin almost refused to go down front, afraid that would jinx Carl, but me, I was calm. Somehow that Labor nurse intuition, the one that sometimes tells me exactly when a baby is going to come, just told me he was going to do it. I just knew it. I couldn’t explain it. I just knew.

10 laps to go, down front we went, some to stand in the crowd at the railing (the security wasn’t allowing people down by the fence), some to sit in the first couple of rows.

Those last 10 laps went by FAST!! And before we knew it we were at the railing, to view the flip over the heads of the crowd down at the fence…even the security guards were snapping pics, as you can see from the video…the big guy in the neon yellow shirt keeping people off the ladder up to the flag stand?? See, he pulls out his cell phone to snap a pic of the flip himself….Edheads are EVERYWHERE!! Too bad he would prove to be one of the hurdles we had to overcome to get to our invited spot in Victory Lane.

As the crowd started to thin, and after all the spotters had come through, we assembled at the gate at the start/finish line with several Dream Factory people (the parents of the boy who was to receive the trophy Carl always gives away to a child somewhere) and a bunch of Save A Lot people, who worked for Carl’s sponsor but didn’t have credentials to get in, either, and seemed to think that the “no credentials, no passage” rule shouldn’t apply to them, as employees of the winning sponsor.

You see, after our invited excursion to Victory Lane 2 years ago, Gateway Raceway decided NO ONE was going to do that again, driver invite or no. No credentials, no admittance.

We were polite and patient, the epitome of a good Edhead, and Buz made a deal and went down with our security guard friend to Victory Lane to try to find someone to get us in (Had to drop his long shorts down, making it look like he was losing them, to meet his socks, still under his long t-shirt, because the security guard made noises about how he wasn't wearing long pants...made us laugh, and the security guard just rolled his eyes and waved him in LOL!!), while Jennifer called Aimee, already in with credentials, to see what she could do from the inside. Aimee told Randy Fuller, Carl’s PR guy and witness to Carl’s invite at the earlier signing, and he called out to someone to go get us in.

No go.

Finally Buz cam back with permission for us to go in, and we started filing through, after letting the Dream Factory people go.

Unfortunately, half-way through our group, the security guards got cranky and cut us off, so those of us who got through tried to find help.

Carl Edwards Sr went back to try to help, as did Tom Giacchi (of “Shave Tom” fame)….but what FINALLY got everyone in was Tom went over the security guards’ heads, to someone high up in the Nationwide series. This man proceeded to use the security guards radio to inform those higher ups in the Gateway Raceway security heirarchy that when NASCAR is at the track, NASCAR is in charge of who gets in or not.

NATIONWIDE WAS ON OUR SIDE! YAY!!

Thank you, Mr. Nationwide, for helping us, a lowly group of fans. We know you likely had more important things to do.

Finally the Diehards and Edheads were assembled in Victory Lane, where we watched the Hat Dance, and talked to Carl Sr, Nancy Sterling, Tom, Randy, Kate, and gave the 60 crew a round of applause as they rolled the car by to the hauler…and just generally enjoyed being there. We continued to be well-behaved (note to fellow fans should you ever be lucky enough to get admission to the pits or Victory lane or any inner sanctum of NASCAR…polite people get invited back. Obnoxious and/or drunken fans do not, and tend to get ejected ASAP), staying out of the way as Carl did the required photos, and waiting patiently while he went to the media center to fulfill his media obligations.

That’s when Kate saw me and my distinctive shirt, and asked me with a laugh if I was going to take it off!! LOL I said “Oh, Carl told you about that” and she said “No I was there!!” which surprised me, as I had not seen her in the crowd. I assured her that, although a flip would be too difficult for me, no, I was NOT going to take my shirt off. LOL

As we waited, Roger Kaido dreamed a bit:

We watched as Carl wrote something on the trophy he gave to a Dream Factory child:
And posed for NUMEROUS photos with various sponsor hats on (the infamous “Hat Dance”):

And then it was our turn. Credit: Michelle Alexander
Of course, I had to turn around and show off the back of my shirt, which made even Carl laugh:

All in all, a WONDERFUL day. Although, if Carl is going to continue to invite the Edheads to Victory Lane whenever he wins Gateway, we’re going to have to get something set up to get us in, because Cowboy, our security guard friend, came perilously close to losing his job just to get us in.

It was an AWESOME race weekend, topped off for me by the new experience of attending the race as part of a couple, an experience I found I totally enjoyed…but then again, that may just have been because of the other half of the couple. And yes, we really ARE as compatible as we thought.

Buses, Flyovers, and BOB SMILES!!!!

Infineon Raceway, June 22, 2008

Well, THIS race day was a new one for me. We chose, rather than driving to the track, paying the astronomical gas prices, and getting a hotel room for the night, to bus it…found a local tour group that had a deal for bus trip and tickets, all for about what I’ve paid in the past for tickets at other tracks!! It was AWESOME!!

Well, the 6+ hours each way, making stops to pick up other NASCAR fans, WAS slightly sanity-testing, (I DID get my nails manicured, something I hadn’t gotten around to before leaving! LOL) but it was still great to be able to nap when we could (really hard to nap sitting up, though…the bus was pretty full) and not have to worry about all that. We watched the sun rise over the mountains…and the gas prices rise as we got further north. Thank GOD we didn’t have to worry about that on this day!!

Of course, we went the extra mile and got pit passes/driver intro passes, too. After last year’s fiasco with buying tickets last minute, and thinking we were also purchasing pit passes (through a secondary vendor), only to find out we bought a second set of tickets, I didn’t take any chances this time…got them directly from the track.

Arriving there on a sunny and warm day (a wonderful change from the previous days in Sonoma, which apparently were as hot as they were in Harvickland, where I currently reside, hitting triple-digits…and a remarkable change from the LAST time I was at a race track!! Thank GOD!!) with a nice cool breeze, we wasted no time picking up our pit passes and getting down there.

(I was kicking myself as I looked at this pic....why didn't I look to see who's pit box that was attached to??? WHO IS 'BEAK'??? LOL)

Being on someone else’s schedule to get there, we only had limited pit lane time, but were still able to stroll along, taking in the sights and sounds…ahhh, pit lane on race day morning, there’s nothing like it!! I still wonder, though, how some of these “women” get in there, where supposedly long pants and closed-toe shoes as well as no exposed shoulders is the standard rule, in their mini skirts and bikinis….

After wandering up and down pit lane, getting our fix of the race day aura of controlled chaos as crews set up pit boxes and put their cars through inspection, LeadfootRN and I split up, she to go up to our seats to watch the driver intros from there (her knee was bothering her, and she didn’t feel like hiking back around to the area where they let us in for Driver Intros) and I headed down there, to wait with the rest of the crowd.

While waiting, we were treated to an airshow, which I surprisingly got not one, but 3 good (one particularly surprising) shots of:

Once in, we enjoyed a Rolling Stones cover band (whatever…bring on the drivers!! Let’s go racing!!! LOL) and I chatted with a lady beside me sporting a 99 ticket lanyard, who was new to the driver intros deal, so I told her what to expect…she had a much more professional camera than I did, and was bound and determined to get close up shots of Carl and a few others of her favorites…20/20 hindsight, I should have given her my e-mail, asked if she’d be willing to share some of her pics. Oh well.

Sitting there on the pit wall, well, the track wall, pit wall was actually about 6 feet behind us, beside the 99 car (of course we 99 fans had gravitated to it! LOL)

we just enjoyed the balmy weather and chatted, and that’s when Sandie found me….the “Official Edhead” t-shirt gave me away. Well, that and most Edheads who frequent the RFR boards know what I look like…my pic has been on there a FEW times. LOL

So we chatted for a while, she’s a fellow nurse also, from the San Fran area, and I look forward to looking her up when I finally move up that way…we had a good time, even though it seemed like it was taking forever for intros to get under way!!!

The 99 crew started lining up on pit wall behind us, and we were surprised and pleased to see Bob there with them…

And Edhead teamwork kicked in….Sandie called “Bob!” and got his attention, poised with her camera for a pic…but I thought the soberly curious face he turned our way would just never do, so I called out “Smile Bob!!” and VOILA!! It’s a “Bob Smile”. Success!! :D
Finally Driver intros got under way, and in no time as they reached the top 10, I was split between snapping pics of the drivers as they came down the stage in front of us, and turning around and snapping pics of them as they came around the track on their trucks and dismounted behind us…busy busy!! I LOVED it!! Felt like I was TRULY in the middle of everything!!! (If you want more than Carl pics, you'll have to check out the album linked below...I AM an Edhead, after all!! LOL)

Race time, Sandie and her friend and I separated to head to our seats, and after fending off a guy who thought a gal by herself under the stands was fair game for a pick-up attempt (NOT!!!), I grabbed some burgers and beers and joined LeadfootRN in our seats…

The race itself, from an Edhead standpoint, was AWESOME, listening to Bob encourage Carl as he passed car after car, heading to the front, and they adjusted their strategy because the car was running so good, trying to extend their run to have more fuel for the end….

And then, they got bitten. The caution came out after a bunch of cars had already pitted, and Carl hadn’t. Normally, on regular oval tracks, this would have benefitted Carl and team, putting those cars who had just pitted a lap down, where they would have ended up after they pitted…but not on the long winding road course. As a result of this half a lap too soon caution, Carl went from second place to 10th…GRRR!!

But again, he headed forward, picking off cars, and eventually got those 5 bonus points for leading….only to be bitten yet again by the same thing. THIS time, he went back to 20th. How is a fan supposed to keep her hopes up when her guy has the fastest car out there, but keeps getting put back because strategy bit him????

Disheartened, and knowing that there was little chance Carl could pass 19 cars in the laps remaining (and indeed, he even lost a couple of spots at first), I headed out to the bus…we only had 30 minutes after the finish to get out there, and on the hills at Sonoma, I hate to be rushed, and LeadfootRN, with her sore knee, had already headed out there for the same reason….so, scanner still tuned to the 99 team’s frequency, I trudged out.

You see, having been awake since 1 am, and it now being around 4pm in the afternoon or so, I was wiped…I had hit the wall of exhaustion. Didn’t even see it coming. T-boned me. One minute I’m happily cheering Carl and crew on to what was surely to be a top 5 finish, if not a win, then commiserating with him at the bad luck, the next…UGH…No energy!! I just needed to sit somewhere quiet and listen to the end of the race.

So we did, and heard that Carl managed to claw his way back to a top 10 finish, which alleviated SOME of my disappointment, but when your guy has the car to beat, it never totally helps that he has a great come-back but still doesn’t win.

The rest of the bus group showed up in good time, and we got out before the bulk of the race traffic, so other than extreme stiffness from trying to nap sitting up (basically, losing consciousness…LF maintains I was snoring…I don’t snore!! Wheeze a little, heavy breath a little, maybe, but snore…nope. LOL)

The ride home was uneventful (Of course it was…I was unconscious for at least 50% of it!!). I can see this bus thing being the wave of the future for NASCAR attendees….it really does take a load off, and is much more affordable, with gas prices the way they are today. That being said, for me, it’s only good for same-day races, not entire race weekends. I really do prefer to be in control of when I arrive and leave. The early bird gets the worm!! AND, had Carl actually won…it would have been hard to tear myself away from the Victory Lane scene!!

Diehards, Dukes…and SNOW????

Atlanta Motor Speedway, March 2008

Saturday March 8th

Friday en route to Atlanta was an uneventful travel day from the Left coast for me, and after Jean Marie arrived, I finally ran out of steam and fell asleep before Tracy got there. At least I got my beauty sleep…for what would turn out to be a test of my Canadian blood, thinned from long time spent on the South side of North America.

Saturday morning, we crawled out of our warm beds bright and early and congregated at the hotel’s continental breakfast area, where I finally met Tracy…and we realized simultaneously that despite a long time hanging out on the same Carl Edwards internet message boards but not in “real life”, we had actually MET a couple of times before, on pit lanes of different race tracks! Pit lane is REALLY a small world!

After enjoying a breakfast to help insulate ourselves from the cold weather outside, we headed to the track bright and early to make the most of what time we had on pit lane.

Arriving there, we bundled up in our winter woolies, and headed off through the fan area, where we spotted the General Lee for the first of several times that weekend.











At turn 4, we managed to flag down a golf cart to give us a ride to the infield and pit lane…little did we know that that ride would be an adventure, in that, as we arrived at the gate to pit lane, the heavens suddenly opened up.

Rain? Nope, that would be too mundane. We suddenly found ourselves in a WHITE OUT, so pronounced by the Canadian in the group!!! Couldn’t see our hands in front of our faces. The picture doesn't do it justice, because at it's worst, I was on a golf cart, and my camera was in my jacket, being protected from the snow. On the way to the track, first flurries, which cleared up for a bit:

Hopping off the cart, with my camera safely tucked inside my coat, I helped Tracy cover her babies (cameras) to protect them from what was a wet snow, and we hoofed it through the infield to pit lane…

By the time we got to the Busch garage, the snow was lightening up, and Tracy headed off to her assignment while Jean-Marie and I decided to wander down pit lane.

After a while, we found ourselves at the food stand, and ordering some hot beverages, we ducked around the side of the building to use it as a windbreak for a while…when suddenly

THE SUN CAME OUT! HALLELUJIA!!











Gradually, the weather improved, although it never quite got warm.

Back down on pit lane, another beautiful sight awaited us. The weather had delayed all on-track activities, but the first thing we saw upon returning to pit lane was the Nationwide crews, pushing the pit boxes out onto pit lane, lead by the 60 team! YAY!!











Before to long, pit lane was a beehive of activity, and we soon found Tracy again, snapping pics to her hearts content.

Now I’ve never truly met any NASCAR legends, drivers of the past, but this day would break that trend for me. At the 00 pit box, Jean-Marie and I ended up talking to Buzzy Reutimann, and I shook his hand. Cool meeting someone who raced back in the day, even if it was more non-NASCAR racing than NASCAR. Just wish I had a pic of us, but there were too many people around by this time.

As race time approached, we said good-by to Tracy, and headed up into the stands. Our seats were AWESOME, right up from the start/finish line, and, as luck would have it, straight across from the 60 pit stall.

Or rather, Jean-Marie’s seat. Upon going up there with her, and seeing how much better her view was than mine would be out of turn 1, I chose to occupy an unoccupied seat with her. The stands were far from full, so this was no problem.

By now the sun was out, just some puffy clouds in the sky, and if it weren’t for the cold wind, we’d have been able to totally ditch our winter duds. How windy was it? This flag NEVER drooped:














But we were at the races, so we soldiered on!

The race itself was AWESOME as usual.

After the race, we rendezvoused at the 99 souvenir hauler, instructed to look for an older, balding man….Tracy would join up with us there after her time on pit lane, and Perry was going to meet us.

Standing to the side of the crowds at the 99 hauler (the crowds for all things 99/60 just keep getting bigger and bigger!!) we noticed a man in khakis with a hat on, on the other side of the crowd. Tracy’s description hadn’t taken into account the chilly weather.

After a short time standing on our separate sides of the crowd, waiting for Tracy to show up to make introductions, I finally walked over and asked him if he was Perry. And he was.

We made chit chat for a while, getting to know each other, and Aimee called, so she chatted with Perry, too, and finally, dragging, her arms inches longer and thicker than they had been that morning, after a day of hoisting her cameras on pit lane, Tracy straggled up…

We escorted Perry to his car, and enjoyed some of his pics, then hopped in our vehicles in search of a place to eat something substantial…Tracy admitted she hadn’t had anything all day but a couple of bananas.

We headed for TGIFridays, where Glenn, Tracy’s photographer friend, joined us, and had a great time just talking and sharing photos we had taken and just generally having fun, while filling up on great food.

Back at the hotel, we congregated in Tracy’s room, Perry now off, headed for home, and had a “Photo Party”, sharing our downloaded pics, and generally just relaxed, before it was time to crawl into our respective beds for the night.

Another fabulous (if frigid!) raceday!

More Diehards, Dukes and Disappointment

Sunday March 9th

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:

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!!

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:

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:

“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.