My favorite driver, Jimmie Johnson, starts in 4th place today for the Dover Best Buy 400 right behind the brothers Busch and Pole winner, Greg Biffle.  Jimmie’s a three-time Dover winner and a two-time Cup champion, in case you didn’t know.  

I’m excited to watch today’s race.  I’m about to take a shower, prepare some delicious race fixin’s, and plop myself in front of my television for the afternoon.  In between loads of laundry, I’ll be sure to come on back and recap for you.

I’m hooked on NASCAR.  What can I say?  One last word before we start our engines -

Go Jimmie Go! 

(note: You have to read the previous post first to get the full effect…fyi.)

The National Anthem is sung (Country star Daryl Worley has the honors) and it’s time for the engines to roar, the crowd to go wild, to put the ear plugs in place.  Actually, if you’re a newbie like me, wait on those ear plugs for a sec.  Listen to the engines as they start.  Feel the vibration as the cars take their first warm up lap in sync with each other in their respective rows.  Let them take their second lap.  As the pace car makes it’s move to Pit Row and the green flag is dropped, wait a bit longer.  Just two more seconds and VOOM, VOOM, VOOM!  We’re off!!

The ear plugs better not be in just yet.  You have to experience the full effect for at least one official lap.  It’s like no other experience you have ever had.  It’s loud as hell.  Forget talking to the person next you much less to yourself cuz YOU CAN’T HEAR yourself talk, think, much less fart.  Seriously.  But, it’s an amazing experience that lasts about 3 minutes.  Then, put those plugs in.  You’ll need ‘em for the remainder of the race.

Note to self – things to bring to a NASCAR race: a seat cushion, Alleve, weather gear, sunscreen, feminine products, cell phone (with text messaging capabilities), EAR PLUGS.  Don’t forget the ear plugs!

The race begins and I tell ya what from the moment the green flag drops until the checkered flag waves, I am literally watching every movement of my favorites – Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Carl Edwards, Tony Stewart, and yes, Jeff Gordon.  I watch their numbers rise and fall on the leader board as the night rolls on.  One minute I’m yelling at the top of my lungs to my husband right next to me, “Do you see that?  Kasey’s # keeps going up, up, up!”  The next minute I’m texting him cuz he can’t figure out what the hell I’m trying to say.  Brings conversing by text to a whole new level.

The 600 is the longest race in the NASCAR schedule.  The entire thing lasts nearly 6 hours, give or take a wreck or two (In this case, we were lucky there wasn’t anything major to worry about).  For a few laps, I thought for sure Earnhardt, Jr. was going to win.  His car was looking strong and then WHAM! into the wall.  Then it was Jimmie Johnson’s turn.  He kept his status near the top and even hit first place for a time almost to the point that I thought he was going to win but whoops! He headed into Pit Row and never returned.  Then it was up to Tony Stewart.  He had it in the bag when all of a sudden one of his tires blew and that was the end of that.  Up comes Kasey Kahne who kept moving up the ranks on the leader board pretty much the entire night.  Thanks to Tony’s unfortunate…uh…issue…with 3 laps to go, Kahne takes first place and wins it all!  I jump, clap, smile, even tear up as Kasey does the ceremonial half-doughnut, turns his car around and heads down the track in the opposite direction with Checkered Flag in hand to wave directly to the crowd.

My first race is over.  Everyone exits as my husband and I wait and watch.  For me, it’s just because I want to see if there’s anything else to witness.  I don’t want to miss anything.  For him, it’s to wait until the crowd clears out some so that our car isn’t idling in traffic for any longer than it has to be.  After a few minutes, after all the pomp and circumstance at Victory Lane (which we can barely see thanks to the fact that at Lowe’s it’s located off-track), we decide to make the trek back to the car in that field with the long grass to your knees where the tick and the antelope…I mean…grasshopper play.  Needless to say, we ended up waiting about 45 minutes to get going on the main road.  That wasn’t half bad considering there were over 100,000 people in attendance.  We made our way to our campsite about 20 minutes from the track and hit the sack shortly thereafter.

This was a day (and a trip) that will forever be in my memory.  THIS was the reason I blog today.  I have now officially become a NASCAR fan…not quite a junkie…yet, but a fan nonetheless.

Anyone else have a story about their first NASCAR experience they’d like to share?  I realize I probably won’t get any responses considering this blog is so new but hey, if it’s a year later and you’re still reading this, don’t be shy, comment away!  That’s what I’m here for.

Dover’s next.  400 miles and I won’t be there.  But, I guarantee you, I will now be watching and rootin’ for my favorites.  Then, I’ll be bloggin’ all about it too.  Join me, will ya?

See you in the pits!

Lisa  

The people, over 150,000 of them.  Picture that!  You know…you see this stuff on TV but when you are there in the thick of it, it just blows you away.

We had parked as close to the speedway as you could get because quite frankly, I didn’t want to walk any further than I had to.  We parked in a field with grass so long that I thought for sure I’d find a tick somewhere on my body before, during, or after the race.  BUT…I didn’t care.  I was heading to my first ever NASCAR race and I intended to enjoy every single minute of it…ticks and all!

We entered the Lowe’s Motor Speedway complex from just across our field at Gate 12.  I felt like I was following a pack.  Not quite a pack of dogs per se but some kind of “pack”. 

We made our way winding around the outside of the stadium with our coolers over our shoulders and I took an extra backpack full of warm clothes too.  After feeling the cool air of the night before, I thought for sure I would need at least a sweatshirt as the night wore on (I ended up changing into pants too).  I didn’t mind carrying all the baggage cuz I knew we’d eat, drink, (and I’d strip later), and so it would all be lighter anyway.

When we got to “Souvenir Alley”, I don’t know if I was impressed or just floored over all the excitement, the STUFF, the specticle it creates.  As we walked through, my eyes were darting from side to side in complete wonder, wanting to take it all in and wanting to partake in everything they had going on.  From simulators to margarita stands, where could I start first?! 

After trapsing through the rush of people, it was time to head into the speedway, find our seats, and camp for the 6 hours or so that we’d be there.  Here was our view -

 

Some people would argue that we were too close to the track but I have to say, I was just so excited to be there, I didn’t even care if flying rubber messed up what little makeup I had on!

Before the race even begins there is two hours of pure celebration.  This particular weekend was the traditional start of summer with the Memorial Day weekend and as such, all of the pomp and circumstance related to celebrating our country’s miltary and the freedoms they provide for each of us.  Brought tears to my eyes every time I saw the soldiers line up, heard them sing a symbolic tune (Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the USA, for instance), or watched the fly over of the military copters and the LADY Blue Angles stunt team drop from the sky. 

Two hours of this.  Two hours of pure wholesome entertainment.  Two hours of anticipation until the race begins.

And I’ll stop there for now.  I’ll let you soak this first part in a little bit.  Hopefully, I left you with the anticipation of wanting more.

Translation – I have to go to work but I will be back. 

 

Well, no. Not really.  Those who know me might think I have because this is the third blog that I write.  Now that I think about it…hmmm…maybe I have lost it!  But, here’s the thing, though.  I went to my first EVER NASCAR race this weekend and now I’m hooked, so much so that I went searching tonight for blogs about NASCAR specifically written by someone like me.  I couldn’t find one.  So, I decided to start my own.  My thinking here is that perhaps there are others like me out there that are overnight fans of the sport and are dying to share in their experiences.  I’m hoping that those same people will dialog with me on this site.  I’m hoping.  Give me a day or two to work on it, though.  I need to add my own personality but once I do, look out world – here comes another female NASCAR fan!

Ladies (and gentleman), start…your…ENGINES!!

See you in the pits,

Lisa