Yes on all three. The H.O. and I went to Atlanta for the weekend. Her company has decided to dip it's toe into the NASCAR sponsorship water. They signed a 6 race deal with Joe Gibbs Racing to be the main sponsor of the Nationwide (Busch) Series #18 car. Yet they ran the #20 this weekend...I don't know...
We went down on Friday and the weather was beautiful. Saturday morning rolls around and it's 35 degrees and the wind is howling at 30+ mph. As we're driving to the Atlanta Motor Speedway, snow begins falling. We get there, get our swanky, we're-better-than-you credentials and head to Joe Gibbs' personal motorhome. Motorhome is a bit of a misnomer, as it's a $1 million set-up. @10 a.m., it's snowing sideways to the point that we couldn't see the suites on the front stretch...and they were 250 yards away!
We hung out in the rolling palace until lunchtime and the weather broke. We went out and watched the Sprint Cup cars practice from the wall on pit road. Did I mention our passes kicked ass?
Back to the JGR bus for lunch and then out to the grid for the start of the race. The #20 started second and quickly went to the front and was there...all day...for 153 laps...until...
On lap 175, something in the right front suspension failed, the right front tire went down and the car hit the wall in turn three @ 170 mph. Kyle Busch managed to finish, but 24th is little consolation when you kick ass all day.
We watched the entire race from the pits. I've always been a NASCAR fan, but you gain a new appreciation when you are a VIP. There's serious money involved and the guys are deadly serious about their jobs. You just can't get the experience, watching it on TV. It's too visceral to translate. The sounds are insane. You hear it and feel it. The air and ground rumble like a warzone. The smells are almost overpowering. Rubber, high octane fuel, exhaust...
The visuals are spectacular. You watch it on TV and know they're going fast, but being 100 feet from a pack of 40+ racecars sailing past at 175mph is just out of hand.
Pretty great weekend, all in all!
Google isn't letting me post pics...I'll post some later...
2 comments:
It sure gives you a better understanding of what it takes to race, being that close, doesn't it? I have built and prepared cars (not NASCAR, but open wheel cars for road racing), and worked on crews. TV just doesn't do it justice. The best seat, though is the one in the car. Nothing compares to sailing into turn one in the middle of a pack of cars at the start.... and seeing if you come out the other side.
You luck bastard, I've been in the stands but never any closer. Two years ago I got so smashed I had to get up go walk around. Found myself wondering around for an hour. made it into turn 1 with the GSP watching the race. Funny after I told my wife I was going to the pisser.
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