Gone Racin'

I attended my first NASCAR race last weekend. WOOOOO-HOOOOO! Even though Erin and I lived in Charlotte (the center of the NASCAR universe) for a few years, we never made it to a race. I was very impressed with the NOISE and SPEED of the cars, but after that wears off, you still have three hours of left-hand turns to observe. Needless to say, I am not putting any #3, #88, #20, #24 stickers on the Schwangston rides anytime soon.

Some observations from the race:

1. You can bring your own beer into the track as long as it fits in a "personal" cooler (max of 24"x 14"x 18"), which I've been told, can hold a case of beer easy - per person. No surprise that half of the attendants stay the night after the race.
2. I've never seen so many RVs in one place. They estimate 250,000 show up. Not sure what the 100k that don't fit in the stands actually do, but they seem to enjoy it.
3. This is the first sporting event that I've attended in decades in which I didn't know why the fans were cheering (lil' E got out of the pits ahead of the field)...I felt like the cheerleader at her first football game more than once.
4. NASCAR fans are the most loyal group ever. If you want to advertise something/anything, get it on the hood of their favorite driver and BOOM. You are on every possible piece of merchandise in the world, and I do mean every possible item.
5. Don't hypothesize out loud about how NASCAR might be motivated to "fix" races or give advantages to lil' E to grow the sport and get him in the winners circle. Regardless of how loud it is, his fans hear you, and uncomfortable silence is achieved at 2,000 decibels. He wins because he is good and his diddy was the best that every was, dadgummit.
   

Thanks for reading...