A New NASCAR Fan????

The preparations for the NASCAR race seemed to be non-ending.  I have not seen Bibi this excited about something she knew nothing about in a long, long time.  I am fearful she may catch the bug and become a rabid NASCAR fan.  BUT it is one of our items on the Bucket List so off to the races we go.

Here she is sporting the program for the day with Sophie.  Notice the clear plastic purse Sophie is holding.  Bibi has one at her feet just like it but a different color.  These purses along with the appropriate "non-hollow tubing" seating have been our singular focus for procurement this past week.

Are they excited? - - - YES, they are!

Thank goodness all of that is behind us now and we are finally here and ready for the big race.  After getting up early to avoid the crush of people, we have made our way to the event.  There are many ‘shopping’ opportunities in and around the racetrack today.  You can buy just about any type of apparel, food, gadget, etc. and still find other things to rent.  It is very mind-boggling to say the least.

It is Race Day, headed for the racetrack!

Care to spend a little money?

David and Sophie let Bibi tag along with them to look over most of the opportunities while I found a nice quiet shaded bench underneath the stands.  My perch provided a most unique place to participate in a favorite pastime while Bibi shops which I refer to as ‘people watching.’  There were many unique specimens to observe during this time.

Bibi really is a neophyte in the racing world.  Sophie pointed out Richard Petty to her and told her she should take his picture.  Her response, “which one is he?”  After staring at her for awhile to ascertain whether she actually believed her ears or not and was she serious, Sophie pointed towards the only guy wearing a Cowboy hat, sunglasses and sporting a mustache.  All of these items part of RP’s regular persona and attire.  Picture taken, she proudly marched off to tell me she got his picture.  Sigh-----!

Which one do you think is Richard Petty?

Yep, that's right.  The one in the fancy hat.

The race event is a grand spectacle and there are many things happening all at once.  It is very hard to take it all in when attending in person.  Skydiver jump team, pit crews preparing their areas, driver introductions, big screen TV interviews, National Anthem, military jet flyovers, fireworks and the race hasn’t even started yet.  When it finally does start and the cars spread out and begin lapping then it really becomes confusing keeping up with the action.

Newly Inducted NASCAR fans into the Live Event Venue

One of four parachute jumpers coming down onto the track

National Anthem time, Pit Row ready to start those engines.

View of track and pit row from our seats.

-Thanks to our rented Radio Electronics, we can listen in to driver conversations or the TV broadcasters or the Radio broadcasters to keep ourselves in the know.  A really fun time is listening to the conversations as the cars come in to the pit area, especially if they screw up and go past their spot a little and have to back up.  The language gets pretty colorful, especially Kyle Busch when he messed up for a second time.  These marvelous devices serve a second very important purpose which is ear protection.  These cars are very loud and could easily damage the hearing.

Weather was superb and made for a very enjoyable day.  Sunscreen and lightweight clothing provided the best protection on a typical sunny day for Arizona.  Phoenix is called the Valley of the Sun for a reason.  We are certainly enjoying it here right now, especially the sunsets but will have to leave before the temps start climbing.  Mid 80s here are quite warm and will become unbearable when reaching the 90s and 100s.

Yaaayyyy, what a finish!  Who won, who won?

Good thing we had this tower to tell us who won.

Bibi was a bit disappointed there were no wrecks or accidents during this race.  It ran pretty fast and there were only a half dozen caution lights so it was almost non-stop racing.  Fun for me and the drivers but Bibi was looking for more mangled metal.  The last couple of laps were intense because of the caution that came out right at the end of the race.  The finish was truly photo finish and looked like there was literally an inch or two between first and second.  After we watched it on the replay screen behind pit row, that is.

It was a grand day for a race and a grand race.  The only thing left to do was ‘trudge’ our way back to the car and leave.  Of course, this entailed waiting in line to turn in the radios that were rented and to make the long trek back to the car with the other hundred thousand or so folks.  After we made it to the car; it was pull out and wait time.  Actually we did not move more than four car lengths for approximately one hour.  When it was finally our time to move, we made good progress because we went the opposite direction of the vast majority that were trying to make the way back to Phoenix.

Since we were headed west of the track this put us into the minority of folks escaping the huge mass of humanity and vehicles exiting the area.  We made our way to Cracker Barrel and a good meal in short order after moving which improved our spirits considerably.  We were amazed to discover we each had walked almost 3.5 miles from car to track and back to car again as registered on our iPhone app.

The last step in the day’s activity is to take a nice long hot shower and fall into bed.  That is all for now and we will post again soon.