A couple weeks ago, I joined my brother and father in law, Jason, and Duane, my other brother-in-law, Rob, and Jason's friend Chuck for a road trip to Bristol, TN for my first NASCAR race. I'll admit, I've never been a fan of the "sport", and I'm guilty of occasional and wrongful judgment passing of those true fans.
Well, there's only two things I can say about NASCAR now. 1) I was wrong and 2) don't knock it until you see it in person. Man alive, that was about the most fun I could have even imagined! The scene truly was amazing, the track was enormous and humbling, and the action was way more exciting than "cars going around in circles." I can honestly say that I am DEFINITELY interested in going to another race in the future, and I've even caught myself watching small portions of races the past couple weeks on TV! If you've ever thought to try it, I highly recommend it, and Bristol was a great first time experience. Here's some highlights from the weekend.
Outside the track. It's a massive "stadium"...
Well, there's only two things I can say about NASCAR now. 1) I was wrong and 2) don't knock it until you see it in person. Man alive, that was about the most fun I could have even imagined! The scene truly was amazing, the track was enormous and humbling, and the action was way more exciting than "cars going around in circles." I can honestly say that I am DEFINITELY interested in going to another race in the future, and I've even caught myself watching small portions of races the past couple weeks on TV! If you've ever thought to try it, I highly recommend it, and Bristol was a great first time experience. Here's some highlights from the weekend.
Outside the track. It's a massive "stadium"...
Driver trucks lined up inside the track. It's actually a pretty cool sight...
Warm up laps for the Nationwide race on Saturday...
A great view of the stands from our seats. Again, massive! Bristol Motor Speedway seats 160,000 people! That's over 50,000 more than Beaver Stadium at PSU. Unfortunately, with the down economy, the stands were nowhere near full, so we didn't get the full impact...
Another pic from our seats...
Nationwide cars lined up post race on Saturday...
With a few rockin' hangovers (thanks, Rob, for bringing the IC Light, i.e., little bit of Pittsburgh, for Saturday's race - perhaps not the best decision of the weekend), we went at it again on Sunday for the real deal, the Sprint Cup series race...
Jason and Chuck by one of the display cars outside the track...
A further view of the track from the outside...
Another display car...
Jeff Gordan display car outside the track...
The whole gang...
Drivers talking pre-race (including five-time defending champion, Jimmie Johnson in the top right Kobalt/Lowes suit). We were able to see them from the concourse of the stadium before went for our seats...
Chuck, Jason, and Duane getting ready for 500 laps of excitement...
Rob and me sporting our new Nascar shirts. Me, a Kevin Harvick fan for the weekend, Rob for Tony Stewart (aka, "Smoke")
And they're off. You cannot even imagine how loud 40 cars inside a 1/2 mile track can be...
Cars making their ways through turns 3 and 4...
Here's the start of the race from the last warm-up lap. During green flags, cars were making there way around the track in about 16 seconds...
Car's packed up and slowed down on a caution...
Kevin Harvick, the #29 car, my car for the weekend. He finished 6th overall, very impressive given that he was bumped out of the race for a period of time by another driver. Turns out he was a good pick as he has just won his second consecutive race this past Sunday!
Jason and his Best Man this July, Duane...
Kyle Bush was the race winner (much to the chagrin of the crowd - they HATE him!!!). Here he is making his way to victory lane...
Here was Bush doing victory donuts just before heading to victory lane...
Rob, Duane, Chuck, and Jason hanging out at the car waiting for traffic to thin out. We parked in a guy's front yard right across the street from the track. Best $40 offer we could have asked for...
We got to see several of the drivers trucks leaving the track as we were waiting. Here's Jimmie Johnson's truck...
...and Dale Earnhart Jr.'s truck. Despite the fact he doesn't win a lot of races, he is by far, the most loved driver in NASCAR...
