A different kind of race!

I know you all are used to me blabbering on about all the races that I run, but this time it's not about me! A few weeks ago my friend Kristy send me an email asking if Zach and I would like to go to the NASCAR race with her and her husband.  After staring blankly at my screen for a few seconds (Kristy and are aren't what you'd consider to be your typical NASCAR goin girls) I asked Zach if he'd be up to it.  We both agreed that even though we don't follow the "activity" (absolutely refuse to call it a sport, sorry) we thought the experience would be fun. And it was! 

 I had no idea what to expect when we got there.  First, parking was FREE(!!!) and it looked as if people had been there for a long while. As in, all weekend. Plus the number of flags was insane! I'm bummed I didn't get a better picture.

 I'm not sure how far away we parked, but it felt like it took ten years to walk to the actual speedway. 

We got our credentials and were shocked at the price on the tickets. $150!! Holy bananas! So glad we scored these puppies for free! We also got "Fan Walk" passes. We'll get to that...

 I can't remember how many the speedway seats, but it is a lot!

 Our seats were in row 14 way on the end of the seating area.  Normally row 14 would be awesome for most events, but for a big race, it makes it a little hard to see, but being that close to the cars was pretty neato!

 A look at the infield. People apparently pay thousands of dollars to camp out there all weekend. You should have seen some of the campers and setups! Wooden decks and all! It was crazy.

 What's neat about racing is that they let you bring in your own cooler full of whatever you want!  Kristy and I decided to attempt to relive our college days and brought vodka with soda.  I think I took maybe 3 drinks of mine before admitting I'm old and crying uncle. Plus I didn't really think about all the debris that would be floating around the air. No sooner had I poured my cup when I noticed a bunch of little black flecks floating around in it.  Diet Coke please! "Next time" I'll stick to beer like the boys did.

 James and Kristy! We are about to head down the stairs to the Fan Walk.

 

This is the tunnel that goes under the track to the infield. Ooooohweeee! It sounded really crazy when the cars drove over it too!

 Varoom!

 Here we are on the inside of the track. It was different, but the same.  Yep. I know my racing. 

 I believe this is the scoreboard. Evidently you have to know the numbers on the cars to have this make any sort of sense.

 We got pretty close to all the trailers and stuff. Serious business goes on back there.

 

 Kristy and I got our picture taken at Victory Lane in the infield. It's where the winner gets their trophy. We didn't stay for the whole race to witness it though.

 Zach and I!

 This is the Pit Area! It's where the cars pull in to get their tires changed and stuff. It looks like a lot bigger space on TV.  Fast and furious work!

Here's a really terrible cell phone video of the cars zooming past! They really do go super fast!  It was noisy, but not too bad. I didn't feel like I needed ear plugs or anything. What I wasn't prepared for was the smell! I left reaking of exhaust fumes and burnt rubber.  

Overall we had a really fun time! I'm glad we got to go! It was yet another perfect fall day and we enjoyed it to the max!