Race Day

March 19, 2007

Wow! We be playing the memory tapes of the Atlanta Motor Speedway! We
beat the crowd by staying over until today. Got to see what a mess was
left. The unreserved camping area we were parked in (and the folks
there were truly unreserved) was not full of RVers as we know them.

Actually, the whole experience is hard to describe based on experiences
we have had before. Larry the Cable Guy visits Livingston, Montana with
a bunch of Harley wanna-bees … close, but not quite.

We estimate 150,000 people paid $100 minimum for a ticket to one race
on Sunday. The area surrounding the track (we hung out there on
Saturday and Sunday morning, too) is full of vendors selling Nascar
stuff. Those trucks we see on the highway, with 10 foot pictures of
racing drivers, they are full of concession stuff, not cars. Everyone
wears their Nascar duds, all of them, I swear, layered, and they buy
everything from decals to diecast cars, to jackets and jewelry
(earrings with little gold numbers dangling). But there is no food. We
found the food on Sunday, inside the gate. It wasn’t much and it wasn’t
cooked on site. A lukewarm Arby’s sandwich, chips and a coke for two
was $24 and we had to sit on the ground to eat it. Everyone brings
their own food and liquor. Coolers are searched, sort of, at the gate.
I don’t know what they are searching for. A guy ahead of us in the
stands broke out a tupperware ensemble of boiled shrimp and cocktail
sauce about lap No. 182. The guy next to me brought a six pack of Bud
Lite, drank it, polished off a Domino’s pizza and a Kit Kat bar then
someone brought him three more beers and he drank those too. I was
impressed with his bladder (and the mess he left on the floor). Atlanta
Motor Speedway has 1400 toilets.

The grounds are full of huge military displays and Sunday’s race was
preceded by a group of helicopter doing hover stuff. Kurt Russell was
there (no Goldie, darn it) looking uncomfortable on stage with a dozen
military guys in uniform. We couldn’t figure out why Kurt was there
since he didn’t sing and he didn’t start the engines. Sonny Perdue, the
Governor of Georgia, was there, chatting with Kurt. Isn’t that a great
name? Right out of a John Grisham novel.

We passed on the blow-up cushions that have a cup-holder in the crotch,
but we did rent headsets that have a scanner so you can hear the race
announcer and can also tune in to whatever driver you want to hear.

The race itself was very exciting in terms of speed and strategy, but
not wrecks (if that counts for excitement). My favorite driver, Jeff
Gordon, did well until he got caught speeding in pit row and got
penalized a lap. From that point he did what he could to keep my
brother’s guy from moving up on his teammate Jimmie Johnson, who won
the race. Jimmie beat out Tony Stewart, my least favorite guy, in a
really exciting last few laps. I loved the speed and the noise. We had
great seats at the finish line, about 20 rows up ($105 each). The race
was about 100 laps too long for Dave, but he made the best of it. It
was a real gift he gave me. Davey talks to everyone, so he gets the
information we need to understand the rules, etc. We both got a mild,
healthy looking sunburn and agreed it was a great weekend.

We picked up the car and drove back to Griffin, GA to catch Hwy. 16
West to I-85. The interstate took us to I-65 South and our get-off in
Montgomery, Alabama. It was about 150 miles. Not bad, plus we gained an
hour; we’re on central daylight time here.

Alabama seems much greener than Georgia. It’s been close to freezing
every night for the past week, and here we have the door open at 10:30
PM. My traveling buddy likes that! We will work this park and drive to
Birmingham to catch a plane to Palm Springs for the Southeast
Publications spring meeting the first of April.

We’ll give you an Alabama update in a week or two. We know we’re still
in the south from the license plates: American by birth, Southern by
the grace of God.

Love to all,

Sam