Pam got me 4 tickets to the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 for my birthday. I thought I would take Courtney, Anthony (Courtney's boyfriend), and Kevin. When talking with some of my friends about NASCAR and going to the race I heard comments from ... WOW, wish I was going ... Take Me, Take Me ... It's like watching paint dry, with noise. Kevin and I had a blast last year so this will be exciting for all of us.
Katelyn was talking to her co workers at Panera about the race and how she really wanted to go too. One of the regular customers heard her conversation said his company does work for NASCAR and he receives tickets to give away. Wheeling and dealing took place and she got a ticket in exchange for 2 chocolate chip cookies. We were all excited that she could go with us.
The gates opened at 7:00AM and the race starts at 1:00PM. My plan was to leave around 8:00AM so we could walk around before the race. I parked the truck in a good spot close to the exit near the South Gate so we could hopefully get out quick once the race finished. I would put the kids together and take the one ticket that was in a different section.
You can bring coolers and food in to the park which is nice. Once we arrived we loaded up 2 backpacks with water, gator aid, diet coke, snacks, sandwiches, etc.
Before the race started Kevin and I tried our driving with the simulators. Kate bought a hat and shirt and Kevin bought a shirt before we headed for our seats. The band FOGHAT was playing at the start finish line before the game. They sang "Slow Ride”, ”Fool for the City", and a bunch of others ...
I took the 5th ticket so the kids could sit together. I planned to stay with the kids until someone kicked me out of the seat next to them then head to my seat. It worked out well as the people sitting next to them had extra seats so there was room for me to stay with them for the race. Our seats were between turn 1 and turn 2. Kevin and I liked that seating area last year.
Unlike most sporting events the more expensive tickets are higher up in the stands away from the track where the view is better and the noise is less. We were up 36 rows so the noise wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. We all had hearing protection just in case.
It was a good race. There weren't many cautions or accidents to bunch the field up so there were lots of green flag pit stops. Cautions and crack-up's make for a much more interesting race.
At one point Kate and Kevin went down to the track to take pictures. There is a white line 6 feet or so back from the fence. Once the race starts security will not let you go closer than that line and they will tell you to keep moving if you stand there for more than a couple pictures. 2 reasons: it's a safety issue as cars are doing 150+ mph in the corners so car chunks could go through the fence if there was an accident, and people standing there can block the view for the people in the stands. This is Kevin and Katelyn at the fence and the security guy telling them to move along.
A while later this person showed up by the fence. He was trying to get the crowd to start "The Wave". The security guy didn't seem to want to move him along very quickly. What's with that ...
Top 5 results; 1 was Jimmy Johnson in the 48 car, 2 was Tony Stewart in the 14 car, 3 was Kurt Bush in the 2 car, 4 was Jeff Gordon in the 24 car, and 5 was Kevin Harvick in the 29 car.
Here is the Home Depot number 20 for Anthony and the Taco Bell number 17 car for Amy and Chris.
This was me goofing around with the shutter speed ...
