Boogity, boogity, boogity... Let's go racin' boys and girls!

[bubba's mom]

Brad already cheers for Jeff Gordon.

A very dear friend of mine (he's like a brother to me), actually met Jeff Gordon in his early days....and my friend was a big fan of his! Wore his hat and everything....however, let's just say from the conversation he had with him, and what he overheard Jeff & his manager discussing, he chucked his hat in the trash on the way out the door and has NOT been a fan since

Joshua cheers for Tony Stewart. Why? Because his favorite color is orange! Sometimes he cheers for Jeff Burton (the orange AT&T/Cingular car) or Greg Biffle. Biffle is because sometimes he has the Wii paint scheme on his hood and Joshua is not missing any opportunity to remind us that he wants one.

Wellllll....you gotta 1) love his logic and 2) appreciate his consistancy

 

[RVGal]

A very dear friend of mine (he's like a brother to me), actually met Jeff Gordon in his early days....and my friend was a big fan of his! Wore his hat and everything....however, let's just say from the conversation he had with him, and what he overheard Jeff & his manager discussing, he chucked his hat in the trash on the way out the door and has NOT been a fan since

Oh, there have been rumors and such swirling around Jeff Gordon for years. The old "rainbow warrior" (a nickname started because of the paint scheme on his car) joke about how he is gay is the most common. Maybe he is. He certainly has picked two very obvious trophy wives. I, personally, couldn't care less what his sexual preference is. If he is gay, I say just come on out of the closet and deal with it. If he's not, I hope his wife and new baby can handle the headlines. They'll have to deal with the rumors either way.

 

[JawsCPA]

Yes - NASCAR is huge here in the heart of West Virginia. You hear about many folks getting tickets to Charlotte and Bristol as these are only about a 6-hour drive.

Jeff Gordon - I have never heard any man in WV say they like Gordon. Most repeat the "rainbow" rumor. About 95% of folks here root for Gordon to lose!

Most folks are big Dale Sr. fans. You see the #3 sticker everywhere. My nephew had is bedroom done in NASCAR for many years, and just changed it this year to WVU.

My brother likes Tony Stewart as well - I also think for the color orange. I purchased some Tony Stewart stuff for him for Christmas a few years ago.

I don't know that much about NASCAR. I only thought it was a big race on Sunday. I didn't know they had truck races and others all leading up to Sunday's race.

Are you children NASCAR fans as well?

 

[RVGal]

Back to the report...

We left parking lot and started through the spiderweb of roads leading back out to the highway. We passed the broadcast spot for the Speed Channel.

After seeing the live broadcast so many times during pre-race coverage, it was kinda neat to see the real thing.

Just a short traffic light across the main road and we arrived at our hotel.

The reason for our choice of hotels was simple. It was the ONLY hotel within sight of the racetrack. Standing in the parking lot of the hotel and looking back toward the track:

They built the track in the middle of nowhere, but Atlanta is slowly creeping south and it's not quite the boonies that it once was.

We went into the lobby and checked in. The girl at the desk said, "You guys here for the races?" Ummm... we're both clearly inebriated and are still wearing our creditials... so, of course, I have to be a smart @ss and say, "What races?" She proceeded to explain to me that Nascar was in town for the weekend. My humor is lost on many.

The lobby... a term I use loosely...

Now, the one good thing about this hotel is that it is the same hotel that we booked for the RV Show back in April. Since we had booked several rooms back then (at off-peak time), they put us in the best room this hotel has to offer. Remember, this is not what you'd call a deluxe establishment... but it was clean, safe, and close.

Our room...

We enjoyed the jacuzzi and didn't drown, so that was a good thing.

I got a call from an old friend who now lives in the area of the track. He told me he was going to hang out with some of his buddies who had some rvs parked in the unreserved campground... and would we like to meet up with them? Sure!

Let me see if I can describe the different campgrounds. Once upon a time, the infield was party central. You could see anything and/or participate in anything you can imagine for the duration of race weekend. Then, as racing became more popular, the prices for a campsite on the infield started to climb... and climb... and climb... until finally, the party crowd was outpriced. The party moved outside the track to the side view (straightaway) campground. Well, since those are some sites with a view of the track, those prices went up too.

Let's fast forward to present day, where the party is now in the only cheap spot left. The unreserved campground. It didn't take long to realize that I am too old to hang out in party central anymore. I have fond memories of those days, but... well, we didn't stay long. We saw my friend, enjoyed the band that was playing (yes, they had a group of guys set up in the middle of their trailers), and said our goodbyes.

We made it back to our hotel and realized that we smelled of campfire smoke and heaven only knows what else, so we showered off before collapsing.

It was a long, but wonderfully fun day. We'll be ready for another round the next day!

 

[RVGal]

Yes - NASCAR is huge here in the heart of West Virginia. You hear about many folks getting tickets to Charlotte and Bristol as these are only about a 6-hour drive.

Jeff Gordon - I have never heard any man in WV say they like Gordon. Most repeat the "rainbow" rumor. About 95% of folks here root for Gordon to lose!

Most folks are big Dale Sr. fans. You see the #3 sticker everywhere. My nephew had is bedroom done in NASCAR for many years, and just changed it this year to WVU.

My brother likes Tony Stewart as well - I also think for the color orange. I purchased some Tony Stewart stuff for him for Christmas a few years ago.

I don't know that much about NASCAR. I only thought it was a big race on Sunday. I didn't know they had truck races and others all leading up to Sunday's race.

Are you children NASCAR fans as well?

My oldest is not quite 6 and he enjoys the races. My youngest, at 2, doesn't care. He thinks it's fun to clap and yell when we watch the race on tv. We haven't taken the kids to a race yet. That'll be a few years and even then, we'll be in the family (no alcohol) section. There are some things they need to be a little older to handle.

Usually, the Craftsman Truck Races are on Friday, the Busch Series Races are on Saturday (think top tier minor league, cars one step below the Nextel), and the Nextel Cup Races are on Sunday. The Busch Races have, for me, become extremely boring. A lot of Nextel drivers race the Busch race if it is on the same track (which it usually is) as a way of getting a feel for what they should do on Sunday. So, the Busch race has, in effect, become a "test race" for the Nextel drivers. I think that Nascar needs to do something to restrict the number of crossover races that drivers can compete in or something. Fortunately, the weekend we were in Atlanta, the Busch Race was in a different city... so, we just got the good stuff!

 

[AlexandNessa]

Wow, I have no idea what you guys are talking about for the most part.

But, I will say that you hit the bathroom jackpot that weekend!

 

[bubba's mom]

Uhhhh...are you able to sit IN the tub AND watch tv at the same time??? ....or am I looking at the picture wrong? Looks like a beautiful room...good thing you booked it waaaay back in the year! Looks like a popular place to stay!

Oh, and the thing about Gordon and my friend....it wasn't about the "gay" thing....more of an "I'm better than you, what do you want?" attitude from him....my friend pretty much told him to f*** off and deposited his hat in the trash on the way out (and ya haveta know my friend [who is a truck driver] NEVER does NOT wear a hat....and he didn't have a spare in his truck! Felt THAT strongly about it....)

Oh, and speaking of the whole NASCAR thing....today I was watching Herbie Fully Loaded on tv....(AND the end of Jurassic Park 3 and now Jaws....must be "vacation tv" today ) now....there is NO way NASCAR would let a VW bug in a race .....there just isn't that kind of "loophole" like they state in the movie Nonetheless.....a great movie and finish Way to go Herbie!!!!

 

[RVGal]

Uhhhh...are you able to sit IN the tub AND watch tv at the same time??? ....or am I looking at the picture wrong? Looks like a beautiful room...good thing you booked it waaaay back in the year! Looks like a popular place to stay!

Oh, and the thing about Gordon and my friend....it wasn't about the "gay" thing....more of an "I'm better than you, what do you want?" attitude from him....my friend pretty much told him to f*** off and deposited his hat in the trash on the way out (and ya haveta know my friend [who is a truck driver] NEVER does NOT wear a hat....and he didn't have a spare in his truck! Felt THAT strongly about it....)

Oh, and speaking of the whole NASCAR thing....today I was watching Herbie Fully Loaded on tv....(AND the end of Jurassic Park 3 and now Jaws....must be "vacation tv" today ) now....there is NO way NASCAR would let a VW bug in a race .....there just isn't that kind of "loophole" like they state in the movie Nonetheless.....a great movie and finish Way to go Herbie!!!!

Yep. You are seeing correctly. We could (and did) lounge in the tub for two and watch tv. You had to crank it up to hear it over the jets, but we didn't care.

I don't doubt that your friend got the "attitude" from Gordon in his early days. Jeff didn't know how to put on the "company face" for awhile. He has either gotten mellow in his older years, or he has learned how to play the game, but you won't see the "attitude" from him anymore.

I think that's why I enjoy Tony Stewart. He's aggressive, he's loud, he can be a jerk... and he doesn't usually turn that off just because the cameras are rolling. He has been slapped down a few times in past couple of years, so he does try to do the PR thing. I just hope they never tame him completely.

And the Herbie thing? Oh, yeah... would never happen. The "s" and "c" in NASCAR stands for "stock car"... meaning that everyone's car must meet standard pre-set specs before and after every race. But it was still a fun movie to watch!

 

[RVGal]

Wow, I have no idea what you guys are talking about for the most part.

But, I will say that you hit the bathroom jackpot that weekend!

It's okay. Like with any sport or job or whatever, there is a lot of language that only makes sense to those that follow it. Just nod and pretend like you care.

The bathroom set up was great. The shower and toilet were closed off by themselves, with a huge counter and sink out where I could get ready while Brad was showering. And the jetted tub for two was fabulous!

 

[loribell]

Now don't going talking bad about my guy!

Anyway, lovin' the report. The room looked pretty nice to me. Can't wait to hear more.

 

[RVGal]

Now don't going talking bad about my guy!

Anyway, lovin' the report. The room looked pretty nice to me. Can't wait to hear more.

Nope. No bad talk. Like I said before, I don't have a problem with Jeff Gordon. I've heard from a lot of people that he used to have an ego the size of Texas and an attitude to match. Maybe he did... or maybe he was just young and foolish and thought that he needed to talk big to make it in Nascar. At one time, all the big guys (Dale Sr, Richard Petty, etc.) had the attitude. It was the "trash talking" that made the soap opera off the track almost as much fun to keep up with as the "tradin' paint" on the track. He has NOT been like that in public for years. Either the attitude back then was an act... or the polite face now is an act... or he grew up and got over himself. Either way, I think he is a great driver who races clean and fair. He owns up to his mistakes and he always gives credit to his crew when things go well. You gotta respect that.

 

[RVGal]

Saturday was a good day, but I had the spins about half the night. I just don't get really drunk like that much anymore.

We were still up at a decent time on Sunday morning. Brad drank the tiny pot of coffee that we could brew in the automatic maker in our room, then went to the lobby to drink theirs as well. I opted for a can of Coke and some OJ (not at the same time). The free "continental breakfast" at the hotel is not much. Vending machine type individually wrapped honey buns and cinnamon rolls, bagels, toast, muffins... coffee and juice... that's pretty much it. We grabbed a couple of carbs and got ready to head to the track.

Gates opened at 10 am, and we were there shortly after that. We drove past the screaming parking lot attendants with our magic pass...

Yes, note the new mom-mobile.

We got our golf cart ride to the door and asked at the check-in desk about pit road hours. Yes, perk number... heck, I've lost count... anyway, another perk of our luxury suite tickets is that they are good for pre-race pit access. We weren't sure if there were specific tours or if we could just go whenever. He told us they close pit road about 1 hour prior to race time, but other than that, we were free to head over anytime we wanted. He stopped us and said, "Oh, but we have a special visitor upstairs, so you might want to head up there first."

Okay, we'll take the elevator ride up and see who they've booked. Another perk, right? We get to meet somebody important, right?

Did I mention that I can't stand Kurt Busch?

Great. They send us a driver and we are one of maybe 50 people standing there with him and it has to be a stinkin' Busch brother.

However, getting us upstairs to the Club One level did help us to discover that they were serving brunch already. That nice spread of food now included french toast, huevos rancheros, eggs benedict, hash browns, bacon, sausage fresh fruit, and just about anything else you could want. Woo hoo! Let me tell you, I like to feed my hangovers and this was heaven!

After we made complete pigs of ourselves, we decided to walk down to pit road so that we could justify the amout of food we consumed. Our seats are at the Turn 1 end of the grandstands. The pedestrian tunnel to get to pit road is on the Turn 4 end of the grandstands. That is quite a walk. We flashed our Club One passes and were allowed through the chain link fence along with thousands of other pass holders.

I made my way to Mark Martin's pit box and a very nice gentleman offered to take our picture.

We walked all the way down past all the pit boxes and watched some of the pre-race prep stuff, but it wasn't nearly the thrill that I thought it would be. I guess what struck me as off is that here were all these guys trying to do their job and here we were gawking at them like they were zoo exhibits or something. All I could think was that they must hate it... having all these fans clamboring for any view that brings them closer to whomever their favorite driver is and clicking away with their cameras and bugging them with questions... but with all that going on, they are trying to get things ready for the race. I don't know. I just didn't feel right.

I did make Brad pose on Victory Lane on our way out...

We made the trek back to our seats and *ahem* we might have had another little snack from the brunch buffet. I don't really remember.

When it started getting close to race time, we headed back up to the Observation Deck to enjoy the opening festivities outside. They started with a parachute guy trailing a HUGE American flag...

Then they had some stuff on the stage. Don't ask me what. We weren't really paying attention.

Next came the driver introductions. They drive the guys around the track so that they can wave and smile and you can take pictures like this...

The guy in the black & yellow firesuit with his knee up on the side of the truck is Mark Martin. He drives the 01 Army car.

This is for Lori...

The guy in the red & blue firesuit is Jeff Gordon. He drives the 24 Dupont car. He was being interviewed during his trip around the track.

This is just because he is the most popular driver in Nascar...

The guy on the far side of the truck is Dale Earnhardt Jr. He drives the 8 Budweiser car. With him is Kasey Kahne. He drives the 9 Dodge car. I guess he is considered something of a hottie. I dunno. He's too young and too "cute" for me.

The opening ceremonies continued with the invocation, the pledge of allegiance, and the national anthem. There was another military fly-by and I got a picture this time...

Then it was time for the most famous words in motor sports. There is always some celebrity or some big wig from a major company (sponsor) that gets to say the big line, but this time was a complete surprise. The guy comes on and says it's time for the announcement, but they are doing things a little differently. There was a crackle over the loudspeakers and then Jeff Gordon gave the call, "Gentlemen, start your engines!" over the radio from inside his race car. He sounded like a kid that had been given a new toy for Christmas. I mean that. He sounded genuinely thrilled to be given the honor of starting the race.

A couple of pace laps and then the green flag waved and it was race time again.

My guy did not have a good day. There was a spinout early that he couldn't avoid and, BAM! Mark Martin was out of the race.

Oh, well. Time to hit the bar. Here's where we got an unexpected bonus. We had the same bartenders as the day before. They remembered us. I don't know if they don't get many tips or if it is because Saturday was a slow day or what, but they took care of us very well on Sunday. The first time I went up to get our drinks, the girl looked at me and smiled and said, "Capt & Coke and a Heineken, right?" I said, "I'm sticking with Capt & Coke, but my husband wants a Bloody Mary." She said, "You got it." and started mixing our drinks. I handed my coupon to her and she punched it. Once. I started to say something to her when she handed it back because I didn't want her to get in trouble, but she winked at me and stuffed it in my hand. The next pair of drinks, same thing. Two drinks, one punch. Well, it was a longer day, so the drinking was spread out more, but boy, oh, boy were we feeling no pain by the end of the race.

Brad's guy (Jeff Gordon) had an okay day, but he was struggling with his car all day. Every pit stop they were adjusting something.

There were several caution flags late in the race that caused the top 10 to shuffle. Who decided to pit, who didn't... it really mattered in this race.

The race ended under caution (I hate that) and Jimmie Johnson took the checkered flag. He celebrated with the usual burnout...

... and then off to Victory Lane...

We headed out of the track and where we were parked, we got to watch a little of the "race after the race". Almost all the drivers, corporate sponsor big wigs, etc. have their own private planes. They all take off running for the airfield beside the track to get off the ground as quickly as possible.

While we were sitting in our car, trying to get out of the parking lot, I counted 42 planes taking off from that little runway. I remember hearing once that by the time the average race fan makes it out of parking lot, most of the drivers are home and watching a replay of the race. I believe it.

It took almost an hour for us to make it the very short distance from the racetrack to the hotel. If we do it again, we'll probably just walk. Seriously, unless the weather is unbearably cold or something, I would rather walk than just sit in the car.

We took another spin in the jacuzzi, watched some tv, and got some much needed sleep. We were up and away by 9am the next morning and, after a brief stop for breakfast, we were back home by noon.

It was a wonderful weekend away and an experience that I fully enjoyed. Who knows, when we win the lottery, we might just do it again!

 

[bubba's mom]

Sorry your guy didn't finish...but, at least you had a nice bartender that day (and "eats")

Sounds like a first-class weekend And I would do it again like that....anyday!

Thanks for sharing....loved the pix!!!!

 

[loribell]

Ahh, I know you weren't talkin' bad about my guy. I think the attitude was a show, he wanted to look like the big boys & he showed them he was as good, guess he felt he needed to act that way too!

Thanks so much for the report (and the special pics just for me!!!)

The special access was great, but did you miss being closer to the cars during the race? Of course I have never been to one, maybe next year I can go to Dallas, but I think I would want to be right out there with the cars.

Thanks again!

 

[RVGal]

Sorry your guy didn't finish...but, at least you had a nice bartender that day (and "eats")

Sounds like a first-class weekend And I would do it again like that....anyday!

Thanks for sharing....loved the pix!!!!

Oh, yeah... first class all the way! I forgot to mention that they took up the brunch buffet about noon and brought out the lunch buffet about 12:30pm. It was the same spread as the day before (hotdogs, hamburgers, plus the more snooty food). Then they brought out dessert stuff (brownies, cake, cookies, eclairs, etc.). After that came the snack stuff (cheese popcorn, carmel popcorn, nuts, chips, dip, etc). We did NOT go hungry!

Ahh, I know you weren't talkin' bad about my guy. I think the attitude was a show, he wanted to look like the big boys & he showed them he was as good, guess he felt he needed to act that way too!

Thanks so much for the report (and the special pics just for me!!!)

The special access was great, but did you miss being closer to the cars during the race? Of course I have never been to one, maybe next year I can go to Dallas, but I think I would want to be right out there with the cars.

Thanks again!

I wouldn't want to be too close to the cars. If you are too low down, you can't see the whole track.

I don't mind the grandstands. Really. My only complaints about the grandstands are that you sit on a hard metal bench (ouch) and you have an assigned "space" on the bench. Get up to go to the bathroom and sometimes your "space" shrinks.

 

[loribell]

See I told you I had never been and knew nothing. Now I know to go first class all the way!

 

[JawsCPA]

Great report. Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend with just you and hubby. (I know with two tykes, you don't get that alone time very much.)

This sounded really cool for big NASCAR fans.

-Jennifer-

 

[Motherfletcher]

Brad's guy (Jeff Gordon)...

Now you're making Brad sound gay.

Didn't NASCAR evolve from moonshine runners?

Don't think I've watched more than a lap on TV

I had a hard time making it through Ricky Bobby...

It beats watching golf!

 

[bubba's mom]

Hey....speakin' of....did I hear Jimmie Johnson won the cup?? He's ur guy, right T?

 

[loribell]

Nope Tricia's guy is Mark Martin. He doesn't race full season anymore but should, he's still got it goin!

Yes Jimmy did win the cup. He and Jeff are on the same team and next year will be even better cause JR will be on their team too!!!!