Well we got to the track Thursday night and found our site in the
campground before dark. As usual we had some good neighbors …and
some bad.
I walked over Friday Morning before the gates opened and staked out a
spot at the top of the stands in Sec AA coming off turn 4 and looking
straight down pit road.
I was supposed to meet someone at the Nascar trailer when it opened
in the morning but I walked to the wrong side of the track and missed
him picking up his garage passes. (oh well next year I’ll know the
gate where the trailer is)
I hung My Nascar 50 flag in hopes of NG members stopping by but
…..it was to no avail. Practice was rather
uneventful. The only thing of real interest was all the drivers
praising how smooth the track was and how well the cars would stick in
the corners.
during practice I listened to several cars on the scanner.
3 car was completely at a loss for finding the handle…they went
through the notes from the past and tried everything but unloading the
backup car, but by my stopwatch they were clearly in trouble not just
for qualifying but for Sunday also……..
6 car unloaded very fast and tried many things but really only made
minor adjustments from what they rolled off the truck……
00 car was very happy with the setup and was pumped up for qualifying
believing they had a shot at a top five starting spot after struggling
to make their previous cup races….
after being overcast and damp most of the morning most of the clouds
cleared out for the second practice, and many cars were saying they
just could not find the handle again…. Gordon and Martin were not
among that group.
the funniest scanner bite of the day came from Ray Everham.
just before making a mock qualifying run Ray told Jeff they were going
to tighten the car up just a little……Jeff responded that he
thought the car was just about perfect and did not need it. Ray
shot back …were just gonna snug it up a little.
right after making the one lap run Jeff said it was tight ….it
would have been perfect if we had left it alone I think.. Ray came
back in a rather sarcastic tone "I didn’t want it to be so perfect
that we were putting a rear clip on it."
I guess he was concerned that the track is so smooth now as compared
to the old surface that it is hard to tell where the edge is…..IMO
judging by all the teams struggling on Sunday to find he
handle………… he was right.
Sat.
After getting some sunburn Friday afternoon I skipped morning practice
in favor of just going for the busch race and happy hour.
It was nice to see Kenseth have such a good run and give his fans some
hope for the championship.
the funniest scanner bite of the day was sadly because of crash
00 spotter one lap before his crash…….."come on buckshot! dig dig
dig …..
after the crash buckshot keyed his mike and said "I dug"
………….
too damn early in the race to be telling a high strung boy like
buckshot to….did dig dig IMHO he should have been saying we got a
long way to go …be patient.
During happy hour about halfway in it was apparent that barring any
mishap on the track Mark would have his way with the field Sunday.
at the end of a 40 lap run he was passing some cars who had only been
on the track for 5 laps or so……..I was looking forward to a boring
race and 5 cars on the lead lap at the end.
One thing of note was many crews were on the scanner asking where the
heck the new helicopter pad was that the drivers were going to have to
get to on Sunday…..many could not believe that it was in fact in lot
one of the campers area (where I was staying! )
they were wondering how Nascar expected the drivers and owners to get
there through the crowd after the race…… I was wondering
too!….it’s not THAT close to the track.
Saturday night we walked over to the off track Nascar sales, and food
area to check out what they had. The wife bought me an old T-rex
shirt and I bought myself a poster of Gordon’s first win. She
passed up my offer of an Earnhardt Jacket because we could not find
any that fit her perfectly.
I did spit at a vendor on the way back to the campground when he
approached me holding out T-shirts that said Gordon sucks on the
front, he was yelling GORDON SUCKS SHIRTS HERE ! and shaking them in
peoples faces as they walked by…..
OH…..I have started the practice of wearing no Gordon garb at all
to the track…..mostly out of the belief that it may help keep me out
of jail. I mention it because it is sad that supporting my driver
causes me so much grief at the track. There is good natured ribbing
that I like, but sadly, way to much out and out hate for anyone to
have to endure…….I am starting to understand how Dale’s fans felt
during the F.A.D.E. days…..
…but now it is at a level I never saw from the fade bunch……
Sunday!!!!
the forecast was for sun and it stayed overcast for 90% of the
race……I think the cloud cover played against what many teams set
up for.
We moved to new seats this year …next to the top row in between
turns 3 & 4 no view of the pits but you can see every inch of the
Monster Mile form them….they are keepers!
As I predicted around the supper table Saturday night Martin had no
car that was a threat and just had to race the track ……
I have little to add about the race that you would not already know
………except for one thing………..I have the radio frequency for
the Nascar tower it is not published but someone I know stumbled on it
while searching for a driver earlier this year.
When the pit road official called the tower to tell them about the
24 fender flare
the zeal in the response from the tower was unmistakable……
While riding around under the caution the 21 car asked what Gordon was
black flagged for…after finding out he said well they better get out
here and look at the 3 and 94 cars and a few others too then…….
Towards the end of the race Somebody blocked Martin and it was the
first time I ever heard him lose it on the radio…his voice went
really high add he screamed "that F88ker! he just cost me a bunch
of time"……at that point Gordon was keeping pace with him and I can
only imagine he was thinking "here we go again" several laps later
Gordon’s times feel back off again and the Crew informed Mark of
it….he just said 10/ 4………………..
all in all a very fun weekend……but I must say as a fan I really
miss those last hundred miles, and it seems like the place was a
little more fun before they smoothed it out……
–
GoJeffGor…@speed-racer.com for Rappy
DaleEarnha…@theraces.com for Mrs. Rappy
BGN #63 Casey Attwood Winston Cup #24 & #3 & WALLY
Humor……don’t leave home without it!