It was a great Grand National season! My wife and I went to a few races,
and had a fantastic time. Here are some memorable things from the races we
attended, and one we didn’t.

At the spring Rock race, we got a kick out of hearing Elliot Sadler sing
country songs over the radio to his crew on the pace laps. As Matt Kenseth
in a car with nothing but rear quarter sponsorship kept moving through the
field, we asked, who is this guy? His last lap bump around the 44 for the
win was absolutely breathtaking to watch.

My wife urged me to buy tickets for Hickory. We’d never been there. I
didn’t do it. I thought, we’ll just go next year. Agh! If I’d only known.

South Boston is short track heaven! We got an autograph from Hermie Sadler,
to give to a friend who had been one of his professors at UNC. He said in
his southern Virgina accent, "of course I remember her", and wrote her a
nice note with the autograph. Very cool! That night we watched Jr dominate,
then punt it away along with Joe Bessey. What’s wierd is that even before
Jr got into the back of the 1st guy, we could sense it coming. Also
memorable was the crowd, that got fired up when Jeff Purvis’ pit road stunt
turned into a fistfight.

Saturday’s the only day we’ve ever had good Charlotte seats. We watched the
fall race from seats above the flagstand, and the view from there, as they
come through the quadoval, is unforgettable. I have gotten pretty good at
keeping up with track position without listening to the broadcasters, but I
didn’t see how McLaughlin’s win evolved. It’s neat how we can go to a race
and have our experience, and later watch the tape and see a very different
one.

Back at the fall Rock weekend during Friday afternoon practice, I had
returned to our seats with corn dogs that I’d talked my wife into trying.
Just then, Kenseth got spun into the wall in 1. Moments before, I noticed
the big cluster of cars come down the front straight, and remember idly
thinking that it looked really unusual. Later in practice, Jeff Burton
reported some problem with his brakes. Mark Martin took the 9 car out, ran
a few laps, said "this car is awesome", and told them in detail what to
fix. Far out. On race day, we listened a lot to Elliot Sadler, who’s my
wife’s favorite driver. We watched and listened as from an awful start,
they kept working, and "Hoss" moved through to take the lead with 35 to go.
The spotter was obviously excited, but waited until the white flag to yell
"no one can beat you!" It was an incredible day. Oh yeah, the corn dogs
were not a hit.

Next season we’ll see Jr and Kenseth pick right back up where they left
off, no doubt. Atwood, the Grubbs, Blaney, Santerre, among others, will be
interesting to watch progress. And, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them
give the Cup guys a run for their money, more than ever. I can’t wait!

- Brian Sweeny (yes, there’s 2)