NASCAR

Many people think that I’m an unlikely Nascar fan…people who don’t know my background. “How can you like Nascar? Didn’t you major in environmental science? Don’t you realize all the tires and fuel that are wasted? How can you find a bunch of cars driving in a circle a few hundred times entertaining? “ Well, my answer is this: I grew up with it. Sunday afternoons in my house were made for napping. And if the race was on a major network, they were made for napping with the race on in the background. I never took naps, so I eventually got hooked on racing. And when I was nearly finished with high school, we got a satellite primarily so that Dad could see the race every weekend, rather than just when it aired on network TV. Also, we have a “Miniature Nascar” track in our back field. We might live in the sticks, but there is weekend entertainment in our own backyard. Every Saturday night, a group of 100 or so come out to race go-carts for points. This is a serious competition, and many a lip have been busted over it.

So this racing gene is bred into me. I understand some of the strategy of it and can relate to the culture. So this past weekend, I was graciously offered pit passes to see the series finale for the Nationwide Series in Homestead, FL. And when I say “pit passes”, I mean we were right there in the pits. The car pulls in for fuel and tire changes, and we were right across the wall with the pit crew, but out of their way. Phoebe, a friend from ECHO, came with me. It was her first Nascar experience; she had never seen a race on TV or anything. Well, she got the most intimate introduction to it outside of driving one of the cars herself! At the conclusion of the race, we were directly in front of Victory Lane to watch my favorite driver, Carl Edwards, pull in to receive his trophy. It was all a dream to me, as you can see from the pictures!