NASCAR's IN TOWN!!!

[billjr]

I don't know if any of you are NASCAR fans, but I have been since moving to Darlington, SC 11 years ago. The track opens the infield at 3pm today, and I will be setting up my site for a weekend full of tailgating. I haven't had an infield spot for about four years, so I'm excited to be back in there. As a friend once said, "you're either an infield person or you're not." Well, I AM!!

This is a great week here in Darlington, as people have been comming into town all week, and the campsites are getting fuller and fuller every hour. Tonight is the car hauler parade, which has turned into a pretty cool party downtown, with music, food, beer, and about 30-50 car hauler trucks parading through the square at about 9pm. One of my band goals is to play the event next year.

Tomorrow, one of my friends is being interviewed by the Speed channel about his tailgating process, and grilling in the infield. Also, check out theracebus.com. This another friend who is becoming a legend in the infield. Check out the site and you will see why.

Anyway, this is an exciting week for a town of 6,000, as we explode to over 80,000 for the weekend.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

One of my favorite things to do is to stroll through the paddock while the crews are working on the cars.

[MakiSupaStar]

I've only ever been to F1 races. Nascar doesn't really swing by our neck of the woods.

[hover]

kidding.

"why you always keep going left?"
"Hey man, can I turn on the radio?"
"Wow, you sure do like Tide"
- Mitch Hedberg

[billjr]

I thought the same thing until I started going to races. There is a lot more strategy envolved than people realize, with the entire team being a factor rather than just the driver. It's kind of surreal following your favorite car around the track, watching it move up slowly a second per lap so that after 20 or so laps they are in contention. Buts it's also depressing to see a bad decision in the pits result in your car loosing a second or two each lap because of an improper adjustment. Of course when it does get boring, like long cautions or rain delays, that's when I start grilling food or boiling peanuts.

Oh, and I don't think the theracebus.com site is active anymore. They should be on facebook, though.

[hdracer]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

I've only ever been to F1 races. Nascar doesn't really swing by our neck of the woods.

They run twice a year at Fontana, they were just there 2-21 and will be back on 10-10.

Darlington Raceway is one of the GREAT tracks, I miss Rockingham & North Wilkesboro. The problem with Darlington is the same as the other two, you can't get there or leave there. But it is the best racing.

[MakiSupaStar]

Originally Posted by hdracer

They run twice a year at Fontana, they were just there 2-21 and will be back on 10-10.

Darlington Raceway is one of the GREAT tracks, I miss Rockingham & North Wilkesboro. The problem with Darlington is the same as the other two, you can't get there or leave there. But it is the best racing.

Hmm. I'll look into this. My son would love it.

[buzzbass]

Originally Posted by MakiSupaStar

Hmm. I'll look into this. My son would love it.

He'd probably like Vegas better. More to "see"

[warwick.hoy]

Growing up in VA Beach,...my mom used to be a nail tech and one of her clients was Bobby Allison's sister. She hooked us up with tickets a few times in the late 90's. I've been to Charlotte International (once with access to pit road) and Richmond International a few times. My interest in NASCAR has waned over the years (after Earnhardt died). I've never been in the infield, but I'm guessing that in the infield on top of a motorhome is probably the best way to watch a NASCAR race.

[billjr]

Time for day 1 update. Loaded up my truck and headed to the track. Staging was a 3 1/2 hour wait, then we got in. My spot is on the first row in the middle of turns 3 & 4. The people next to me even rented a port-john for the weekend. I'll be sure and be nice to them so I won't have to walk 200 yards and use a nasty public john.

I'm sure there's a great party going on in the infield tonght, but since we live just 15 minutes on the other side of town, we go home each night to a soft bed and hot shower. We'll be back out there in the morning for practice, etc.

Tonight was the car hauler parade. The town closes the square and they set up booths for food, blow ups for the kids, a live band, a display of local race cars from the area, and a classic car show. Finally about 30-40 car haulers paraded through town with horns blazin' and lights all flashing. It was a good event and gets bigger and bigger each year.

hdracer, thanks for the complement about the track. I miss the older tracks they closed, as now the newer ones are all practically the same. Darlington is one awesome track for racing. The egg shape makes it impossible to set a car up for the entire track, so they have to pick one and go with it, which means that they will have a bad setup for at least one of the pairs of turns. You see some cars streaking through turns 1&2(the wider side) and then have to tip toe through 3&4 and vice versa.

If you like the racing, this is the place to be. They have put millions of dollars in improvements to bring the facilities up to current standards, and I will admit that it is a lot nicer than it has ever been. After this race they are going to rebuild the garage area to bring it up to snuff with the other tracks. But,.......if you like having plenty of other options available away from the track, well..... maybe Vegas ain't so bad.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Last week was disastrous for me in my fantasy NASCAR leagues. What do you think of my driver picks for this race?

Jeff Gordon
Greg Biffle
Matt Kenseth
Jeff Burton
Ryan Newman
Kevin Harvick
Scott Speed
AJ Allmendinger

I have about 26.5 hours to make changes.

One of my leagues comprises mostly TalkBassers, so any advice here would potentially benefit others as well.

[Passinwind]

Cool, I would love to go catch that particular race one day. Watkins Glen would be a lot easier for me though, I have family quite close by, and I grew up with road racing and saw a couple of US GPs when they ran there. I followed NASCAR a bit back then, when drivers crossed over between series routinely. Didn't pick back up on it much until Montoya signed on a few years back.

But for the full NASCAR experience an oval seems mandatory. My wife's a southern belle and has been to Daytona and Talladega a few times, and we could maybe manage one of those fairly easily. I'd rather not do a restrictor race though. I hate Vegas and it would probably be my last choice, frankly. Anyhow, hope you have a blast this weekend!

[MatticusMania]

"THEYRE MAKING A LEFT TURN!!!!"