If the Bandit’s song was:
East bound and down, loaded up and truckin',
we're gonna do what they say can't be done.
We've got a long way to go and a short time to get there.
I'm east bound; just watch ol' "Bandit" run.
The NASCAR song should be:
Victory lane bound, driving round in circles
We’ll smoke cigs while Jr. gets er done
We got no where to go and a long race to get there
I’m Nascar bound, just watch that race car run!
Well, all I can say right now is been there done that, and I had the good sense to save my money and walk away without the t-shirt! I was all over the place this weekend, I had more plans than time but I definitely crossed a few things off my list. I’ll keep the items from Friday to myself for the time being, but I’ll share the rest.
Saturday I woke up and hurriedly pulled myself together, racing to get to see Elaine on time so I didn’t miss another hair appointment! I couldn’t wait one more minute. When I first walk into the shop, I usually get either a compliment about looking slim or a suggestion to lay off the bread. This time, it was a healthy diet tip! It amazes me what a difference 3 lbs makes to my beloved French Eliane! I sometimes feel like Andre Smith headed to NFL training camp! Just gotta loose some lbs before I get to training right? DOES this make any sense? No, I’m pretty sure it does not in my case, probably would have been a good plan for Andre though. Well, if Elaine ever goes to a NASCAR event, she might have a heart attack on the spot. I did witness a guy get winded just opening a beer! Too his credit it wasn’t a twist off.
Anyway, my hair was done and it looked lovely, but alas it took a while and I missed the window to get by Dragoncon, at the Civic Center. Dragoncon, btw, is a convention where the lovers of any or all things Scifi come by to share their passion though dress, parades and camaraderie. I was a little sad. I have wanted to go since I moved to Atlanta and after all, I AM dressing as an anime character for Halloween this year. If you have any idea what I am talking about, you can guess who!
So it time for phase 3, and I packed my bag and hit the road toward Hampton, GA for a few days at the Atlanta Motor Speedway with my buddies and girlfriend Jan. Her buddy Wyatt has an RV, as do his best buddies and they gather together at such events, form a compound, drink liquor and smoke cigars. I realized pretty quickly once I arrived that the next few days were going to be a little different from my typical weekend activity. –
***PAUSE for a quick second as I just noticed that Wyatt enters surgery in 5 minutes for a Stent to be implanted in his heart! Quick prayer, one for his quick recovery and a second as a thanks to God for making my friend too tough to be kept down long by such a thing***
So as Wyatt undergoes the knife, I continue to recall the events of two days prior. Saturday night, there is an evening race. 195 laps around a 1.5 mile track. I was kinda enjoying myself until I realized that the race was not going to end before the Alabama game started. I can’t miss the first game, people. Finally it ended and I got back in time to see Alabama tear into VT, actually VT was a pretty strong opponent but we did win in the end.
So, I find out the next day that the big race that evening at the Atlanta Motor Speedway is 325 laps. Do you have any idea how long that takes for cars, even at very high speeds, to travel in circles for 500 miles. - Hint, it’s a really long time - The most interesting part for me was watching the fans. At what seemed to me to be random times, some guy would jump up and start cheering for his driver, kinda like I would if I was hoping for Julio Jones to catch a TD pass! But there was no clear indication of a particular “race changing” event when the cheers erupted, just seemed like a spontaneous outburst. Honestly, im still confused about all that. I was ok until about lap 200 when I realized that they had 125 more to go. I was gonna be sitting there all night and I was not really sure why.
According to my friend Jan, this is the biggest spectator event in the USA. Seriously? I have decided that I like my roommate, BK’s, method of watching racing better. Sit on the couch, fall asleep, wake up for the last 50 laps. Or even better, just catch the highlights from Windtunnel on Sunday night.
A New Normal
8 months ago
