Tracking Action at the Track!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

We woke up to a foggy morning, probably a result of the increased humidity from yesterday, but it looked so pretty on the water.  And, it ended up being a nice, warm and sunny day. 

 

 

We took some pictures of our “neighborhood”—lots and lots of motorhomes!

 

We walked around the entire track today; watched the Nationwide cars practice from inside turn 4; visited the vendor displays in the Midway (and said hi to the Clydesdales); visited the driver trailers and the Daytona Superstore; and also visited Tom in the garage area.  Today he treated us to a trip on top of the hauler!  We were surprised at how much you could see up there.  Often crew members will watch action from the top of the hauler, and now I can see why!  What a cool treat it was to be on top of the world with Tom!  While we were in the garage area, we got to talk with the crew chief’s parents who live close by, and Jeff Gordon made a quick appearance and some quick conversation (complimenting the great job his crew is doing)!

  

Tonight they ran the Budweiser Duels—the qualifying race for the big race.  There was a lot of pre-race celebration, including an appearance by the Clydesdales.  I was surprised at their speed as they pulled the wagon down the front stretch of the track. 

Another fun thing to see were lighted pit signs for the drivers—they are always looking for something to help the driver spot the correct stall, and these signs will certainly help! 

 

We have some great seats in the Sprint Tower, right at the start/finish line.  We were very surprised when some friends from Iowa we met here a few years ago ended up sitting right beside us—they moved their seats this year.  What are the chances in a crowd of this size that you know the people with the seats next to yours??  It truly is a small world!  

Just before the second race began, there was a huge blaze in the sky, and it was a Delta 4 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral to carry a navigation sattelite for the GPS system.  I had read about it in the paper yesterday, and forgot to watch for it, but it was impossible to miss it…very cool!

And, we got to watch a good race with a great finish!  Jeff Gordon finished second, in a thrilling finish, with 7 cars wrecking on the final lap when Jimmie Johnson ran out of fuel with less than 1/2 lap to go.  One car flipped, and several cars were damaged badly, but thankfully, nobody was hurt.  And, Gordon will start the race in 6th position.

There’s so much excitement, it’s going to be hard to get to sleep tonight!