Camping World 300 with the Kid, thejeepjunkie, and The Good Attorney

So, as I mentioned in previous blogs, thejeepjunkie has gone all out in getting us unrestricted access tickets to the big shows this week out at the World Center of Racing. Last evening while over at the Taj Mahal for a couple cold pops with The Good Attorney, thejeepjunkie laid these tickets on us, with a spare for the Kid. Apparently, one of the Big Wigs from Goodyear decided to finally bestow upon thejeepjunkie a ticket to their dealer's suite at the Daytona 500 Club, a multi story building immediately adjacent to Victory Lane down at the oleracetrack. thejeepjunkie gathered up the tickets his coworkers were not planning on using and got the four of us up on the 3rd floor and roof

of this cool building in the infield of the track.

Pretty decent seats, wouldn't ya say?

Overlooking the FanZone and the pits...

Plus our rooftop seats were nearly lined up with

the Start/Finish line and, oh yeah, it was sweet!!

After feasting with the Kid on some catered pulled pork, chicken nuggets and lukewarm pasta, it is amazing how much 16 year old young men eat, I sat around shooting the bull with the Kid, thejeepjunkie and The Good Attorney, looking out the glassed in booth at the front stretch, NASCAR turns 1 and 2 and a good portion of the backstretch. Once while up gathering a Diet Coke from the bar area, I noticed the invoice for this shin ding on the bar top. A freaking case of thejeepjunkie's friend, Bud, Lite, was sold for $76!!! Yeah, that is some expensive beers. Thanks Goodyear and ya'll need to go buy a new set of tires tomorrow!!

Well, you can live in the lap of luxury for only so long and I felt the need to get out and see the sights around the pits and garages. Those three boys were content watching the closed circuit TV and listening on the comped FanView headphones and video screens but I can only be pampered so much and needed to head out to the racing fuel fumes and NASCAR hardbodies.

So I did.

Tony Stewart is driving in the Nationwide Series in the Hendrickcars.com sponsored entry.

And, yeah, there are an ever increasing number of members of the female persuasion involved in NASCAR these days. To bad I am to old to take advantage of this situation.

This whole pit buggy was filled with them.

And this woman was telling this dude the what for!!

Just down pit road, the pit stops were happening.

I think I am correct here in noting this was one of the Wallace's race cars.

I then headed over to the Nationwide garage area and got a few shots of some replacement body

and suspension components.

Oh yeah, ever heard of this team?

As I was over in the garage looking at the team transporters, I noticed the decided lack of engine noise eminating from the track. About three minutes later, this parade come rolling in, right in front of an unsuspecting olelongrooffan.

Now, as I have mentioned, I am not a big fan of wrecks. They represent a bunch of shattered dreams of drivers, wrenches, management, and team owners and while some like to see them occur, these guys down here would much rather be out on the track mixing it up with their cohorts in crime, so to speak.



I can't remember if there were three or four involved in this melee but those dudes in the white shirts kept up tourists at bay.



It was interesting, I was almost by myself in the garage area just shooting shots like this of the transporters and then once that accident happened, I was surrounded by more gawkers than I could count!!

So, shortly thereafter, thejeepjunkie decided it was time to head out as the Kid's sister had her first competitive PAL basketball game and he needed to be there, and the Kid, thejeepjunkie and the olelongrooffan had ridden to the track in the Kid's CJ5. Tomorrow, I drive my own D*mn car.

There is the Kid driving thejeepjunkie's 17 year old Honda Accord.

Oh yeah, up at US 1 and State Road 40, I saw this. Well, the cool old Buick Riviera Ragtop is nice, but I was looking at the monster behind it.



Yeah, it is that jacked up truck I saw here, so many moons ago.

So that's it for today's installment of What I Saw Today, At The Track Edition. Check back tomorrow for more, so long as the rain clouds stay away. Wish ya'll were here.