This weekend means so many things to so many different people. To some it is fireworks, others patriotism. Still others it is a long *ss drive to the Ozarks, others a relaxing weekend grilling pork steaks (yum) at the lake cabin compound and to others it is a drive to a horse show.
Well, to this olelongrooffan, the Fourth of July means racing.
Yep, out at the World Center of Racing, the Daytona International Speedway, there is a whole bunch of racing going on.
Over the past few days, banners such as the one above and the sighting of transporters such as the one below have been appearing all over the greater Daytona Beach area.
An interesting note about the R&L transporter above. It is parked at the R&L Ambassador Suites a couple miles down A1A from the Taj Mahal in greater Daytona Beach. As you can see in the above image, it is a beachfront hotel and the little kiosks to the left of that concrete stoplight pole? That is where the beach dudes hang out to check out the little yellow sticker on the windshield of the olestationbus to allow me free access to My Beach. Another interesting note, during one of the Hurricanes we had around these here parts last summer, that R&L sign to the right in the above image blew over. It took them almost four months to replace it!!! Yeah, alot of good a blown over sign does for the saleability of your hotel.
By The Way, Good Luck to Trey and Matt Kenseth this weekend.
Anyway, there have been sightings of race related paraphernalia all over the area. From the aforementioned banners to the race truck seen below.
Even Walmart, the horrors, the horrors, is in on it. From the Kayse Kahne go kart shown below,
to the Jeff Gordon go kart shown here (of course, in front of the car sponsored by the parent company of the beverage thejeepjunkie loves in 12 ounce containers!!).
And this whole assembly of cardboard figurines and banners situated above the vegetable aisle.
And while I did not find the rumored $100 longboard at either Sam's or Walmart, I was able to score a $1.50 hot dog and a bottle of water while examining this Roger Penske owned Dodge whatever. I never realized the bodies of the racecars were fiberglass!!
And lest you think this is just a show car parked in front of WallyWorld, let this olelongrooffan dispell those thoughts. I saw the wear on the clutch and brake pedals that indicated this car has seen some real heel to toe action.
Wait a moment.....thehorsefarmer just called from some horse barn up there in Columbia, Missouri and I had to talk to him while walking outside the Taj Mahal to see and hear those US Air Force jets fly over after leaving their flyover of DIS for the start of the Nationwide Race.
Now I am back...
If I turn off that country music radio station I play on the massive stereo at the Taj Mahal, I can hear those cars racing their 120 laps around the Speedway as I write this, or maybe that noise eminates from the always ubiquitous Harleys around town. No, due to the sustained roar I hear, I am pretty sure it is those race cars I hear.
Well, as thejeepjunkie is, as I write this, heading to spend some time in the Ozarks building a deck for his sister-in-law, insulating a shed he built a couple years ago for his father-in-law, spending a few days at some Arkansas lake letting his kids be kids and enjoying the company of thehorsefarmer on the links, he was not so motivated to get this olelongrooffan tickets to any of the festivities out at the DIS.
I had resigned myself to watching the races at TheGoodAttorney's home as he was jetting off to Dallas, Texas to spend some time with his brother living there. Alas, I remember those days.
Last night, thejeepjunkie's last night in the Birthplace of Speed prior to leaving for the Queen City of The Ozarks, well he jumped up from his chair and said I gotta go. I mentioned it was a bit early for him to be headed back to the Kid's house and he replied, 'I gotta stop by Jay Crosby's house to get you tickets to the race this weekend.' D*mn, I was surprised.
It turns out Jay is a member of the FHP and thejeepjunkie has their fleet account and a pretty good relationship with them. I am pretty confident they will be able to help out both thejeepjunkie and the Kid in this matter. Anyway, those guys always get comp'ed tickets to the races and Jay had a few extra and thejeepjunkie's brother was the recipient of that relationship.
So, on Saturday morning, while thejeepjunkie is insulating that father-in-law owned shed and thehorsefarmer is minding those gates and the Bus is getting that cool pontoon lake ready and TheGoodAttorney is heading out to those Dallas based golf courses, this olelongrooffan will be heading for those, never before experienced, grandstand seats at DIS.
As I won't have access to the infield, tomorrow I will provide all ya'll with what all goes on outside the gates of that facility and, know, it will be eventful.
But the best part of it all? The Grand Am Series runs at 2pm EST, just prior to the Coke Free 400 at 8pm.
Expect coverage of the Brumos 250 in the afternoon but you should probably tune into FOX for the coverage of the Coke Zero 400 as I will be back in the Taj Mahal enjoying listening to it in the distance, missing the traffic, while I
Celebrate Life.
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