My Race Adventure
by
Bill

Here's my story as I told it:

Well, I've been on the road for a while... and travelling just ain't easy no matter how you slice it; But, there's one thing that'll take my mind off the grind and that's a good ol' NASCAR Winston Cup Race... yeah!

At least three times a year I travel to a NWC race... Bristol being one of those that I wouldn't miss. It's fast, furious, and nothing short of spectacular. There's races within the race... drivers drivin' their soles to the end of the earth and back... there's fans with no other mind set than to see the World's fastest half mile oval in action... feel the chills.

Once a year my dad and I road-trip it up to Bristol. I flew into Atlanta from Charlotte (where I'd been on business) on the Thursday before the race. With the typical weather associated with Bristol that Friday brought out rain showers as we drove up to the valley. The closer we got... the darker it seemed. It could've just been the mountains closing in around the valley though.

We used to live not 60 miles from Bristol... up in the mountains directly north of there, so the roads are all familar. We knew from experience that waiting to the last month for a hotel room would surely leave us out in the rain; So we'd made arrangements with an ol' friend to stay the night. The drive up, some 300 miles, was without incident.

Enjoying Friday evening with ol' friends, fine country cookin', and some tall tales around the camp fire sure brought me back to my roots. A good nights rest and we were ready for the race.

Arriving at the track around 1pm we began an afternoon of some quick shopping. I picked up a shirt I'd been wanting along with a few other incidentals. I had to make a trip to will-call (you guess what that was for :-) so I hiked over the ridge to the backside of the track.

After that... I waited at the Shopping Cart for a few people (never did meet up with them) at around 3pm. But then... the rains... the thunder..the lightning... reminded me of my honeymoon :-). We went on over the #33 trailer and hung out with one of our racin' pals there as the rains went through.

As race time neared we gathered our stuff and headed to our seats. The short up hill walk to the stands on the back stretch was surely different from last year. This time, rather than making those of us near the track walk all the way to the top they let us in 'bout half way. That really made it a bit easier than truckin' up that ridge again.

After reaching our seats we settled in for the race. Strapped on my scanner, arranged my headsets, cabled myself up, and prepared to listen and watch. We'd brought bottled water and snacks so we'd not have to get up.

After watching some people do the marangue (sp) we were ready to rock. Well, I'd have done that dance if I even knew how to spell it :-).

I had my scanner set for #2, #3, #5, #6, #18, #24, #25, #28, and #88.

The pace car roared around the track at a comfortable pace. Bringing some 20 massive machines behind it like a parade of showroom horsepower. You could feel the rumbling from the track. The concrete vibrated from the thunderous roar. Martin, Gordon, and the rest passed by as I dialed in the frequency range.

The next set of cars came by with another roar. My pulse had just settled down from the first pack and immediately jolted back up as I saw the next set. A rush passed through me as I watched and anticipated the start.

The crowd was on their feet. Cheers, yells, and a thousand other noises filled the valley. They don't call this "Thunder Valley" for no reason...ya know. The valley causes a wicked echo through the area.

As the pace car pulled off the cars could be heard throughout the valley. I'm sure the streets outside the speedway rocked from the immense shockwaves pouring from the track. The cars came through turn one...directly approaching me as they came out of turn two. A shiver went through my spine.

I could hear the spotters start calling out to their drivers... "clear, clear, car on the inside, car on the outside, good pass, clear, clear all 'round"... etc.

I listened for a while and watched the race. There's just nothing like being next to the track to feel the cars go by at speed. There were a lot of casual touches and such on the track among many drivers. It's a short track and that's the nature of the animal.

If you were there... you saw the race... if not, I'd hope you'd watched it. It is fascinating to see how well these drivers handle this track. It's amazing that there's no more contact than what we normally see. When JG was tailing RW near the beginning (after RW took the lead) it was awesome. Lap after lap JG kept that car just inches from RW. How they stayed apart is extraordinary. It's certainly a testament to the abilities.

After the race, my dad and I chatted about the event as we drove back to Atlanta. It's well worth the trip each year. I'd tell ya where I parked but it's a secret... out of the track and on the highway in less than 30 minutes. But then... that's about the average time it takes me to get out of Atlanta Motorspeedway too (and I ain't tell ya where I park there either :-).

We got back home around 3:30-4:00am. Grabbed some shut-eye for a few hours. I had a plane to catch at 3:45pm headed back to home-away-from-home (NY). I actually get to head back on to my family this weekend for a few days...gonna be nice :-)

It's an adventure well worth the time...

bill

Bill and his dad love NASCAR racing. They have been to lots of races together. It's kinda a dad and son thing. Oh, they would be so excited and get up before the crack of dawn to leave. They would have their NASCAR jackets, their NASCAR hats, their scanners, their hand warmers, and off they'd go. Oh, the hand warmers were for the Atlanta race when the wind was blowing and it was burrrrrr, so cold! ha I have lots of fun memories of them and their stories of the races and each other. Yeah! that's my boys!

"Rocky Top"

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