Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Bristol NASCAR weekend









Some of you who are reading this may be asking yourselves (and me), "what does NASCAR have to do with windsurfing or outdoor adventure?". Well...a lot actually. If you've ever been to a race at Bristol, you know...it's an adventure unto itself. There's camping, it involves a road trip, you're outdoors, and of course there is speed. Sounds a lot like some other types of outdoor adventures, including windsurfing. If you're not a NASCAR fan, just go to one of the NASCAR tracks and get in one of those cars for a spin around the track (such as the Richard Petty Experience program, check out www.1800bepetty.com) and you'll very quickly gain a whole new appreciation for the sport.

I went with 3 of my neighbors, one of whom got us some serious infield connections with an all weekend pass to the garage/pit/infield area. Bristol is a small 1/2 mile track so it's hard to be in the infield area and not run into every famous driver and team owner. We saw everyone up close...Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Richard Petty, and Darrell Waltrip just to name a few. Another neighbor of ours actually drives the 18 wheel car hauler for Dale Jr. We found him in the infield and he invited us up on top of the famous Budweiser hauler to watch the Nextel Cup drivers practice on the track....that was a real treat. We watched both the Busch and Nextel Cup race from the infield mostly between turns 1 and 2 and also in the pit area...getting up close to the team's pit stops. This was one of those "once in a lifetime" sports experiences I'll never forget. Here are a few pictures to wet your appetite. I'll post the others in the photo album soon. I got some great video footage over the weekend. I'll be working on putting a new video collage together over the next couple of weeks to post here soon...be on the look out.

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