Track walk at Charlotte Motor Speedway Coca-Cola 600

Track walk at Charlotte Motor Speedway Coca-Cola 600
Track walk at Charlotte Motor Speedway Coca-Cola 600

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Paintball with Kyle Busch and friends at Charlotte Motor Speedway Part 2!

Thaddeus and Kyle!
Guys taking some practice shots
(see part 1 here!) After the press conference, we all headed out to the infield where they had brought in four buses and set up barrels and tires in stacks. I couldn't believe they had set all this up for this one afternoon! We hung out for ten minutes or so and Kyle drove over and got out of the car. My son was first to reach him with a hat and pendant to sign. He's met Kyle before but never had the gumption to say anything. This time he actually shook Kyle's hand and exchanged pleasantries.  That exchange will be remembered for a while. My son beamed from ear to ear the rest of the day.
Kyle fills up!
Getting some instruction
       The guys from "Boss" paintball called us all over for some basic instruction and safety tips and then started taping our arms to designate the teams. The guys at Charlotte Motor Speedway made sure to put the two of us "fans" on the same team as Kyle, while the other team was made up of the media. The first round was basically a capture the flag game- but as a warm up- you just had to get to the flag and hold it up- then you won! Our team went for speed and sent Kyle out to run and get the flag as we peppered the other team with paintballs at the whistle. It was an easy first win, but was only a warm up round. The second match was no walk in the park.  I took shelter behind a school bus and took out a photographer with a headshot, but was immediately hit in the ankle. Eventually our team took out the entire other team, and they casually walked the flag to the other side. The third match was a mess. While we decided to divide our team up and send us equally down each side and the middle, my pair (on the right side) got pinned down behind a school bus by the dastardly Jeff Gluck (see pic). I eventually got hit solidly in the gut and have the nice quarter-sized bruise to prove it. Their team sent most of their group around the other side and overcame our remaining small squadron of rebels. They took that round.
My youngest son Caspian
Me- left, Nigel (fan) middle, Jeff Gluck Right Photo credit WBTV
       The last round, the tie-breaker, was by far the most intense. They started by putting each team in two of the four buses. They said they'd start the round, then after two minutes of shooting from bus to bus, you had to try to "secure" three of the four buses by putting men on each of the three. Our team decided to leave Kyle and I on our bus, then the rest of the crew would try to quickly hustle to the other buses after the two minutes was up. Well, once that match started it was just crazy. I don't recall everything that happened, but I can remember some vivid events: Kyle smacking his knee on a bench and grabbing at it (I thought "oh no, there goes the chase!"), Me dropping a bottle of paint balls and Kyle helping me clean up, I got hit on the dome of my head and the paintball splattered on the ceiling of the bus, and the men yelling that we won.
      Then, right after the game ended- a most interesting thing happened: Kyle shot off a few more rounds, and immediately, Jeff Gluck stood up from behind a set of tires and gets nailed right in the eyes of the facemask. Bad blood between media and Kyle Busch? YOU tell me...
      No matter what really happened there, all I know is that I came home with a trophy that I will cherish for years. Sure, there are a lots of trophies around for the Bank of America 500, but how many people have a Bank of America PAINTBALL champion trophy? I don't know, but this one's priceless in my book. No matter, the day was priceless and I wanted to thank Charlotte Motor Speedway for taking such good care of my boys!
My boys got some shots in!



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