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

Monday, October 14, 2013

Post-race blues? Visit the race shops!

Caspian pretends to be Miles
On the Sunday following the Bank of America 500, my sons asked me, "When are we going back to the races?" I said to them, "We just went to two races in the past two days! What more do you want?" So, with my father-in-law in town, and having the day off of work on Monday, we went back up near the speedway and even over to the Huntersville and Mooresville area to check out a couple of race shops. I figured it would help us overcome the post-race doldrums.
Boys in the harness

    Of course, our first stop had to be Hendrick Motorsports. It's got an amazing museum that can only be rivaled by the Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte, but Hendrick's is FREE! The boys enjoyed strapping into the four point harness driver's chair and my father-in-law and I enjoyed looking at the historical and race winning cars that filled the museum. It's a must-see if you are near the speedway.

Joe Gibbs with the boys
Game Plan for Life
by Joe Gibbs 
Next, we had to swing by Joe Gibbs Racing. While I had already been to this shop before (as mentioned in other posts, my boys are diehard Kyle Busch fans), we had an added surprise. Joe Gibbs was in the house! After we'd already toured the shop and watched them putting on the vinyl wrap on an M&M car, we headed through the store, then back out to the front and there he was! A small line of men had formed and once to the front I asked Joe to take a quick picture with my boys. Not only did he pleasantly oblige, but he also signed books for my father-in-law and I and gave them to us. What an awesome guy!

Next, we stopped by the KBM shop (Kyle Busch Motor Sports) since we were pleasantly surprised by getting signatures from his crew at the speedway a few days prior (see here).  While we saw Bubba in the shop, there were no photo opportunities, but we did have a great discussion with the shop's manager. I found it amusing to see that around her desk were a bunch of recent trophies including the Dollar General 300 trophy Kyle had won a few days prior, and the paintball trophy he won at the paintball event where I was present (see here).  She said that she just didn't have enough display spots for all of his trophies! (It must be such a problem to have so many!)



Lastly, we stopped by Penske racing. I was very impressed by the view of the shop from their second floor terrace. I'd go so far as to say that I'd give it the "Nascar Newbs Best Shop View Award." While many shops have
the cars miles away from the spectators, and some don't even have a view of the shop, but at Penske you could see everything that the mechanics were doing to the cars. If I were a Penske mechanic I'd feel like a fish in an aquarium.

If you get the post race day blues, stop by the shops! It helps to soothe the pain of having to wait months to see another race...

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Bank of America 500- HOT PASS!

          For those Nascar Newbs out there, a "hot pass" is the ticket to NASCAR heaven.
Jeremy chats with Caspian
This pass not only allows you to get into the pits, but also into the area right where the drivers are walking between the garage and their hauler, the inspection areas, and the garages where the teams are working. By the grace of God, my family was given these passes from a connection with SMI. These passes are not sold; these are given to the race teams,  sponsoring companies,  and well,  people that have a connection to the previously mentioned groups.  (FYI- "cold passes" can get you into the same areas- but only during certain times. They are usually given to minors.)

        We used these on both the Dollar General and the Bank of America days, but as I've argued in other places, at the Nationwide races we have much better chances of meeting drivers (see here). That day was no exception. We were pleased to get to hang out with Jeremy Clements, one of our favorite drivers and one of the most fan-friendly drivers around. (see why here) We also got to meet up-and-comer Kyle Larson. He took the initiative after an interview to walk over to my son to sign his hat. He didn't even have to ask! Lastly, Ryan Newman was walking through the garage area and he stopped to sign both of my sons' hats and had a funny discussion with my four year old.
Ryan Newman


Kyle Larson

Jimmie Johnson walking to his garage
Right before the Sprint Cup practice, we headed down into the garage area and were surprised to see almost every single driver next to their cars and having discussions with their crew chiefs and sometimes even other drivers. At one point I looked up and was shocked to see Jimmie Johnson walking right in front of me. I also enjoyed watching Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch having a conversation behind the M&M car. After a few minutes, an official pushed all the of the spectators back from the garage area and we watched as all of the cars pulled out for a practice run around the speedway.
Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon chat

On Saturday at the Bank of America 500, the crowds were crazy, and the drivers were much less accessible and available. We did see Dale Earnhardt and Brad Keslowski do an interview on pit road- and we got to watch the teams push their cars to inspection which was very interesting. We were also able to go right up to the cars right before they were taken out to the grid!
Brad and Jr. discuss the upcoming race









How to meet NASCAR drivers, Episode #5: Regan Smith, Bubba Wallace (and Samantha Busch!)

       The more you read this blog, the more you will hear me say this: Go to the NATIONWIDE races! Yes, I do agree that NASCAR steps it up a notch for their sprint races, but there are a number of reasons you should take the time to go the race that usually precedes the "main event." 
"How many girlfriends do you have?"

Joey Coulter
         There's the obvious one: affordability. For the value, Nationwide races have unusually affordable tickets and you still great seats!
They usually have free kids tickets, and you can usually get a great seat in the grandstands with an amazing view of the huge screen that Charlotte Motor Speedway put in a few years back. You also don't have to fight crazy crowds. There are not as many people for these events, so you can stock up on free stuff given out in the fan area and you have less chance of losing your kids in the massive crowds on Sprint cup days.

Parker Kligerman &
Chad Hackenbracht
Bubba Wallace
Samantha Busch
Secondly, and the reason for this post, is that you have much more access to drivers on these days. On a random walk through the fan area at Charlotte motor speedway we noticed a line forming (a key tip off) and we jumped in the line of maybe ten people. We didn't know who was in the line until we got up front, and were pleasantly surprised! There was Parker Kligerman, Chad Hackenbracht, Joey Coulter, Darrell "Bubba" Wallace Jr., and Samantha Busch; they were all signing 8x10 cards, and were willing to sign whatever we wanted. After we got through the line, my boys were frustrated that we didn't have anything for them to sign. I said, "Why didn't you just get them to sign your hat?" (We had picked up a bright yellow hat from the Sprint tent.) They agreed, but were frustrated that they hadn't thought of that, but we just got back in line! In three minutes, the boys had their hats signed. The second time through my 7 year old had a detailed conversation with Bubba and Samantha about a) how many girlfriends he had, and b) Playing paintball with Kyle Busch (from a few weeks back here). It was one of my favorite memories from our weekend: watching him hang out with these two very pleasant ambassadors of the sport. 

Brad Sweet (right) Regan Smith (left)
 
Brad signs for the boys!
            Literally ten minutes later, we wandered over to the merchandise trailers and notcied another line forming. This time it was at the JR motor sports trailer with Regan Smith and Brad Sweet. We got there just in time as they shut the line behind us as we walked in! Them men were very gracious with my boys and happily signed their hats and even gave them high-fives. 

For the price, the great seats, leisurely stroll with hardly any crowds, and the access to the drivers, Nationwide days are a great value!