I am not exactly sure when the fondness for NASCAR began for Ryan. He is basically your typical sports loving guy. I believe he is genetically programmed to know what channels ESPN broadcasts over. But when you say NASCAR people generally think "REDNECKS". I know I kinda do. And I guess truth be told, I guess I do have some redneck tendencies. Such as I have always moved (when I was moving myself) in a horse trailer, I know how to skin an animal, and I have used duct tape to repair my shoes (thanks Dad for that one). Maybe Ryan got a little redneck when he married me, I don't know but the truth is my husband loves NASCAR.
Living close enough to a major race track has had Ryan seeing stars since we moved here. When the schedule for this season NASCAR races came out Ryan was on it like white on rice. We budgeted out money for the tickets and we waited not really very patiently for the day to call for tickets to come. The day finally came and we bought our tickets. Sadly we had to wait like 5 months for the race to come.
Finally it was time to head to Richmond, Va to experience our first NASCAR race. Wouldn't ya know it though, there was a significant chance of rain. We prayed it would hold out until after the race but, we knew there was a good chance it wouldn't. We set out well before the race because all the info we had read said traffic is terrible on race days. Well wouldn't ya know it, there was absolutely no traffic and we got there two hours before we had planned to. It would have been good had we planned to tailgate or something but we didn't. We got to the parking lot, parked and realized we had to entertain the kids for like 5 hours until the race started. With the majority of the spectators in the beginning stages of an alcohol binge, Ryan and I looked at each other a little concerned. Lucky for us though there was a kids area complete with bounce houses and the Virginia Science Center had multiple experiments and crafts for the kids to do. It literally saved our bacon.
The only problem was that it was hot, like 90 degrees hot. So the kids were melting, but they managed to pull through and survive. We ate dinner and that is when the weather started to change just a little. We kept watching the clouds, praying the storm was going to miss us. We moved to the amphitheatre when we started to feel a few rain drops. It looked like the storm might in fact miss us so we started heading to our section in the stands, which was thankfully a family section so it was alcohol and smoke free. By the time we got to our gate and headed into the stadium, the rain came. We didn't bring jackets, or ponchos or anything. Not an hour earlier it was 90 degrees remember. Everyone that had come to see the race was huddling under the bleachers trying to stay dry. Ponchos were flying off the souvenir shelves faster than you could say start your engines. We bought some and tried to stay dry as best as we could. The heaviest rain started when the race was supposed to start. It was inevitable. There would be a race delay. How long? We weren't sure, we just knew it was going to be a loooong night.
Finally the rain did stop and the track dryers came out and the race started two hours later than it should. Those track dryers are the bomb diggity. They are jet engines strapped onto a truck and are incredibly loud, but they sure get the track dry quick.
I have watched a few races on t.v. and they are alright. I don't think though that I have managed to stay awake for an entire one. Something about going around and around in a circle that makes my eyes tired. The same cannot be said for watching a race in person. The sound of the engines is incredible and you can feel a rumble in your chest when the cars come around the corner. Really pretty cool. Wyatt said it best when he said "This is so awesome Mom".
Well it was pretty great for the first 152 laps. Then the lovely rain decided to come back. They kept the cars racing but just slower to keep the track warm but the rain wouldn't let up so they red flagged it. By this time it was after 11 at night. Three of the four kids were asleep and we weren't sure when the rain would stop. We waited for another 30 minutes, but when Wyatt started shivering like he was having a seizure we called it. We had experienced our first NASCAR race. While we didn't get to stay for the checkered flag (the race ended when we got home at like 2am) it was still an adventure and we want to go back for another one. The kids had fun, Mom and Dad had fun and we got to check something off of Ryan's bucket list. A pretty successful Saturday if you ask me.
2 comments:
Aimee..
um..you look fabulous! You are so skinny now!
I want to go! It looks like so much fun!
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