My First Nascar Race

[Pats300zx]

This past weekend one of my Z buddies and his wife, who are avid Nascar fans, traveled down for the AAA 400 Nascar Race at Dover, Delaware. This was my first Nascar race and I must say that it was pretty awesome. :bigups

To start, I have never really been into Nascar but I can easily see how it is the #1 spectator sport in America. The whole experience was pretty overwhelming. Just to walk through the RV section and see some of the setups that some folks have for the race is pretty amazing. Guys with 37 inch TV's outside their RV's !!!!!

The party atmosphere was really fun. People trading off different things while tailgating, meeting new people, and just having fun. There were people that did some serious traveling to this event. I must say that Nascar folks are some of the friendliest people I have met. Even with the intense amount of alcohol that was consumed I saw no fights or any issues at all.

The race itself was pretty intense. My seats were in Turn #1 right as the cars came out of Pit Row. I was 3 rows from the track and ear plugs were a must. I think I still smell like exhaust lol. It was a huge rush as the cars started the race and came into turn #1 at about 158 mph.

There was one wicked crash halfway through the race and the driver ended up rolling his car about 7 times but came out like nothing happened. It just goes to show you the advances in Nascar safety for the drivers.

I am not sure if I will ever have a favorite driver but I highly recommend someone seeing one race in their lifetime.

Here are some pics.





















Wicked crash



The results

[budman3]

Nice pics indeed. I was at the race the week before ... definitely a must for all. I've been going to races since I was 7 or 8. Never been to Dover but the view of the track from 3rd row seats is very impressive. Up here in Loudon you have to go up at least 30 rows to see the opposite turn if you are sitting in the turn.

[Bigfoot]

"They're making a left turn! They're Making a left turn! I wonder what is gonna freaking happen next!" Sweet Daddy Dee

Sorry, couldn't help it...

Great pics!

[Nappers]

AWESOME! I hope to make it to a race someday!

Bet it was a blast!

[belcherm58]

Absolutely love going to races. It's a rush to see all that goes into one of these races. Your right about the crowd. Most of them are very friendly people that will do anything for you. You had great seats. Love that view of the track.

[vwgtivw]

Nice seats. Between 1 and 2? I have seats in turn 4. I usually go to both Dover races, but with my dads bad health I have not went the last two years.

[2003 GMC Denali]

I go to a Race every Year. I've been to Charlotte for Speedweek, Bristol, Daytona and Phoenix.

I've always wanted to see a Road Course Race... so let me add a few of mine from Sonoma/Infineon...

Speed TV's Interview area...



Old Glory coming down...



There were a couple of fly-by's of Jets... and there was these guys from the Coast Guard, who decided to hover and wave at us at the Start/Finish Line where our Seats were...



The view from our Seats...







Turn One...



How close we were to the Start/Finish Line...



The Start festivities winding down...



The Military getting ready to shoot their Cannons off...



Bang, Bang, over and over again...



How close we were to the back-side of the Pit areas...



A picture of JR's Pit. He had another typical bad day.


The Winner, Kasey Kahne doing his Burn-out...







Afterwards, we walked over to Victory Lane and got a real close-up of the Kings Teeth...



The first time, Richard Petty has been in Victory Lane in a long time.



I haven't been this close to Royalty before. I was probably about 8 feet away from him.



Grinning and Waving and Smiling...



Waving and Smiling and Grinning ...



Smiling and Grinning and Waving...

[ryandamartini]

nascar is a fun time. definitely when alcohol and rv's get involved!

[Gary Sword]

Nice pictures Pat!

[DLB]

Have you ever been to an NHRA Race? If you want a cool experience, try it!
There's one in every crowd...

DLB