Our Road Trips

8/27/2015

8/20-22/2015

Thursday was an off day for everyone, so we enjoyed the down time. About 830 pm, we made our way to the Turn 3 area and waited for the haulers to come by on their way into the infield. Anybody who has seen my hauler collection has figured out that I enjoy watching the hauler parade as much as the races. They had a section open for fans to watch the haulers park in the infield and we watched that all the way until the last trucks were in place…nothing exciting, just fun to watch. The trucks are so colorful and the chauffeurs so talented, fun to watch folks that are really good at what they do. After it was done, we made our way back to our camper via trams & shuttles…it took us almost an hour to travel 2 miles…something the track needs to fix. We also walked across the Red Bridge and past the area we had our reserved campsites for many years. The folks we had ‘willed’ our sites to were nowhere to be seen. They had passed on the sites without asking us if we wanted them back…not the way it should have happened. But we are going to move on with our lives, sometimes that is just the best way to do it.

Friday morning, race day. We knew it was going to be another late night so we just hung out in the a/c and relaxed. About 430, we headed over and took our time, stopping to rest in the shade from time to time. We did catch a tram that took us up a steep hill and dropped us right in front of our gate. The elevator that took us up to our seating area was very welcome too. We located our seats and just sat there in the shade watching the goings on…lots happening. The race started promptly 20 minutes late and turned into a good race. A 20 y/o kid (Ryan Blaney) took the lead 110 laps from the end and was beating all the hot shots, fun times. But 6 laps from the end, NASCAR called a caution for no reason we could see and let the laps expire so they could had a 2 lap shootout, something NASCAR has decided should happen almost every race. The predictable happened, one of the hotshots was able to pass the leader and win the race, not the way it should happen. But his fans, who outnumbered the kid’s fans, were happy. I guess the powers to be wanted that to end that way, so I guess they were happy too. We made our way back to the camper and got some sleep. Again, it took too long.

The next morning, we did the same thing as Friday, relaxed and stayed in the cool camper most of the day. We headed to the track with enough time to walk through the ‘Fan Zone’ and look at the souvenirs. We got in a long line to board a tram, which actually moved pretty fast. This tram again dropped us off right in front of our gate and the elevators took us to the top. We sat in some empty seats and watched the pre-race festivities. The big deal was going to be a concert by Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith, tying to prolong his career by becoming a country singer. It is not working, it was pretty awful. The saving grace, it only lasted about 25 minutes. Then it was all the driver introductions, Pledge of Allegiance, a way too long invocation and a rendition of the National Anthem done poorly, as usual, and a couple of skydivers and a couple of jets flying over…all the pomp & circumstances one would expect at a NASCAR race. 500 laps around Bristol is a lot and a lot can happen. We think this was the 21^st time we had seen it, so we know what to expect. It was a typical race and actually ended without the much anticipated 2 lap shootout at the end…green flag racing all the way to the checkered flag…holy cow!! The team who does the best job adjusting to changing conditions as the sun sets usually wins, and this was no exception. It was a good race and the guys at the front belonged there…good job NASCAR. Much better program. We enjoyed our trip back to 'The World's Fastest 1/2 Mile' and will probably return in the future, but not next year. From what we saw, there will be plenty of seats available and camping too. The NASCAR decline has caught up with Bristol and we are sure they are trying to fix it, they just don't know how yet. We made some suggestions when I did the survey, not sure they will pay me any attention...oh, well.

Steve & Barb Larson