Daytona 500

[B-flat]

Attention Race Fans!  The Daytona 500 got off to a great start.  Pres. Bush and Mrs. Bush arrived on Airforce One for the event.  Too bad for Mark Martin with engine problems so soon.  Looks like a lot of camping was going on in that area.  Some of the drivers and teams can remember when they stayed in cheap motels with the fans instead of those classy big rigs.

[birol]

For the first time I am watching it ! It is pretty entertaining and exciting !

I had a glimpse of Bush, and thought I was mistaken, now I know he is there !

Attention Race Fans!  The Daytona 500 got off to a great start.  Pres. Bush and Mrs. Bush arrived on Airforce One for the event.  Too bad for Mark Martin with engine problems so soon.  Looks like a lot of camping was going on in that area.  Some of the drivers and teams can remember when they stayed in cheap motels with the fans instead of those classy big rigs.

[Starcraft Dad]

Yep, we are watching it too.  We are huge Nascar Fans.  We each have our favorites and Mark Martin is mine.  Oh well, I guess the ole Viagra didn't kick in.

We had a couple of freinds whom went down to Daytona for the race.  They got thier tickets for $300 a piece.  Wow, I didn't realize tickets for these races were so much.

[B-flat]

Yes, Daytona is very expensive.  If you want something less expensive, try The Rock at Rockingham next week.  Right now there are plenty of tickets at $45 on the Hamlet side.  It's $80+ on the Rockingham side.  FYI, the Hamlet side has its new seating and concessions installed just a few years ago.  The Subway 400 is coming on Sunday the 22nd.  As to what you 'd pay at Daytona, you can be in VIP for less at Rockingham..  Yes, besides Bluegrass, I'm a big NASCAR fan.

[LoadedCamera]

We are huge NASCAR fans also. The race today was great! Dale Jr. showed Tony Stewart what the winners line at Daytona looks like. Tony Stewart shows the rest of the drivers what a Whiner sounds like!
 
We had season tickets with pretty good seats for the Twin 125's, the Busch Race and the 500.  
The first Daytona 500 I attended was 6 years ago today.. The 1998 Daytona 500 was won by Dale Earnhardt Sr.!!!! What an explosive win!!
 
The last Daytona 500 we attended was Feb 18th, 2001.. A black day in NASCAR history. That was the day that Dale Earnhardt died in a horrible crash on the last lap.
 
After that race, we gave up our tickets and haven't been back since.
 
Today was a wonderful day for the Earnhardt legacy..

[Gone-Camping]

Well, as always the Daytona 500 proves to be exciting, sometimes in more ways than one! I'm not a big Earnhardt fan, and definately not a Stewart fan either, and it looked pretty much like a two man race most of the day, with the possibility of Jimmy Johnson waiting in the shadows all day long!

The 'Big One' that we've come to know and expect certainly makes the day interesting, but unfortunately it also reminds of how dangerous this sport is. It was just one of these 'Big Ones' that cost Dale Sr his life. I'm so glad Michael Waltrip was able to walk away from that tangled mess he used to call the #15 car!!!
 
As for the President, I've mixed feelings about that. It was kind of nice seeing him there and being a race fan and all. But I'm a bit curious about the cost of sending him, his entourage, that giant aircraft, plus the B2 Bomber and F-15 Stike Eagles overhead doing the flyover... not to mention the Military sponsoring one of the race cars. That adds up to an awful lot of tax payer dollars?!?!

[tlhdoc]

The first and only NASCAR race I ever went to was the Daytona 500 in 1990.  DH won the trip and everything was paid for.  Hotel, air fare, tickets, parking pass, pit pass, autograph party with Bill Elliot, rental car, the works.  I was disappointed that to see anything you had to stand up every time the cars came around :mad: .  Instead of sitting (people did pay for the seats so I don't know why they didn't sit in them), people would stand and block your view, so then you had to stand or you couldn't see anything except the back of the  person in front of you.  It made me decide that you can see the race much better on TV, than you can in person.  You don't have the long wait to get out of the parking lot either.

[NCSunshine]

I have always been a Bill Elliott fan, but today I was pulling for Dale Jr.  I just boo hoo'ed when he won just thinking about him and his dad.  Guess now is the time to find a new driver since Elliott will not be racing much any more.

[B-flat]

Now ya'll just lay off on name calling like "whiner" when Stewart is around.  Ha, he makes things more interesting, even if you don't like him.  He has been through anger management.   And, he is still learning to express himself.:rolleyes:   So, just kind of sit back and go with the flow as far as he is concerned because it takes all kinds of personalities in NASCAR.  Otherwise, it would be really dull.   Shucks, he isn't one of my favorite, either.

[labontefan]

The prerace show was really exciting, I thought! Kinda got goosebumps right at the end of the National Anthem (thought LeeAnn Rimes did a great job, BTW), when the jets flew over and they released the eagles! Wow!

Congratulations to Junior on a great victory! I thought it was so neat the way he said he knew his dad was riding along with him on the passenger side and having a blast.

I wish Bobby could have finished one place better so he'd have been in the top 10. (He finished 11th.) But at least he got his lap back...and he finished right side up with the car running, unlike the last couple of Daytona 500s. Definitely a better start to the season.

Daytona is probably not the best place to watch a race in person, tlhdoc. I went to the 1995 Daytona 500, and was a little disappointed that I couldn't see more. Still it was a huge thrill just to BE at the Daytona 500.

For watching a race in person, an intermediate track like Charlotte, or a short track like Bristol or Martinsville, is much better, IMO. And now that the season is under way, it won't be that much longer till I'll be at those tracks!! Bristol is next month! Yahoo!!!

NASCAR prerace shows are usually pretty cool! At Bristol in August, a skydiver with a giant American flag jumped into the track. Skydivers jump into Charlotte all the time, but it's a lot bigger with a big grassy area in the trioval where they can land. At Bristol, it's really tight quarters! The skydiver landed right on the front stretch...it was quite a sight. Check out this series of photos:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/89716497/89719568BAVPjQ

(Just keep clicking the "next" arrow--there are nine shots in all.)

[B-flat]

Try seeing a race at the Rock near Rockingham.  There shouldn't be any problem in seeing.  Sometimes a lot of fans will stand up when there is plenty of action with certain drivers but after a while this stops and people sit most of the time.  I always liked a bit of standing up as it is kind of hard to sit the whole time through a 500 miler.  One thing I hate though is the folks who have to be going in and out of the aisle all the time during the race.  I tend to get my seats near the aisle end so that I don't bother others when I have to get up and take a stretch.

[LoadedCamera]

I've been a Bill Elliott fan since 1976 when he began running with the big boys.  
This is going to be a tough year, they have even changed the Coca-Cola commercials and just show him sitting on the sidelines in a jacket and slacks.  No Uniform, no sponsorship..  
 
Tony Stewart is a great driver, to bad he lets it go to his head!  Its great to be naturally talented, but if you have to put others down to make yourself look better, thats boisterous.  We like Tony at our house, but he needs to learn a little self control!  He's an Adult, behave like one!
 
It was exciting to watch the last 20 laps.. Tony and Jr. really showed respect for each other and raced clean.  It was a "sitting on the edge of my seat for 50 miles" type of ending to a race!
 
NASCAR has a billion fans, and a billion different personalities!  Thats what makes it the most fun sport out there.  We can express our likes and dislikes and still be respected.  Find that in other sports..  Not as likely!

[labontefan]

NASCAR has a billion fans, and a billion different personalities! Thats what makes it the most fun sport out there. We can express our likes and dislikes and still be respected.

Exactly!! Back in the last 80's, I used to go to a lot of races by myself (Bristol, Charlotte, North Wilkesboro), but I never got lonely! And I never worried about being a single woman traveling by myself. By the time the race started, I'd usually have at least 5 or 6 new friends! I'd just strike up conversations with the people sitting around me. I very seldom found anyone who wasn't friendly and willing to chat.

Now I go to the races with several friends...but still strike up conversations with total strangers. That's one of the reasons camping at the tracks is so much fun...by the time you leave, you and your neighbors are usually pretty good buddies!

Only five weeks till I get to head to one of those campgrounds! Almost time for Bristol!!!      

[LoadedCamera]

Only five weeks till I get to head to one of those campgrounds! Almost time for Bristol!!!

I envy you more than you know!  Bristol is a dream race for me..  I would love to attend at least once in my life just to feel the excitement!

[NCSunshine]

I've been a Bill Elliott fan since 1976 when he began running with the big boys.  
This is going to be a tough year, they have even changed the Coca-Cola commercials and just show him sitting on the sidelines in a jacket and slacks.  No Uniform, no sponsorship..  
 
Tony Stewart is a great driver, to bad he lets it go to his head!  Its great to be naturally talented, but if you have to put others down to make yourself look better, thats boisterous.  We like Tony at our house, but he needs to learn a little self control!  He's an Adult, behave like one!
 
It was exciting to watch the last 20 laps.. Tony and Jr. really showed respect for each other and raced clean.  It was a "sitting on the edge of my seat for 50 miles" type of ending to a race!
 
NASCAR has a billion fans, and a billion different personalities!  Thats what makes it the most fun sport out there.  We can express our likes and dislikes and still be respected.  Find that in other sports..  Not as likely!

Well it looks like we have more in common than camping.  I have been a Bill Elliott fan since he started racing half circuit in NASCAR.  

Not sure who I going to pull for now, but last Sunday I was definately pulling for Dale Jr. and I was as chocked up as his crew chief.  Just thinking about his Dad winning there and then it was the last race he ran, then Jr. winning on the same date that his father won his last one on.  Brought of alot of emotions (as I am on the emotional side anyway)