VACATION! PART 2: NASCAR

Sorry everyone, I know I said I would write this "tomorrow", but I didn't get around to it, then there was some other things I wanted to do. But, hey, here I am now. :)

First off, here's what we learned for the next time we go to a nascar race at Michigan International Speedway:

• We will leave to head to the track at the crack of dawn.
• We will bring rain gear.
• We will bring food and a grill and barbeque dinner in the parking lot.
• We will get a hotel closer to the track (remember, we were staying in Grand Rapids because we were supposed to visit family, but Grand Rapids is a two hour drive away from Brooklyn, where the track is located).

Now, don't get me wrong, the race was awesome. But we did have some disappointments. We decided to leave for the track at about 8:30; the track gates opened at 8:00 a.m. but we didn't think we needed to get there that early (especially with having the kids with us, and strollers are not allowed). We figured, two hour drive, get there about 10:30, and that would give us plenty of time to visit vendor row and do all the other pre-race stuff (driver introductions began at 1:15). But what we didn't realize were that the roads to the track were regular little 2-lane roads. R, auntie, the kids, and I got to the 2-lane road close to 10:30, and saw a sign that said "8 miles to MIS". And then it took us two hours to drive the 8 miles. Two. Hours. It was not a fun drive either. IJ was having trouble falling asleep for his nap because we were moving so slowly, so he screamed at the top of his lungs for part of it. Everyone had to pee, including C who was wearing underwear, but there was no way we were going to lose our spot in line. By the time we got parked at the track and visited the porta-potties (where C started peeing before he was positioned correctly, resulting in pee being shot all over the porta-potty), we had only enough time to get to our seats.

We had pretty freaking great seats, too. Right in between turns three and four, and high enough up to see the whole track. The only thing we couldn't see were the pits, since Michigan has a row of stands behind the pits which were blocking our view. Driver introductions began, and we cheered for Dale Jarrett as he came around the track in the back of a black pickup, waving to the fans. Well, C cheered for "Wiffle", aka Greg Biffle. Nana likes Biffle (because he drives the National Guard car) and has corrupted C with him. Oh well, I can still teach IJ the right person to root for. :) As much fun as it was to root for Jarrett, I think it was probably even more fun to boo Jeff Gordon. It felt just so good. :D I even yelled out a "Jeff Gordon sucks!" even though there were a bunch of Gordon fans around us. Hehehe :). The national anthem was sung (including the Canadian anthem), and the jets roared overhead. At first I thought they weren't going to have the flyover since I couldn't see or hear the planes, and then all of a sudden they appeared out of thin air directly behind us. It scared me a little which R found amusing.

And then of course it started to rain. Now, we knew about the high chances of rain for that Sunday, yet we neglected to bring any rain gear. I think it was because we were in denial that it was actually going to rain (who wants their first nascar race rained out?). A really wonderful couple sitting next to us (who had a one year old at home) had a big red tarp and let the boys scoot over next to them to sit under it. Thankfully the rain didn't last for too long and the freaking loud ass jet driers came out and had the track dried in no time (I swear I think the jet driers are even louder than the race cars!).

Finally the announcement came for the drivers to return to their cars, and the grandstands erupted in cheers. Adam Sandler was the grand marshal, and probably did the best "Gentlemen, start your engines!" that I have heard in a long time. And then came the rumble of forty three race engines; two lines of cars pulling out on the track behind the pace car. Everyone stood for the green flag, and the grandstands erupted as the cars came up to speed. Watching nascar on tv is nothing compared to seeing it in person. The deafening roar, the whoosh of the cars flying by, the vibration of your seat and your internal organs. Plus, you get to follow whatever car you want at all times, not just the leaders that they show on tv. The 8mile/2hour drive, the sitting in the rain, it was all worth it just to see this sport in person.

The Tony Stewart wreck happened right in front of us, which was awesome. Well, not for Tony, but seeing a wreck that close? Awesome. I saw it start happening; I was waiting for Jarrett to come around turn three and saw Tony go sideways and the smoke come up. Everybody stood up to watch the spin, so I didn't see a lot more after that (I had IJ in my lap so I couldn't just jump up like everyone else). Still: awesome. :)

The race went on and there were cautions here and there for rain sprinkles, but nothing too bad. The boys started getting tired, and C fell asleep first in R's lap. We layed him down under auntie's feet in the little aisle between the bleacher seats and there he slept the rest of the race. IJ drifted off in my lap soon after. We got lots of comments from the fans around us on the cuteness of it all. Both boys were wearing ear protection, but still, I think only my boys could sleep through the noise and excitement of a nascar race. :)

Eventually the race got past 100 laps, the halfway point were a race could be called complete if it started to rain heavily. It started to sprinkle again, and the race was put under caution. I decided I wanted to get up and walk around then, since I was the only one who hadn't yet. I handed sleeping IJ off to auntie, and R and I went down to see if we could find some souveniers. We got to a booth that mostly just had shirts and hats that said "Michigan International Speedway", when the rain started getting heavier. And heavier. Until it was pouring. We figured we had better get back up to the stands and save auntie, who was alone with both sleeping boys. R bought two rain ponchos, and we fought our way back up to our seats, like two fish swimming upstream. We made it back to auntie and the nice couple from earlier had their red tarp covering them all. Auntie put on one poncho and tucked the still sleeping IJ underneath, while I put on the other and we both covered the still spleeping C. The red tarp couple took off, and we sat in the pouring rain for a bit. Until we realized, that is, that the race had been called; Kasey Khane was the winner. We turned to auntie and asked her why the hell we were still sitting there. Her response? "I thought you guys knew!" No, otherwise we wouldn't be sitting in the grandstands in the pouring down rain! Sheesh. :) C got a rude awakening when R whisked him up to carry him and he started getting soaked. We splashed through the rain on the looong walk back to the Explorer. It was raining so hard, not even the ponchos were helping us. By the time we got to the car, the only person who wasn't soaked all the way through was IJ. My pants were drenched all the way up to my thighs, and I said screw it and took them off and sat in the car in my shirt and underwear. :) We were soaked and disappointed; after months and months of waiting for the race, we weren't going to get to see a green flag finish, the winner's burn-outs, or the victory celebration. But what can you do? You can't control the weather, unfortunately. :( The suckiest part was that after that downpour, it didn't rain again for the rest of the day. It makes you wonder if maybe they shouldn't have been so quick to call the race...

Then began the waiting game to leave the parking lot. R pulled out of our spot and we got up to the line of cars heading out, and then we sat. We have a dvd player in the Explorer, and the boys watched the entire movie "Robots" and the beginning of another movie before the line even started to move. Yeah. It was even worse trying to get out than it was trying to get in. We moved soooooooo slowly, even though both lanes of those little 2-lane roads were being utilized for outbound traffic. As we sat waiting for the line of cars to move, we saw all these other people staying put in the parking lots, breaking out their portable grills and grilling up some dinner. These people had the right idea. Wait until half the people leave, fill up your belly, and then make your exit. We were all starving even before we got close to the interstate or highway or whatever, and we still had a 2 hour drive after that back to Grand Rapids! (And remember, it wasn't like we could stop for dinner--we were all missing various articles of wet clothing, except auntie who just wore her wet clothes, and we didn't have extras with us. I was in my underwear, for cryin' out loud! :D)

But, you know, it was all so totally worth it. Just to see Dale Jarrett's #88 UPS Ford up close, and to boo the hell out of Jeff Gordon. So worth it. :)

And thus ends another really long ass post. :)