HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! As some know, I made my annual trek to Sonoma last June. Eventhough this is WAY late, I’ll try to remember as many details as possible and let you know how it went.
WooHoo! I survived this year’s day at the races. When my friend, Lori, and I arrived at the track, we got credentialed and parked and were ready for a great day. After a quick stop at the AAA display, we made our way to the garage. We saw our friend, Brenda, at Biff’s hauler, which was parked between Kasey Kahne’s and Jeff Gordon’s. Hangin at the hauler is like watchin a big ol’ block party. Every house has their grill fired up, and their coolers iced down, and everyone’s as friendly as can be. As we were talking with Brenda, I was a little distracted when Kasey came out next door. I tried not to stare, but I’m not so sure I was completely successful.
Lori & I continued to make our way through the garage area till I spotted Kristen at Kurt’s hauler. As we were getting acquainted, Bobby LaBonte came out of his hauler next door, and Casey Mears walked past with his PR person. Kristen got a kick outta all the mini stand-ups I had of the Roush guys sticking out of my backpack. After talking with Kristen for some time, we kept wandering the garages. We saw the Grand Marshall, Guy Fierri from the Food Network, walking around. He was no big thrill; he’d’ve scored more points if he were passing out food.
We saw Jack Roush being interviewed outside Carl’s hauler and waited for him to break free. He saw us and came over to say hello. He saw my mini stand-ups in my backpack, took them out and asked if I wanted to get them signed. Of course I did! He took them out and had “his people” running around to get them all signed!
As we were waiting, I snapped a few more pix of the drivers at their haulers. I think Ryan Newman was intimidated by my big honkin’ camera and turned away when he saw me pointing it at him. We went back to Biff’s hauler and talked with Brenda a little longer. While there, I had the opportunity to snap some shots of Kasey and Jeff.
(I was thinking of Yee Mum when I took this)
From there, we went into the pits where we watched the various crews setting up. By the time we got to the area just opposite the stage, driver intros were about to begin. I snapped lotsa shots, and dontcha know, my film ran out during Tony Stewart’s intro. Just my luck, I knew David Ragan was up next. As I was hurriedly trying to reload film, I was telling Lori to shoot as many as she could on her digital. I finally was reloaded, and then the trucks started coming down pit road, taking the drivers to their cars. I was able to shoot more drivers, calling their names to get their attention. Then, dontcha know, the battery on the camera went dead. I was fortunate to have had a new battery in my pocket, but I, in my panic, couldn’t get it set in correctly. Damn polarization. I decided to give up on the big honkin’ cam till I got to our seats.
(I was thinking of HFLori)
We weren’t too far from Carl & his car, so we went closer to get some more shots on our point n shoot digitals. I saw that people were approaching him, so I went for it and asked for a picture with him. Now, before I even got to the track, I told both Lori and Kristen, that when I saw Carl or David, I couldn’t guarantee that I wouldn’t throw myself at either of them. Well, when opportunity knocks…I’m not usually shy. If I hadn't had the big ol' honkin' camera, I'd've wrapped both arms around him.
We started to make our way back down pit road and went to Matt’s car. He was standing there, talking to some DeWalt guys. I waited for them to finish and I asked Matt for a picture. Unfortunately the invocation was about to begin, so I didn’t get it. My next thought was “Oh God! The invocation is about to begin! Are we supposed to be here?” It was too late to make a mad dash back over the wall, so we just froze where we were, between the pit crew and Matt, Katie, and Chip. We stood respectfully still during the prayer, then someone walked past me from behind. It was the flat-ass, skinny-butt of Kyle Busch. I said to Lori, as I had many times before, “He walks like a girl!” A guy standing in front of me turned and snickered. Oops, oh well, I’ve never been known for showing restraint.
(I was thinking of Volfan)
After the Anthem, we made our way to our seats above pit stall 9, this year occupied by #7, Robby Gordon. We also had great views of the #24, #43, #1, & #45 pits, and the start/finish line. I won’t go into details of the race because we all know how that ended (the skinny-butted dorkfish won). Jamie McCupcake had the best chance of the all Roush boys but Harvick took him out with six laps to go. Bummer.
After the race, Lori and I made our way out of the grand stands and found Kristen again to say goodbye. After a long day of fun, we packed it up and hit the road for our 3-hour drive home.
To see the complete set of pix, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/26611793@N07/sets/72157610351882591/
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