To say this Florida Speedweeks trip this season was planned well in advance would be a lie. It all started in early February when I seen that Belle-Clair Speedway was doing a giveaway for 4 tickets to the 56th Annual Daytona 500. I had to that point only been to a single NASCAR Sprint Cup race, the 2002 Brickyard 400 for the THEN Winston Cup Series. It was a contest on who fans of the Belle-Clair Speedway fan page thought would win the 500. I went with Tony Stewart, thinking after all he had been through recovering from his broken leg suffered in a winged sprint car accident, he would be hungry as ever and driven to FINALLY win The Great American Race. February 6th, I get QUITE the shock. I have WON 4 tickets to the 56th Annual Daytona 500. Now the interesting part, figuring out how this trip will even happen.
After some discussion and deliberation, Pops threw out the idea of going old school, pulling the seats out of the van, and making room to sleep and put our things. Not the most ideal situation, but going on as little of a budget as possible, this was a great alternative to trying to find a hotel room. We talked too about when to leave as well. Do we go Thursday to get there that night, or leave to get there Friday? We decided to leave LATE Wednesday night to make the trek down and try and make the World of Outlaws first race of the DIRTcar Nationals at Volusia Speedway Park. This would be my first race event of any kind in the state of Florida.
As the time came, I loaded up with citrus water and Red Bull for the long drive, as well as plenty of snacks and food, as well as the luggage for the weekend. It was raining and close to freezing as we left home. With stops thrown in for fuel and food, the trip down took around 14 hours, with the longest break for dinner of around 30 minutes. Hauling ass and watching the time, we roll into Volusia Speedway Park, which is PACKED. We stumble into a great parking spot, and decide to get a ticket to go in. We catch the final Super DIRTcar Series consi. No clue what had happened that evening, but we are ready to see racing. I am in a short sleeved shirt with no jacket and comfortable. It feels wonderful. The smell of race fuel is in the air. When the late models roll out, those familiar first night goosebumps were there. IT IS TIME. Racing season for me is officially beginning. The feature would go on to not disappoint, as I see something that I may never see but a handful of times. Scott Bloomquist took the lead from Casey Roberts after the 101 machine made a mistake, and he looked to be in command. Roberts rebounds, reels Bloomer in, and is there with 2 to go. The move he makes is one that had the entire crowd cheering and on their feet, as I am sure those who were tuned into the Dirt on Dirt/DIRTvision PPV broadcast around the world were as well. Roberts makes a power move, and takes the checkers. It is his first Speedweeks win ever, as well as first ever World of Outlaws Late Model Series win. It was one of those moments I will definitely remember. And that was only feature 1. Pops had NEVER seen the Big Block Modifieds before, but this was his chance. It was another reason we dug AS HARD AS POSSIBLE to make it there as well. Stewart Friesen would go on to absolutely blister the field, but there was great racing behind him. Night 1 was in the books, and we found a quiet spot at the track, and camped much like he had in the 60's in Indianapolis for the 500 when it was possibly the single biggest race in the entire world.
Waking up Friday, it was a huge disappointment to see rain falling. We decide to head to Daytona to do the tourist thing, get some souveniers, look around to see where exactly our grandstand is, etc. We at the time didn't look to sell the other tickets we had. After eating, we headed back to Volusia Speedway Park to wait and see how bad it was. With it rained out, we sat around. Then, after some talking and convincing we head BACK to Daytona and the big track. We were fortunate that handicapped parking was free and close to the track. We go in, park again as we did earlier, and run into a gentlemen who it didn't take much to figure out he was a ticket broker. After some discussion and watching, we see he is buying/selling for all races. We make a deal on the tickets, and decide to see what he has for the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event that evening (also my 2nd event, the first at 2002 at Gateway). We make a deal for tickets in Sprint Tower, and still have a chunk of money in hand. First going in, we are bombarded as we are closer to the wall by the deafening sound of the jet dryers. As we make the trek up, we are both wondering, are we gambling on getting rained out, and what will happen. With it being the first series event of the season, I KNEW NASCAR would do all they could to get it in. This was also neat for me (and Pops too I am sure) as it was a chance to see someone who we have seen racing since he was a young kid in mini-sprints at Macon, the Southern Illinois Center, and other places, and seeing him progress to a midget, and then a Super Late Model, The California Kid Tyler Reddick. It was his debut event for Brad Keselowski Racing.
When we got to our seats, we realized we had gotten a great deal from the broker. Working with him and making a fair deal paid off with the reward of great seats and money in hand. We were right by maybe one of the most important places at the track, the start/finish line. Many incredibly close finishes have happened in that spot, and the possibility was there that we could witness something like that. When the pre-race festivities had wrapped up, and the command given, I had goosebumps then as well. This was going to be my VERY FIRST race of ANY KIND at The World Center of Racing, Daytona International Speedway. I had visited there ONCE as a child in the summer of 1998. How fortunate I was then to get to see the race-winning car of Dale Earnhardt. A man who had worked so hard to win the big one there. Now, I am there, in the stands, ready to watch 36 trucks go at it for 100 laps, 250 miles in the NextEra Energy Resouces 250. The green flies, and the sound is just awesome. As the motors come up to full song the first lap, the sound as they come out of 4 and towards us sounds exactly like a term used frequently in motorsports, a thundering heard. There was a low rumble that grew louder as they approached, then scream by at full song. The sensation of speed under the lights is incredible. We watched as there were numerous close calls, tight pack racing, and the action from pit road. Tyler struggled at first, stalling the first few pit stops. He finally got it figured out, and was running well. There were a couple of accidents, but thankfully everyone was okay, and we were also treated to what was an exciting late race finish. Kyle Busch, who had never won there in a truck, make a move coming off of 4 into the short straight just before the tri-oval curve where we are. Timothy Peters runs him up as far as possible, but realizes Kyle is coming, and if he isn't winning, will take Peters with him. He slips by for a CLOSE finish at the line. A GREAT ending to a race we had originally not even planned on attending. After getting some photos of where we were and listening/watching the victory lane ceremonies, we are ran out, and we head to one of the favorite post-race destination of fans and racers alike, Steak-n-Shake to eat, then head back to VSP to sleep.
Saturday rolls around, and it is an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day. We decide to head back to Daytona Beach, but not to go to the race. We get breakfast by the track, then decide to cruise over towards A1A and go check out the ocean front, and cruise around to see numerous sights. We decide to stop seeing some people fishing just north of Daytona Beach, which happened to be a cool stop in Ormand-By-The-Beach, FL. What looked like a watch tower, indeed was. However, it turns out to be a World War II watch tower used to watch for enemy planes approaching the shoreline. Very cool historical marker that was unexpected and neat. We also there watched people fishing along the shore for what they called whities, which I still haven't figured out exactly what they are. After seeing some be caught, we headed back, and met with good friend Ernie to eat lunch at Bahama Breeze. After some good conversation and good food, it was time to head back to VSP for the DIRTcar Nationals finale with 50 lap main events for both the WoO LMS and SDS Mods. I get the free pit pass upgrade offered, and walk the pits, taking some shots of cars, as well as the track itself including the famed Gator Pond. The racing this night was fantastic all the way around. The late models would see ANOTHER upset with local driver Kyle Bronson outdueling some of the best cars in the country to score HIS FIRST World of Outlaws Late Model Series and DIRTcar Nationals win, with more great 2 and 3 wide racing and drivers advancing through the field to put on one helluva race. The Big Blocks were interesting as Stewart Friesen pitted early, changed tires, and STORMED through the field, just NARROWLY running out of time, finishing second in what was a GREAT end to the DIRTcar Nationals. After speaking to a lot of familiar people, it was time to leave and find a spot to get a few hours of sleep and prepare to leave for the big track and what had brought this whole journey to a start in the first place, The Daytona 500.
Rested and ready to go, it was time to head in and park at the track. Making some talk with the concession workers was a hoot, as they really enjoyed what they were doing and helped ADD to the experience. We waited until just before the pre-race concert to head up and find our seats. We were right at the end of pit-road, but we could see fairly well with everything in place. It was up to 80 and it felt GREAT. Weather, however, would go SOUTH in a hurry. The engines fired, pace laps were in the books, and the green flag flies. The Daytona 500, our first one, is underway. We start feeling drops around 15 laps in, and the temperature starts to drop. 38 laps in, it starts coming down pretty good. I decide to hit the restroom while people aren't really fleeing and hiding as the rain wasn't torrential at the time. I come back out, and not even 2 minutes later it is absolutely pouring. We find out too that tornadic weather passes by around 20 miles away. It is absolutely pouring, and it isn't letting up after an hour. Water is everywhere. After 3, there is water pooling everywhere. I then decide to get something to drink. I ask what is cold at the beer stand, which also had water and soda. Only cold thing is Budweiser. I drink that, and the thirst is quenched. Everything is selling like hotcakes. People were even selling shirts that may or may not have been totally legit INSIDE THE TRACK. $10 would get you a dry, maybe not 100% authentic shirt. They were going like crazy. All kinds of other crazy things were going on or rumored to be happening. Finally, after about 5 hours, rains subside. I go out to the car, and the first thing I do is seek dry clothes to change into and to dry everything I couldn't change, like shoes, out as much as possible. After 6 hours and 30 minutes, we were racing again in the Daytona 500, but it looked iffy, but we were racing under the lights. Looking at the weather, we were racing it as well. That led to frantic, fantastic racing with intensity that it was the last lap each lap. It was crazy to see that much intensity lap after lap from these guys which hasn't been the norm. Close to the end, NASCAR fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes the lead, and EVERYONE there was going crazy. I was even happy as JR has struggled. It was good seeing him run well. He had to fend off HARD charges from numerous drivers including Keselowski, Hamlin, and more. Junior went on to score his 2nd Daytona 500 win. It was a spectacular sight in person. He was truly excited for everyone on his crew, and showed it by thanking them all before doing anything else.
After that final checkered flag, it was time to roll out and hit the road north bound to leave the warmth and beauty of Florida to the dismal, bitterly cold weather of home, Central Illinois. Another LONG, basically non-stop (fuel and food only stops) made it back home safely with memories I will cherish for a lifetime. It was a first time experience where A LOT of crazy, fun, interesting things happened that all combined to make a trip I never seen something one helluva ride.
Thanks everyone for checking out this latest entry into The Race Blogger's World. I am not sure when my next entry will be at this point as I am fully focused on bigger priorities in my life at this moment, such as employment. I feel this is as good of a time as any to say I am taking a hiatus from here writing wise. I am NOT DONE. I don't want to leave a huge gap like I did before (same reason) without letting everyone know why. Thank you for your support. I will be back again writing on here!
Pictures from the trip available at the following links to albums:
DIRTcar Nationals (plus the WWII Watch Tower): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152330988289248.1073741850.503429247&type=1&l=bd89d44d62
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152331892644248&l=5044482216540084500
NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152330988289248.1073741850.503429247&type=1&l=bd89d44d62
56th Annual Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series video: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152331126489248&l=8928709340095303372
56th Annual Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152331040559248.1073741851.503429247&type=1&l=4c31464275
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