Let's Go Racing

It had been over 30 years since I had attended.  It was not one of my favorite things to do.  That honor goes to my husband.  It is his thing.  My honor has been to be able to walk past the television set, every so often, glance at the action and then waltz on.  But, there I was.  In Bristol, Tennessee at a NASCAR race.

The last time I had been to a race, we sat on the inside of the track, right by turn four.  For those of you unfamiliar with race car terminology, turn four is the last turn before the start/finish line. The cars went by so fast, that it made me dizzy trying to keep up with them.  When it was over, I figured that was my first and last car race.  

The track in Bristol, TN is inside of what is referred to as the world's last great Colosseum and once inside, it was easy to see the why.  The structure completely surrounds the race track with seating and can house 162,000 people.  The half mile track sits at the bottom of this giant soup bowl and its sides are so steep I was sure one of the track maintenance trucks would surely tip over as it went slowly along the upper edge of the track, sweeping up any debris that may have found its way to the surface.  This race track has also been dubbed to be one of the loudest.

When it was time for the race to start, we took the time to get our ear safety gear in place.  We took no chances as we poked little foam plugs into our ears and topped them with sound proof headphones.  When the green flag was dropped to start the race, I sat mesmerized as 40 cars pulled together to form what honestly looked like a "living" thing and crossed the starting line and they were back at that line in 14 seconds. From there, it took me over 125 laps to figure out who was in the lead and how to keep track of them.  

The opening ceremonies that NASCAR puts on are worth the price of admission, and if I were to ever go again, I would go simply for that experience.  They opened with the Pledge of Allegiance and followed that with a prayer.  They played that great song, "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood and standing with over 100,000 people, all singing, made the hair stand up on the back of one's neck.  Then they had the children of all the NASCAR associates sing the National Anthem and once again, all the voices joined in. As the "home of the brave" words were being sung, two fighter jets screamed over the top of the last great Colosseum and I felt privileged to have been a part of it.

The people who attended this race came from all walks of life and ethnicity.  There were vendors selling everything from shaved ice to Confederate flags.  There were preachers dressed in black suits, white shirts and red ties, shouting the Gospel on loud speakers to all who passed by.  There were no protesters nor was there any racial tension to be seen.  All though it is still not one of my most favorite things to do, perhaps it needs to be a prerequisite for everyone to attend a NASCAR race at least once in their life.