racin'

[mlmpetert]

Initially I was planning on just going to the tailgate and then after a friend forced some really cheap good tickets on me I ended up going to my first NASCAR race on Saturday……..

I have always maintained the position that NASCAR is the dumbest thing in the world. I have never felt the urge to sit in a bleacher and watch loud ass cars go around in circles for several hours. Im borderline upset when I want to watch something on TV and NASCAR is on. But after Saturday’s race im taking most of that back.

For the frist 15-20 minutes I hated it, then when I really started watching and paying attention (because it was way too loud to do anything but drink beer and watch the cars drive) I started to appreciate what was going on. Its actually pretty amazing to watch these cars and start admiring the skill and tactics of the drivers. I was rooting for Mark Martin (solely based off his car’s resemblance to Rowdy Burns’ Mellow Yellow car in Days of Thunder, in which Cole Trickle raced in the Daytona 500 as a tribute to Rowdy after he had to have “minor brain surgery” due to a accident Rowdy himself is alluded to have caused in order to take the brash young rookie Cole Trickle out of racin’) and after being in as high as 4th or 3rd place he started having car trouble and did a series of at least 5 pit stops in order to get his car fixed. He got real lucky because they were all during cautions (I think he caused the initial one) and was able to beat the pace car each time, so as not to go down a lap. It was really pretty skillful. He ended up finishing the race 14th. Pretty badass.

Either way I wouldn’t label myself a fan of NASCAR now but I ended up enjoying something that I really really disliked before and will definitely go to another race. I will also likely watch a good portion of a race the next time theres one on tv. I guess if anyone ever has the chance to go I would suggest checking it out even if your initial thoughts are the dumbest thing in the world.