I skipped work today to go to the "Autism Speaks 400 Presented by VISA", the 400 mile/lap June NASCAR race at Dover International Speedway.
Originally we were going to go on Sunday but tropical storm Barry was in the area. A quick check of the weather forecast made our decision for us. They postponed the race that afternoon. After vacillating on whether to go to the race or work on Monday (even if it meant going by myself to the race), the decision ended up not being very difficult. The day I let work get in the way of an event I've looked forward to for almost a year is not something that would fill me with pride or happiness.
I ended up finding someone to go to the race with, we left at 8am and got home about 12 hours, 250 miles, and 14 gallons later. Rain threatened the race, we were in a downpour on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge.
The picture you see here was taken shortly before the race began. Almost on cue, after the invocation/prayer, and the national anthem (there was no fly by), it was almost as if the hand of God parted the clouds, because sunshine spilled across the track as soon as the green flag waved. I must say, if God was to choose a sport to watch, it would probably be NASCAR ;-)
#12 (my personal favorite, Ryan Newman) made a strong run all day, never getting much lower than fourth and settling for a second place finish. Martin Truex, Jr. the savior of DEI, ended up winning his first race, by many, many car lengths. And this is saying a lot, because Newman was pretty far ahead in the second spot.
Kurt Busch also re-ignited his villain image by almost running over one of Tony Stewart's crew while crashing into Smoke on pit road to tell him off. He was not allowed to complete the race.
The sad news for the sport today is that Bill France Jr. the man who made NASCAR what it is today, has died. Had it not been for him there would definitely be less fans of the sport and I probably would never get to see it on TV.
