Since the rain held out on Friday we decided to head out to the race track and watch qualifying. We were not sure how long Liam’s patience would hold out so we figured that qualifying would give us a good chance to see all the cars in action without being stuck in a big crowd with an antsy kid. He did pretty good, but I’m certain we would not have made it through the entire race. After the qualifying was done we walked around to look at all the souvenirs. We walked up to a crowd of people who were standing around waiting for the filming of “Trackside”. This is a show that is on the Speed Channel. It was fun to see Darrel Waltrip and Jeff Hammond who have been around racing for as long as I know. But the really exciting part was seeing Jimmie Johnson!!! In person!!! Less than 50 feet from me!!! Oh la la!!! Jimmie just happened to be the guest on the show. Since Liam was in his adorable Jimmie Johnson fire suit we decided to hang out and see if we could get him on TV. They film crowd shots as the cut out to commercial breaks. Sadly we didn’t get him on TV. I had text messaged all the family at home to tune in, just in case! But the most exciting thing happened. Liam, in all his cuteness, had won the hearts of the fans that were standing around us. After they cut to commercial, it was quiet and a group of fans yelled, “Hey Jimmie! Look at this kid!”. Jimmie looked over, cracked a huge grin, and said “That’s so cool!” He did a double fist pump, pointed and waved directly to Liam! Liam was so excited, he was waving like crazy. Then Jimmie turned to the show hosts and said, “Hey, look!” and pointed Liam out to them. I wish I could say that I got pictures or videos, but the crowd was huge and I was not at an angle to get a picture. We stayed until the end of the show in hopes that Jimmie would make his way over but there were too many fans.
We only had one drawback during the day. Did you know that the speedway is two miles around? I did. Did you know that parking is horrendous and you have to take a tram since you get parked wwaaaayyyyy out in the boonies? I did. Did you know that if you stay until the very end of the filming of the show, the trams have already stopped running? I did not! Did you know that if you have to walk carrying a two year old for over 2 miles you begin to think you arms and legs and back might break? I do now! So I learned a valuable lesson…..ALWAYS KNOW HOW LATE THE TRAM RUNS!
But we had so much fun! I think all the big boys are going to make it to the race next year. Everyone is invited!
All ready for the cars.
This picture is for you Grandpa Roger! Actually, taking pictures of cars that go so fast is really hard. This is one of the few that I got that was even remotely decent. Think I’ll leave the race photography to my Dad!
I had to post a picture of Jimmie’s qualifying speed…that’s why it’s hard to catch them!
Just watching the cars.
I just liked this shot. It’s the view we had from our seats, looking down the front stretch towards turn four.
At the end of the day, every racer needs a binky.
Love my handsome boys!
Waiting for Jimmie at the filming
There’s Jimmie! Love how excited Liam is!
Just a shot of the boys in the crowd.
