Race day is always a long day of traffic and people. We got out in time to make it to the race track at 10:00am, and encountered hardly any traffic until we got near the track, but it was quite busy there. We were unable to park in the lot from yesterday, as it looked quite full, with a full lane of traffic trying to get into it, so we parked in the next lot over, which put us farther from our seats, but right beside the bridge over the track.
After waiting in the truck for 40 minutes, we entered the track and went to the infield so that the younger two could purchase toy cars and so that I could find the Jeff Gordon 800th start t-shirt for this race. The infield was absolutely packed with people and greatly reminded me of shuffling through the Harry Potter areas of Universal. Upon passing the Geico tent, we were advised that Casey Mears would be out shortly, but I wanted to get through the crowd and get out of the infield, so we pushed on. A few tents later, I discovered Evan was upset, as he had wanted to stay. There were so many people that I didn't really want to fight my way back to that area, so we moved on to the shopping area.
After shopping, we walked back past the Geico tent, where I inquired about Casey and they said he was there signing autographs in front of what was a very short line. In one of those very unlucky happenstances, we arrived at the end of the line just as they closed the line off. We walked by the line and took a few pictures of Casey signing stuff. I guess I should have walked back for Evan. Normally the lines and crowds for anything pertaining to the drivers are impossibly long, but that didn't really seem to be the case here. Once Casey left, they started throwing stuffed geckos from the stage, but we were too far back to get any. A very nice family in front of us caught four of them and gave them to all the boys, which made everyone happy.
We made our way to our grandstand and had lunch, before waiting under the grandstand for the race to begin. It was 29 and sunny today, which feels cool after Florida, but was still warm enough that sitting in the sun for an extra hour wasn't high on my list of things to do. The national anthem was identical to yesterday with the same fireworks, though this time there was a flyover by a C-130. The seats in front of us stayed empty the whole race, which gave us a little extra room, which was nice.
The race itself was a bit of a reminder of why I don't watch much NASCAR anymore. A fake debris caution early on to avoid having the leaders run away with the race and to help Jeff get his car fixed. A silly caution for a rolling tire in the pits at the halfway point, which bunched everyone up after a nice long green flag run and led to two red flags, more cautions and more wrecked race cars. At least they managed to race the final four laps without any incidents and have quite a good finish. I just wish NASCAR cared more about the entire race than the tight finish, as the second half of the race was unwatchable - a good chunk of the people in the stands disappeared with about 15 laps to go. So, not the best NASCAR race I've been to, but everyone in my family had a good time.
After the race we stopped for supper at the track and then wandered out to the truck. It was an hour after the race ended, and I was happy to see that the lots were fairly empty and traffic was moving. Unfortunately, I also noticed that the police were forcing everyone in our lot to turn left (south) and I wanted to turn right, as we are staying northwest of the track. We got in the truck and got into the traffic only to discover that while the lots were empty, the roads around the track were full and the police were forcing everyone onto the main highways, which meant that I was unable to take my rural route home. We ended up taking a very slow, traffic filled circle around the track and back into the village of Watkins Glen, where we were finally able to leave the main highway and get back to our suite, 1.5 hours after leaving the parking lot - normally just over a 30 minute drive.
This was our last day in the US. Tomorrow we head back to Syracuse, drop off the rental and get on a train to Niagara Falls.
2 comments:
I was a bit of a conspiracy theorist today too! We looked for you but despite our best efforts, you were never found.
Yes, you and Jen were spot on when it came to the cautions. I guess maybe that's why Dad has stopped watching as well. Maybe we did see you, as you had a light-colored shirt on and I think we saw someone like that and thought it might be you. Glad you had a good time, sad Carl didn't win, but glad Denny (William's fav) won and beat Brad!!
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