I haven't seen Zoe much the last couple days, having spent 23 of the last 36 hours soaking in my first race track experience. Well, that's not entirely true. Amend that to read: I spent 23 of the last 36 hours soaking in my first race track experience during which I did not monitor the bowel movements of race participants. This was the motor kind. Vrrrrooom. Vrrrrooom.
The Domino's Pizza 250 NASCAR Busch Series race was today at Michigan International Speedway (like I need to tell you... I'm sure your TV was tuned to TNT all afternoon). And (I can't believe I'm about to type this) it was pretty awesome. Course I had me a magic pass that gots me anywhere I wanted to go.
A posh luxury suite. On top of the luxury suites to shoot some video. In the pits. In the garages. But the best place, by far, was on the starters stand. One of our franchisees was selected to wave the green flag. I climbed up the ladder behind him, video camera in hand. I never even considered the force that a pack of 40-some cars traveling at 150 m.p.h. were about to create.
First I noticed, through my lens, how violently the franchisee's shirt was blowing. Then I started losing my own balance, but fortunately was able to widen my stance quick enough to avoid a fall. My hat, however, wasn't as lucky. I watched it tumble down a grandstand aisle. Insanity.
Almost equally insane was dragging 40 pounds of equipment and my own big, tired ass around a 20-acre, nondescript field that I had parked my red Chevy pickup in 13 hours prior. Finding a red Chevy pickup after a NASCAR race is like dropping your pet goldfish into the big aquarium at Petco and trying to find it again.
Would I pay for a ticket to sit in the grandstand and watch a race? No. From that vantage point, it's still just cars whizzing by to me. I can push Zoe in her stroller to the I-94 interchange to see that. I'm not passing judgment. Lord knows not everyone enjoys spending a Saturday afternoon watching 300-pound, 19-year-old kids physically punish each other while attempting to advance an oblong ball beyond a goal line as much as I do. (Just the other cool people do!)
Was it a heckuva way to spend a work day? Yes. Yes it was.
Still, I'm looking forward to some sleep and a quiet Sunday with my family. I expect I'll have a fine time with my Neutrogena Triple Moisture Hair Mask, Kraft Balsamic Vinaigrette wife and my Baby Einstein, Avent Nipples, Nestle Good Start Instant Formula daughter just hanging out on our Art Van Furniture, Febreze Fabric Freshener couch and watching something on the ABC Warehouse, Comcast Digital Cable TV. I might even flip the Tivo, Duracell remote control over to the Nextel Cup race for a second or two.
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A side note: Smack dab in the middle of those aforementioned 36 hours were five equally entertaining hours spent celebrating the marriage of my friends, Steve and Molly. Congratulations to them, and we wish them many happy years together.
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1 comment:
SON, I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU ANY MORE. WHERE DID YOUR MOTHER AND I GO WRONG?? NEXT YOU'LL BE BUYING #3 DECALS TO PUT ON YOUR VEHICLES!! AND THEN A REBEL FLAG?? A GUNRACK FOR THE TRUCK?? OMIGOD, LORD HOW HAVE I OFFENDED YOU?? GLAD YOU HAD A GOOD TIME....NOW PROMISE ME, PROMISE ME!! LOOK ME IN THE EYES, DAMMIT. I WILL NEVER DO THAT AGAIN, DAD. OK, YOU ARE FORGIVEN AND I STILL LOVE YOU.
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