Traffic, Traffic 200,000 people trying to get into the parking lots.
03/31/2003
I managed to get in just in time for the invocation and the national anthem. I missed the driver introductions but was listening to them on the radio on the way in. I was almost in tears thinking I would miss part of the race.
My seatmate TB was wondering why I was so late. The highway from 8:30 till 11:30 just didn’t move. I thought I had planned ok but alas I was an hour off. Thank goodness I learned how to park when I lived in NYC. There was this little space between two pickups and I managed to just back right into it. They were parking for the country, I was being a city girl and just wanted to get in and watch the race.
We were on our feet for the finish of the race. Ryan Newman was out front, Dale Jr. and Jeff Gordon were nose to tail for the last 2 laps. The white one to go flag came out and then the race to the checkered flag. Jr. ended up beating Jeff Gordon by 1/2 a quarter panel. Mark Martin came in 5th. It was a good race for Mark. He just worked his way up the pack all day long. Dale Jarett got run into by Tony Stewart I think. He had a lot of damage and they had to get out the big Band-Aid. He managed to finish 13th. It was an exciting race all day long. I was on my feet time after time. I can’t wait to see the replay on Speed wed. night.
I had the scanner for the week and love listening to the drivers and crew when I am at the track. TB and I were comparing notes as the race went along. We had different drivers programmed so it made it a lot of fun. I love listening to Brad Parrott, Dale Jarrett’s crew chief on the radio. On Saturday during practice he was getting teased a lot because a woman in the stands had a Brad Parrott t-shirt on. They were trying to get a group photo with her. I didn’t hear the out come but it was funny to listen to.
I stopped at the beer garden after the race with TB and had a beer or two. There were lot of race fans, the garden was run by a local bike club and it was a nice way to spend an hour. I was thinking, I am a diverse girl, I had on my governors inaugural t-shirt and hanging out with the bike crowd. We waited until the beer shut down then I stopped for a potty break. When I headed out to the parking lot, it was still packed. I futzed around a for a while and decided to give the big drive out a try. I started off at 6:32 and made it home by 8:45 (fort worth home that is). I was listening to the news on the way out and it seems they had to shut the road I wanted to take home down due to an accident. I got routed all around West 114 and then business 287. I didn’t have the big map out and just hoped I could find my way back to the house. Well a little confusion but I managed to get back.
Race results: Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt, JR., Jeff Gordon, Jerry Nedau, Mark Martin, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Green, Jimmie Johnson, Kurt Bush and Jamie Mc Murray in the top 10.
