Southern Florida:NASCAR

One of our objectives in this part of Florida was to attend the season's final NASCAR race in Homestead, Florida.

Of course, we had to have photos of several key drivers. This is Dale Earnhart, Junior, Tyler's favorite.
This is Vancouver, Washington native, Greg Biffle.
Here is Brent's favorite driver, Tony Stewart.

The festivities started long before the race. The RV park where we stayed had live bands every night. One evening, this balloon showed up and gave free rides to anyone who wanted one. They were right out our windshield.

One of the things that first impressed us was all of the fan gear we saw in the park and at the raceway. Of course, many sports fans are not only race fans. We thought this bike was really well done.

Not only did it have Yankee pinstripes, but this very nice depiction of Yankee Stadium. It was a true work of art. What do suppose this cost?

Of course, there were lots of caps around, but we thought this one was the best. Note the rear spoiler on the back of it, similar to the ones you see on the race cars. This guy must have been a lot faster than he looked.

The number of profit centers here was astounding. Of course, you would expect race gear, every driver had one of these. There were also lots of food and drink courts, and much gear that had little to do with NASCAR for sale. There were also Army and National Guard recruitment centers.

Here's another profit center. These scanners pick up the race broadcast. You can buy one for $150.00, or rent one for the weekend for $49.00! One of these or something similar by Radio Shack was the only way that fans at the track could hear the announcer.

The next thing you notice is that cameras are everywhere. Here's one on top of the building, and another coming around behind it in the form of the Goodyear Blimp.

Tthe ceremonies started. This flag was towed around the track.

The stage was towed into place and introductions were made.

There was the prayer, National Anthem, and flyover.

Because of where we were, we got a bonus from the flyover. Homestead Air Force Base was behind our seats, so the jets had to fly over once more as they landed. This one just happened to come in as the blimp passed in the background. You remember Homestead Air Force Base, it was where a defecting Cuban pilot landed a Mig 17 only a few hundred feet from Air Force One in 1968.

From our seats, we could see the entire racetrack, but if we didn't have good view of the action from where we were seated, this big screen TV showed what we missed. We did, however, miss some of the TV narrative, so Pen kept up a constant text message flow with Brent who was watching the race at home in Vancouver.

Just before the race started, we saw this sad exodus. This was one of the drivers who failed to qualify, so he loaded up the truck and headed home.

Finally, the race started. This is the first lap of the Nationwide Race. It is the junior circuit, although several of the senior circuit drivers usually participate. Overall, we thought it was the better race.

Although he didn't finish in first, in the senior circuit race, the night belonged to this guy, Jimmy Johnson. He earned enough points in this race to cinch the season championship.

We enjoyed our weekend, and saw a lot of interesting things. One more thing to check off our bucket list.