Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

Yep, I was at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in lovely Loudon NH this weekend for the NASCAR Lenox Tools 301 race.


Now, before you get all judgy about what you think NASCAR is about, let me just tell you that unless you have ever been to a race, you really have no idea what you are talking about.

I will admit, I was totally expecting an ocean of daisy dukes, confederate flags, and deep-fried turkey legs.

However, I was completely unprepared for the diverse crowd NASCAR attracts. There were people of all stripes and colors, most surprising to me personally was the gaggle of Muslim women, or perhaps the many same-sex couples, strolling along the concourse.

I will admit, those are two demographics I was not expecting at a sporting event not entirely know for the diversity of the sport itself.

However, let me tell you, when you get out there, within a few feet of the track, and these beasts of race cars go thundering by you at 175 miles an hour - you FEEL it. You smell it, you hear it, and you literally feel it shaking the blood in your veins.


We had seats at one end of the track and pretty early on in the race a car veered into the wall.

(not a great angle from the driver's perspective quite frankly)

(The smoke smells like ASS. Seriously. It's like the worst dutch oven ever)

(But at least it clears quickly)

I should also mention that we camped out at Bear Brook State park


and it rained pretty much the entire weekend, except for race day when it only started raining around lap 270 or so. At that point the skies opened up and the race was called.

But it was still tons of fun.