START YOUR ENGINES…
AFTER A LONG DELAY AND A COUPLE OF FIRSTS…
WE FINALLY EXPERIENCED THE EAR RATTLING ROAR OF THE DAYTONA 500!
— For those that are not in the know…
— The Race was postponed due to rain.
— It was moved to 12 noon the next day, but yet still, that did not happen.
— 7pm , 30 hours late the race finally was a go.
— Not only was that a first,
— But running the race at night was a first.
— And to top it all…it was Jim’s first Nascar race ever too.
— Wait, I am not finished…there are more firsts to come!
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Before we go there, here are some photos of our experience!
Remember to get to the FULL photo album click on the photos.
THE PRE-RACE MARKETING EXTRAVAGANZA!
Where one spends their hard earned money on crap supporting their favorite driver.
Or like us, where you can get some free schwag and funny photos!
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| From PreRace Extravaganza – Daytona 500 |
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THIS IS HOW YOU MIX “THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS BEACH” WITH NASCAR!
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| From PreRace Extravaganza – Daytona 500 |
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GO ARMY! AND YES, THAT IS A FAKE GUN!
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THEN WE WERE IN THE PITS…
PIT ROW BABY!
THANKS TO A COUSIN OF MINE, WE HAD PASSES FOR PIT ROW, THE GARAGES AND FANZONE!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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THESE NUMBERS ARE HOW THE PIT CREW SHOWS THE DRIVERS WHERE TO GO…
THE OTHERS ARE JUST MORE PRE-RACE ADVERTISING!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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NOT SURE WHO THE 38 CAR BELONGS TO, BUT MOST OF THE OTHER CARS WERE COVERED DUE TO THE RAIN!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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GOOD YEAR HAS THE MARKET ON THE DAYTONA 500 TIRE SALES!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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FUN GUYS IN THE FANZONE!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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THE ACTUAL GAS CANS THAT ARE USED TO FUEL THE CARS DURING THE RACE.
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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WAITING FOR CAR INSPECTION BEFORE THE RACE!
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NOW…LET ME NOT FORGET THE PRE-RACE CELEBRATION PHOTOS!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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LENNNY KRAVITZ!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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GO ARMY!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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DANICA PATRICK! HEAR HER ROAR ALONG WITH THE ROAR OF HER CAR!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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VALLEJO, CALI BOY…JEFF GORDON!
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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AND THE NOW EVEN MORE FAMOUS DRIVER FROM COLUMBIA, JUAN PABLO MONTOYA!
(See news on the biggest crash this year.)
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| From Pre-Race Daytona 500 -Garage, Pits & Fanzone! |
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AND THIS IS HOW OUR DAY AT THE RACES ENDED…
HUDDLED UNDER THE BLEACHERS TRYING NOT TO GET WET!
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BUT LO AND BEHOLD…30 HOURS LATER THE RACE ACTUALLY HAPPENED!
AND HERE ARE OUR PHOTOS & VIDEOS (Jim actually took most of these):
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| From The Actual RACE – 36 Hours Late |
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GOING AROUND TURN #1!
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| From The Actual RACE – 36 Hours Late |
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THE ROAR SHAKES YOU UP!
OKAY, THIS IS AS GOOD AS OUR CAMERA CAN GET WHEN A CAR IS GOING 200 MILES AN HOUR!
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| From The Actual RACE – 36 Hours Late |
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JEFF GORDON’S ENGINE BLEW EARLY IN THE RACE.
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| From The Actual RACE – 36 Hours Late |
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JIM CAUGHT DANICA ON FILM WHEN SHE HAD TO SLOW DOWN FOR A CAUTION.
FINALLY A CRASH SHE WAS NOT INVOLVED IN!
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| From The Actual RACE – 36 Hours Late |
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JIM CAUGHT THIS AWESOME SPIN OUT THAT HAPPENED RIGHT IN FRONT OF US!
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| From The Actual RACE – 36 Hours Late |
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I LOVED WATCHING THE PITS…THE CREWS ARE CRAZY FAST!
CHANGING 4 TIRES IN UNDER 18 SECONDS!
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| From The Actual RACE – 36 Hours Late |
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LOVED WHEN THE CARS CAME AROUND THIS TURN…WAITING FOR THE ROAR TO PASS US!
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| From The Actual RACE – 36 Hours Late |
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AND WHEN MONTOYA WAS GETTING READY TO GO AROUND THE TURN IN THE ABOVE PHOTO, HE LOST CONTROL OF HIS TARGET SPONSORED CAR, WHILE SLIDING SIDEWAYS DOWN THE TRACK HE RAMMED INTO ONE OF THE CLEANING TRUCKS.
These trucks clean the track after any kind of crash or mishap and they are equipped with a jet engine for drying or blowing off debris which means they also have jet fuel on board.
MONTOYA’-S CAR IMMEDIATELY BLOWS UP, BUT HE GETS OUT SAFELY. THEN THE CLEANING TRUCK BLEW, AND BLEW BIG! THE DRIVER IN THE TRUCK WALKED AWAY OKAY TOO.
BY THE WAY THAT WAS THE LAST OF THE FIRSTS…
THIS TYPE OF CRASH WAS THE FIRST FOR ANY NASCAR RACE, MUCH LESS THE DAYTONA 500.
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IT WAS 10:30PM AND WE HAD A 2.5 HOUR DRIVE IN FRONT OF US.
JIM, THE ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANING ENGINEER GUY, KNEW HOW LONG IT WOULD TAKE TO CLEAN THE TRACK AFTER THE FIRE WAS OUT AND DONE.
AND WE WERE DONE TOO.
Sad to go, but so excited about what we did experience!
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.WE.ARE.GNOMADS. 