Adventures at M.I.S.
So on Saturday night, I decided that I was making the trip upto Michigan International Speedway on Sunday for the Cup race. I was to meet Steve and others at 4am to make the trek up to the race track. I packed up what I needed to pack for the trip and then went to bed, trying to sleep but was very much unsuccessful.
After attempting but failing to fall asleep, I got up and got ready, packing up my soft cooler with some bottles of Vitamin Water. Grabbed my stuff and headed out to LaPorte to meet everyone at the Family Express at 20 & 39. I got there early and went into get some coffee for the road. I got this extreme caffienne stuff in hopes of being able to stay awake the whole day since I hadn't slept since the day before. They arrived and we headed out a little after 4 to begin the drive. We reach the track fairly early in the morning, about on time for a trip like that. We park and hang out for a bit before making the first trek in. It is overcast and chilly, foreboading rain though the forecast I had seen the night before didn't indicate rain. It drizzles a little before stopping and slowly we see signs of breakgage in the clouds.
After chilling awhile, we make the first trek in and secure out infield admissions ($40) and I also got a program and souvenior die-cast that comes with the program. The box the diecast comes in bears the date of the race, which is really cool. That is the second car and program I have and I plan on getting the programs and cars at every track I visit, I hope to have one from each track eventually. We then head back to the cars and load our gear up on a dolly that one of the guys had the foresight to bring today. I make a quick change in my car, changing out of the jeans I wore up and into a pair of capris knowing that I will get too warm in the jeans if the clouds disappear and it warms up as it is supposed to. We trek in once more and head for the infield. As we are heading towards Turn 4, a Durango drove past and I thought I saw Kale in the driver's seat. We make it there and secure our spots in turn 4 to enjoy the race. We chill for awhile and I relax in my chair.
After a bit, I head out again alone and trek back to where the haulers are to look. I don't buy anythinmg at Kasey's hauler this time because I only had one thing I really wanted this time around, which was a hoodie but the only one they had was a guy's and the only size they had in it was a 2x, which would have been too large for me. I would have likely been swimming in it and it may have even hung down to my knees. I looked around at the other haulers and make one more stope before getting something for a friend at one hauler. I grabbed a hot dog to fill my stomach because I am starving at this point, hungry from all the walking I've done. I grab a large lemonade and head back to the infield and find our group once more. We settle in and chill until driver intros take place. We watched and cheered for our drivers as they are introduced and shown on the jumbotron nearby. We see them as they come around during the ride-a-round they take and they are fairly close from where we sit. After that, both the Canadian and American National Anthemns as well as the Invocation takes place and the the cue is given as the sun beams down on us and track from the nearly cloudless sky.
We alternate between watching the turn and straightaway in front of us and the screen to watch all the rest that takes place. We witness several spins and one hard contact with the wall in-front of us as we cheer our drivers on. Kasey starts 15th but quickly makes his way towards the front and cracks the Top 10 and stays there for most of the races, only falling out due to pit stops, as most drivers do. As the closing laps take place, I begin to wonder if this will turn out to be a Chicago Part 2 as Kenseth leads and Gordon takes second from Clint Bowyer. Luckily, this is not the case and I am happy. Kenseth had a good lead and ended up winning. While Kasey didn't win today, I got to see him give it his all and put on a good performance. I got to witness him take a Top 5 (4th) after starting 15th. I also got to see Elliott finish 10th in his first race in the 19. Shows ya that it wasn't ESad that was the problem at RYR and that Elliott made a smart move by moving to EMS and the 19. I wonder if Jeremy is wondering if that could have been him taking 10th today.
We pack up and leave after Kenseth hits put road. As we are walking, we see Junior whiz by on a golf cart inside a fenced-in area and wave and yell to him. We get back to our vehicles and decide to sit and wait it ouf for a bit because the cars that are trying to leave aren't moving. Brian grills and we eat a little to kill our hunger. Traffic finally begins to flow and we load up and head out. Traffic on 12 creeps most of the way back to 69 and guys in an SUV chat with me, possibly flirting before they finally turn off. Once I get to 69, it's smooth sailing the rest of the way home. I get home at 10:30pm, exhausted but happy. Besides being dirty and exhausted, I find that despite my best attempts I have gotten sunburned again. This one is not as bad or as extensive as the Chicago one as it barely bothers me. It only covers a small stretch at the back of my neck since my hair was up all day, a small spot on my right shoulder that I can't explain since I know I put suncreen there after what happened at Chicago, and the back of my left shoulder where my tank left it exposed and I missed. After all this, I have to say that I'm glad I went and I am sure I will do it again if I can.
After attempting but failing to fall asleep, I got up and got ready, packing up my soft cooler with some bottles of Vitamin Water. Grabbed my stuff and headed out to LaPorte to meet everyone at the Family Express at 20 & 39. I got there early and went into get some coffee for the road. I got this extreme caffienne stuff in hopes of being able to stay awake the whole day since I hadn't slept since the day before. They arrived and we headed out a little after 4 to begin the drive. We reach the track fairly early in the morning, about on time for a trip like that. We park and hang out for a bit before making the first trek in. It is overcast and chilly, foreboading rain though the forecast I had seen the night before didn't indicate rain. It drizzles a little before stopping and slowly we see signs of breakgage in the clouds.
After chilling awhile, we make the first trek in and secure out infield admissions ($40) and I also got a program and souvenior die-cast that comes with the program. The box the diecast comes in bears the date of the race, which is really cool. That is the second car and program I have and I plan on getting the programs and cars at every track I visit, I hope to have one from each track eventually. We then head back to the cars and load our gear up on a dolly that one of the guys had the foresight to bring today. I make a quick change in my car, changing out of the jeans I wore up and into a pair of capris knowing that I will get too warm in the jeans if the clouds disappear and it warms up as it is supposed to. We trek in once more and head for the infield. As we are heading towards Turn 4, a Durango drove past and I thought I saw Kale in the driver's seat. We make it there and secure our spots in turn 4 to enjoy the race. We chill for awhile and I relax in my chair.
After a bit, I head out again alone and trek back to where the haulers are to look. I don't buy anythinmg at Kasey's hauler this time because I only had one thing I really wanted this time around, which was a hoodie but the only one they had was a guy's and the only size they had in it was a 2x, which would have been too large for me. I would have likely been swimming in it and it may have even hung down to my knees. I looked around at the other haulers and make one more stope before getting something for a friend at one hauler. I grabbed a hot dog to fill my stomach because I am starving at this point, hungry from all the walking I've done. I grab a large lemonade and head back to the infield and find our group once more. We settle in and chill until driver intros take place. We watched and cheered for our drivers as they are introduced and shown on the jumbotron nearby. We see them as they come around during the ride-a-round they take and they are fairly close from where we sit. After that, both the Canadian and American National Anthemns as well as the Invocation takes place and the the cue is given as the sun beams down on us and track from the nearly cloudless sky.
We alternate between watching the turn and straightaway in front of us and the screen to watch all the rest that takes place. We witness several spins and one hard contact with the wall in-front of us as we cheer our drivers on. Kasey starts 15th but quickly makes his way towards the front and cracks the Top 10 and stays there for most of the races, only falling out due to pit stops, as most drivers do. As the closing laps take place, I begin to wonder if this will turn out to be a Chicago Part 2 as Kenseth leads and Gordon takes second from Clint Bowyer. Luckily, this is not the case and I am happy. Kenseth had a good lead and ended up winning. While Kasey didn't win today, I got to see him give it his all and put on a good performance. I got to witness him take a Top 5 (4th) after starting 15th. I also got to see Elliott finish 10th in his first race in the 19. Shows ya that it wasn't ESad that was the problem at RYR and that Elliott made a smart move by moving to EMS and the 19. I wonder if Jeremy is wondering if that could have been him taking 10th today.
We pack up and leave after Kenseth hits put road. As we are walking, we see Junior whiz by on a golf cart inside a fenced-in area and wave and yell to him. We get back to our vehicles and decide to sit and wait it ouf for a bit because the cars that are trying to leave aren't moving. Brian grills and we eat a little to kill our hunger. Traffic finally begins to flow and we load up and head out. Traffic on 12 creeps most of the way back to 69 and guys in an SUV chat with me, possibly flirting before they finally turn off. Once I get to 69, it's smooth sailing the rest of the way home. I get home at 10:30pm, exhausted but happy. Besides being dirty and exhausted, I find that despite my best attempts I have gotten sunburned again. This one is not as bad or as extensive as the Chicago one as it barely bothers me. It only covers a small stretch at the back of my neck since my hair was up all day, a small spot on my right shoulder that I can't explain since I know I put suncreen there after what happened at Chicago, and the back of my left shoulder where my tank left it exposed and I missed. After all this, I have to say that I'm glad I went and I am sure I will do it again if I can.