Automotive Ramblings and Adventures

The Birthplace Of Speed Celebration At The Beach

2010-04-29T16:08:00.000-07:00

So, after a series of eventful days filled with chasing cars parts, a fantastic shrimp dinner, a day with a good friend and another day in which this olelongrooffan was able to assist thejeepjunkie in a recovery effort, this olelongrooffan spent Monday, March 15, 2010, negotiating a truce between blogspot and Sprint over my ability to post images to By The Numbers.

Plus spent a few hours surfing these tubes to try and find gainful employment.

However, while out and about on the tubes this olelongrooffan did find something fun to do on Tuesday.

I am sure you Counters out there are wondering how you can have fun on a Tuesday.

In the words of The Great One, "Well I did."

Now Counters, this olelongrooffan has often referred to the fact that I reside in the Birthplace Of Speed and love it.

While out there in the world of these tubes that I seem to live in these days, this olelongroofan became aware of this event that to happen on Tuesday, March 16, 2010.

So, of course you know I had to scamper on down to the closest beach access to my beach from the Taj Mahal, yeah, Cardinal Street, and check out all the cool stuff to be seen that day.

Now, there were quite a few folks down there on that mid 60's temperature, wind blowing out of the north kind of day so some of the images have a bunch of people around the cars so, when this olelongrooffan walked by I just grabbed a shot of some of the car, only to come back later and find it available for a full on shot.

The lead car in that southward facing bunch was a 1906 Fiat. I listened as the Ormond Beach city employee was describing the car. It was a trophy winner at the Amelia Island Concours d' Elegance earlier this month.

It was chain driven and a real

nice work of Art in Automotive History.

I seem to remember it won a major Grand Prix race back in its day but it escapes the mind of this olelongrooffan at this moment and no amount of googling is able to locate that fact.

But for an Amelia Island award winning Owner to bring his priceless classic to my beach, this olelongrooffan can only offer a heart felt "Thank You, I Appreciate It."

And just walking northward along the beach

I encountered a bunch of nameless old open fender cars to share with you Counters.

This olelongrooffan did try to get all artsy fartsy so you Counters out there can see

some of the unique parts of these classic beauties.

Not one, not two, but three spares! Ahhh, I bet it was a challenge driving back in those days.

There was a unique variation of vehicles on the beach that windy day.

And the dude in the image below, I can, unequivocally, state the shirtless, flip-flop wearing dude checking out that Model A is not from around these parts, at least not on a permanent basis. Now, I know you Counters out there are wondering how this olelongrooffan can make such a pompous

comment? Well look at everyone else in that image. Yeah, sweat shirts, jackets and jeans were the norm. We know when it is cold in these here parts.

But I have this to say about that, cold or not, it was nice that day on the Beach.

And, again, with the influence of that artsy fartsy friend of mine, this olelongrooffan got this image of the old style engine crank

and this one of the brass headlight on that crank bearing automobile.

That trusty ole Polaroid ain't so bad. Thanks again Bus.

And then I spotted this cool ole themed Buick.

It was in original condition and had an excellent patina.

And the top was held together, NASCAR style. Yeah, black duct tape.

It is a veteran of at least one Birthplace of Speed Celebration.

It sported real wood wheels.

This is a pristine full restored Model T.

And a newer roadster.

This brilliant yellow and glossy black rumble seat equipped roadster was especially nice.

DOOOH!

The racecar sported a bright purple paint job.

I thought this shorty roadster was quite unique.

This is the boattail of the purple roadster shown a couple of images previously.

Another Model A rumble seat equipped roadster. This one is beige and brown.

The interior was pristine.

And, once again, going all artsy fartsy, this olelongrooffan got a shot of the step on the rear fender to use to get into the rumble seat.

And again, following with the mirror theme.

All in all, a great turnout on a windy, chilly day. That tower to the right is the Beach Patrol's lifeguard tower at Cardinal Street and the Beach.

The dude partially shown to the right is a photographer for the Daytona Beach News Journal. His version of this image showed up in Wednesday's edition.

This Ormond Beach employed dude is hold a dash plaque from the first Birthplace of Speed Celebration in 1959.

As this olelongrooffan noticed, as I was walking back to my olestationbus, while I was on that beach in jeans and a sweatshirt, it is still Spring Break and suntans to many others.

Or maybe a pick up game of football.

Or just fishing in the surf.

But know this Counters, everyone on that beach that day, including this olelongrooffan, was able to

Celebrate Life.

Now, This olelongrooffan's Version Of WTF?

2010-04-29T16:01:00.001-07:00

I don't remember getting all political on By The Numbers previously but, I mean, this is just total out and out rape of all of us taxpaying, yes, unemployed for nearly two years and this olelongrooffan owes $154 to the IRS, citizens.

As it stands right now, the oleragtop possibly needs a new transmission, definitely needs new shoes and my insurance is due!

Yet I am paying the IRS money I don't have to allow that crook, Alcee Hastings, D-Miami, an impeached Judge, and now, sadly, a member of the House of Representatives, $511 a month to lease a Lexus! And, although elected in 1992, and in every election since, his staff claims his lease price is because he can only commit to 2 year leases in case he is not re-elected.

Rep. Harry Teague, D-New Mexico, with a net worth of 36 million dollars, spends $1,279 of my money every month on a Chevy Malibu lease. Yeah, a Malibu. Harry, you possess some killer negotiating skills there buddy.

And it is not just the Democrats.

H*ll, Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, who is a staunch Republican, a deservedly decorated Veteran and a former Prisoner of War in Vietnam, collects $1,143 per month for his daily driver, and he was first elected in 1992 and often runs unopposed.

Although this olelongrooffan is not as political as some around these tubes, maybe my not having the ability to post images on blogspot might kick my *ss to start paying more attention to this cr*p.

And click on this link to see yet another reason, albeit car related, come November, 2010, this olelongrooffan will be voting the bastages out!!

And it is hoping you Counters out there agree that lets this olelongrooffan

Celebrate Life.

At The Daytona 380

2009-09-27T17:23:00.001-07:00

So, I woke up Sunday morning around 6:30 am. Don't ask me why, I didn't mean to and, if I had my druthers, I would not have. But I did. So I gathered up the bike the Kid and thejeepjunkie have so graciously allowed the olelongrooffan to use, as they already have about 8 other bicycles in their garage and I got the oldest one...but all is good. So I took that old bike out to the beach. D*mn, am I out of shape. But still a fun ride along the beach at the Birthplace of Speed. I arrived back at the Taj Mahal about an hour later and served myself up a helping of soft boiled eggs, coffee and orange juice, sans vodka, in anticipation of a fun filled day out at the World Center of Racing for the Daytona 500.

So I headed out in the olestationbus going to the track and I called thejeepjunkie to see what was up. He was looking around for a long 1/2" socket extension so he could fix the Kid's CJ5's brake lights without removing the master cylinder. I mentioned I would whip a Uee in the olestationbus head back to the Taj Mahal and see if I had one. Well, of course, while I am sure I have had one of these in my past life, I don't have one now and informed thejeepjunkie of this. He was bummed but commiserated with me about that.

So I popped by Old Mill Run and realized that I had just barely escaped a total control freak in action.

Please understand, I am not perfect in my relations with members of the opposite sex and tend to have difficulty in any degree of success in my relations with them. All of my brothers and nephews have done significantly better than I have in my relations with members of the female persuasion. Crap, I can't even seem to get along with my sisters, but that is another blog, and probably a bunch of very expensive therapy sessions.

So, as it turns out, thejeepjunkie and the Kid realized that thesungoddess needed them to mow a winter lawn, clean a small pile of the neighbor's dog's poop out of the front yard all the while the Kid's sister was shooting hoops in the front yard and, when she missed a bucket, the ball bounced off the folded down windshield of thejeepjunkie's CJ2A.

As I have previously stated, I may not be the most successful at relationships, but DAMN!!

I will always work at getting better, but seriously, this is the Daytona 500 weekend. Can't the lawn wait until Monday, when the Kid and his sister will be off school for President's Day? But then, a whole lot about me is unemployed and maybe I just don't get it.

So I headed out to The Speedway, solo, and had me another look around. This was the third, out of four, days of racing so I thought I might have seen it all. Nope...not even close!!

One of the first things I noticed was all the paraphernalia the race commentators use when describing stuff about the NASCAR racecars, as well as the "Hollywood Hotel" which serves at the broadcast studio on the NASCAR circuit.

I then just strolled around the pits

watching all these guys prep for the race

and noticing it was a helluva lot more crowded at the Daytona 500 than any of the previous days of racing I attended this SpeedWeeks.

Oh yeah, there is one goofy f*ck in every crowd, and No, I do not know him.

I was able to get fairly close to the cars as Governor Charlie "I Am Not Gay" Christ told those boys to start em up.

and that was just after

these jets came cruising overhead. Always an awesome sight.

And you think your gas lines are long. I wonder how long these dudes had to wait to fuel up at one of only two Sunoco gas stations in the infield.

and I don't mind telling ya, it was nice to see the grandstands were packed. As the Daytona News Journal mentioned in their Sunday front page headline "Racing Stimulus".

And as the pace laps were run, I got a chance to see the two new Camaros in action.

And the race is underway!!! Look at all the spotters on the rooftop of those suites on top of the grandstands!!

And only for my family and friends in the Queen City of the Ozarks.

I guess in honor of GM offering up a couple Camaros for pace cars, I guess they do have a few bucks for marketing, after all, I will presume that Camaro was the featured marque at this year's 500.

Although I am not a huge fan,

I believe nearly

every generation

of this car was in this specially marked lot for these Camaros.

and then around the corner, down near our benefactor's, Goodyear, garage, I spotted this.

Now I have to tell you, this was parked just beside the NASCAR trailers, three semis that comprise the travelling road show I pay attention to. Well, if you Have Been Counting Along With Me, you know what I did. Pulled on that drivers door handle and opened it up to get you some shots of

new Generation

Camaros' interior.

Following is a shot of one of the two pace cars out on the pit road prior to the start of the race.

Although I did not get a shot of it I stopped by the Goodyear garage and asked one of the dudes working there, "where is the boss?", Center office, his name is Jim, was his reply. I stuck my head in the door and asked the two gentleman "which one is Jim" That would be me Jim replied. I mentioned thejeepjunkie and the fact we had gotten our tickets from someone at his organization and I just wanted to say Thanks. He stood up, shook my hand and said you are welcome young man! Then he laughed and said I even looked like my brother. I laughed and said I was better looking!! We shot the breeze for a few minutes and as I was getting ready to head out, the other dude asked me if I was hungry. Starving was my reply. He motioned to the other end of the garage and told me to go on down there, there is tons of food. So I said thanks again and went down and fixed me up a plate of grub and grabbed a diet coke! Thanks Goodyear! I did not tell thejeepjunkie about this until Monday nite. He laughed and said Yeah, I called Jim today to tell him thanks and he mentioned you had stopped in to say thanks. thejeepjunkie continued on, Yeah Jim told me to call him in June and remind him to put us on the credentials list for the July races in Daytona!! Yes!!

I then was just booking around the garages and got a shot of the 83 Red Bull garage

and some of their replacement stuff

prior to the scuffle between the 88 and the 83 cars.

Just a couple random shots

of the hauler and garage areas

Oh yeah, Baby!!! I want to drive the Big Brown Truck!!!----and the little one too. The roof is just long enough for me!!

And around the garages, I spotted this Golden Corral sponsored car up on jackstands in the garage.

I got these shots off just before NASCAR came over and told me to, basically, "Get the H*ll out of here!!" I just plead ignorance. One of the many areas I had gotten thrown out of that Sunday.

I mean, what the heck, there are a ton of guys there just looking on, what difference does one more make?

A while later, I headed out to the carnival like staging area just outside the old tunnel under turn 4. This is the original tunnel installed when the track was built in 1959. They are basically steel drainage pipes, approximately 12 feet in diameter that they have paved the base of and you drive on through. They are a bit clastrophobic, especially for me as I tend to have that problem...probably from my 420 influenced spelunking days of my late teen years in the Ozarks. Boy!!!! How the H*ll did those memories pop up?

Anyway, out in that carnival, which I caught just at tear down, next year, I need to go during the full boat action, but in addition to the Dale Jr. Edition Camaro, I got to see something even better than anything I had seen thus far.

And that would be this ALMS Corvette.

It is a sweet ride and the only Corvette I have ever lusted after.

I am not sure if this is last year's model in GT1 or this year's model in GT2. You see, as there is only one current participant in the GT1 designation, GM decided to move to a reduced power GT2 category to compete with Ferrari, Lamborgini, Aston Martin and others, in an effort to provide a more marketable product differentiation. But trust me, it is a hot ass ride.

And, of course, one more look at the pace car with some hoon who didn't notice it was unlocked!! Guess I am the only guy who does that type of stuff. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention, that uniformed officer was standing in that same spot when I opened that door earlier. I am certain GM needs to do anything it can to move a car or two. Even one that has been around for a couple years and still not released. Let Bob Lutz loose in the marketing field will ya?

I have no idea of why I shot the above image or the sequence of events but here it is anyway.

I do know why I shot this one though. First of all, those dudes looking through that window are out in the FanZone and I am in the garage area. THANKS JEEPJUNKIE!!!!!

Second, notice the two tire/wheel combinations closest to the racecar? I know the angle of the shot makes it difficult to ascertain, but they are smaller in diameter than the racing slick to the right. The reason for this smaller diameter tire/wheel is so the cars will fit in the upper deck of the transporter. I feel as if I have blogged this before...if so, and you remember, you have probably forgotten and if not, there is a bit of knowledge that I know will never earn me a dime!! But with three cars at the top of that transporter, it has got to be a handful to drive. Plus you have to be a chef. Well, I must say, I read a newspaper report about the fact that the NASCAR transport drivers are also the team chef but no matter how much I research news-journalonline.com, I cannot find a reference to them. But know, that most of the main transport drivers on the NASCAR teams are also the team chefs. Good luck on that Google search. But great homestyle recipes.

I spotted these Ford Fusion front end parts on a rack just outside one of the NASCAR haulers. Standing with my back to that hauler to take this shot, immediately after I got this, I saw Jack Roush whisk past me from inside that hauler with his daughter in tow!! I wanted to say something to him but he obviously had something on his mind and I doubt he wanted a nosy fan questioning him about his time in that hauler.

And, whatever you do, don't mess with Dale Jr.!!

They sure use up alot of metal Sawzall blades during the course of a week down here!

And this is Joey Logano's hauler headed out. Their race ended early and they bolted on out of dodge. Oddly enough, though, a little later over on pit row, I spotted their big pit box and a few other items in their now abandoned pit stall.

As I was walking down pit row, I looked over at Victory Lane and saw this and walked right through that open gate and went over and got this shot of that Harley Earl designed trophy! After I shot this, a woman approached me and asked if I was with the press and I responded in the negative. Then she told me I had to leave. Oh well, got the shot I wanted anyway and got thrown out of another spot at the track!

And then the rains started. This is a shot of Jack Roush's Carl Edwards pit box. Check out that big, custom tarp on the top of that thing.

And while there, I saw Jack Roush again, this time on his cell phone. You can see the cars parked on Pit Road due to the rain delay.

Shortly after I shot this image, as I was standing there in the drizzle, I saw Jack give the "cut the throat" motion to his team and they started gathering up equipment. I knew then that NASCAR racing had finished at Daytona Beach until July.

So, I headed out to catch a tram out to where I had parked and while I was riding on it, I saw the fireworks shot off near Lake Lloyd marking the end of the race and knew I had made the correct decision in getting on out of there.

And even though I was one of the first cars out of the lot, it still took me an hour to make the normal 20 minute drive back to the Taj Mahal.

All in all, a great day, a great week and wishing thejeepjunkie could have made it out with me but there is always July. I can't wait!!

So The Circus Is Back In Town

2009-09-27T17:16:00.001-07:00

So it is the Fourth of July weekend.

This weekend means so many things to so many different people. To some it is fireworks, others patriotism. Still others it is a long *ss drive to the Ozarks, others a relaxing weekend grilling pork steaks (yum) at the lake cabin compound and to others it is a drive to a horse show.

Well, to this olelongrooffan, the Fourth of July means racing.

Yep, out at the World Center of Racing, the Daytona International Speedway, there is a whole bunch of racing going on.

Over the past few days, banners such as the one above and the sighting of transporters such as the one below have been appearing all over the greater Daytona Beach area.

An interesting note about the R&L transporter above. It is parked at the R&L Ambassador Suites a couple miles down A1A from the Taj Mahal in greater Daytona Beach. As you can see in the above image, it is a beachfront hotel and the little kiosks to the left of that concrete stoplight pole? That is where the beach dudes hang out to check out the little yellow sticker on the windshield of the olestationbus to allow me free access to My Beach. Another interesting note, during one of the Hurricanes we had around these here parts last summer, that R&L sign to the right in the above image blew over. It took them almost four months to replace it!!! Yeah, alot of good a blown over sign does for the saleability of your hotel.

By The Way, Good Luck to Trey and Matt Kenseth this weekend.

Anyway, there have been sightings of race related paraphernalia all over the area. From the aforementioned banners to the race truck seen below.

Even Walmart, the horrors, the horrors, is in on it. From the Kayse Kahne go kart shown below,

to the Jeff Gordon go kart shown here (of course, in front of the car sponsored by the parent company of the beverage thejeepjunkie loves in 12 ounce containers!!).

And this whole assembly of cardboard figurines and banners situated above the vegetable aisle.

And while I did not find the rumored $100 longboard at either Sam's or Walmart, I was able to score a $1.50 hot dog and a bottle of water while examining this Roger Penske owned Dodge whatever. I never realized the bodies of the racecars were fiberglass!!

And lest you think this is just a show car parked in front of WallyWorld, let this olelongrooffan dispell those thoughts. I saw the wear on the clutch and brake pedals that indicated this car has seen some real heel to toe action.

Wait a moment.....thehorsefarmer just called from some horse barn up there in Columbia, Missouri and I had to talk to him while walking outside the Taj Mahal to see and hear those US Air Force jets fly over after leaving their flyover of DIS for the start of the Nationwide Race.

Now I am back...

If I turn off that country music radio station I play on the massive stereo at the Taj Mahal, I can hear those cars racing their 120 laps around the Speedway as I write this, or maybe that noise eminates from the always ubiquitous Harleys around town. No, due to the sustained roar I hear, I am pretty sure it is those race cars I hear.

Well, as thejeepjunkie is, as I write this, heading to spend some time in the Ozarks building a deck for his sister-in-law, insulating a shed he built a couple years ago for his father-in-law, spending a few days at some Arkansas lake letting his kids be kids and enjoying the company of thehorsefarmer on the links, he was not so motivated to get this olelongrooffan tickets to any of the festivities out at the DIS.

I had resigned myself to watching the races at TheGoodAttorney's home as he was jetting off to Dallas, Texas to spend some time with his brother living there. Alas, I remember those days.

Last night, thejeepjunkie's last night in the Birthplace of Speed prior to leaving for the Queen City of The Ozarks, well he jumped up from his chair and said I gotta go. I mentioned it was a bit early for him to be headed back to the Kid's house and he replied, 'I gotta stop by Jay Crosby's house to get you tickets to the race this weekend.' D*mn, I was surprised.

It turns out Jay is a member of the FHP and thejeepjunkie has their fleet account and a pretty good relationship with them. I am pretty confident they will be able to help out both thejeepjunkie and the Kid in this matter. Anyway, those guys always get comp'ed tickets to the races and Jay had a few extra and thejeepjunkie's brother was the recipient of that relationship.

So, on Saturday morning, while thejeepjunkie is insulating that father-in-law owned shed and thehorsefarmer is minding those gates and the Bus is getting that cool pontoon lake ready and TheGoodAttorney is heading out to those Dallas based golf courses, this olelongrooffan will be heading for those, never before experienced, grandstand seats at DIS.

As I won't have access to the infield, tomorrow I will provide all ya'll with what all goes on outside the gates of that facility and, know, it will be eventful.

But the best part of it all? The Grand Am Series runs at 2pm EST, just prior to the Coke Free 400 at 8pm.

Expect coverage of the Brumos 250 in the afternoon but you should probably tune into FOX for the coverage of the Coke Zero 400 as I will be back in the Taj Mahal enjoying listening to it in the distance, missing the traffic, while I

Celebrate Life.

A Touch Of Class

2009-09-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

with a Bunch of Rednecks thrown in.

This past Thursday, thejeepjunkie, before he left on his, and his family's, annual 4th of July Expedition to the Ozark Mountains, well, he revealed to me the fact that one of his buddies who drives a black and tan car for the State of Florida had bestowed upon him, and me, tickets to the Coke Zero 400 and, more importantly, the Brumos 250.

thejeepjunkie graciously made these available to this olelongrooffan and it gave me something to do over this 4th weekend other than commiserate the fact I have no life.

thejeepjunkie left me three tickets and, as I only needed one, I gave the other two to the dude who has done the granite install on the last couple kitchen installs. Needless to say, Ishmall was floored and thanked me profusely, noting he was taking his grandson to the race and thank you very much. As this dude is American by birth, although his family emigrated from Cuba and became naturalized US citizens, and although living in the Daytona Beach area for many years, had never been to a race previously. I was honored to have allowed him that opportunity, on behalf of the benefactors of those race tickets. But, I did tell him they were FHP comp'ed tickets and to behave himself. As I had previously known he is a mature adult, I was not concerned about his representation of all of us.

Again, thanks to TheStateTrooper and thejeepjunkie for your generousity to all of us.

But hang on a moment, I have to step outside to see the Air Force Jets do a flyby after their fly over of the track.

Now, I am back. The real b*tch about those flybys is the fact the sound arrives about 25 seconds after those fighter planes fly by and you really miss the sight of them just at the top of the highest condo building down on the beach, right about the same spot thejeepjunkie and this olelongrooffan saw this last month. Alas.

So, since the time I went out to see those jets fly by I have gotten myself a bite to eat.

And get this, the Coke Zero 400 has started and just went back to green flag racing after Casey Mears spun the #7 on lap 28.

Without a boob tube here in the Taj Mahal, I know you Counters are asking how I know this?

I am following the race via Twitter. Yeah CDM, Twitter, via SpeedMag.

Does this represent a decline of cable TV networks in the future as is happening to newspapers these days?

Well, that does it for waxing nostalgic and let's get onto my day at the track.

This morning, before I left, I felt I needed to do something productive around the Taj Mahal to deserve this Day of Enjoyment. So I cleaned the bath and kitchen and then the olestationbus. As a result, I got out of the house around noon. thejeepjunkie called me enroute to DIS to see if I was enjoying myself. Well, as it was about 200 degrees out and I was sweating out every bit of the hurricane supplies I consumed last evening, it was a relatively short conversation but he did mention he had gotten Big Jim Dunn's shed insulated in relatively cool weather. Way to go jeepjunkie.

So, yesterday, I had done a reconnaisance mission down to the Speedway to see about upgrading my free ticket to one with infield and garage access. I was told, by the sweet young thing behind the counter, no not Counters, but the counter inside the Daytona Experience I had the pleasure of sharing with this fine bunch, that I could upgrade to, for an additional $65, access to the FanZone but access to the Garage area was limited to those comp'ed by large firms and access could not be bought. Well, I need to start working on those large firms, Real Soon.

So, anyway, I decided that since I have shared with you Counters the access I have enjoyed to the inner workings of race day at the Daytona International Speedway, I would share with you the sites seen by we, now, plebians.

First, I must say this about that.

The powers that be at NASCAR have enjoyed their success for a number of years now. Changing the rules almost willy nilly; Adding new race courses at the expense of the old school tracks; Dropping the road course tracks for more roundy rounds; and, finally, pricing themselves out of the market for the common man. I mean, $65 to get into the FanZone, on top of a grandstand ticket price of $60. Imagine getting a family of four into that, along with the cost of getting to Daytona Beach in the first place. Although in NASCAR's defense they did lower some grandstand ticket prices to $40 for the Coke Zero 400. But the fact they have sold 40,000, yes 40,000 less tickets, this year versus last year may have a h*ll of alot to do with that.

Had to take a break for a moment. It is 9:30 here in the Birthplace of Speed and, unlike many places in our Country, the City of Ormond Beach is having their annual fireworks display down at Riverside Park and I had to step out and enjoy it.

BTW, Dale Jr. and Clint Bowyer just wrecked and there is a big thunderhead about 15 miles away, over in Deland, home of thejeepjunkies favorite U-Pull-It, heading straight toward the Speedway. A Big One on the front stretch is what Twitter is telling me.

Well, like some hoon texting while driving, I am getting away from this blog, so I will attempt to step away and get on with describing my day as most of you will probably have seen the race live anyway.

So, yesterday on my recon mission, I noticed there were some cars parked behind the new NASCAR complex under construction across International Speedway Boulevard from the Speedway. As I usually parked there, free of charge, I thought I would check it out today and see if it was available.

FAIL.

I guess NASCAR wised up and figured they could continue to rob we patrons and charge SEVENTY DOLLARS to park there. Well, I immediately beat it the H*ll out of there to check out the privateers, although not government sanctioned, along Bill France Blvd.

Well, across ISB from the Track are a whole bunch of retail establishments including, but not limited to, Hooters, The Volusia Mall, Beall's, Marshal's, Ruby Tuesdays and a ton of others. Think of a big strip mall on the north side of International Speedway Boulevard from I-95 to Halifax Hospital, a distance of about four miles.

All of them sell parking spots on the day of the races.

Yesterday they were $10 cheaper than they were today.

So I left the, formerly free...for this ole create a parking spot man...NASCAR patron raping area and looked around. The lots closest to the track were $60, a block further north..$50, a block further north...$4o and so on and so on.

Well, as I related here, when I left the 380 back in February, it took me over an hour to get home and, although I knew I was not staying til the end of the 400, I would prefer to be as far north as possible.

So, I continued north for three more blocks and you know what I found?

And it is the absolute truth, although no pictures.

Well, in the outskirts, where the private parking lot just, south, across the street was charging $20 to park, well, I found a US Post Office with freaking huge empty parking lot.

So, I have to say this about that, thanks to my fellow taxpayers I got a free place to park, just a 12 minute stroll north of the track.

Thanks you taxpaying Counters.

Hope your 4th is as fun as mine....

So, anyway, I parked a 12 minute stroll from this spot. If you enlarge the following image, those palm trees are on the berm just above NASCAR turn 4 of the Speedway. Just to the right of this image is the turn 4 tunnel that is just a huge drainage pipe I referenced in an earlier post about NotSoLilJim and his fun family.

In the above image, you can see the some of the Speed equipment required to bring you the Big Show while below,

this is a shot of us hoons crossing International Speedway Boulevard at its intersection with Bill France, Jr. Road.

And a special thanks to the title sponsor of the 400 this year.

So this is the gathering, I earlier referred to as a Circus, but really should be referred to as a Carnival. It has all the hype and like those Barkers trying to draw me into their $60 parking spots it has everything every hardcore NASCAR fans needs to Celebrate Life.

And the only automaker represented here this year was Chevy and they pulled out all the stops.

They had a bright red-orange Camaro present

but as I had seen one of these in Pace Car form earlier this year, these are the only images I got of it.

But I will tell you this, they had

about 8 or 10 cars and trucks there and all of them were open for inspection.

Except for, of course, the ones I really wanted to see. This the GT1 Corvette

and Dale Jr's show car. Regardless of all the bucks spent, GM still is missing it.

And, by the way, did you notice how no one is looking at the Corvette but Jr's car is being looked at by some hoon in a sleeveless Tshirt?

And, seriously, Sprint..WTF is this thing? Maybe some part of an ad campaign this TV-less person knows nothing about? This assinine ad campaign makes me want to change my internet cellular provider right now!!

Average weight of the people I saw today. North of 200 lbs.

Maybe it is because of the types of food served. Or is it the type of food served is what is desired by the average NASCAR hoon?

But, yeah, it is a midway.

Every driver has their own trailer selling the same stuff just with different logos and decals. Even Digger has its own trailer. Who is Digger by the way? I didn't care enough to go check it out.

And check out these hoons below.

No further comment is available about that shot.

And over at the Fast and Furious Booth, redneck hoons prevail.

I guess I am just to old to get it.

I mean check out the front wheel covers on the front of this horsefarmer's Big Mule wannabe.

Although this built up 70's Chevelle was done tastefully, if that trips your trigger.

And this old rodded out Charger wasn't too bad either.

But I will have to pass on a BRIGHT RED Bentley.

and this 64 Chevy ragtop was alright but I could make out a ripple on the passenger's door where the door handle had been shaved off. I thought about going back to all the other cars to do a quality check but there were just to many rednecks around and, besides, it was nearing 2:00 pm, the start time of the Brumos race.

But on the way out, I did see the Air Force booth...check out the tat on the arm of that dude...

as well as the Border Patrol booth.

So, I left the carnival and got inside the Speedway proper and started hoofing it west, for the first time, in the Grandstands.

I entered on the extreme east end of the grandstands, right where NotSoLilJim and the youngsters and I had ventured to check out the track and my seat? Well it is out of sight in the following image, around the pits and on the extreme west end of the Grandstands.

It took me longer to hike down there than to hike from my free parking spot to the Speedway.

Oh, this is what a SAFER barrier looks like.

And a shot of pits just about where Tony Stewart took out Kyle Busch.

At the Nationwide race in February, the Kid, thejeepjunkie, TheGoodAttorney and this olelongrooffan were sitting on the top floor of that black building on the left in the following image.

Finally, this olelongrooffan arrived at my seat and this is the view I had. Yeah, love that trash can too.

But, actually, this is a pretty good seat for Rolex racing. I was situated right at the spot the race cars left the infield and reentered the NASCAR portion of the track.

I had a great view of most of the infield as well as NASCAR turns 1 and 2.

Furthermore, I was close enough that I had to dig a few minute pieces of rubber out of my eyes more than once. And while it was hot, yes it is Florida and it is the 4th of July, there was a nice breeze blowing across the infield and the partly cloudy skies, along with a cooler filled with ice cold bottle water, halped to keep this olesportscarracingfan cool. Incidentally, the above image is the GT winning Porsche followed closely by the #70 Mazda.

It was a great race. The #10 Suntrust and the 99 Gainsco DP's, two of my favorites, we head to toe for the final 20 laps with the 10 car, shown above, prevailing at the finish. In the GT class, the #86 Porsche and the 70 Mazda had a hard fought battle to the finish also. I was holding out for a Mazda victory just because that team was so nice to the Kid a couple years ago but to no avail.

On the last lap, another Pirelli FAIL on the right rear of this prototype and it was unable to finish the race. On the way out, I got this image of it as it rested on the tarmac just shy of the entrance to NASCAR turn 1. Beyond the vehicles in this image is the entrance to the infield portion of the Speedway.

And while my cheapo Polaroid (thanks again Bus) is not the best video camera, I did get these shots.

This one just as they were heading out for their warm up laps.

And this one standing just in front of my seat. That cop in the following video was keeping the hoons away from the catch fence. And know that when those race cars when by, the aluminum stands I was sitting on were humming with vibrations.

And while this free StateTrooper provided seat would suck for a NASCAR race, for the Brumos Race it was fantastic. Thanks Jay.

By the way, the high pitched GT cars in these videos are the Mazdas.

And I hope all y'all had a great 4th of July, as I did, and were able to

Celebrate Life.

The Roar Before The 24

2009-09-27T16:46:00.000-07:00

So I started off the New Year with spending a day in the woods with the Kid and thejeepjunkie, then the next day getting a free cell phone, today the Kid and I went to the Daytona International Speedway for The Roar Before The 24. It is a practice session for all of the Daytona Prototypes, GT Cars, and the Koni Challenge Series racecars.

As I have mentioned previously, practice sessions are cheap to attend and the action is just as competitive. It's not as crowded as race day, it is easier to get around to several different areas for viewing and the unrestricted access to the garage and pits is awesome.

And it's only 10 bucks!

As the Kid had basketball practice most of the morning, we planned to hook up at thejeepjunkie's shop and go from there.

On the way there, I saw this going the other direction but had to turn around a get a shot of it. Smart.

When I got to the shop, thejeepjunkie was doing what he loves to do most, work on old Jeeps. Seems there was a need to repack the wheel bearings on the hub that didn't want to disengage after our day in the woods.

And the Kid and I stood around watching.

After that, it was on to The Roar!! the Kid let me drive his CJ5 while he drove my oleragtop.

Following is an image of the layout these cars run. It is nearly all of the NASCAR track, as well as the infield portion, with the turns numbered. The NASCAR track corners are referred to as NASCAR 1, NASCAR 2 and so on. the Kid spotted this taped inside one of the prototypes. That is carbon fiber in the background.

We headed out to the deserted bleachers

situated at turn 4 of the infield.

We watched the remainder of laps the Koni Challenge cars were running and when they broke for lunch, the Kid and I headed up to the garage area.

Before we got to the garage though, I stopped to shoot this video.

And on to the garage.

And once there, we just checked the whole scene out.

The items in the images below are some replacement noses and tails for a Daytona Prototype. They even have their own custom made luggage on wheels.

These GAINSCO dudes were working on a rear end up there on that lift gate.

the Kid liked the Brumos Porsche parts runner shown below. While we were in the Brumos Garage, I asked one of the crew members if Red Bull was going to sponsor them this year. The dude replied in the negative. I mentioned, What, they taking all their money to NASCAR? All of the crew members started chuckling. I guess I need to find something else to mix with my hurricane supplies when I occasionally use a mixer.

A general view down transporter aisle.

This is the interior of the DP where the Kid saw that track map.

Got tires?

The DP below is a sample of these constructor's work. These are entirely made up of carbon fiber.

Parked next to it was this blinged out golf cart.

And those constructors let this tattooed chickadee sit on that beautiful car.

The Make A Wish DP, owned by Richard Childress, suffered a tire failure and struck the wall a little later this afternoon. So Sad. Pirelli FAIL.

Last year, this Corvette was sponsored by ReMax.

the Kid loved this Pontiac.

Another shot of that Corvette. Alot of the cars were without sponsorship decals. I don't know if they just hadn't put them on yet or they are still looking for sponsors. I'm afraid the latter is very likely.

In the shot below, there is a spare Pontiac nose on the roof of that transporter.

The lone Ferrari at today's practice session.

Got Parts?

TRS Racing has a combined seven Porsches in the two series.

And the Mother Office on wheels.

The image below is of last years class winner from Mazda Speed. You might remember it here and here.

And another Mazda with the driver's door off while the dudes bleed the brakes. That dude sitting inside the roll cage? That is my job when thejeepjunkie bleeds the brakes on our toys.

the Kid had a Texas Longhorns ball cap on today. One of the #42 Corvette crew members jokingly made a snide remark about it. It seems they are from Ohio State and I guess there is a big football game coming up between them. And that Corvette has been around the block several times. It is a good 20 footer. And the cars on this team have Grassroots Motorsports decals on them. My favorite print publishing company based just south of my hometown, the Birthplace of Speed. Sweet!

This is the only Challenger here. I got to talking to the dude at Black Forest Racing, and he mentioned it was delivered bone stock to them less than 4 weeks ago.

Of course, gratuitous shot required.

And when I shot this image of the interior, I could still smell the paint. I asked the dude from Black Forest if they had much seat time in it. He said, yeah, about 30 minutes just a little while ago!!

I have to tell you, by and large, every team member and official we came into contact with today was openly friendly toward us. Maybe we asked intelligent questions and stayed out of their way and possibly, this is practice, not the race. Although that Mazda dude was pretty good to the Kid during last year's race.

Before we left, I asked the Black Forest dude, Didn't you race Mustangs last year? He replied in the affirmative. I asked him why they switched. His comment, with a sh*t eating grin on his face, "Why Not?"

the Kid pointed out the only Honda race car we saw today.

I shot this shot for the Kid's sister.

One of two Mini's here practicing for the Koni Challenge.

and a Breast Cancer Awareness entry.

and a Miata, oh sorry, as the Kid corrected me, MX5.

We headed down to another garage and came across the cars used for the Richard Petty Driving Experience there at the speedway.

The dudes in the above image are filling fuel canisters. Note the fire suits and the upright dude on standby with a fire extinguisher.

While we were in the garage area, I shot the following two videos. They are about 3-4 minutes each.

We actually took two trips down the DP garage row. The first I took images and the second I took video. You can tell who the team big shots are. The wrenches on the team wear the team uniform where the big shots wear a logoed team golf shirt and slacks.

This is a video of the teams heading out after lunch. As we had shorts on, we couldn't get into the pits today. the Kid and I were talking about that and realized at the 24 it is usually a bit brisk out and we always seem to have on jeans. That oversight will never happen again.

With about 23 seconds remaining, Chip Ganassi, the team owner of the winner of this event three years running, driver Scott Pruett walks by. I said "Good Luck, Man" and he replied with a "Thank you". Common courtesy all around. Oddly enough, on the video I have loaded on my laptop, Juan Pablo Montoya walks across that pathway and gets into Chip Ganassi's trailer. The timing is different on it and that portion did not load onto Photoshop.

One of the security guards at the east end of the horseshoe, turn 3, had this classic old Mercedes. the Kid spotted it before me!

I shot this brief track view video. The Mercedes shown in the previous image is located on the far side of the track at the East Horseshoe, infield turn 3.

Getting ready to head back out to the bleachers at the West Horseshoe, infield turn 5. We watched for a couple hours and it was a blast!! I shot some totally crappy video and won't bother to post it. The 24 Hour race is broadcast on FOX and SpeedTV if you are interested. We'll all be waving at you from the speedway!

Just as the Kid was getting ready to leave, the track goes quiet and the emergency lights go on on all of the track vehicles. We zip over to the entry to NASCAR 1 and find out that Make A Wish car had wrecked. Total Bummer.

We then headed out and at the corner of International Speedway Boulevard and A1A, beachside, I saw this rare old mini motorhome.

Ironically enough, as I was turning north on A1A, another one, heading south, was stopped at the light.

I took a quick drive down the beach and headed over to the Taj Mahal. I have been asked by several of you Counting Along With Me why I drive on the beach most every day. To quote that friendly Black Forest Racing dude, "Why Not?"

All in all, another fantastic day with the Kid and I can't wait until the 24 on the 24th.

And if the past three days are what I can expect in 2009, Hot Da*n! If I can just find a company who is hiring, my world would be complete. Still keeping my head up as I

Celebrate Life.