My Day At Daytona

I'm a person who is always looking to experience new and different things, so when we moved to the East Coast of Florida, I knew I had to make it to the Daytona 500. I'm not a huge race fan, but the 500 is the one race a year I always made a effort to watch, and with the speedway only 15 minutes down the road I thought it would be worth checking out.

Here are some observations from my day in Daytona.

*I know it sounds cliche, but it is 100% true. You can not understand the speed of the cars until you see them first hand. It puts in perspective how amazing it is when these guys walk away from wrecks. After seeing this live, I'm amazed more guys haven't been killed on the track.

*The sound is deafening, so you're best to bring some ear protection. I was shocked at the yokels and even worse, their kids showing up at this event without anything covering their ears. Nothing says great parenting like ruining your kids ear drums.

*We rented this track scanner/mini TV called the Sprint Fan View. It cost $50 to rent and you can plug two headsets into it. Not only can you watch the race from different angles you get access to the radio broadcast and the drivers talking to their spotters and crew chief. It's definitely worth the money and their was nothing better than hearing Kyle Busch say "Tony (Stewart) must have just taken the lead because I see all the fans giving him the finger". Great stuff.

*NASCAR could be the best bang for your buck in all of sports. I say this because not only did I get my ticket to the "Super Bowl of Motor sports" for $55. You can bring bring your own cooler of drinks (including booze), and all the food you can stuff in a clear plastic bag. Parking and the shuttle to the track is free and fast. In fact, I'm shocked they don't charge $5 for parking. They would generate a ton of money and I can't imagine that anyone would stop coming to the race over such a small expense. I'm not complaining I just think it's bad business.

*If you like to people watch, this is a great place to go. It was "necks galore" on Sunday and they are always entertaining. I'm regretting that I didn't take more photos of the yokels because some of them were hilarious. Especially the woman weighing in at 3 bills showing plumbers crack. So sexy.

*I wasn't surprised that Dale Jr. was the favorite of the fans, but I was shocked at how universally HATED Kyle Busch was. I guess they hate him because he's good....kind of like they did Earnhardt Sr. when he was kicking ass and taking names in the 90's.

*Although the parking is free, it was pretty horrendous getting out of the lot. Since I live locally, I decided my time was better spent playing poker at the dog track across the street for a couple hours rather than sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. It worked out well for me as I nearly got my ticket paid for from my holdem winnings and the ride home was a breeze.

*Unfortunately the race got shortened by rain and I didn't even get to see an exciting final lap. Despite that, I would highly recommend people checking it out at least one time in their life.