Monday, March 2, 2009

Shelby 427 - Dream NASCAR Weekend

Boy was NASCAR Race mom was dog-tired last night. The Shelby 427 was an exciting race in spite of the record fourteen cautions. I was fortunate enough to watch the race from Jamie McMurray’s hospitality tent. The IRWIN Industrial Tools hosts insured that the day was filled with an abundance of free food and beverage. The catering was very tasty and top notch.

Jeff Hammond’s stop by the hospitality was both entertaining and educational. Jeff Hammond joined Fox Sports at the end of the 2000 Winston Cup season. Jeff contributes to the race coverage on Fox and FX with booth announcers, Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip. When he took over the microphone, his charisma quickly became apparent. NRM will cover his appearance in more detail in a future post.

Then the driver of the #26 Irwin Industrial Tools Ford stopped by for a meet and greet. Unfortunately, Jamie McMurray was not feeling well. Nevertheless, he stayed for photos and questions. “We did not qualify the way we wanted,” Jamie informed us “but we believe we have everything figured out and should have a good car for the race.”

The tour of the pit area was my favorite part of the weekend. I was wearing my brand new #60 Roush Fenway Nationwide jacket. A mob surrounded Jack Roush as he attempted to make his way through the pits. It was apparent he was not having a good day. However, he was not too busy to sign my jacket. My new friend, from East Coast Custom Cycles was able snap a photo. So now I have the ultimate NASCAR fan souvenir. Once thing for sure, that jacket will never be worn again.

We watch the beginning of the race in the stands; super seats – 3I row 19. We had a great view of the start finish line and the pit entry area. We listened to Jamie McMurray on the track scanner. He is much like my son Moses, in that he does not say much on the radio. “Car’s a bit tight,” or the “the car’s good,” is about all we heard. However, he never let on that he was not feeling well and steadily moved though the field.

By the end of the race the McMurray was running in the top ten. He managed to finish ninth and moved up six positions to sit twenty-second in the championship points. Back in the hospitality tent we were all cheering the green, white, checkered finish.

Then my dream NASCAR weekend was over. As the limo town car whisked us away from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway to return us to the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, I glanced out the back window only to spot Richard Childress patiently waiting behind us in a golf cart. How surreal . . . . maybe my dream is not yet over.

3 comments:

Genna said...

So awesome!! I wish I coulda been there, I LOVE Vegas!!!

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Unknown said...

You had a great time at the race! Way to go! Been in British Columbia for the last week, visiting our youngest, and bringing him back to Ontario on Tuesday.
Do you plan to share your PICTURES online? That would be awesome.
Managed to find a place with cable TV to see the Atlanta race. SO bizzare how GOOD some cars were, and how bad others were!
Chat to you on the twitter!!!!
limey59