Day 18 - Bristol

Today is the day for the NASCAR race. It does not start till 7.30pm so it is a long day waiting for the action to start.

I was up about 7.30am and it was overcast and a bit cooler than previous mornings. I had some cereal and again jumped in the car and headed into Bristol to go to the Starbucks to use the Internet. I checked the queue at the shower block on the way out and it was again quite long. So I just kept going.

Driving up to the Starbucks store I was able to see that the main area around the front of the speedway was full of people wandering around the merchandising stands that have been set up. Today there will be around 150,000 people at the event.

Arriving at Starbucks I was able to get some of the blog written up and catch up on some news from home via the Sydney newspapers. I also caught up on some emails and was able to put some more photos up on the blog.

I left the cafe and drove to Walmart to grab some food and also got some money from the ATM. By then it was just after noon and I started back towards the campground. I was obviously held up in traffic when I got back closer to the speedway and it took about 1.5 hours to get through and back to the campground. The state police were at all the intersections near the speedway to keep the flow of traffic moving. They really are organised well and doing a great job.

Back at the campground and the crowded line waiting to use the shower block had gone so I jumped in and cleaned up getting ready for the day’s festivities. I went back to my tent site and had the lunch I had bought and sat with the neighbouring people and chatted for a few hours.

Finally about 4pm I decided to head off for the track walking down to the bridge leading from the campground to the speedway area. It was quite warm by this stage with the sun really biting as it shone down. I decided to wait for the tractor shuttle to get me up the hill to the track as I wanted to go further around than the gate I needed to enter the track from.

I wanted to get some Marcos Ambrose merchandise from the Nascar merchandise area so I wandered into this sea of people wandering around looking at all the transporters that are set up for sales of official merchandise and also some of the drivers were signing autographs at their transporters so people were lined up in the hundreds for them.

Marcos Ambrose and another driver A J Allmendinger race for Richard Petty Racing and the transporter is set up with their merchandise either side if a lot of Richard Petty items. I was able to get a cap, a stubbie holder and a T-Shirt which celebrates Marcos’ first Nascar win two weeks ago at Watkins Glen racetrack.

Once I had purchased the items I joined the queue waiting for the tractor shuttle so I could continue around the rest of the outside of the speedway. I had not been around to this side of the track and I saw a stage setup with some musicians playing to a large audience and further around was a 4WD tack set up for people to do some all terrain test driving and then a large simulator and fairground area was set up to entertain the crowds.

I finally arrived back to the entry I needed and entered the area behind the seating and purchased some food and drink for dinner. Although it was still about 1.5 hours before the race I went to my seat and ate my food. There is activity around the track so there is plenty to watch plus others were also coming to sit down and I was able to chat with them whilst waiting. They were surprised that I had travelled from Australia and was at the races.

About one hour before the race all the official activities started and the drivers were introduced to the crowd and driven on a lap around the track on the back of Ford pickup trucks.

Then a US army officer read the USA Pledge of Allegiance the national anthem was sung by a group of local school children who had been dressed in period clothing.

Finally the cars were on the track for the race and the within minutes the race was underway. I still had the headphones and scanner from the other day so listened to the commentary which helped keep up with what was going on. Marcos Ambrose started in 11th position but dropped back a few spots in the first few laps. He was able to get some room to move though and worked his way up to 8th spot by the first yellow flag caution.

Every time there was a caution from then on Ambrose would get away slowly on the restart and drop back a few spots before gradually work his way back up to 9th or 8th. There were not many yellow flag cautions as normal at Bristol and they actually set a record for the most laps without a yellow for the track during the race of 162 laps.

By the end of the race Marcos Ambrose was in 10th place which was good as by having another top 10 finish and his first race win it makes it his best year yet in the USA with still another three races to go.

The race winner Brad Keslowski is the up and coming star of the Nascar and this was his third win of the season.

I waited for the final celebrations in the middle of the track and there we some fireworks over the track while I was making my way back to the campsite. I sat up talking with the other campers for about two hours before heading off to bed for the night.

Spending the four days at the race meeting, seeing the races, camping and meeting some great fellow campers was really good, I don’t think I will ever get to do it again so it was a fantastic experience to have.