A NASCAR Newb No More

Doesn't that just scream "America"?! (Source)

Apple pie.  Baseball.  Popping off tin cans with a rifle on a Sunday afternoon.  Riding in a jacked-up truck with country music blasting from the speakers.  These are quintessential American experiences often referenced, "humorized" and stereotyped through movies and pop culture here in the U.S. and abroad.  But just as American, particularly southern American, is the experience of attending a NASCAR Sprint Cup race!

Although I've spent the last twenty years living in Virginia, the gateway to America's southern states, I have yet to attend a NASCAR race.  I love sports, but I've never been taken by NASCAR.  There's only so many times you can watch a car run around a huge circle before you tire of it (pun fully intended).  I can agree with my mom's fond testament that "some of my best naps were experienced with a NASCAR race running on tv for background noise."

Even so, I've always wanted to experience a NASCAR race as it's such a big part of culture in my neck of the woods.  The fun of the tailgating, getting pit passes to meet the drivers, and the thunder and shaking of the ground as the cars speed by.

So, I'll be attending my first (and probably only!) NASCAR Sprint Cup as they race under the lights at Richmond International Raceway tomorrow night!

Source

We're doing the whole shebang, arriving early in the morning to tailgate, people-watch, and take in the atmosphere of a race.  A friend's boss generously provided pit passes to meet some drivers, view the cars, walk the track, and enjoy some free food and drinks, which is even more awesome!

I'll write more about it after the weekend is over - how to attend a race, what to bring, what to do, etc.  Thankfully we're going with a couple who has already done this, so it's sure to be a great experience!

But just to make sure I'm up to speed and in the mindset for tomorrow, I will be watching "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" tonight to brush up on my NASCAR lingo.  I wanna go fast!!!

Have you attended a NASCAR or other automobile race before?

~ Just a Thrifty Gypsy